Risk It All (Risqué #2)

by Scarlett Finn

  ‘Bet you miss Ruger,’ the same little woman as before said. ‘He called me.’

  ‘Good, I'm glad to hear it,’ Blaser said. ‘That’s just made my day, Destiny. Now you want to quit your yapping so I can get done what needs to be done?’

  To the outside eye, he was a guy who just wanted to keep things moving. But Bri sensed his displeasure at this woman bringing up his brother in such a public forum. The Warners believed that family business should be kept inside the family. But maybe this girl was part of the family. Blaser wouldn't want his female cousins getting naked in his club, where he could see them. But if Ruger wasn't in a relationship with Suzette, maybe he was with this woman instead.

  ‘This is Jade.’

  Bri's attention flew up to Blaser, but he didn't look back. Jade was the name they'd come up with as her cover name for when she worked in the place that they were going to start together. It had been her idea for them to use cover names because although they planned to have a respectable joint, she knew from first-hand experience that it was easier to have a character to disappear into. And no girl would want a customer to be able to track her down either.

  Trying to shrug off her surprise, she turned away from him, but still couldn't quite bring herself to look at the other girls. Being here among so many beautiful and confident women was intimidating. Everyone here knew each other and had a history together.

  The only person present who she had a history with had seen her very naked, very often; he’d been inside her body. That in itself might not be so bad, except he'd also seen every other woman in the room naked too, although they’d been on stage. Putting her thoughts together, Bri speculated about just how close he was to these women and, other than Crystal, if he had any favourites.

  Realising that she hadn’t been paying attention Bri quickly listened in. But other than her introduction there was nothing specifically about her. He talked about a pricing change and said something about an issue with the air conditioning in room C. All of it seemed routine until he opened it up for questions.

  ‘Crystal should really be here,’ Destiny said, squirming while the others seemed to be goading her on.

  ‘What’s the problem?’ Blaser asked.

  ‘Did Lyssa talk to Colt?’ Destiny asked and Bri smiled because she knew this roundabout questioning was leading to something and it would be driving Blaser crazy that Destiny wasn’t getting to the point.

  ‘She’s fucking him, so yeah, I imagine they talk. What is this about?’

  ‘I wish Ruger was here,’ Destiny mumbled.

  Suddenly Blaser being riled wasn’t funny, these women were genuinely nervous to bring this issue to him, so either this was a very serious issue or Blaser was a hardass boss. ‘You should be more afraid of Colt than of him,’ Brianna said before she’d realised she was going to say anything. ‘Blaser’s bark is much worse than his bite. The hard man thing is all an act.’

  ‘Who asked you?’ he snapped at her and that was enough to bring her to her feet.

  ‘You did not just shout at me in front of these women Blaser Warner,’ she said, raising her eyebrows and waiting for an apology.

  ‘They’re not afraid of me. They just—‘

  ‘What?’ she asked Blaser. ‘They would rather talk to Crystal, Lyssa, or Colt about their problem? Who the hell would rather talk to Colt than talk to you? Colt is a prick about everything, he’s a superior sonofabitch.’

  ‘Colt is a prick to you,’ Blaser said.

  ‘Because I ruined your life.’

  ‘Oh ho,’ Blaser laughed and shook his head. ‘It never takes you long to get to that fight does it, Dollface.’

  ‘Who is fighting?’ she asked, glancing at the women who were watching the unfolding show. ‘No one should worry about saying anything to Blaser in front of this many witnesses… he has too many priors.’ Sinking back onto the couch, Bri let her focus slide downward.

  ‘It’s the alley,’ Destiny said, Bri could feel a whole lot of eyes burning into her now. Anyone who wasn’t intrigued by the arrival of this stranger before would be now.

  Blaser puffed up when he inhaled. ‘The camera stays,’ he said. ‘I know that none of you want it there. I’m not that crazy about it myself, but it’s there for your protection.’

  ‘That’s what Crystal said,’ Destiny said. ‘It just feels weird to know that we’re always being watched.’

  ‘When you go out someone should be watching you,’ Blaser said. ‘You agree with me Destiny, so don’t start rabble-rousing just because you’ve got an audience.’

  A few of the women started arguing. ‘They know that I agree it should stay,’ Destiny shouted above the others and they began to quiet.

  ‘Her opinion doesn’t count,’ another girl said and Bri wanted to jump to Destiny’s defence though knew of no reason why she should or why Destiny had a different opinion than the others.

  ‘Ok, we’re going to finish this conversation later,’ Blaser said and got up. ‘Everyone get back to work.’

  The women started chatting and he took hold of her shoulder to pull her out of the room. ‘What was that about?’ Bri asked. Blaser had ended that meeting abruptly and she had a feeling it was for her benefit. ‘If there’s something I should know about…’

  ‘The offices are upstairs,’ he said, pointing at the stairs but taking her further along the corridor.

  Bri was going to ask more questions, but the music got louder and he opened a door then boom, they were on the main floor. The stage to their right was lit up and a woman was dancing topless with more than a few patrons panting on and waiting to put dollar bills in her g-string.

  Blaser didn’t even glance at the dancer, he kept hold of Bri’s shoulder, angling her left and right to lead her through tables to a bar, which was next to the main entrance hallway. At the same time they got behind the bar, he let go of her shoulder.

  Her hair had gotten in her face during their rush across the room, so she shifted it aside now and the first thing she saw was Colt Warner at the back corner of the bar locked in a clinch with what had to be the good doctor, Lyssa Cutler.

  ‘They’re always like that.’

  Brianna turned toward the voice and a woman on the other side of the bar was gazing at the lip-locked couple too. She took a swig of her drink then looked at Bri. ‘Excuse me?’ Bri asked.

  Blaser had disappeared to the other end of the bar and was serving a customer, but Crystal was hovering on his periphery, waiting to pounce.

  ‘Really, I mean you’ll just be having a normal everyday conversation like it’s no big deal and then boom, suddenly they’re kissing again. It’s getting worse. I don’t know what it is. I think it’s because he’s so desperate to have kids. But Lyssa isn’t going to be fooled into pregnancy, you know? I mean she’s a sex doctor for crying out loud! If anyone knows the ins and outs of fertility, it’s her.’ She sighed and propped her head on her hand to gaze at the canoodling couple again. ‘I mean it’s kind of sweet really. But don’t ever tell him that I said that out loud.’

  ‘You’re not… Suzette by any chance, are you?’ Bri asked.

  ‘Yes,’ Suzette said, slinking creeped out eyes around to her. ‘How did you know that?’

  ‘You’re Lyssa’s best friend, she told me that she was at your place this morning. I’ve heard a lot about you.’

  ‘If it’s from Colt then it’s probably all bullshit, he’s never liked me… though I suppose he did save Lyssa’s life, and his brother is giving me a place to stay. Yeah, I shouldn’t be so bitchy, should I?’

  ‘It’s quite an adjustment, your best friend getting married, that’s a big deal.’

  ‘It was supposed to be me, you know,’ Suzette said and Bri’s jaw dropped.

  ‘You were going to marry Colt?’

  The idea that Colt had them queuing around the block wasn’t a new one, she’d been around to see how well he did in high school. But Colt had always had a respectability about him – though she called it supe
riority – it was that righteousness that made him an excellent husband. Whatever their differences, Bri knew one thing and that was Colt Warner treated his first wife very fairly, so there was no doubt that Lyssa would get the same dedicated treatment.

  ‘Ew!’ Suzette exclaimed. ‘No!’

  ‘What’s going on?’

  This time the voice came from the other corner of the bar, where Colt and Lyssa had been. Bri saw that Lyssa was coming over. As soon as Colt clocked Bri behind the bar he stopped moving.

  ‘What the fuck are you doing here?’ he demanded.

  ‘Don’t swear at a lady,’ Lyssa chastised him and hooked his arm around her shoulder, but Colt remained intent on her.

  ‘I needed some money and Blase said—‘

  ‘I fucking bet he did, what did you do this time? Shake your tits in his face, let him take you up the ass, what?’

  Suzette spat out her wine, but laughter quickly followed. Lyssa, on the other hand, was outraged. ‘Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?’ Lyssa asked him, moving her figure away from his and folding her arms. ‘How dare you speak to her like that!’

  ‘You don’t know what’s happening, Cherrypop. Stay out of it.’

  ‘I will not,’ Lyssa said, undeterred by the fact that Colt still hadn’t taken his eyes off Bri as though his vision alone could vaporise her. ‘I won’t marry a man who believes it’s ok to speak to a woman like that, what if we have a daughter?’

  ‘She’s not going to be anywhere near a place like this or a woman like her, so there’s nothing to worry about.’

  ‘I sense trouble,’ Suzette said in a sing-song way. Bri had to think that it wasn’t much of a sense, the trouble was burning neon in this darkened space.

  ‘It’s ok, Doctor Cutler,’ Bri said. ‘Please don’t anyone fall out because of me, he’s entitled to say whatever he likes.’

  ‘Damn right I am.’

  ‘He is not,’ Lyssa said. ‘And please call me Lyssa, Bri.’

  ‘She,’ Colt said, finally taking his eyes from her to look at Lyssa, but he thrust out a finger to point in Bri’s direction. ‘Is the one who got Blaser locked up, who got Blaser messed up, who got this place raided and you arrested too, so don’t fucking expect me to—‘

  ‘Oh, so now you’re swearing at me? It’s not attractive, Colt. Why do you feel the need to do that? Does swearing make you feel more powerful? When you raise your voice—‘

  ‘That deconstructing shit is patronising when we’re fighting, how many times have I got to tell you that?’

  ‘And how many times have I got to tell you that shouting and swearing is not the way to get your point across.’

  ‘I’m not shouting,’ he said, having already lowered his volume considerably. ‘You don’t know who she is and what she’s done to my family.’

  ‘I know exactly who she is,’ Lyssa said, slipping onto a stool and topping off a half drunk glass of wine from the bottle beside Suzette. ‘Bri and I have met. She’s living in your old apartment.’

  Colt’s frown took a while to react, perhaps because he wasn’t expecting Lyssa to say this. ‘Why would she be staying there?’

  ‘I assume because she made an arrangement with Blaser or Gus. Possibly Ruger, though I doubt that, having Suzie in his place is probably as much responsibility for a female as he can take.’

  ‘No one can take responsibility for that,’ Colt mumbled.

  Suzette shot upwards and from her height Bri would guess she was standing on the crossbar of her stool. ‘Blaser! Where’s my wine? This bottle is empty!’

  ‘Jesus,’ Colt breathed.

  ‘She’s having a hard time,’ Lyssa said to Bri. ‘I’ve tried to tell her that alcohol isn’t the solution but…’

  ‘You were the one who was stalked, not her,’ Colt said. ‘You’re too understanding, you take on all these ridiculous pet projects and—‘

  ‘My best friend is not a pet project,’ Lyssa said and put a hand to his face. ‘Think about how I would feel if I lost you. I can’t be sure what I would do.’

  ‘You wouldn’t become a drunk,’ he said, threading his fingers through hers and bringing her palm to his lips. ‘And you’re never losing me, I’m not an insane sociopath like her fiancé.’

  A hand on her hip alerted Bri to Blaser’s proximity, he nudged her aside and bent to retrieve a bottle of wine from the bottom of the fridge, which he proceeded to fill Suzette’s glass with. ‘If she passes out I am not carrying her home again. It’s your turn,’ Blaser said to Colt.

  Suzette settled down when her wine glass was full and everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Bri could only feel sorry for the woman if she had lost the love of her life… well, Bri knew what that was like.

  ‘Is he giving you a hard time?’ Blaser asked her in a low voice, but it was obvious that Colt and Lyssa were still listening.

  ‘Actually he is,’ Lyssa said to Blaser. ‘I find it fascinating. Why should you be at all interested in causing trouble with your brother’s ex-girlfriend? You do realise it’s that sort of behaviour which caused all of this trouble in the first place. Maybe if any of you sat down with Gary—‘

  ‘Sat down with him?’ Colt asked. ‘I’m sorry, are you aware that this is the same guy who had his associates molest you and Destiny in that locker room back there? I didn’t see you sitting down to talk then.’

  ‘I was talking to him actually,’ Lyssa said. Bri could understand now why Destiny would have a different opinion about the camera in the alley. ‘Maybe if you hadn’t come in and—‘

  ‘Gary,’ Bri said. ‘My brother attacked you?’

  ‘No,’ Lyssa said. ‘No, it wasn’t your brother.’

  ‘It was Zeke and that bastard Marshall,’ Colt said, garnering more anger. ‘They rushed Destiny outside, crowded her into that locker room and tried it on with her and Lys. If Ruge and I hadn’t walked in—‘

  ‘Oh Ruger was the big hero,’ Bri said, unable to stop her lip from curling. ‘Spare me his sob story. I’m not interested.’

  ‘That’s your nerve,’ Lyssa sighed out and her intense intrigue made Bri squirm. ‘Why is the mention of Ruger so upsetting to you? Did you have an affair with him?’

  ‘What?’ Blaser barked and Bri jumped at the suddenness of it. ‘When the fuck did that happen?’

  ‘We… we didn’t,’ Bri said, surprised by how Blaser loomed so close and grew larger without ever moving from his spot beside her.

  ‘If he tried it on with you or—‘

  ‘I wouldn’t let Ruger touch me. He wouldn’t want to. He hates me now, just like he always did.’

  ‘Ruge doesn’t trust you,’ Colt said. ‘And neither do I.’

  Maybe if she had known just how much animosity still existed in this family towards her, she would’ve stayed away. Blaser had always protected her and now she began to see just what he’d been dealing with.

  Before he went to jail they hadn’t spent much time with Colt and Ruger, they associated with different members of the Warner family. So she hadn’t had to deal with Blaser’s brothers directly very often, at family parties they mostly ignored her and if they wanted to talk to Blaser they would pull him aside to do it.

  ‘Cryst!’ Blaser called and Crystal was quickly at his side. ‘Show Bri around, will you?’ His hand curled around the back of Crystal’s neck and he leaned down to whisper something into the blonde’s ear.

  Bri tried not to bristle, but her shoulder popped back and her head twisted away. Through the course of their relationship, it had never occurred to her to be jealous. Now seeing how close he was to Crystal, and how easily they spoke to each other in a private way, she could only assume that they’d had their own intimate relationship and that made her skin sting.

  The heat of the club rescinded and she was cold all of a sudden, Blaser with Crystal would just be the icing on her cake. Her life was supposed to get better after they split up, it was the whole reasoning behind their break up. It didn’t matter which angle her life
was examined from, there was nothing better about it now, not a single thing. Whereas Blaser, on the other hand, had flourished. She didn’t begrudge him his success, but it did leave her wondering why she hadn’t accomplished her supposed fate while he languished in his.

  ‘Crystal will show you around,’ Blaser said.

  Bri glanced at the hand he had at the small of Crystal’s back and her own spine straightened, he did care for Crystal. Now she knew there was every possibility that she had lost the love of her life to a woman who hated her and everyone else she cared for.

  But when Crystal moved away from the bar, Bri could only follow on behind her. She was in no position to question Blaser’s life choices, he had broken up with her so that she could move on. Now she saw that their break up made his life better while she remained shattered.

  Chapter Six

  After Bri had disappeared through the staff door with Crystal, Blaser propped his hands on the bar to support his weight. ‘What the fuck is your problem?’ Blaser asked Colt. ‘She’s been through enough, leave her the fuck alone.’

  ‘I think we’ve had this conversation before,’ Colt said with sarcasm that Blaser didn’t understand or appreciate. ‘A couple of thousand times. She’s bad news Blase, do you want me to remind you of all the crap you went through for her?’

  ‘I didn’t go through any crap for her. I make my own decisions, then and now. She didn’t force me into doing the things I did.’

  ‘Bravo,’ Lyssa said, looping an arm through Colt’s. ‘Blaser is taking responsibility for his own actions. That’s what a person has to do in order to move on. He’s taking responsibility and look how far he has come since those days.’

  Blaser didn’t know what Colt had told Lyssa about his past. At the rate Lyssa liked to ask questions married with Colt’s strength of desire to please her, Blaser would bet that she knew a lot about every member of the family.

  ‘Yeah and I’ve been here to see him do it,’ Colt said to Lyssa. ‘You haven’t seen how hard he’s had to work. I don’t want to see all of his sweat go to waste just because he goes cross-eyed over the girl who has always led him around by his balls.’