Rough and Ready (More Than A Cowboy Book 2)

by Vanessa Vale

  Randy didn’t say a word.

  I nodded, understanding what he wanted me to do. I pulled out my cell, swiped the number that I’d avoided for weeks.

  “Jesus, Harper. Why the fuck haven’t you called me? You’re such a bitch.” I pulled the cell away from my ear and hung up.

  Reed’s jaw was clenched tight having overheard. I took a deep breath. Called back.

  “Hello, Harper.” This time, he sounded much more pleasant. The way he could switch from angry asshole to smooth was another indication he was a psychopath.

  “I give up. I’m…” I looked to Randy. “I’m scared. God, Cam, I can’t even leave my building.”

  “Then give me the fucking money.”

  I sighed. “Fine.”

  “You always were useful for something,” he replied.

  “I can come now to your apartment.” Clearly, he was desperate. The guy who’d made him that way was standing ten feet away from me.

  “You want cash, I have to go to the bank,” I told him.

  “Fine. Two hours.” He hung up.

  I tucked my cell back in my coat.

  “Good girl,” Reed said then leaned down and kissed the top of my head. I exhaled and felt shaky. This was really happening. Cam was going to come to the building, and Randy was going to take him. Probably kill him.

  “We’re done here,” Reed said to Randy, stepping back and pulling me with him. “He’ll be at the gym in two hours. Give me fifteen minutes alone with him, and he’s all yours. Then this shit is done.”

  “Yeah, yeah. If Cam shows, I won’t even remember his sister’s name.” Randy looked from me to Quake.

  They had a little stare down then Quake nodded.

  Randy and his goons went to their car, and we watched them drive away.

  “Hang in there, doll,” Quake said, coming over and patting my shoulder. “It’ll be over soon. You can stop running.”

  I looked to Reed, who nodded.

  “I already have,” I said to Quake but kept my gaze on Reed’s. He pulled me into his arms, and I knew, even in a rundown strip mall, I was exactly where I wanted to be.

  26

  REED

  I’d fought in the ring. Wanted to win. Always. After years of taking his shit, his belt and his hard-slung belligerence, I’d fought back against my dad. Had wanted him dead. Saw it done. Paid a big price for it.

  But my father had been after me. His anger had been directed solely my way because I hadn’t fallen in line. I might have gone along with his crimes, but I hadn’t been in on them. I’d been able to handle it. Knew the score. Even knew I’d have to go to juvie to see him dead.

  It had been worth every fucking minute of it.

  But this Randy fucker? I’d wanted to stalk across the parking lot and finish him for even looking at Harper. He preyed on the innocent. Used them. Harper was strong and brave, but she didn’t live in his world. Didn’t know how low people went. How desperate. How dirty. Well, maybe she did with Cam, but he wasn’t anything like Randy.

  I wasn’t sure if Cam was a sociopath or a psychopath. Maybe both, especially where Harper was concerned. But he was also a dumbass. He’d been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, taken the opportunities that afforded and made a good life for himself. Instead, he ended up owing a guy like Randy.

  I knew what Cam would do for fifty K.

  I knew what Randy would do for it.

  Cam had offered his own fucking sister—again—to Randy, and he’d sent those two assholes after her. If she hadn’t fought so hard, they’d have raped her then given her over to their boss. She’d have paid off Cam’s debt that would have cost her so much more than a few zeroes on her bank balance.

  She’d survived all the shit Cam had thrown at her. Again and again. She’d come out okay but taken a bunch of hits. The fight was over now. She had guys in her corner. Me. Gray. Quake, and since she was under his protection, the entire No Holds Barred crew. Thank fuck.

  No matter how much I wanted to kill the asshole, Quake could take care of Randy, would ensure he forgot about Harper. But her brother?

  Cam was going down, and I was going to see to it. Just like I had with my dad.

  Only this time, I wasn’t going to get my hands dirty. I was smarter now.

  Randy knew there was no money. Cam was in big trouble. He’d pushed Randy off for two years—I was surprised Cam hadn’t been shivved in prison—for Harper’s cash. Randy was done waiting, and we’d hand the little shit over on a fucking silver platter.

  We drove back to the building in silence. I’d held Harper’s hand in my lap, not letting go the entire way. Gray and Emory met us in the lobby.

  “Sorry to pull you back from the ranch,” I said to them.

  Emory smiled at both of us, but Gray only nodded. He was in his usual non-workout uniform of jeans, snap shirt and Stetson.

  “Gray filled me in on what’s going on,” Emory said, coming over and offering Harper a hug. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and concern filled her eyes as she glanced up at me over Harper’s shoulder. She was a nurse practitioner and a mom, which made her like a mother hen, clucking around anyone who needed help, taking care of them. That was how we’d been connected with Quake Baker in the first place.

  While Emory took care of everyone, Gray was the one who took care of her. Nothing would happen to Emory that was for fucking sure.

  “Come up to our apartment. We’ll get something to eat.” Emory led Harper to the elevator, and I stood back with Gray.

  “I shut the gym down early,” he told me, tipping his voice low. “This gets messy, I don’t want it happening in the parking lot.”

  “It’s getting messy,” I countered, cracking my knuckles.

  Gray studied me for a moment then nodded. Over the summer, he’d gone off with Quake and Frankie to take care of the guy who’d broken into Emory’s house. He’d never said what they’d done with him. I was smart enough not to ask. He knew how I felt, knew I wanted a few minutes with Cam. It wouldn’t make things right, but it would sure feel fucking good.

  The elevator doors slid open, and we went to join the women. Gray and Emory stepped into the car, and I looked to Harper. We’d only ever been on an elevator together that first time we met, the time she’d lost her shit.

  “Stairs?” I asked. I’d skip the elevator whenever she wanted if that made her feel better.

  She glanced at the elevator then me. “I’m good.” Proving it, she took a deep breath and joined Gray and Emory, who held the button to keep the doors open.

  Harper turned to face me and smiled.

  That fucking smile.

  I nodded then joined them.

  I had no idea if she’d ever get on an elevator in other places, but here, she knew she was safe. It was a start. I’d take it.

  Emory made some snacks while I stood with Harper by the window in Gray’s and Emory’s apartment. While there were two apartments on the second floor, mine and Harper’s, there was only one on the third. It was open and spacious. Before Emory had moved in, the place was as neat as a fucking pin and minimal. Emory’s things had added some life to the place. Plants, knickknacks and shit like that. It felt… homey.

  Harper looked down into the parking lot. Waited.

  I set one hand on the window ledge, the other on her hip and stood right behind her. I was trying to reassure her, but really, touching her made me feel better.

  “You’ll stay up here with Emory,” I said. “No one can get up here. You’ll be safe.”

  Again, the words were just as much for me as for her. I had to know while I was dealing with Cam that nothing was going to happen to her. I wasn’t sure if Randy himself would show up to collect Cam or just Tweedldee and Tweedledum. Either way, I didn’t want them anywhere near Harper while I was distracted beating the shit out of her brother.

  She nodded. “I know.”

  I slid my hand down her back, felt the little bumps of her spine, then leaned in to murmur in her ear, so
I wasn’t overheard. “I want to take you to my shower. Wash away the filth of that meeting. You’re too good to even do shit like that.”

  She shook her head, kept looking out the window. “No, I’m not. Not after all that Cam’s done to me.”

  I spun her then to face me. Tipped her chin up with my fingers. “You survived, princess.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “You did,” I repeated. “You think I’m the fighter? Fuck, woman. You’ve been fighting your whole life. It’s over today. Done.”

  “I’ll always be dirty,” she whispered.

  I slid my hand around to the back of her neck, cupped it. “Words like that piss me off. You into spankings, beautiful?”

  Her eyes flared, and her mouth fell open. That cut the tension. While I’d had her a number of times, we hadn’t gotten into anything kinky. I had no idea if getting her ass spanked got her hot. I’d never done it before, but if it was something she needed, I’d give it to her.

  “You want to be with me any less because of my past?” I asked. “Because of my family?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “Same goes for me. You were given a shitty family just like me. So we make a new family. You and me.”

  This time when her eyes widened, it was because of surprise. “What?”

  I couldn’t believe I had to spell it out to her. “I love you, Harper Lane.”

  Her eyes welled with tears.

  I ran a hand over my head. “Fuck, the first time I tell a woman I love her, and I make her cry.”

  That made her laugh, and she wiped the tears away. “No. I’m not crying.”

  “I’m not all that smart, but I know tears when I see them.”

  “I’m not crying because I’m sad. I’m… I’m happy. I want to be your family too.”

  I exhaled and smiled. “Thank fuck.”

  “I love you, Reed Johnson,” she said in the softest, sweetest, most perfect voice ever.

  I kissed her then. Long and hard.

  She loved me.

  Me. The fuck up. The fighter. The guy so broken I figured I was unredeemable. The only place I could win was in the ring.

  But with Harper, I won the championship title. I had no idea how I got so lucky.

  I pulled back, leaned my forehead against hers.

  “When Cam comes, I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  I pulled back, stroked my hand over her hair. “I think you really are itching for a spanking. I get you in bed later, and your ass is going to have my handprint on it, yeah?”

  “Reed.”

  “Don’t insult me, princess. I can handle Cam. I need to know he’s done. I need him to know that to get to you, he’s got to get through me. Besides, payback’s a bitch, and Randy’s going to take care of his ass. After I’m finished with him.”

  A car door slammed, and we looked down into the lot.

  When Harper stiffened beside me, I knew that was Cam. The fact that he climbed from a fancy Beemer made me wonder why he didn’t fucking sell it to settle his debt or if he’d borrowed his Mommy’s car.

  We were too high up to get a good look at the guy, but he was here. I’d be close up soon enough.

  Turning her to face me, I kissed her again, not lifting my head as I heard Gray approach.

  “Stay here with Emory. After, I got plans for you, yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  27

  HARPER

  “We can’t just sit up here and eat hummus and crackers,” I said, pointing at the plate of snacks Emory had sat on the counter. How she could calmly make something healthy to eat while my man—and hers—were downstairs having a chat with Cam was beyond me.

  She turned from the fridge where she was filling a glass with ice, offered me a small smile. “Reed wants you safe. He cares for you.”

  I knew that. He’d said the L word. Him. Reed, the big, brawny fighter loved me. Butterflies filled my stomach like a thirteen-year-old girl having her first crush. Then it switched to dread. Panic.

  “I need to know this is done,” I replied, hugging myself. “I can’t… I can’t wonder if Cam’s ever going to bother me again.”

  Emory cocked her head, offered me a small smile. “I have no idea what Gray did to that guy who broke into my house. Quake said I never had to worry about him again, but did that mean he’d been scared straight? In jail? Dead? I have no idea.”

  I stood on the far side of the counter beside the two bar stools, and she came across the kitchen to face me.

  “Do you worry he’ll come back?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “No. Gray said I was safe, and I believe him. But I… I want to know what happened. Deep down, I still feel scared sometimes. Don’t tell Gray, or he’ll lose his mind.”

  Her words matched what I was feeling in my gut. I was done being scared. I loved the idea of Reed protecting me from Cam, but he couldn’t protect me from my thoughts and fears, no matter what he told me going forward about being safe.

  I had to know. I had to face Cam and stand up to him on my own. Looking him in the eye so he knew I couldn’t be used anymore was important. Crucial. This was my only chance.

  Spinning on my heel, I dashed toward the stairs. “I’m going down there. I need Cam to know he can’t hurt me any longer.”

  I took the steps two at a time and didn’t know Emory was following until I heard her footfall behind me.

  We came out into the lobby, and I peeked through the glass doors into the gym. It was empty except for Reed, Gray and Cam.

  Glancing at Emory, I took a deep breath and went through the doors.

  “I told you, it’s over,” Reed said, his back to me, arms crossed over his chest. There was none of the usual music coming through the speakers, and his voice cut through the open space. “There is no money.”

  They were over by the fighting ring, Gray standing between Cam and the exterior door.

  I hadn’t seen Cam in two years. His hair was longer. He’d lost weight. He was angry, and there was an air of desperation around him. A wildness. “There’s a shit ton of money. Harper needs to give it to me. Now.”

  “Not happening,” Reed countered. His voice was deep and ruthless, completely different than how it sounded when he was with me.

  “She owes me!” Cam shouted.

  Emory tugged on my arm and pulled me behind the front desk. We had a clear view of the guys, but I had to assume she was intentionally putting the counter between us and Cam. Just in case. He’d have to get through Reed and Gray first.

  “She owes you shit,” Reed stated. “You gambled. You lost. You pay up on your own.”

  “I did.”

  “With your fucking sister.”

  A slow smile spread across his face. “No one fucked my sister. That’s the problem. Randy still wants payment.”

  I didn’t even see Reed raise his fist, but he’d slammed it into Cam’s nose so fast I gasped.

  “Fuck!” Cam shouted, bending down and covering his face with his hand. Blood poured around it, dripping down his chin and onto his shirt.

  Reed and Grey turned their heads in our direction. Reed’s eyes narrowed seeing me, and Gray didn’t even blink although his eyes narrowed slightly when he glanced at Emory. Cam was too busy dealing with his nose to even notice. Reed grabbed Cam by his shirt and dragged him up the stairs and into the fighting ring, pretty much carrying him when he stumbled. The sides of the ring were metal fencing, the support poles covered with protective padding, just like I’d seen on the TV fights. Grey went up and pulled the access door closed behind them.

  “Your sister gave the money to charity,” Reed announced.

  Cam stood up straight but kept his hand to his face. His eyes flared wide, not expecting that. “What the fuck?”

  “You’re on your own with Randy.”

  “What? No! She wouldn’t do that.”

  “Yes, Cam. I would,” I called.

  Cam’s eyes widened as he walked toward the fencing, curled his fin
gers around the wire. Gray stood at the top of the steps, blocking his exit. Unless he wanted to climb over the ring’s walls, Cam wasn’t getting out.

  “You got that money because of me,” he said.

  I set my hands on the front desk’s counter, leaned forward. “Hush money for what you did, giving me to Randy, just like you gave me to Brad when I was thirteen.”

  I felt Emory’s hand settle on my shoulder, but she said nothing.

  Cam smiled. “Brad. Fuck, I’d forgotten about that. As for my money, you wouldn’t have gotten it if not for me,”

  He was delusional.

  “I’ve never wanted anything from you, Cam. As Reed said, the money’s gone. I’m out. You need to leave me alone.”

  He laughed, his teeth bloody. “Leave you alone? You set these fuckers on me.” He stuck an arm out and pointed at Reed.

  I shook my head, but at the sound of the exterior door opening, I whipped around. Randy and his two guys came through the door, stopped just inside. For once, I was glad to see them. If anything, I had to give Randy credit for being prompt.

  If I’d had even a glimmer of doubt about them taking Cam and doing… whatever to him, it was gone. I had no guilt. No conscience where he was concerned.

  “I didn’t set Reed and Gray on you,” I said then pointed to Randy. “I set your goons on you.”

  “What?” Cam’s eyes widened, for the first time out of fear. “No! Tell them you’ve got more money. That you’ll give it to them.”

  “Get it from Mom and Dad,” I replied. “They’ve bailed you out of everything else.”

  He shook his head, blood dripping onto the mat. “They won’t. They can’t. They’re broke.”

  That surprised me, and my mind stalled. They had no money? The infamous Lanes, broke? That made no sense, but I was sure Cam was correct. He’d no doubt hit them up first thing he got out of jail. I wondered if my father was a gambler as well. Maybe bad investments. I didn’t really care. I had a trust fund from my grandparents they couldn’t touch. I had my job and didn’t need fancy things like they did. Money didn’t buy happiness, that was for sure.