by Wilder, L.
“I do and I appreciate it, but this is something I have to get through on my own.”
His green eyes were full of worry as he asked, “You sure you’re up for working tonight?”
“Yeah, I could use the distraction.” I didn’t want him to think I was pushing him away, so I leaned over the counter and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “I’m good, Rafe. Really, I am.”
“That’s all I need to hear.”
Knowing it was a weekend night, and we’d be busy, I feigned a smile and told him, “I better get to it.”
“Just give me a holler if you need anything.”
I gave him a quick nod, then started prepping the different garnish trays. I did a quick inventory of our liquor shelves and restocked anything that was running low and was just about to check the tap when Lisa stepped behind the bar. “Hey, girl. How you making it tonight?”
“So far so good.” I turned to face her. “Thanks for filling in for me last night.”
“No problem. Glad to do it anytime.” She chuckled and said, “I don’t know if you heard, but your sister put on quite a show last night.”
“A show? What are you talking about?”
Lisa spent the next few minutes telling me all about the spectacle Kate had made of herself the night before. I couldn’t believe my ears. In all the years I’d known her, Kate had never lost control. She was always so together, making sure everyone thought she was the queen bee, so hearing how she’d drank too much and ended up on the stage came as a complete surprise. Lisa shook her head as she said, “I think the guys were a little disappointed when Rafe made her get off the stage.”
“Yeah, I’m sure they were. So, what happened after that?”
“Rafe took her out and made sure she got a cab back to her hotel. From there, I’m not so sure.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure. What’s on your mind?”
I knew Lisa had worked there for years and knew the brothers as well as any outsider could. I hoped she’d be able to confirm the fact that they were the good men I thought they were. “Rafe and his brothers ... They’re not into anything they shouldn’t be, right?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are they doing anything bad?”
“Bad how?”
“I don’t know.” I was fumbling, and if I didn’t think fast, I was going to end up saying something I had no business saying. I took a breath and tried to collect my thoughts before continuing, “I’ve heard rumors. I’m sure you’ve heard them too. I was just wondering if there was any truth to them.”
“That’s a question you need to be asking Rafe, not me.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I don’t even know why I asked.”
“You’re smart to ask, Marlowe.” She gave me a wink. “You’re just asking the wrong person.”
“Okay, I understand.”
“I will tell you this. Rafe and his brothers are loyal to a fault. If you’re in with them, you’re in. They’ll treat you like family ... love and protect you like you’re one of their own, but a family like that often comes at a cost.” Her eyes locked on mine. “You just have to decide if the price is worth it to you.”
“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Be sure that you do.” She motioned her head towards the door as she said, “It’s show time.”
Seconds later, the first few customers came sauntering in, and it wasn’t long until the place was completely packed. As I filled one drink after the next, I mulled over what Lisa had said about Rafe and his brothers. I knew she was right. Those men had been nothing but good to me, especially Rafe and Country. They’d looked out for me, helped me, and stood by me in a way my own family never had. That thought had me searching the bar for Rafe. My heart swelled when I spotted him over in the corner. He was staring back at me with a longing expression that resembled my own. I was falling in love with him. Actually, I was in love with him and not about to let Eric hurt him or his brothers.
I was pulled from my thoughts when I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket. I reached for it, and as soon as I saw that it was a message from an unknown number, I knew it was Eric. Dread washed over me as I opened it and read:
Eric:
Tick Tock.
Me:
I’m trying.
Eric:
Try harder.
I knew there was no point in responding, so I shoved my phone back in my pocket and glared up at one of the security cameras. I knew he was watching. I could feel his eyes on me. I never dreamed I could hate someone I barely knew, but I hated him with every fiber of my being. Eric was a vile, malevolent man, and no matter how dangerous it might be, I had to find a way to warn Rafe about Eric and his plan. I just had no idea how—not with Eric watching my every move. I’d have to find a way to reach him without Eric knowing what I was up to. I was trying to think of what I might do when one of the waitresses came up to the bar and placed her order. As I made the various drinks, I was racking my mind, but nothing came to me. Then, I walked over to the bar’s touchscreen register and printed out the receipt. That’s when it hit me.
As I grabbed a pen from my apron, I prayed I’d be able to get to Rafe or Menace before it was too late—before I lost everything I cared about.
Chapter 17
Rafe
I’d tried to be patient. I’d tried to be understanding and give Marlowe her space, but I was growing restless. Not only had she not answered any of my calls or texts, she’d basically blown me off the entire night—barely saying two words to me. I’d hoped the cold, distant demeanor would fade as the night progressed, but it’d only gotten worse. Hell, she was so intent on keeping her distance from me, she’d turned in the night’s receipts and headed out to her car without so much as a goodbye. She might’ve actually made her grand escape if I hadn’t spotted her slipping out the back door.
I followed her outside and over to her car. “Rushing off so soon?”
“Oh, Rafe ... I was just ...” The blood drained from her face as she continued, “I was just about to head home.”
“I see that.”
“I thought we could just meet up tomorrow.” Marlowe chewed nervously on her bottom lip as she waited for my response, but there was none to give—at least none that I could actually verbalize. I was too pissed to form the words. I could understand if she was blowing me off because she needed some time alone, but I knew in my gut there was something more going on. When she realized I wasn’t going to reply, she added, “I didn’t sleep very well last night, and I’m pretty wiped.”
“Um-hmm. I understand.”
“Okay...Well.” She feigned a smile. “I’ll see you sometime tomorrow.”
She stood there, silently studying me for a moment, then quickly turned towards her car. There was no way in hell I was going to just let her leave, not like this, so I reached over and took hold of her arm, gently pulling her over to me. My gut twisted into a knot as I looked down at those beautiful blue eyes and said, “I’m not a patient man, Marlowe. Never have been. But for you, I’ve tried. I’ve tried damn hard. I know you’re going through something here and I’ve tried not to push, but I’m telling you now ... my patience is running thin. Very thin.”
“Rafe—”
“Don’t.” I slipped my arm around her waist, inching her closer. Marlowe’s eyes never left mine as I leaned forward and pressed my mouth against hers and kissed her long and hard. Like so many times before, her body melted into mine, making me ache for more. I didn’t understand how one woman could turn me inside out the way she did. Her touch, her scent … everything about Marlowe made me lose all sense of control. She shifted her stance, causing the rigid length of my erection to press against her. A light moan rippled through her chest, and I was suddenly torn between taking her right there in the parking lot or carrying her home and making love to her all night long. Sadly, neither was an option—at least not tonight. As difficult as it might’ve been, I released her mouth, breaking o
ur embrace.
I reached over and opened her car door as I said, “Good night, Marlowe.”
“But—”
“Go home. Get that rest you said you needed, and we’ll talk more tomorrow.”
She didn’t argue. Instead, she got in her car and drove away, taking a piece of me with her. I was still standing there in the parking lot, trying my damnedest to collect myself when Widow and Lynch came charging out the back door. They both looked eager to leave. So eager, they both walked right by me as they headed towards their bikes. As Lynch got on his, he glanced up at me and asked, “You headed to the clubhouse, or do you have other plans?”
“Clubhouse,” I answered flatly. “Where’s Menace?”
“Still in the office. Said he’s coming later.”
“I’ll check in with him and meet y’all over there in a while.”
“See if you can get his ass out of there. Guy looks like he’s running on fumes.”
“Will do.”
Without waiting for them to leave, I went inside to hunt down Menace. As I walked in, the place looked completely deserted. The chairs were already stacked on the tables and the girls had already dispersed, leaving me wondering why Menace hadn’t already called it a night. When I got to his office, he was leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed. “Hey, brother. Why don’t you close up shop for the night and get you some fucking sleep?”
“Wish I could.” His eyes cracked open as he stretched his tatted arms over his head. “Got too much shit to do.”
“Bullshit. There’s nothing here that can’t wait until morning.”
“I guess you’re right. I just hate leaving things undone.”
“I get that, but you’re no good to anyone like this, especially yourself.” He considered my words for a moment, then nodded and stood. As he put on his cut, he looked down at the mess on his desk and grimaced. Fearing he might change his mind, I pushed, “Tomorrow, brother. I’ll even come back here and help you out.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
As we started out front, I remembered I hadn’t asked him about Viper’s thoughts on Schommer. I knew it had been discussed, but we’d never gotten a final word. “What was decided about Schommer?”
“Viper decided against it. Said there was too much heat with the cops to risk it.” As he locked the back door, he glanced over to me and said, “So I’m going to do some more digging on the location we found near San Antonio. Hoping I can find something that will lead us to this guy.”
We continued to the parking lot and got on our bikes. Before I started the engine, I asked, “You think we’re just buying trouble with all this? I mean, we haven’t had any issues. As far as I can tell, we’re in the good.”
“It’s hard to say, but I got a feeling this is the calm before the storm.” Menace turned the key, starting his engine, then shouted, “Like Viper said, if this Scar guy is out there and he’s got his eyes on us, we’re gonna have one helluva fight on our hands.”
Our conversation came to an abrupt end when Menace gave me a nod and pulled out of the parking lot. As I followed him back to the clubhouse, I was tempted to take the turn to Marlowe’s place, if for no other reason than to make sure she made it home okay but decided against it. I told her I’d give her until tomorrow and that’s what I intended to do, but I wasn’t happy about it. In fact, she was all I could think about as I pulled through the gate of the clubhouse. She continued to stay on my mind as I made my way to my room and collapsed into bed. As I closed my eyes, she haunted my every thought, making it difficult to settle. Thankfully, after an hour of tossing and turning, I eventually managed to doze off.
The following morning, I skipped breakfast with the brothers and headed straight to Stilettos to meet up with Menace. I figured if I got there a little early, I’d be able to get out of there and over to Marlowe’s in plenty of time to talk to her before she went in to work. When I pulled up to the club, I wasn’t surprised to find Menace was already there. He was in his office, sorting through the previous night’s receipts, and seemed a bit flustered as I walked over and sat down in front of him. “What’s wrong?”
“Were you and Marlowe into it last night?”
“Not exactly. Why?”
“See for yourself.”
He handed me one of the receipts from last night, and I was surprised to find a message in Marlowe’s handwriting:
going to kill Rafe.
“This doesn’t make any sense. Why would she write this on a receipt?”
“I was hoping you could answer that.”
“I have no idea.” I leaned forward to get a better look at the other receipts as I asked, “Are there any more like this?”
“Not sure. I’ve just started going through them.” He quickly began sifting through the stack of receipts, and his eyes widened when he came across another with Marlowe’s handwriting scrolled across the bottom. After reading it, he grumbled, “Damn.”
“What is it?”
He offered it to me, letting me read it for myself, and my blood ran cold:
he’s watching me.
“Who’s watching her?”
Without waiting for him to answer, I reached over and grabbed a handful of the receipts and started flipping through each one. I could feel my heart hammering in my chest each time I caught a glimpse of Marlowe’s handwriting.
He’s not who he says he is.
As I showed him what she’d written, I said, “This isn’t making any sense.”
“She’s definitely trying to tell us something, but what?” As he handed me another receipt, he said, “Check this one out.”
He can’t find out
“Who the fuck is she talking about?”
“This is crazy. We’re going about it all wrong.” As he studied the receipt, he said, “Look at the time stamp. We need to stop reading them like this and put them in order.”
I continued sorting through my stack of receipts, searching for another message from Marlowe while Menace did the same with his. Once we’d put them in order by time, we stood back and read the complete message Marlowe had written. Menace was still staring down at the receipts as he muttered, “Holy shit. Do you think this is him?”
“Has to be.”
“You’re telling me this motherfucker has been right under our noses for days, and we knew nothing about it.”
“He came here pretending to be Kate’s boyfriend, brother. No way we could’ve known it was him.”
“Still pisses me off.”
“You and me both, but we’re not doing anybody any favors by standing here. We need to get back to the clubhouse and tell Viper what’s going on.”
Menace grabbed his phone as he said, “I’ll message him now and tell him to call in the others. They’re gonna wanna hear this.”
“No doubt.” As we started towards the door, I motioned my hand towards the different security monitors mounted on the wall. “He might be watching. We gotta walk out of here like nothing’s up.”
Menace nodded, then followed me out of the office. As we made our way to the back door, Menace smiled, reached over and patted me on the shoulder as he said, “Thanks for the help, brother. Breakfast is on me.”
I didn’t bother reminding him no one could hear what he was saying. Instead, I just nodded and followed him out the door. As soon as he locked up, we were on our way back to the clubhouse. On the ride over, I thought back to the last couple of days with Marlowe. I couldn’t imagine how terrified she must’ve been. Hell, I’d thought she was pulling away from me, but instead, she was just doing what she could to protect me and the brothers. I couldn’t help but feel like a huge, fucking asshole for doubting her, but I’d find a way to make it up to her. I would show her once and for all I was there for her—no matter what the circumstance.
The guys had already gathered in the conference room and were waiting on us when Menace and I got back to the clubhouse. It was clear from the tension crackling around them they were eager to hear
why we’d called them all together. Menace reached into his pocket and took out the receipts Marlowe had written on. “Rafe and I were going through last night’s receipts when we came across these.”
“What exactly is all this?” Viper asked with narrow eyes.
“It’s a warning from Marlowe,” I answered as I motioned my hand towards the receipts. “Turns out this Eric guy Kate brought to the club the other night wants intel on us, and he’s using Marlowe to get it. In the notes, it says he’s planted cameras in her apartment and has eyes on us at the club. He’s even gone so far as to put a mic on her, and he’s threatened to kill her family—and me—if she doesn’t get the information he wants.”
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” Viper roared.
“I wish we were, but this is no fucking joke,” Menace replied. “There’s a lot more there, including the fact that Marlowe’s biological father was Anthony Polito.”
Surprise crossed Viper’s face. “What the fuck?”
“Yeah, she had no idea,” Menace told him. “She didn’t even know she was adopted until yesterday when Kate told her.”
“Hold on a fucking minute.” Country’s brows furrowed as he said, “I thought we were done with this Polito motherfucker. I mean, damn. We wiped out all those motherfuckers when Fury was here.”
“Clearly, we didn’t.”
Menace took a moment to go over the rest of what Marlowe had written in her warning, and when he was done, Viper looked angrier than ever. “So, he’s here to finish what Polito started, and he’s using Marlowe to make that shit happen.”
“That about sums it up,” I answered.
“Well, that shit isn’t going to happen. It’s time to turn the tables on this guy.” Viper turned his attention to Menace as he said, “I want to know everything there is about this Eric fella, and I want to know it now.”
Menace nodded. “I’ll pull an image from our security feed at Stilettos and use it with my facial recognition software. Ten to one says he’s our Stark.”