by Mia Ashlinn
Katie-Anne shouldn’t have been gleeful, but she was. Hauling the two women to jail amused her to no end, and she laughed. “Sucks to be you two.”
Leila launched herself at Katie-Anne, taking her nearly to the floor in one shove. But Sarah and Shannon caught her before she hit the tile. Leila obviously hadn’t anticipated that Katie-Anne would counter her attack. She tripped and fell to the floor when Katie-Anne kicked out.
Instead of continuing the fight, Katie-Anne stood up regally and shook off pretend dirt from her clothes.
“Leila just assaulted one of my customers as well,” Ella informed Belle through the phone. “She just keeps adding onto her list of infractions. Yes, I understand. Yes. Okay. See you soon. Bye.”
Ella smiled smugly at Leila and Angie. “That’ll teach you two. I’m sick and tired of you going around and pulling your shit then getting away with it. I suggest you stay the fuck out of my store and the hell out of my way. I don’t take kindly to people who would steal from me and insult people I care about.”
Ella placed her hands on her curvy hips. “The sheriff is coming. If you want to run, feel free. Keep in mind, though, it will only get you into more trouble. If you plan to be like good dogs and stay, go over there and sit down.”
Angie clamped her jaw shut and crossed the room before sinking down onto the plush chairs with a huff.
Leila remained behind, her disgustingly gorgeous face pinched in anger. “You messed with the wrong girl, Ella Dawson,” she warned. “I will make you pay for this.”
Ella smiled easily at her, not looking the least bit daunted. “Start a war with me, honey, and you will lose. Katie-Anne is letting you off easy, but I won’t. Push me, and I will take you down in the most painful, most embarrassing way possible.”
“I’ll help,” Jaycee interjected. “I need to cash in the revenge IOU I sent her when she tattled on me to Gray and Cade.”
“Me too,” Sarah said, getting in on the action.
Katie-Anne giggled. Sarah didn’t have a mean bone in her body. The woman was kind, innocent, and gentle. She wouldn’t hurt a fly. Hell, the girl didn’t even curse, unless someone counted pickles and donkeys as profanity. No way could she help, but it was terribly sweet of her to offer.
Sticking her tongue out, Sarah insisted, “I could.”
“Every woman will help her,” Shannon said. “We’ve all been looking forward to the day that The Bitch gets her ass handed to her, literally and figuratively.”
“Between me and other women in this town, we will ruin you,” Ella threatened, her easy smile turning into a big, brilliant smile. “Why don’t you just head on over there and join your friend. My chairs are more comfortable than the ones in the slammer. You might as well relax and enjoy it while you can.”
Leila sniffed but turned and did what Ella had told her to do. She sat down with Angie, the two women whispering passionately.
“Ella,” Sarah said with a chuckle. “You are a bad, bad girl.”
“Now, Sarah,” Ella replied. “We’ve discussed this a million times. I’m a naughty woman, and I plan to make everyone around me naughty, too.” She added, “Especially you.” Snatching a video off the wall, she handed it to Sarah. “I think this will do for you. It covers a wide variety of BDSM concepts.”
Sarah gasped before covering her red face. “Oh my Gosh!”
All of the women giggled, except Katie-Anne who figured out what had happened. “You eavesdropped.”
Ella responded quickly. “No, I have cameras everywhere, and we heard everything.”
“Everything,” Jaycee announced, emphasizing the word.
Aw, hell. Lucy, you’ve got some ’splainin’ to do!
Chapter 10
Shane was in a shitty-ass mood. Even breakfast with Deke and Adam in the best, and only, diner in town wasn’t helping his foul temperament. All he seemed to see were the negatives of the small-town, fifties-themed restaurant.
Lou’s Café smelled greasy, and the food tasted off. People chattered obnoxiously, but somehow, the jukebox managed to drown them out with a song that he hated booming from its speakers. Silverware clattered, and metal chairs scraped the floor as people came and went. A waitress dropped an entire tray—twice—spilling food everywhere, which sent an irate Lou flying out of the kitchen.
Yeah, I am without-a-doubt in a shitty mood. Shane had been pissed off since last night when Katie-Anne had pranced out of the room with her friends and then Landon had stormed out behind her and left the damn party. Nothing had gone according to plan, and this morning wasn’t looking much better.
Shit. Shane was right—today was going to suck, and it got suckier before his eyes when Brett Monroe shoved his friend, Ethan Bartlett, through the front door of Lou’s Café with a barked laugh. Shane had a serious problem with Ethan and Brett along with their other friend, Sam Carrington. They were too fucking close to Katie-Anne, and he didn’t like it one damn bit.
The three men didn’t hide their feelings or lust for his woman. They chased after her shamelessly, and she seemed to enjoy their attention. He knew they didn’t love her, and she didn’t love them. He also knew that they’d never slept with her and never would—he’d make damn sure of that one. But he still wanted to kick them in the nuts every time they entered the same room as him or Katie-Anne. It was completely irrational, but what man in love was rational? None that I know of.
“Stupid motherfuckers,” Shane grumbled under his breath.
Deke and Adam, who had been arguing over Sarah and the plumbing problems at her salon, quieted down and turned their attention toward him. They scrutinized him then followed his line of vision and spotted Ethan and Brett heading straight toward them.
Predictably, Adam flashed his pearly whites and chuckled. Mr. Suave would find this amusing. Asshole.
“Come on. Katie-Anne’s taste isn’t that good,” Adam ribbed him. “After all, she loves you, my brother.”
“Fuck you, my brother,” Shane sneered, flipping him off rudely.
Shane and Adam had an unusual relationship. They were, truly, like brothers. They constantly bickered and fussed, but when the chips were down, they always had each other’s back. Right now, Shane needed someone like that in his life. Adam provided Shane with a normalcy during a time where nothing felt right or natural.
Deke, ever the adult, said, “She is in love with you, and they are chasing after Brooklyn Sokolov’s best friend, Josie Martin.”
“I know that,” Shane snapped. His foster brother’s high and mighty attitude really pissed him off, and he was ready to throw something at his too-damn-big, overbearingly superior head. That would shut his fucking mouth for a while. “But I’m a jealous and possessive asshole.”
“I’ll second that,” Adam continued to tease. He swung his head to the right and gave Deke a smart-alecky smile. “Deke knows all about that, don’t you?”
Deke gave Adam a look that would have fried an egg in the middle of winter. But, instead of looking nervous, Adam smiled calmly at his lover. “It’s in the blood,” he commented when Deke appeared to tune them out and look away from them to follow Ethan and Brett’s movements.
Shane pretended to not see the two banes of his existence. Rolling his eyes at Adam, he quipped, “We aren’t blood related, Adam.”
“Might as well be,” Adam remarked with an easy-going laugh. “You two are way too much alike. It’s almost sexy, except I have to put up with way too much bullshit from both of you at the same time. Thank God you two don’t share. I would end up dead or in jail.”
Shane smacked Adam on the back of the head before he could stop himself. “I have the two people that I want to share my life with, and you are not one of them.”
“So you have finally opened your eyes.” Deke smirked, his eyes twinkling merrily. Or as merrily as Deke got. “Have you?”
“Yes,” Shane stated simply before he reached for his coffee-filled mug.
A deep, masculine voice sounded out of nowhere. “I kne
w you weren’t as dumb as you look,” Ethan commented as he and Brett entered the picture.
Startled, Shane’s hand bumped into his coffee cup. The scalding hot liquid sloshed out and landed on the side of his wrist before dribbling onto the Formica tabletop. “Son of a motherfucking bitch!” He grabbed several napkins, dabbed his burned skin and then wiped the countertop.
“Nope, my mama wasn’t a bitch,” Ethan smarted off with a crooked smile that Shane would enjoy putting his fist through. “Now, my daddy was a male-whore. Does that count for anything?”
Beating the shit out of Ethan looked better and better. He was damn proud when he didn’t jump out of the booth and pummel his arrogant ass. Katie-Anne would be fucking pissed off if he hurt Pretty Boy or his badass best friend. And, right now, the last thing he wanted was a mad Katie-Anne. He had to win her over before he pissed her off again.
“Do you need something?” Shane inquired as politely as he could manage. Only he didn’t sound polite. He sounded ill-tempered and borderline violent, which seemed to amuse Ethan and Brett.
“What did I tell you, E?” Brett asked. “He came around before we had to do something drastic.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Shane countered in confusion.
Ethan gave a half shrug. “We wanted to push you two closer together. What better way to do it than make your stubborn ass jealous?”
“Are you two insane?” Shane demanded to know. “I wanted to kill you. Hell, if it had gotten much further, I would have killed you. I am not even ruling out the possibility of murder right now.”
“You could have tried,” Ethan replied without a trace of unease, “but you would have lost. Brett is a mean son of a bitch when he fights.”
“True,” Brett agreed with a sheepish smile.
“Did Katie-Anne put the two of you up to this?” Shane asked before he thought better of it. And, boy, did he regret that he hadn’t let his brain work before opening his big mouth.
Every man around him looked at him like he’d lost his fucking mind. All of them blurted out something—at the same time. Their words blended and made it hard for Shane to understand any of them.
“What?” Adam asked, his eyes widening in shock.
Ethan frowned and demanded, “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Have you lost your mind?” Brett inquired, staring at Shane like he knew the answer to his own question and was furious because of it.
Deke topped off the barrage of questions with the one Landon had asked him just yesterday. He asked the question guaranteed to make Shane violent. “You say you want to share her, but do you even know her?”
“Of course I know her,” Shane snapped. Losing his appetite, he pushed his plate away. “And I am getting pretty damn tired of people thinking I don’t.”
Ethan plopped down in the booth next to Shane, shoving him aside with a surprising amount of strength. “Scooch.”
Shane grunted but did as Ethan said begrudgingly, his curiosity overriding his animosity. He wanted to know what the hell was going on around him so he had to play along with them. Sliding all the way to the wall, Shane allowed Ethan and Brett to join him, Deke, and Adam.
Ethan grabbed the long, lone slice of bacon on Shane’s plate and bit into it. With a mouthful of food, he asked, “You’re done with this, right?”
Shane gritted his teeth, holding back a growl, but nodded. “I am.”
“Good,” Ethan mumbled then wiped the crumbs from his lips. “So you love her? Am I correct?”
“Yes,” Shane declared. The words fell from his with surprising ease. It felt right to say them aloud, finally. Picking up his coffee cup, he blew on the too-hot-to-drink liquid.
Ethan glanced over at Deke. “Do you think we should tell him? Is he finally ready for it?”
Ready for what? Shane’s stomach flipped over, and the food inside it seemed to turn sour. It was all he could do to not lose his breakfast on the table. Now, that would really infuriate Lou. The man had an anti-vomiting rule in his café. Fearing the man coming down on them like a ton of bricks, it was a rule no one broke. They got the hell out of there beforehand.
Deke eyed Shane wearily then nodded. “I think so, Ethan.”
“You are not reassuring me,” Ethan said antagonistically. He crossed his arms and twisted his upper body. Glowering menacingly at Shane, he grunted. “I think we should make him do something to prove he’s worthy of the truth.”
“Shut up, Ethan,” Brett ordered with a glower of his own, only he’d sent his to his friend and not to Shane. “He has every right to know. She shouldn’t have kept this all a secret for this long.”
“Agreed,” Adam said. “This is a long time coming, but she is still going to be pissed as hell when she finds out. She is never going to believe that we are doing this for her own good.”
Unease creeped down Shane’s spine, and he asked, “For what? Will someone tell me what the hell you guys are being so cryptic about? What did Katie-Anne do?”
Deke rounded on Shane, facing him entirely, and said, “Don’t make me regret telling you what I’m about to tell you—brother or not. I am risking her friendship for this. Hell, I’m risking a fucking lawsuit.”
Shane frowned, but nodded solemnly. Something was off, and he damn well wanted to know what it was. He would have said anything and done anything at that moment to get Deke and the others to talk. “I won’t. Now, I want to know what the fuck is going on with Katie-Anne. Is she okay? Is she in some sort of trouble?”
Deke took a deep breath as though preparing for a battle, making Shane’s unease turn to downright panic. Whatever was going on was not going to be good for him—or possibly Katie-Anne’s pretty ass.
“Katie-Anne is not who or what you or anyone else around here thinks she is,” Deke stated flatly. “She is TL Jacobsen, and she has been working for me and Adam for the last two years.”
“What?” Shane asked before glancing at every man at the table. He went from one to the next rapidly. Each of them had a look about them that didn’t sit well with Shane. Adam looked concerned, and Deke looked stressed. Ethan looked frustrated, and Brett looked grim.
“When we were visiting you several years ago, I dropped by The Blank Canvas to check out an up-and-coming artist that sold directly to them,” Adam explained, staring intently at Shane with probing eyes. “I had heard about TL Jacobsen from several friends in the art world, so I thought I would see what everyone was talking about.”
Holy fuck. Shane didn’t like where this was going. Surely, she wouldn’t have hid something of that magnitude from everyone in town.
Adam picked up his coffee and took a sip before going on, “Lainey had a handful of paintings from the reclusive artist, and she showed them to me.” He set his drink down with a sigh. “Apparently, TL was opening a new business and desperately needed a fairly large sum of money to fund it.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Shane muttered, trying to stop him before he made an ass of himself. The man obviously had no clue what he was talking about. “I know what you are going to say, but you just proved yourself wrong. Katie-Anne Blakemore’s trust fund could feed the homeless in several third-world countries. There is no way she couldn’t afford enough to open one measly store.”
“Could she?” Ethan inquired as he waved at Sam who’d just walked through the front door. He indicated that his friend should join them with a flick of his wrist. “Really?”
“Shut up, Ethan,” Adam ordered. “He’s an impatient bastard, and I will address every minute question he has when I’m ready. Just give me some time, damn it.”
Sam came up next to the booth and sat down quietly. He obviously picked up on the stress-filled vibes coming off every man sitting there.
“Fine,” Shane snapped in irritation, “but get on with it.”
“Anyway,” Adam stressed as he leaned back in the red, vinyl seat. “We spoke with Lainey about purchasing those paintings and commissioning several more. Over the nex
t year, we bought so many paintings that I honestly lost count. It just made sense for her to be on our staff, so we discussed it with Lainey who set up a meeting for us and TL.”
“Then what?” Shane demanded to know before crossing his arms furiously. He didn’t think he could take much more of this slow torture. Couldn’t they just spell it out for him—fast—like ripping off a fucking Band-Aid? “Everything just magically came out?”
Deke cleared his throat. “Of course not, Shane. Don’t be an ass. We, obviously, were not aware of her identity nor was she ours. When we entered the room, her eyes widened and she took off like a bat out of hell, nearly knocking us over in the process. It took us two solid weeks to convince Katie-Anne to even speak to us about it.”
“Well, you obviously worked the whole damn thing out,” Shane said snidely.
“I bewitched her with my charm,” Adam replied with a big, too-cocky smile.
“Whatever,” Deke said, paying no attention to Adam. “She finally came to our office in Luscious and spoke openly about everything.”
“Everything?” Shane asked nervously, watching Deke carefully for any signs of dishonesty. When he found none, Shane sat back with an, “ooph.”
Adam nodded and confirmed, “Everything we needed to know.”
“She had been working under an alias for some time. She paints, sculpts, and designs various products, most of which Adam and I invest in—even though she is unaware of our affiliation with them.”
Shane wanted to know one thing, and he couldn’t wait for them to get to it. His impatience won out. “Why in the hell would she do all of this?”
“Someone once told her she was nothing but fluff,” Deke told him pointedly. “Apparently, she was determined to prove him wrong, and she didn’t care whether or not he found out. All she cared about was knowing that she could pull it off.”
Deke’s answer was worse than a knife to his gut. Shane had said that to her. He’d been the one she was proving wrong. What the hell have I done?