“Did he?” he barks, leaning his body farther into me so I have to bend back to keep room between us.
“Did he to which one?” I ask coyly, definitely poking the angry bear now.
Harvey lets out a feral growl, one I like way too much. “Did he to any of them?”
“Would it matter if he did?” I ask as I eye his fists.
I have never felt in any danger from Harvey, even him storming in here didn’t do anything except give me some visions of him taking me hard and hot when he’s in this mood. But his fists give me pause. I don’t believe Harvey is the type of person to hurt me, but he might hurt himself.
“Yes!” he yells, making me jump, mainly because I wasn’t expecting the sudden volume change.
“Why?”
“Because …” he snaps, unable to finish.
“Keep going,” I urge.
He steps into me now, lining his body up with mine while I’m backed against a chair.
Windows surround us with life buzzing past, using the small awning as cover as they move by. Any of them can see us right now, and that thought sends a thrill through me.
My breathing deepens. Feeling him against me only makes me harder, which is pretty obvious to both of us.
“Because I’m in charge of your protection, and I don’t know this guy,” he finally says.
I’m disappointed that he can’t admit what he truly means.
“Right, well, I’m sure you can perform a background check if you ask Sasha his details. That is, assuming you believe Declan hasn’t already checked him out. Is that all you got?” I challenge, wishing I could fold my arms over my chest to get the full sassy effect, but my tone will have to do since he’s too close to give me room.
“You are enjoying this!” he accuses.
“Having you pressed up against me? Clearly, I am,” I shift my hips and watch his eyes flutter with desire. “Now, do you have any other issues you want to discuss?”
“Why do you need to make this more difficult than it has to be? Your mom said you were a commitment-phobe. She said you were a workaholic who never gave up your time to be in a relationship.”
“I never said those things. She did. Besides”—I give him a small shrug—“what does that have to do with anything?”
“Why are you pushing me to say this? To admit it?”
“Admit what?”
Harvey growls, a sound that vibrates through his chest and over to my body. Then he pulls me forward, wrapping both hands around my neck and shoving me forward until my lips are brushing his, but not to kiss. Instead, he keeps us both close, our breaths caressing each other’s and our eyes unable to look away from each other.
“I don’t know what is happening here. I know I should back away, but I won’t. I know I should stop whatever the fuck is happening, but I can’t. I know I shouldn’t care if you fuck someone else, but I do. So give me a fucking break, okay?”
I’m basically a puddle of turned on mess in front of him. I want so badly to smash my lips into his, to rub up all over him, and strip him of his clothes. But when he takes a shaky step back, I don’t follow.
He’s right in some ways. I don’t know why I’m pushing him. I mean, I do know—I’m incredibly attracted to him—yet he has been clear that he doesn’t want more with me.
Why set myself up for possible heartbreak?
“Look,” I say on a shaky sigh, finally giving in, “Sasha came in here with Teagan and her friend. After a little pushing about us both being single, she just wanted to know about Scarlett. They all ate lunch, and after Teagan left, they wanted a few photos so they could promote the restaurant on his Instagram account. Then they were out of here. So whatever she said, or showed you, don’t take it at face value. We didn’t fuck, we didn’t set up a date, and we barely spoke. The photos you saw were a bribe from Sasha so he could get her heels or something.”
When I see Harvey visibly relax, it annoys me. I’m not the only one who is seeing something happening between us.
Why does he get things his way and I have to follow?
“Good.”
“Good? Why good? Are you staking a claim?” I ask, trying not to wince when he looks repelled by the idea.
“I’m not … Like I said, I don’t usually do this.”
“And what is this?”
Harvey turns and begins pacing, obviously getting frustrated. Probably not only at me, but at our situation.
With him several steps from me, I turn my back on him so I can catch my breath. Being in Harvey’s orbit for too long sends me off my axis. I need a moment to recalibrate and remind myself that I’m not going to be that guy.
I’m not the guy who pushes for more.
I’m not the guy who wants more.
I don’t do that, right?
Then, why am I behaving this way with Harvey?
I should just let this go. What does it matter if he can’t say it out loud? It’s not like I’m shouting my feelings from the rooftops.
We are only together because Dad forced the issue. If he went away, then Harvey and I would have nothing more than a bit of fun together, regardless of what I want.
Considering how attracted I am to him, I would probably accept anything I could get.
How sad.
“It’s nothing. I’m overstepping. It won’t happen again,” he assures me.
Disappointment sets up camp inside me again.
It’s nothing? We are nothing?
“So, if a guy asks me out, or asks me to fuck, what do I say?” I try to sound casual and uncaring, but I think the cracks of my anger are pretty obvious.
Harvey watches me moving around the tables, but he doesn’t follow when I go into the kitchen, and he still has his eyes on me when I head back into the dining room toward him.
“Say whatever you want,” he finally responds.
“Is that what you’ll do if the same happens to you? Will you fuck someone who doesn’t have the misfortune of being your client?”
“Yes,” he barks, and it feels like a slap, which is stupid.
I have zero claim over him, and this was never anything to begin with. My father and Harvey both made sure nothing more can happen between us.
“Fantastic. Glad we sorted that out. Is that all?” I quip.
My shoulders slump when he doesn’t answer. Instead, he storms out of the restaurant.
I stare at the door for a while longer before I kick myself into gear and move over to lock it. I then finish wiping down the tables, do a quick stock check of the booze, and ring through my orders. It’s all predictably boring until my cell rings.
A stupid part of me hopes it’s Harvey.
A bigger part of me assumes it’s Scarlett.
Instead, it’s an unknown number, making fear tighten in my chest.
I saved the number Dad last called me on, but I don’t know how he plans on contacting me.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Nix. It’s Donny,” a familiar voice speaks, taking me back to another time.
“Donny? Why are you calling?” I sound harsher than I should for my old friend, but after over ten years of no contact, I don’t feel like now is a good time to reconnect.
How shitty can his timing be? And how the hell did he get my number?
“We got a meeting. Didn’t your dad talk to you?” he asks in surprise.
“You’re still running around after him?” I gasp, unable to keep the clear detest out of my voice.
Donny once was my best friend, and then I came out at sixteen. My father basically disowned me after his anger got the better of him with a few punches. Donny acted like I had the plague afterward. He avoided me and spent most of his time with my father. I knew he did jobs for him, but I didn’t realize it was still ongoing. I figured once Donny grew up and got a clue, he would have gotten away from my dad quickly.
“Look, we can catch up later. I’ll pick you up in five minutes. Be out back of your restaurant. No cell phones and no weapons.�
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“Wait. What?” I gasp.
He already hung up.
I consider calling Harvey in the five minutes I have, but instead, I call Scarlett.
“Yo!” she shouts excitedly through the phone.
“I need you to work for me tonight. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t an emergency,” I spit out the second she picks up.
Today is supposed to be her day off, so I hate pulling this on her with such short notice.
“Whoa, is everything okay?” Concern taints her voice. I know it’s because I never do this.
“I don’t know. I just need this favor, please, Scarlett?” I beg, already panicking over what I need to face.
“Of course. But you’ll owe me.”
“Thank you. I know you want Christmas Eve lunch off so you can get ready for the dinner. Consider it done.”
“Yes!” she squeals in my ear.
“I need to go. I’ll leave the spare keys in my office and the back door unlocked.”
“Wait. Do you want me to come by and pick them up from you while—”
“No time, I’m sorry. I’ll call you when I can.”
I hang up and glance at my cell. I’m not sure I have time to call Harvey. Then I hear a horn honk outside and know I missed my chance. However, if I turn on the watch, it will transmit where I am and signal to him this is happening.
I ditch my phone into my top drawer, leaving the spare keys by my laptop, and rush outside.
Just as I enter the SUV, I click the watch and hope I get out of this alive.
Chapter 9
“Donny?” I ask when my eyes adjust to the interior, finding myself in the back seat with someone I never thought I would see again.
The last time I saw him, we were scrawny and clueless about life. Now he has packed on at least eighty pounds of muscle, and his once shoulder-length hair has been chopped short, though he’s wearing a beanie, so it’s possible he has it longer on top.
I used to think Donny was cute, but he has an intensity to him now that gives him the look of someone much older. He looks aged, wary, and alert.
“Hey, man. Long time, no see,” he murmurs, staring fixedly on me.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I demand as the car starts up and we make our way to God knows where.
“Your father sent me.”
“Yeah, I gathered that. But, why didn’t you get out?”
I understand the appeal Donny had for Dad since his own father was abusive. Looking back, all Donny wanted was approval, and he found it in spades with my own father.
Dad loved Donny the first time he came around to my house when he was eight. Donny was everything I wasn’t—loved playing sports and was a tough kid due to his dad using him as a punching bag. Dad said he had spine and guts; things he used to say I severely lacked. He basically adopted Donny as his own.
Hasn’t he grown up since those days? Hasn’t he seen my father is no good?
While I never liked how things were left between us and what it likely meant, I never thought in a million years he would still be in the same place.
“Get out of what?” He sounds genuinely confused.
“Get out from under my father! You could have been so much more.”
“I am so much more. Your father helped me become the man I am,” he says proudly. I don’t think he realizes how much of a disadvantage that actually is.
“So, my father clicks his fingers and you come running?”
As he narrows his eyes on me, I see something feral cross his expression. Donny was never a mean guy—his father’s abuse turned him off that—but perhaps things have changed since I last saw him.
“I am a trusted confidant in your father’s organization. I do my job well, and he respects that.”
I bite my tongue, wanting to tell him that my father does appreciate loyalty, but he is just as spineless as he always accused me of being. He would give Donny or any of his men up in a heartbeat if it bettered him in any way.
“Whatever. Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
“Fine,” I grit out. “Who are we seeing?”
“Not anyone you need to know the name of,” Donny snaps, his gaze shifting to the front of the car, looking stoic and impenetrable.
When we were kids, he used to always be a little quiet, a little cautious. Now, gone is that young boy, and here sits a man who looks confident and is probably just as terrifying as my father can be.
“Seriously? Why am I even needed for this shit if I’m not allowed to know who we’re meeting?” I rant.
Am I really expected to put my life on the line while being given zero information about what I’m stepping into? What if these meetings don’t gain us any information? What if this is all wasted and I’m stuck doing my father’s bidding forever?
“Because this client requires a blood relation to be present. Your father being otherwise detained leaves some people concerned about the state of affairs, concerned that things have been jeopardized.”
“So, I just need to show up and look pretty?” I retort, not quite knowing what to make of the light that flares in Donny’s gaze when he turns to look back at me.
Is that annoyance? Or interest?
“You are required to be present. I will do the talking,” he tells me sternly, leaving no room for argument.
“And if this turns into a shit show?”
“That’s what these boys are here for.” He nods to the front of the car.
I briefly glance at the two men sitting in front. They don’t appear to be paying us much attention. I get the feeling these guys are the muscle, not the brains.
Dad was always good about surrounding himself with intimidating men. He considered it a show of power. He wasn’t interested in having smart people around him, which was probably a survival tactic. No one can overthrow the empire you are trying to build if everyone around you are too stupid to figure out how to do that.
I’m not sure Donny fits in the stupid category since Dad has branched out by letting him in his fold.
Interesting.
“Fine,” I mutter, leaning back and watching the scenery rush by.
Long, tense minutes pass before Donny speaks up again, his gaze firmly back on me. “Sorry about the other night.”
“Other …?” I try to figure out what he means, especially since I haven’t seen Donny for years. Then it clicks when his gaze shifts to my bruised cheek. “That was you?”
“Yeah. I was beating on the asshole, though, so I guess that counts for something, right?” He smirks like he finds himself amusing.
“No, it doesn’t fucking count! Why the hell would you do that?” I demand, fisting my hands in my lap.
I haven’t seen Donny in years, and the first time he sees me, he’s beating up Harvey and terrorizing us? What the hell?
“You needed the message. I made sure you weren’t hurt too badly.” He shrugs like he doesn’t know what else I would expect.
“You don’t even feel guilty that you beat up on someone you don’t even know? Who did nothing to you?” I ask, looking at him in disgust.
How far my once friend has truly fallen.
“Nothing?” Donny’s tone turns sharp, his eyes firing with emotion. “That asshole helped put our father away!”
“Our father?” I gasp, feeling even more repulsed.
Just what the hell has been going on in the years since I left?
“Angus was more of a father to me than my own ever was.”
“And I guess you were more of a son to him than I ever was.” I shake my head at him, wondering how different he is now to the young boy I met at school. “Dad is a criminal. You can’t get upset when he gets caught. Harvey was doing the right thing. He was doing his job. Dad was going to go down eventually. That’s what happens when you continually commit crimes.”
“And now you’re fucking him?” Donny growls.
I grind my jaw, not sure I should even respond to that. He’s cle
arly the same homophobic asshole he was fourteen years ago.
“That is definitely none of your business.”
“It’s disrespectful.”
“My father showed me zero respect when he called me names and beat the shit out of me. I don’t believe I owe him any respect,” I retort, waiting to see if he looks ashamed by this. He was there when it happened and didn’t lift a finger to help me.
“Is that what this is about? You’re getting back at your dad for a mistake he made?”
“Shit, man, not everything I do is about my dad. I like Harvey,” I admit out loud, realizing Harvey is likely listening to this. “He’s a good man. And what my dad did isn’t something he believes is a mistake. He wouldn’t take back what he did to me, and now, I wouldn’t want him to. It showed me exactly the type of man he is, and that’s a lesson I will carry with me forever.”
“You shouldn’t grow attached to him, Nix,” Donny warns.
“Fuck you,” I grumble.
Donny grabs my arm and pulls me close enough for him to get his other hand around my neck. He doesn’t choke me, but his hold is enough to shove some deserved fear into me.
I freeze and hold my breath, wondering what he’s going to do.
“You might not want to, but while you’re with me, you will show some respect. When we step into that meeting, we are the ones who will keep you from getting your ass killed. So, how about you stick to that old adage: if you have nothing nice to say, then shut the fuck up.” He shoves me, and I knock the back of my head against the car door.
The rest of the drive is tense, and I don’t glance over at Donny again. Instead, I grip my hands tightly in my lap and hope he can’t tell I’m shaking.
***
The meeting takes place on the other side of town at an abandoned shop. The windows are boarded up and the emptiness of it makes me feel uneasy.
We arrive by making our way into the front, while the man we are meeting makes his way in from the back.
He looks older than I expected, easily entering his seventies. The five men surrounding him are much younger and meaner looking, not hiding their weapons. I don’t know what Donny expects the two guys with us to do if this turns bad. We are clearly outnumbered.
I Broke Into His Office (Love at First Crime Book 4) Page 11