Evergreen

by Jessica Florence

  Ryder

  My heart fell as I watched Gavin stalk toward Andi. I knew what he was feeling. Andi was dressed to kill. And right now it was killing me as she stood there while another man eye-fucked her, coming at her with hunger in his eyes. My hands clenched the armrests on the chair as he stopped in front of her.

  My breath stopped, waiting for what he was going to do next. The camera jostled around, and all I saw was black. I knew what was happening, but then I heard it. Gavin groaned in satisfaction. I closed my eyes and counted to ten. I couldn’t lose my shit. I couldn’t blow this. He was kissing a mouth that belonged to me. He was groaning into her. I… I couldn’t.

  “Ryder. Look at me. You have to calm down.” Rex was giving me a look that said if I didn’t calm down, he would make me.

  I didn’t want to hurt my friend, so I tried. My jaw clenched so hard I thought I would break my teeth. I turned back to the video. Gavin was done mauling my woman.

  “Amazing. I wanted to wait for that, but with how you look, I couldn’t help myself,” he told her, his voice still all husky. I wanted to rip his fucking throat out.

  “Thanks. I didn’t mind.” Her words might have sounded like she was glad he’d kissed her, but her voice was soft and shaky. She was uncomfortable.

  But looking at his face, he hadn’t noticed. He grabbed her hand and led her to the table where he had set out a feast for their date. Candles and everything.

  Ass.

  “Good, I feel like we are on the same page here. This is good. I was getting tired of waiting. Of course, you would be worth waiting for.” Gavin spoke with an edge to his voice. A possessive voice. Red flags went up in my head.

  “Everything okay?” Andi spoke, her voice still small. I hated this.

  “Yes, tonight after dinner I’m taking you out,” he said as a statement, not even asking her if she was okay with it.

  “Okay. Where to?”

  “Just to a place my family runs. It’ll be good. We can dance a little, and I can show you something.” His voice was excited.

  A place his family ran? That didn’t sound good. Definitely nowhere Andi needed to be. The camera moved around again as I saw Andi pick up her clutch. Gavin prattled on about random stuff. She kept up conversation with him seamlessly.

  My phone rang, causing me to take my eyes off the video and onto the screen on the phone. Thinking out loud, the name of our “Come What May” song filled the surveillance van. My blood cooled, my anger subsided. She was playing the song for me. We had made our ringtones that song before she left for work this morning. She was mine. She was reminding me she was mine. I needed it. We would make it through this.

  The rest of their dinner was pretty boring. Rex went and got us some coffee before we had to move to where Gavin was taking Andi.

  We got the wheels moving on the van and followed a safe distance behind Gavin’s car. We drove around waiting for them to park and get out of the car. We were in Ybor City again. We drove by them as they slipped inside a club named Dragon’s Lair. I should have known. It was one of the nicest clubs in the area, not at all like something you would think with a name like that. Draco meant dragon in Latin. I should have figured it out. Damn it.

  We parked in the nearest lot and went back to the video. Gavin led them to a booth to the side. It was hard to hear what was happening with all the music.

  Shit.

  “I’m going in,” I told Rex as I opened the door and got out. He gave me a chin lift, acknowledging my statement, but not turning to look at me.

  I closed the door and took off for the club. I made it inside without either Andi or Gavin realizing I was there. But now, knowing the club was run by his family, I had to be on high alert. Ultimate stealth. I danced my way across the floor to the corner by the booth they were in.

  “I’ve got to take care of some business while I’m here. I want you to come with me. But first I need to tell you some things.” Gavin lifted Andi’s hand and gave it a kiss.

  I pushed down the urge to beat him and kept listening while I danced with some unknown woman.

  “Like what?” Andi prompted.

  “You don’t need to know specifics. But you need to know I am a powerful man. My family and I control a lot of business that happens here in Tampa. I deal with a lot of powerful people. People who do dangerous things. You’re my woman, aren’t you, Andi?” He came right out and asked her.

  She hesitated for a moment but then made up for it. “It’s what I’ve wanted since I met you.”

  I knew it wasn’t real. That saying repeated in my head over and over. Like the masochist I am, I listened on.

  “Sometimes in my business I have to do things. Things to put people back in their place. I have to make sure people know they can’t mess with me. Or the people I protect. Like you. You are my woman, I protect you. I can’t let anyone mess with my girl. I have to go take care of someone that wronged me. I want you by my side. My woman. Will you do that for me, Andi?” His question was like a test. She had to say yes regardless.

  “Of course, Gavin, anything.”

  Her voice was stern, but with nervous undertones. I was happy as hell Gavin didn’t truly pay attention to her; otherwise he would have noticed how nervous she was. He leaned in and kissed her. I closed my eyes and waited for it to be over. When my eyes opened, I saw Gavin take her hand and lead her toward a hallway in the back.

  I waited a few moments and moved in that direction. The series of hallways was confusing. I stepped into the bathroom to my right, waited a minute, and snuck back. The sound of someone yelling from the last door caught my attention. It was a man’s voice. I stopped at the door and listened while keeping an eye on the hallway. The noise of the club drowned out the man screaming on the other side of the door. No one would hear him.

  “Now, Hector. Ready to tell me how Stefan and the others got busted last night? Two million dollars’ worth of product, taken.” Gavin’s voice was hard. He was harming a man for information on last night’s bust, with Andi in there. God knows what he was doing to that man.

  “We didn’t know. I don’t know how the cops knew. I swear Gavin. I—” His words were replaced with screams. It was a guttural scream of great pain.

  My muscles tensed, everything inside me gunning to get in there and bust them. But I couldn’t do shit. Beating up or torturing a man wasn’t against the law unless the man pressed charges, and he sadly wouldn’t. Whatever Gavin was doing was to create fear. Fear in others and in the man himself. Everyone would know not to fuck with the Skeller family. I was going to take them down. I wanted this done.

  “You live today. My next shipment better make it to me, or the lives of you, your pretty wife Marrisa, and your little boy Romeo’s lives are forfeit.”

  Gavin’s true colors were finally out. My heart ached for Andi, knowing she was staring at a broken man. Her sweet innocence was now chipped. Damage had been done. I swore to myself right there that I would make it better. I didn’t care how long it took; I would make all of this right.

  “Now, I’m going to go dance with my woman. Clean him up and take him out the back way.”

  The sounds of footsteps made me move and hide behind the nearest door—a cleaning closet. Once it seemed like everyone had left, I snuck back out onto the dance floor. A dark booth in the corner with a vantage point of the whole dance floor called my name. As soon as the darkness hid me from any onlookers, my gaze found her. Pure hatred filled my veins when I saw that Gavin’s chest was to her back. He had her flushed against him, moving her along with his body. His hands were gripping her hips, and he was grinding with the fast-paced song. My hatred disappeared when my gaze hit her face. Her sweet face was ghostly white. Her eyes were numb. I couldn’t take it. She needed me, in any way I could give myself to her. I knew what I had to do as I made my way toward the front of the club.

  CHAPTER 31

  Andi

  “Let’s slow it down. This song is for a special girl out there. Candy Tease
, this is for you, girl, where ever you are.”

  My body froze at my nickname from the bachelorette party.

  Gavin turned me in his arms and wrapped his hands around my lower back. “A slow song, perfect.”

  He smiled. His smile made my stomach turn. He was a stranger to me. But I put on the best affectionate smile I could and put my head on his chest so that I didn’t have to keep up appearances.

  Ryder and my song started to come through the speakers. Silent tears hit me and flowed down my cheeks. He was here. He knew I needed him. After what I’d just seen, I needed him badly. I didn’t want to be dancing with another man to our song. I flung back and put a hand to my eye.

  “Shit, I think I got something in my eye. I’ll be right back.”

  I left Gavin standing on the dance floor and went to the bathroom. A brief escape was all I could get. I just needed to get away from him. My feet were glued to the floor after I pushed the door open to the bathroom. There he was. My Ryder.

  “Come here, cupcake. I’ll make it better. I promise.”

  I went from zero to sixty in half a second I lunged towards him. His arms enveloped me against his warm chest. This was where I belonged. I broke down in his arms, no longer able to keep the facade.

  Through my broken sobs I told Ryder what I’d seen in the room with Gavin.

  “He put a rat on a man. And a sort of bucket over the rat on his stomach. They… Oh God, they put a torch to the bucket. The rat…”

  He shushed me. “No need to tell me more. I know what happened.”

  I cried more. The rat had tried to escape the heat through the man’s stomach. His screams were burned into my brain. I would never forget what I had seen. Gavin was an evil man.

  I pulled back and looked at Ryder. “Kiss me.”

  I needed his lips to erase where Gavin’s had been. He crashed his lips to mine. He teased me, running his tongue along the seam of my lips, his teeth nipping my bottom lip. My lips parted with a gasp. His tongue slid inside and teased mine, making little whimpers come from me. My hands gripped his shirt; I wanted what only he could give me. My eyes were still closed, my mouth still parted, when he pulled back and put his forehead to mine.

  “You’ve got to get back out there. He isn’t going to let anything happen to you. As sick as he is, he thinks you’re his woman.” Ryder made sense. I nodded and took a step back.

  “You’ll be around?” I asked just to make sure.

  “Always.” It was a promise.

  I gave Ryder one last look, then left to meet Gavin. I found him talking with the bartender, sipping from a glass. A true devil in disguise.

  “There she is. What did I tell you, Ray? My woman is a beauty.”

  His beaming smile made me wanna puke. I was extremely glad he wasn’t very observant. I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, leaning my head against his chest. His arms wrapped around me, giving me a little squeeze.

  “Doing good?” he whispered in my hair. I nodded. I was better, but it wasn’t because of him. “Wanna dance more or head out?”

  I pulled back and gave him my best smile.

  “Can we go watch a movie and eat more tiramisu at your place?”

  His expression said I so had him. I felt like this was a little too easy. But I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth—although it hadn’t work out well for Troy not to look. I shook it off and leaned up to give him a quick kiss.

  He said his goodbyes to the bartender, then led us back to the car. I was wondering if he was going to talk to me about what I was a part of earlier. He didn’t wait long.

  “How you doing over there?”

  “I’m okay. Thank you for checking on me. It’s very considerate of you.” I was laying on the sweet, doting girlfriend act.

  “Of course, Andi. I know what you witnessed today was unpleasant. But I have to make sure no one messes with me. I can’t have anyone mess with you either.” His voice was very casual.

  “It was rough, but I…” I paused; I had to say the words.

  “I really like you, Gavin. I’m not sure what you do, but I get it. If it’s okay with you though, I don’t want to see anything too gross.” At least the last part was true; I was crossing my fingers that he would be okay with that. Seeing what had happened with the rat was enough for me.

  “I think that is doable. You’re more of a homebody. I realized that about you when I first met you. A bright light in a world of dark. I knew you would be perfect for me,” he confessed as we pulled into his driveway.

  He gave my hand a light kiss and then got out of the car. On shaky legs, I got out and followed him inside his house. His little dogs came running out for the attack. I ignored them as I entered; it seemed to work last time. I loved dogs, but these dogs were mean.

  Gavin went and got us some drinks, the kind to make me a loose woman. I needed to think of something quick. I didn’t know what he was expecting, but with the way he was talking and how it would look by the way I was acting, he probably thought I was game with doing whatever he wanted from me. My nerves were going crazy; panic seizing my body, my stomach turning sour.

  Bingo!

  I was so going to hate this, but I had to do what I had to do. Before Gavin could hand me my drink, I rushed away from him and ran to the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I had never made myself puke, but I knew nothing killed the mood like throw up. Drastic measures made me put my finger in my throat and toss up everything I had eaten earlier. Let me just say, I hate puking. It was one of the reasons I wasn’t a heavy drinker.

  My skin broke out in a cold flush. My head was resting on the toilet seat when Gavin finally came in, asking if I was okay.

  “Can I just stay here tonight?” My voice was soft as I asked hell’s question.

  CHAPTER 32

  Ryder

  Snow. Somewhere nice and cold with snow. My head and body had been put through hell as I watched Andi throw up everything, get dressed in some of Gavin’s clothes, and wrap an arm over his body when they watched a movie together. She was playing her part perfectly, and it was driving me insane. So instead of focusing on the movie that was playing through the camera feed, I focused on where I was going to take Andi when this shit was all over. I’d come up with snow so far. I didn’t care where; I just wanted to get the hell away from palm trees, sand, and Gavin. That is if he was still alive after this. I’d been very tempted all day to knock his ass out.

  My attention was brought back to the film as Andi said something about going to bed. She went into the bathroom, the camera jiggled, and I lost sight briefly. My breath stopped as I saw her face come into view. She took the necklace off to turn the camera on herself.

  “I’m okay. This is hard, but I’m okay. I just wanted you to know. I’m gonna go to sleep now. I’m not sure if he is going to join me or not, but I’m yours, Ryder. Don’t forget that.”

  The camera whirled around and I could see her in the reflection of a mirror. She blew me a kiss through the reflection before walking away to crawl into a big bed.

  “She’s so strong,” Rex commented next to me. His face was hopeful.

  I needed a break. “Call me if something happens. I’ve gotta get out of here.”

  Breathing in the fresh air helped soothe me. I strolled around Gavin’s fancy neighborhood, trying not to think about whether Gavin was lying next to Andi or not. I failed, but I wasn’t pissed for once. She was mine. There was no way in hell a girl like her would be with a guy like Gavin. A gazebo that sat on the side of the walkway looked like a good place to take a break from walking. I didn’t know how long I had been out, but Rex hadn’t called, so I assumed all was well.

  We needed this case to move along. Andi had made a big breakthrough tonight. She had his trust—and his attention. He’d opened up about some areas in his dirty life, but we needed something to bust him on. Something good, something life-in-prison good. I sat there devising a plan to catch the son of a bitch. It would be difficult, bu
t it was what needed to be done. I pulled out my phone and hit the contact I needed.

  “You got him yet?” Mack was tired of this shit too.

  “No, but progress has been made. Andi is rooted in. Gavin took her to a retaliation meeting. Brown rat torture, all because of the bust the other night.”

  It was still unbelievable he took her to that. Something I hadn’t thought about until now was that maybe the meeting had been for a double purpose. I didn’t want to acknowledge that maybe he wanted her there to show her too not to fuck with him. Make an example of an already fucked up situation.

  Shit.

  That made me feel uneasy.

  “Good work. Now what’s this call for?” He knew I could have just written that in a report.

  “I’m going in. I think it’s the only way.” It was the only way. Gavin wasn’t going to reveal everything to Andi right away, and there was only so much time he would go without expecting Andi to give it up to him. I wasn’t having any of that.

  “You sure you wanna do that?” His voice was cautious.

  I answered immediately.

  “Yes, sir. It’s the only way to crack him. Now that Andi is distracting him, he won’t be on the top of his game.” As much as it would kill me I was going to have to have her up the distraction.

  “You know what it could mean if something goes wrong. Like shot wrong, correct? Are you sure you want to risk that situation?”

  I couldn’t think about that. I would do what was needed.

  “Yes, sir.” Determined to make this happen, I agreed.

  “Alright, set it up. Keep me updated on progress.”

  After that he hung up. I made one more call and set my plan into motion before heading back to the van.

  Rex and I stayed in the surveillance van until the sun started coming up, taking turns sleeping in those shitty chairs. Our relief came right on time; I went home and passed out again for the second day in a row.

  After sleeping for a few hours, I needed to get up and get the ball rolling on my plan. Rubbing my face with my fingers, I realized I needed to change my look. If I was going to go undercover as a drug boss, I needed to look the part, not look like a bum FBI agent.