by Zoë Lane
“Something about a client of mine taking up too much of my time.” I glanced at him. His lips fought a smile.
“You have to find some work-life balance.”
I snorted. “Thanks for the advice.”
“You haven’t answered my question.”
“I can’t. Professional, remember?”
“Right. Professional.”
A few seconds passed. I felt the atmosphere in the small, square box shift. How slow was this elevator? I walked toward the door to be ready to bolt when it opened. In the fuzzy reflection of the panels, I saw Landyn reach for me. Turning me around, his head dipped and our lips met.
Why was it every time we kissed, I wanted nothing more than to be in the moment? Did he have this effect on every woman he kissed? This kiss, much like the last, was so tender, his lips gently suckling my own.
“I don’t want this elevator to ever stop,” he whispered before taking my lips again.
“It has been going for a long time.”
“Best, slowest elevator ever.” He grinned against my lips.
With determination I would later curse, I squirmed out of his embrace, and the chill I felt pained my bones.
“I won’t give up, Rose. I have never met a woman that’s impressed me the way you have. I have to have you.”
The doors chimed, and once again, his gaze had me rooted to my spot. “Landyn…”
“Don’t deny me again. Just…it’s out there, and let’s keep it that way.”
I nodded. We walked out of the elevator. “Tonight—”
“I promise, a quiet night in. No clubbing, no…nothing. I’ll order in, go to bed early.”
“Your game is tomorrow.”
“Yup.”
“Are you ready?”
He gave me a playful side-eye. “I’m never not ready.”
“Of course,” I said with a chuckle. He walked me to my car. “You gave me your word.”
He grinned. “I never break a promise.”
“Except the one where you said you’d never kiss me again. You remember that promise?”
He backed away, his grin more wicked than before. “And I don’t regret being a liar.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
LANDYN
I was going to ground my sister. A grown woman, but she was living in my house.
Grounded.
Where are you? I texted to Sean.
Back of the club. Near the waterfall.
Now I’d broken a second promise to Rose. This time, I wouldn’t be able to get out of it with a smile or a kiss. It would demand a whole body experience, which she would undoubtedly turn down.
I ignored the screaming girls and the photographers as I walked right past the bouncer, who probably recognized me by the girls yelling my name for a picture. The club’s strobe lights immediately gave me a headache, and the music flooding my ears felt like water. What had appealed to me?
Besides the women.
Ignoring people calling my name, wishing me well tomorrow, I bumped and shoved my way through the massively tight crowd toward the waterfall backlit by a dark blue light. My sister was going to owe me big-time.
And I was going to kill Sean.
What the hell was he thinking, bringing her to this club? The night before the game?
My phone buzzed again. Cas wanted to know where I was.
At a club picking up my sister. Going straight home. Not drinking. No women. I swear.
Watch out for paps.
As if I didn’t need the warning. Chances were my picture was already in everybody’s Snapchat feeds, and if I had enough battery in my phone, I’d see myself trending on Twitter.
Crap, my phone was just about dead.
Thankfully, I stood a head taller than most of the people in the club and scanned the tops of their heads for Sean. No luck.
I traveled along the waterfall until I came to the VIP section. Without waiting for the all clear, I charged past the bouncers. Sean’s startled expression over the shoulder of a girl giving him a lap dance made me ball my fists. If it wasn’t for the girl being in my way, I would’ve punched him in the face. He tried to get the girl off him, but she fought. I looked around the small room and didn’t see anyone else.
“Where’s my sister?”
“Landyn?” The girl turned her head toward me.
Oh. Hell. No.
In two strides I was at my sister. I wrapped my arms around her waist and snatched her off Sean.
“This isn’t what it looks like, Landyn, prom—”
I punched the word back into his mouth. Before I could take another swing, my arms were wrenched behind my back. I didn’t resist for fear I’d break my arms and I’d be out of a job. “Don’t you ever touch my sister! I’m fine! Let me go!”
“Landyn!”
I heard my sister shriek and then sob. She stumbled onto the couch, not able to get her footing. She was completely drunk.
It always amazed me how a drunk girl couldn’t stand but she could give a hell of a lap dance.
“I’m leaving! I just came for my sister. Let me go! I’m Landyn Gallagher. I’ve got to play tomorrow!”
Yeah, I dropped my name. The bouncers had successfully dragged me out of the lounge and I had lost sight of my sister. And Sean was still in there.
The bouncers dropped my arms and I surged back inside. I threw my sister over my shoulder and caught Sean’s eyes. He still sat on the couch holding a towel to his nose. “I think you broke it, dumbass.”
“You don’t need it to play.” I turned and walked out.
My sister writhed against me, protesting the whole way out the back of the club. “Put me down.”
“Not a chance.”
“I’m not a baby. I’m grown!”
“You’re underage! How did you get inside?”
“How else?”
Fake ID. Where she got it, I didn’t care. I just had to get back to the car and get her home.
The alleyway was dark and quiet except for Lacey’s moans. I could cross the street and then make my way up to the main road and the parking garage that was a block to the east. Couldn’t have my car seen outside this club, although it didn’t make a difference now that my face had been. I adjusted her as something she was wearing was digging a cavern into my shoulder. Although I’d played through pain, I preferred to have a working shoulder tomorrow.
“When you get sober, we’re going to have a long talk about how you’re going to AA and back to school.”
“No!”
“I don’t want to hear it, Lacey. I’m paying your tuition, you’re living in my house—”
“You gonna hit me too?”
I halted in my tracks. She tilted her head up, her tear-stained face glistening in the light of the moon. “What did you say?”
“You gonna hit me? Dad used to say all those things. ‘I’m paying for your food, your clothes—”
That she remembers? The words, not the fists? “Lacey, I would never hurt you! I’ve taken beatings for you!”
“Landyn! Landyn!”
I wished I hadn’t heard my name, nor seen the blinding flashes of light. Rose is going to murder me. And I would help her. It would be the least I could do.
I put my free hand up to block the light and hurried across the street to the other side. The paps followed us all the way to my car. When I put Lacey on her feet, she keeled over and puked.
She wobbled and I held her arm to steady her. Bile trickled down her chin. “I don’t feel so well.”
“Yeah, no kidding.”
“Landyn…”
I caught her before she collapsed into her own vomit. “Lacey!” I quickly put her into my car and buckled her seat belt, yelled at the photographers to get the hell out of my way, and then sped off in the direction of the hospital.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
ROSE
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
I stared at the article in my entertainment app. Breaking new
s of Landyn Gallagher with a girl slung over his arm at a club.
He’d lied to me.
He’d said he’d stay home and…
I believed him. I looked into his eyes and…
Those blue eyes that held me captive every time I risked my heart to look into them. They were so truthful the last time. Was I a fool?
I put my head in my hands. It didn’t matter if I was a fool or if he was even truthful. This was it. I had failed. The one thing the GM and the owner didn’t want to see before game day. Less than twenty-four hours. I was so close.
So close.
I opened up my work laptop that I had just closed. I still had a job to do and I was going to do it. I pulled up a draft sheet that Helena had me prepare “just in case of a last-minute catastrophe.” Boy, had she been right. Clearly she’d done this before.
My phone buzzed beside me. I half wanted to ignore it in case it was Helena or even Cerberus calling. Heaven help me if the GM or the owner had already seen the headline.
I kept my eyes on my computer.
Buzz.
I sighed, knowing I’d have to check it.
Rose, it’s not what you’re thinking.
At least he knows me a little, I thought.
Rose, I’m at the hospital. I’m fine.
My phone buzzed a third time.
Rose, I need you. Phone’s almost dead. Come to the hospital downtown. It’s my sister.
I closed my laptop again and practically snatched the cord from the outlet. I asked my phone to call Helena as I raced out of the office.
“I’ve already seen it,” she said the second she came on the line. “I’m on my way to the office.”
“It’s not what you think.”
“He’s got a girl slung over his shoulder. He looks half-crazed. I hate how this is going to sound, but maybe you should’ve—”
“It’s his sister,” I rushed to say. “He’s at the hospital. And no, I’m not the type to offer myself for the job.”
“At least he has an excuse. And I would only suggest it as an extreme last resort. A nuclear option. Where are you now?”
“At the office. I’m going to meet him.”
“You have the catastrophe sheet?”
“Of course.”
“Good girl. I’ll run interference—like the sports analogy?—with Cerberus. Message me if you need me to make any additional calls. You’ve got this, girl, but we’re a team. Don’t wait if you need us.”
“Thanks, Helena.”
“No problem.”
The office wasn’t far from the hospital. When I arrived at the emergency room, a group of photographers had already congregated near the information desk.
“I’m sorry, I can’t give you any information about a patient here at the hospital unless you’re designated family and have been given express written permission by the patient,” the attendant said. “Now if you don’t leave this instant, I’ll have security escort you out.” I breezed past her as though I belonged, but I had no clue where I was going. It wasn’t long before I heard my name called.
I turned and saw Landyn jogging forward. He wasn’t dressed for the club, in a dark blue t-shirt that had his college emblem on the front and gray sweatpants with a large yellowish stain on one leg. “She’s been moved to the intensive care unit.”
“What? What happened?”
Landyn leaned in close. “They think it’s alcohol poisoning.”
I met his eyes, words lost to me. Alcohol poisoning? Wasn’t she underage? Didn’t the bartenders realize how much alcohol they had served her?
Landyn took my hand and steered me back past the information desk and down a long hallway, away from the main waiting room area. “My phone died or I would’ve told you where we were. I figured you’d be at the ER, so I came back.”
“You figured right. Landyn—”
“Sean texted me from the club, said Lacey was drunk.” We entered the elevator. Landyn grasped my shoulders, and his gaze bore into mine. “I swear I was home lying on the couch, watching Stranger Things.”
“I believe you,” I whispered.
“I had to get her. I’m her brother.” I nodded in agreement. “When I got there…” His eyes turned dark and his entire face hardened. He glanced at his right hand. I did too, seeing reddish knuckles.
“Did you get into a fight?”
“No.”
“Then why does it look like you punched somebody?”
“Because I did.”
“Landyn!”
“It was Sean! He won’t go to the press, don’t worry. I might’ve broken his nose. He’s going to keep his head down until game time.”
I broke free from him and turned my back. “We’ll probably have to come up with a story for that as well.”
“Who cares about Sean? He had it coming. One time, he tripped up my wide receiver and intercepted my pass. The refs never called the penalty and his team won that game. He deserved a punch in the face for that.”
I rolled my eyes at the ridiculous grudge these players held against one another, even off the field.
The elevator doors opened and I let Landyn lead the way. “Anyway, I had to pull her off him. I punched him, then got my sister out of there.”
“What’s on your pants?”
“Whatever was in her stomach. Probably all the booze she’s been drinking.”
I cringed, thinking about how it must’ve felt to have your drunk baby sister vomit all over you. I’m sure my older brother was thankful that never happened to him. “Do the doctors think she’ll be okay?”
“Too soon to tell. They pumped her stomach. She passed out and hasn’t woken up.” His voice cracked, and he cleared his throat to cover it up. I placed my hand on his back to comfort him. Landyn smiled at me. “Thank you for being here.”
“Of course. Where else would I be?”
His smile waned. “Because I’m your client?”
I shook my head. “Not just because you’re my client.”
He took my hand in his and we continued down the corridor until we reached the door of her room. I hung back, as a doctor and nurse were inside. Landyn went to his sister’s side. “Anything?”
The doctor adjusted his glasses down the bridge of his nose and looked at Landyn. “She’ll most likely wake up now that we’ve pumped her stomach. Her kidneys are showing some damage. That may heal in time or might be the start of disease. How long has she been drinking?”
Landyn blinked a few times, his mouth open. “I…I don’t…I didn’t even know she was until last week.”
“I’m going to recommend she seek treatment, first at a detox center and then regular monitoring afterwards. And you’re sure this is the first time this has happened?”
“That I know of,” Landyn whispered and reached for Lacey’s hand.
“The body doesn’t lie. She’s a chronic consumer of alcohol. She’ll need to break the habit or face another bout of alcohol poisoning that could put her into kidney failure.”
At nineteen! She was going to have a miserable life if she didn’t rebound.
Landyn’s shoulders slumped and his body shook, but he held firm to Lacey’s hand, even brushing her hair with his other.
The nurse finished her checks and followed the doctor out. I rushed to Landyn’s side and wrapped my arms around his waist. “It’s going to be okay. She’ll get the help she needs.” Landyn stood very still, his gaze remaining on his sister’s sleeping form. “She’ll recover,” I continued. “Lacey is young, and she has a lot of life to live.”
“If only my father had killed her when she was little. When he slammed her head against the wall…if she’d been in a coma then, he would’ve pulled the plug and she’d be out of her misery. No more pain.”
“Landyn, you can’t mean that!”
He unlocked my arms and collapsed into a nearby chair, his gaze still on Lacey. “What if I do? Look at how much pain she’s in. She’s blocked a lot of her childhood. Now her father�
�s back, and she thinks she can have a relationship with him and he lies…denigrates her to an entire city. Maybe even the nation.” His eyes finally met mine and tears unabashedly cascaded down his cheeks. “I’m her older brother. I’m supposed to protect her. I couldn’t stop this.”
I dropped to my knees before him, taking his bowed head in my hands. “You can’t protect her from everything. Believe me, that’s not your job. And you can’t always stop people from doing bad things.” I lifted his chin so he’d see me. “You are a wonderful older brother. She’s going to need you to get through this. She will get through this, just like when you two were children. Don’t doubt yourself. Not when she needs you the most.”
“Rose…” His voice croaked. Bags underneath his eyes, lines around his frowning mouth. He’d aged in a matter of hours. “Rose, I’m tired.”
“I know.”
And tomorrow he’d play the game of his life.
His eyes widened. “Your job! Are you going be fired because of—”
“Don’t worry about it. This”—I pointed to Lacey—“is more important. I’ll be okay. I’m a big girl, I can take of myself.”
His hands cupped my cheeks and brought me close. “Promise me, if anything happens and I’m the cause—”
Impulsively, I leaned in. Our lips met in a hunger, as though it would be the last time. In seconds it was over, and I felt an emptiness I’d never experience before in my life. We’d bonded over so much, and my life had changed in a way I had never expected.
My heart beat differently.
I stood. “I’m going to get to work on our statement.” I could feel my phone buzz probably for the twentieth time. “Don’t worry about anything. Just let me know when she wakes up.” I reached inside my computer bag and produced my phone charger. “Use mine.” I handed it to him. “I’ll be in the nearest waiting area.”
I quickly exited without waiting for his response. I had to hurry to release a statement before the first stories had a chance to settle and the damage was irrevocably done.
CHAPTER THIRTY
ROSE