Risk It All (Risqué #2)

by Scarlett Finn

  ‘Maybe he likes that.’

  ‘Maybe he does,’ Colt said. ‘But it’s not worth it. She’s not worth it. She never gave him any damn thing, all she did was take. I won’t watch him dismantle everything just because she makes him feel like less of a man for not giving in to her every whim.’

  ‘Is that what it is, Blase?’ Lyssa asked him. ‘You have an inferiority complex?’

  ‘No,’ Blaser said.

  ‘Oh, come on,’ Colt said. ‘You did what you did because you wanted to make her proud. You were showing off for a girl who got off on the bad boy act.’

  ‘It wasn’t an act. I got stoned, I stole. I chopped cars and beat on people. I was a bastard, Colt,’ Blaser said, owning what a prick he’d been back then.

  ‘Because you thought it was cool,’ Colt said. ‘Because her, Gary, and that damn gang of his thought Mattie was all that, and you were his cousin. You couldn’t let the family down, could you?’

  ‘You thought I was showing off for Mattie? What? Do you think that I wanted to be a part of his crew?’ Widening his hands, he lowered toward the couple. ‘Let me tell you something that you never knew back then, Mattie asked me to join his crew. He wanted me there through it all, he practically begged me to be his right-hand man, and that was a lucrative offer. If I wanted infamy, Matt would’ve delivered it.’

  ‘Why didn’t you join him?’ Lyssa asked.

  His tongue darted across his lips as memories of a very specific night went through his mind. ‘She told me she’d leave me,’ he said, confessing something he’d never spoken to anyone. ‘Bri hated it, she hated every time I went out with her brother. I used to come home to find her crying, she wouldn’t let me touch her for days if I came home with so much as a scratch on me. She hated that world and the only reason she took any part in it was because of Gary and me.’

  ‘Easy to say that now,’ Colt said. ‘So it was really Gary that you were trying to impress?’

  ‘You’re very judgemental today,’ Lyssa said. ‘Why does he have to be trying to impress anyone? Maybe it’s just his personality to be a bastard.’

  ‘Because if he really was a bastard who wanted to cause trouble then he wouldn’t have gotten himself straightened out. I’m damn proud of everything he’s done to get here, our parents are too, and if that all goes to shit…’

  Some of Blaser’s gusto seeped out because he’d never heard Colt admit to having pride in him. They spent so much time butting heads that Blaser forgot his twin actually did like him sometimes. Reminding himself that it was one thing to say something negative about your own brother compared to someone else saying it, he released some of the pressure on his hands. Colt always gave him grief, but he’d never hesitated to use his influence at the police station when Blaser got himself into a jam, something he never did for Mattie.

  ‘It’s not going to go to shit,’ Blaser said, cutting his brother some slack. ‘You have to trust me, and you have to give her a chance.’

  ‘A chance? Why?’ Colt asked and Blaser braced for what was to come next. ‘Are you fucking her?’

  ‘Why would he have put her in your apartment if he were sleeping with her?’ Lyssa asked.

  ‘This isn’t about sex,’ Blaser said, appreciating that Lyssa was sticking up for him. ‘She was my girl for years, I’m not going to see her in trouble. Gary is in prison and she has no one to look out for her.’

  ‘You ran to her after Gary was arrested and she slammed the door in your face.’ She had, but he’d stayed right there knocking until she opened it back up for him.

  ‘Because she thought that I was responsible for it, she was upset, but she’s calmed down again.’

  ‘Ruger told me that you two were sleeping together,’ Lyssa said and Blaser mentally retracted his previous gratitude.

  ‘When did he say that?’ Colt asked in that cop voice as though he was trying to catch Blaser in a lie and once again Blaser’s irritation bubbled up.

  ‘The night after the rock came through my window,’ she said. ‘The same night Gary showed up here and… all that happened.’

  Colt’s eyes came to him and the accusation in them clenched Blaser’s fists. ‘I am not having sex with her, I haven’t had sex with her since…’

  Recalling the last night they’d been intimate probably hadn’t been wise, because it reminded him of exactly how it ended… with his arrest. Drifting into the memory, he didn’t come out of it until Lyssa’s hand took his.

  ‘Since when?’ she asked.

  ‘Sometimes it’s just nosy to ask personal questions,’ Blaser said to Lyssa, knowing exactly how inappropriate her questioning could be. But his rebuke didn’t make her loosen her grip on his hand, it didn’t put her off her probing at all.

  ‘It’s very clear that you still have feelings for her,’ Lyssa said. ‘But she’s struggling with her own demons at the moment, Blaser. I very strongly urge you to consider not going ahead with what you’re thinking about.’

  ‘I’m not thinking anything,’ he said, unsure how his future sister-in-law could so easily read his mind.

  ‘Sexual attraction is important in a relationship and you can work to build that element of your bond with her. But it’s crucial that you not force her into—‘

  ‘I would never force her into anything.’

  ‘I know, but something you may think is an innocent advance could remind her of her previous experiences and that could be dangerous, it could set back her recovery. Have you sensed any kind of fear from her when you’ve been in proximity?’

  ‘She doesn’t fear me,’ he said, thinking about the anxiety she’d displayed last night when he put his jacket around her, and how short her temper had been. ‘She seems more comfortable instigating physical contact than letting me do it.’

  Lyssa nodded. ‘That is very normal behaviour.’

  ‘We shouldn’t talk about this here,’ he said.

  ‘No, we shouldn’t… But I’d like it if you came into the office.’

  Blaser blinked. ‘Your office? Why would I do that?’

  ‘You care about her and these situations often affect loved ones.’

  ‘I’m not having this conversation with you again,’ he said.

  ‘What are you two talking about?’ Colt asked. ‘You don’t have to sexually deconstruct everyone in the family, Cherrypop.’

  ‘Your father and I had an interesting conversation after dinner last weekend,’ she said.

  ‘Was that before or after my mom asked about your cycle?’ Colt shuddered and Lyssa laughed, resting her head on his shoulder.

  ‘Now that was an interesting conversation, if for no other reason than to see all of you men blanch.’

  ‘Future reference,’ Colt said. ‘That’s not acceptable dinner conversation.’

  ‘I thought you wanted kids,’ Blaser said, happy to see that his brother was finally with a woman who would be able to handle him and wouldn’t turn on him, Lyssa just wasn’t the type.

  ‘We do,’ Colt said. ‘But my mother doesn’t need to know every detail about my fiancée’s internal temperature for that to happen. In fact if I hear them discussing the volume of my yield one more time, there’s a chance it will never happen.’

  Suzette laughed in time with Lyssa and Blaser stepped back to serve another customer. Colt had never been particularly happy until he’d met with Lyssa. Blaser had never considered just how pent up and frustrated his twin was until he saw this new more relaxed side of him.

  Bri and Crystal came back on to the floor and Bri was wearing standard Risqué garb – a Lycra skirt and halter top that squeezed her breasts up and together. He loved her chest, she was insecure about it because she wasn’t as ample as some of the other girls they’d known growing up. But he’d never had any complaints, it wasn’t like she was flat-chested, she just didn’t flaunt herself in the way other women did.

  The blonde in her hair reflected the white lights flashing on the stage and he stopped, shaking the coins of the customer’s ch
ange in his hand while he watched her. Crystal was explaining something about the stage and Bri just listened. Her perfect skin was so soft, he knew it because he still remembered the way it felt last night when he’d touched her.

  He’d touched her when she was sixteen, made love to her when she was seventeen, and been in love with her from the moment he’d laid eyes on her. The years since then hadn’t dulled any of her beauty, to him they had enhanced it.

  Breaking up with her while he was in prison had been agony for him but he really believed he was doing what was best for her. He’d left her alone for years afterwards and from everything he’d heard she started to get her life together. On the couple of occasions that he’d enquired about her when he came across mutual acquaintances, he’d heard good things. She’d worked at an architecture firm doing some sort of admin work and was even dating some guy, which he didn’t like to hear, but had to accept was inevitable in letting her move on.

  Man, she was beautiful. Being here, around women who were usually semi-naked, had never really bothered his equilibrium. It made no sense that from across the breadth of the room he couldn’t take his eyes from the little scamp who had always tied him up in knots. Other women didn’t affect him in the way she did, their bodies weren’t quite as alluring, their eyes didn’t shine quite as brightly, and he’d never been given a hard-on at the sight of their smile.

  Bri was smiling at a patron who was saying something to her. Blaser’s fingers closed tightly around the warm coins in his palm because blood began to move south and his eyes closed to block out the sight of her glittering, happy eyes. He couldn’t want her, he’d been there and done that, and she’d been through too much. Being with her again would only make it more difficult when he had to let her go.

  ‘Hey! Buddy!’ The patron at the bar was there holding out his hand when Blaser opened his eyes.

  With a mumbled apology, he handed over the coins with a shaking hand. The customer stuffed them into his pocket and stalked off wearing a frown.

  Having Bri around wasn’t going to be good for business, he could tell that already.

  Chapter Seven

  Reaching Sunday without further altercation was a relief for Bri. The pressure of living with Erika and the mess that had come with it had been so constant for weeks that she was beginning to forget what it was like to just live her life without the threat of trouble.

  Blaser had been nice to her and he had gone above and beyond what she would have expected from a regular friend, but maybe that was because Blaser wasn’t a regular friend. If he hadn’t given her a place to stay and a job, then she didn’t know what she would’ve done or where she would be now.

  Settling into her new apartment was easy. Almost all of the other tenants in the apartment complex had been by to introduce themselves and they were all variations of scary. All built, mostly tattooed, but so far very friendly. Every other tenant worked for or with Blaser in some way – except Suzette – and it was awe-inspiring to see how far this one-time ruffian had come.

  Closing up at Risqué was almost done, but she’d hung around because Blaser had offered her a ride home, just as he had the past two nights. Nobody else caught a ride with him, so she assumed they all had their own forms of transportation, or other places to be.

  In the locker room, getting ready to leave, she put on her jacket, snatched her purse and slammed her locker door. When she turned to exit, the door opened and Mattie Warner strolled in.

  At about six foot, with slicked back dark hair he carried an air of affluence, confident in his expensive suit and shiny shoes.

  ‘Hello,’ he said, slipping his hands into his pockets and looking her figure down. ‘I heard you were back in town.’

  ‘Hi Mattie,’ she said, holding the edges of her jacket together. Pre-jail, Mattie was probably the member of the Warner family that Blaser had been closest to. She might not have always appreciated what Mattie was into, but he’d never given her any direct bother. Seeing such a familiar face, one that she hadn’t seen for so long, gave her a spike of nostalgia that sent her across the room to him.

  With open arms, he welcomed her embrace. The oddest thing happened next, tears pricked her eyes and she found herself not wanting to let go. ‘It’s been so long,’ she whispered.

  ‘I haven’t seen you since before Blaser went inside,’ he said into her hair.

  Maybe that was why this was such an emotional experience for her. She’d cut herself off from everyone when she moved away. Mattie was a dream, a distant part of her past that was often painful to remember but was also filled with such happy memories. Mattie had been a crazy kid, just like Blaser and Gary, he believed himself destined for better things and he’d followed through on those dreams as the suit and shoes attested to.

  From the glimmer of surprise on his face when she finally backed away, she could tell he hadn’t been expecting such a reaction. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, poking her fingers into her tear ducts to try and dam the tears. ‘I don’t know where that came from.’

  ‘Come here,’ he said and taking her hand he led her to the furthest away couch. ‘Gary’s in prison?’ She nodded. ‘Does he have a lawyer?’

  ‘Court appointed,’ she said. ‘I couldn’t even afford to bail him out.’ And that shame enhanced the tears. ‘I really can’t do anything for him.’

  ‘Don’t worry about that,’ he said, moving her hand onto his lap and sliding an arm around her. ‘You’ve been dealing with a lot on your own.’

  ‘Blaser’s been great,’ she said. ‘And Marshall, but I can’t tell him that I’m here, you know? If Gary found out that I’d come to Blaser for help—‘

  ‘Every guy in your life is trying to pull you in a different direction. Maybe you ought to spend more time worrying about yourself.’

  That was something she’d been told after Blaser broke up with her. Eventually, she’d chosen to do just that though now she wondered if the guilt of that decision had ever left her. ‘God, I’m sorry,’ she tried to laugh. ‘I just went all female on you. Ignore me… Did you need something? If you’re looking for Blaser, he’ll be out front.’

  ‘I’m looking for you.’

  ‘For me?’

  ‘When I heard you were back in town I had to come over and see you. The family is worrying about you.’ Withdrawing her hand, she was annoyed that she’d shown him such vulnerability if he was about to warn her off at the request of the Warners as a whole. ‘And I’ve been hearing whispers about you from the girls. My cousin has always been strict about dallying with subordinates, so I was surprised that he would employ a woman he’s spent most of his life dallying with.’

  ‘We’re not dallying,’ she said. ‘He’s been a good friend to me, that’s all.’

  ‘He’s been more than that,’ Mattie said. ‘But it’s not romantic for you anymore?’

  ‘I don’t see what that has to do with you,’ she said. ‘Are you worried about Blaser’s virtue?’

  ‘Blaser can take care of himself especially when it comes to women.’

  Maybe Mattie’s warning wasn’t against her, maybe it was for her. She had no idea what Blaser had been like with women since his release from prison and it wasn’t something she discussed with Blaser himself.

  ‘So you’re worried about me?’ she asked. ‘I can take care of myself, Mattie. You don’t have to look out for me.’

  ‘I’m here to ask you to have dinner with me.’

  ‘Dinner?’ she said, suppressing the urge to slide away from him to the other end of the couch.

  ‘Yes,’ he said, lifting her hand to his lap again. ‘You’re an attractive woman and I’m curious… So you tell me the time and the place.’

  Something about the invitation made her uneasy and the word curious did too. Going out with a man who was curious usually only led to one thing. ‘I’m flattered,’ she said, wondering why Mattie was suddenly showing interest. ‘But I’m not looking for romantic entanglements right now.’

  ‘Nothing
romantic,’ he said. ‘You’re family and it’s been a long time, I want to catch up.’

  ‘I’m family because I work here at Risqué?’ He couldn’t possibly mean her association with Blaser unless he was trying to trick her into confessing lingering emotions for him.

  ‘And Blaser is looking out for you. If he cares then we all care. You work Thursday to Sunday, so you’re free tomorrow. We’ll go to Marco’s, eight o’clock. I’ll meet you there.’

  ‘I don’t know where—‘

  ‘I’ll text you the details,’ Mattie said, kissing her knuckles then rising from the couch. He knew her schedule and her phone number, Bri made a mental note to ask Blaser not to give out those details to just whoever asked. Mattie went to the door and opened it. ‘I’m looking forward to it.’

  After he left the room, she gave him a few seconds head start before she grabbed her purse from the couch and double-timed it out of the locker room and into the back alley where Blaser parked the truck.

  The girls had informed her that Blaser didn’t usually drive to work, so Bri had a feeling the truck was for her safety, or at least to give her the illusion of it. The truck was already idling, meaning Blaser was in it, so she jumped up into the passenger side and saw Blaser was messing with the stereo.

  ‘Do you know where Marco’s is?’ she asked.

  ‘Yeah, it’s a few miles from here, toward the city.’

  ‘Do you want to eat dinner there tomorrow night? Eight o’clock?’ she asked.

  Losing interest in the stereo, he sat back in his seat, resting a forearm on the top of the steering wheel. ‘You’re asking me out to dinner? You’re asking me out on a date?’

  ‘Not… no.’

  Blaser frowned. ‘I don’t understand what—‘

  ‘Mattie just came to me. He said I was family.’

  ‘And asked you to dinner?’ he sighed. ‘That sonofabitch.’