Go With It (A Go Novel Book 1)

by Scarlett Finn

  “Don’t think you have to,” Maze muttered. “I think he’d do you anywhere.”

  “Anywhere Noon could walk in and catch them at it,” Dover said. “I’m sure they set it up that way just to remind him he ain’t getting any.”

  “Don’t see them lining up for you,” Noon said, lunging over her to try smacking Dover who just laughed harder and used her as a shield.

  “I forget, Ryske,” Dover said. “What did the twins say when you told them Noon needed company?”

  Standing up, Ryske smirked. “Poor kid’s taken enough of a beating for one day and his night isn’t about to get any better.”

  Coming over to stand in front of her, Ryske bent to take her hands and pulled her onto her feet. “It isn’t?” she asked, letting him push her along, their joined hands on her hips. “Why not?”

  Drawing her back, he whispered above her ear. “Because he’s going to have to listen to you screaming for me all night.”

  “We’re not having sex,” she said.

  Ryske pushed her to the side of their bed, blocking her in while he reached over to draw the curtain at the foot of the bed closed. The guys whooped and catcalled. There was a second curtain between the two nightstands that separated Ryske’s bed from Noon’s. He guided that down to meet the straight one at the bottom, concealing them from the view of the others.

  The wine had loosened her up. When Ryske started to undress her, she admitted to herself that she kind of liked it. “We’re gonna start fulfilling your aspirations right here.”

  “Strange places doesn’t mean in front of an audience,” she said, deciding to work on removing his clothes, since he was taking care of hers. “We can make out.”

  “Good,” he said, snatching her hips to thrust her backwards onto the bed. “That’s the only in I need.”

  Disoriented, Harlow was still getting used to being naked when he finished stripping and climbed on top of her, kissing his way from her knee to her cleavage. “I don’t know how much time you spent with girls in high school,” she said, running her hands through his hair while he feasted on her breasts. “But this goes way beyond making out.”

  Lifting his head, his feral eyes were unapologetic. “You didn’t restrict which part of your body I could make out with.

  Rising up, he grabbed her knees to pull them apart and dipped down to kiss the most intimate corner of her body. “Oh, boy,” she sighed and grabbed a pillow to squash it into her face in hopes it would block the sounds of ecstasy seeping from her lips.

  Ryske wasn’t subtle; he took liberties wherever he could. Harlow would just have to get used to the fact that being with a criminal meant rules were always going to be optional not mandatory.

  33

  For almost a week, they settled into a routine that involved her naked in bed with Ryske every night, and her laughing at him for trying every way he knew how to get inside her, literally. His patience was stretched so thin that he seemed to be in a perpetual bad mood with her.

  Harlow hadn’t let them go further than oral. Each morning, he got his in the shower. The closest thing they got to privacy was behind those steamy glass walls. It was amazing how quickly she’d become accustomed to their living arrangements and how the men just walked into the bathroom whenever they felt like it, whether she or Ryske were in the midst of orgasm or not.

  Bedtime was harder. In the intimacy of the small hours, she didn’t talk to Ryske about what he’d said. Because she was aware of the other men sleeping in the room, it wasn’t easy to relax and be with him the way a girlfriend might be in bed with her man. Not because she didn’t trust the other men, she did, but she didn’t want Ryske’s friends to hear her questioning him or them whispering sweet nothings.

  Spending time with Felipe was a lot of fun. During the day, she worked with the youngster to organize the Floyd’s paperwork or did her college assignments. The guys loved to stop and offer the wisdom of their experience if they passed by when her books were open. Essays on motivation, logistics, and after-effects were certainly easier with subjects around who were eager to provide case studies.

  At night, Ryske went out with one or more of the guys, while she served in Floyd’s where she was beginning to make friends with the regulars and Dover’s other employees.

  On Friday night, seated on the closet couch, Harlow was buckling her shoe around her ankle when the closet door opened. Ryske came in naked, with a towel slung around the back of his neck rather than around his hips, where any other normal guy would wear it.

  “I thought you were gone,” she said, sitting up straight.

  “I was, I came back,” he said, dropping the towel and retrieving a pair of jeans from a drawer.

  Smiling at his lack of underwear, she leaned back on the couch. “I don’t need you to make my job any easier,” she said, nodding at his groin when he turned toward her pulling on the jeans. “You’re going smokeless.”

  “Hoping to get laid,” he said, buttoning his fly.

  That explanation changed her mood. Hiding how uncomfortable it made her to think of him on a job that involved getting intimate with another woman wasn’t easy. Fearing he might be able to read her, she thought it best to change the subject.

  Pouncing to her feet, Harlow smoothed her skirt and pasted on a grin. “How do I look? Like a pro?”

  He finished buttoning and folded his arms across his chest, taking his time about checking her out. “Nothing like a pro, baby…” That answer disappointed her. Her smile dropped, making his rise. “You’re too classy for that shit, Trink.”

  Breathing out, she relaxed. “Good save,” she said and sidestepped toward the door. “Have a good night.”

  “Hey,” he said, darting across the room to get in front of her, blocking her exit. “You don’t have to work tonight.”

  “You tell me that every night.”

  Harlow tried to get around him, but he got in her way again. “No, I mean, I’ve got us a room.”

  Confused, she had no idea what he was trying to say. “A room? Where? For what?”

  Coiling his arms around her, he pulled her body against his. The way he bent his knees to get closer to her level was familiar to her now. This was a prelude to a kiss, which was his prologue to seduction… or attempted seduction.

  “I’m gonna buy you dinner,” he murmured, the deep tone vibrating from him through to her bones. “Load you up with a few drinks, loosen you up and then…”

  Leaning in, he pressed his mouth to hers.

  Suspicion kept her from accepting his kiss for what it was. Pushing him back, she squinted to examine him, trying to figure out what this was about. These were work hours, they didn’t get intimate during work hours.

  “What’s going on, Ryske? You always have business at night, why is tonight any…” Figuring it out, her eyes ascended as her head began to nod. “It’s Friday.”

  “Yeah, baby—”

  “You want me out while the basement is open,” she said, giving him a shove to free herself from his embrace. “What is it about that place? All week you’ve been keeping me out of there. What is it you don’t want me to see?”

  “It’s not that we don’t want you to see it,” he said.

  “You don’t trust me?”

  That statement almost seemed to offend him and he jumped onto the defensive. “It’s called plausible deniability, Trink. Me and the guys might end up in front of a judge one day for what we do down there. We’ve made our peace with it. All of us. We’ve made that choice. But you? No, I won’t have it. You will never do time behind bars for this crew. Not as long as I have any say in it.”

  Folding her arms, she glared. “So, all that stuff you said last weekend about me being part of the team.” Tapping her wrist, she indicated an invisible star. “That was bullshit? Your attempt to speed up your journey into my panties.”

  “No,” he said. “I don’t need tricks. If I’d wanted in that bad, I’d have forced myself on you.” Seizing her wrist, he yanked her t
o him. “Do you think the guys would’ve stopped me?”

  Tugging her wrist out of his grip, her anger made her back away. Rape wasn’t in Ryske’s repertoire and the guys would’ve stopped him if he had considered taking things too far with her. His crew knew as well as she did that Ryske was incapable of violating her. He knew how to go to the edge, but never went too far. His instinct was attuned to hers.

  This was his attempt to arouse her with his domination, which would usually work. Harlow had to see past their desire. One of them had to keep them on track. “No, that won’t work this time, Crash. Yes, I get turned on when you’re forceful, but I can’t do this anymore. I can’t do this halfway thing. You have to tell me, all or nothing? I can’t just go with it anymore.”

  “You’re the one who hasn’t answered me,” he argued. “I told you what I wanted, you didn’t answer me, and then spent the night talking about your ex. You want to be with me? You’ve gotta prove it.”

  Shocked by his vehemence, she was close to speechless. “P… prove it?”

  His scowl was fierce. “Yeah, you’re Miss Goody Two Shoes, right? Miss Books and College Assignments can’t be with a guy like me. You’ve picked your path. You have a future ahead of you; a good one. I said you were excited by the thrill of me, but you’re terrified of it too and you know what, Trink? You should be!”

  His anger was enveloped in disappointment too. Hearing the truth coming from his mouth, she realized he was telling her what she hadn’t wanted to admit to herself. All this time, Ryske had been playing with her.

  Her dejection wasn’t a simple thing to overcome, but Harlow did her best to stand tall even in the face of it. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Don’t I, baby?” he asked. “Why haven’t we gone all the way, huh?”

  “We share a room with the guys.”

  He spat out his disbelief like it was disgust. “They think we started screwing when I was holed up at Bale’s. If you wanted it, you’d have let me take it. We’ve had plenty of chances. We could’ve slept in here or down in the den. But you don’t want it. I know I turn you on, that’s fucking obvious every minute. But your feelings for me fucking terrify you.”

  Throwing that in her face was some bullshit that she wouldn’t let him get away with. “Oh, yeah, and what’s your excuse? You’re so sure you could’ve had me, why haven’t you? And don’t give me some bullshit about respect or consent. You pride yourself on being an arrogant asshole, and taking sex any time it’s on offer. Why haven’t you taken it from me?”

  Arguing wasn’t a new phenomenon for them. But it only seemed to get to this fierce panting stage when they were talking about them. It was the hardest thing for them to talk about, the most difficult thing to face.

  “Are you offering it?” he snapped.

  Opening her arms, Harlow said nothing, daring him to come and take it. For half a beat, it looked like he was going to move, but his tension vanished when he deflated.

  “I knew it,” she said, accepting that he wasn’t going to follow through. “I was a distraction. You wanted to know if you could make the naïve goody two shoes fall for you. This was all just an exercise, a way to hone your skills. Well done. I fell for it, Grifter.”

  Going for the exit, Harlow was ready to get the hell out of this place and away from this man.

  “Where are you going?” he asked.

  Passing him without a second glance, she opened the door. “The best thing about this conversation? I now know that I don’t owe you a goddamn thing. I don’t have to tell you a damn thing either.”

  Leaving the closet, she held her resolve as she crossed the apartment and went into the stairwell. Harlow wasn’t going to take the risk of going out through the bar where she could more easily be stopped.

  The stairwell wasn’t used by customers during the week, so she didn’t really think about the people who may be coming in the side entrance to head for the basement. They became a frustrating obstacle in her way. Ignoring the odd looks customers cast her way, she pushed through the people who were trying to get in.

  All she wanted was to be out of there. As far from Floyd’s as she could get. Hurrying down the alley, she could only leave by the rear parking area, which had more than a dozen vehicles in it that night. Usually empty but for the crew’s vehicles, the increase of occupied spaces was further evidence that tonight was different.

  But, that wasn’t her business, and she wasn’t going to dwell on it. Her goal was to get the hell out of there. Hagan hadn’t come for her since letting her leave the hotel with Ryske. She’d seen no evidence that she was in danger anymore.

  Maneuvering around a couple of vehicles, Harlow thought she was home free with a clear shot out.

  A car door opened and Maze stepped out into her path. “Nightingale, what’s—”

  “Get out of my way, Maze.”

  “No,” he said, grabbing her wrist when she tried to march on past him. “I’m eyes out here, but Noon’s inside. If there’s somewhere you need to be—”

  “Yes, there is somewhere I need to go.”

  Taking her shoulders, there was real concern on his face when he asked. “Where?”

  “Away from here,” she said, throwing his hands from her body. “You were right, okay? You were all right. I’m not cut out for this. The dumb, naïve little middle-class princess is going to run on home, back to the life she was supposed to live. I’ll go back to the ex, get knocked up, and live miserably ever after, just like you all want.”

  Spinning around, she stormed away, skirting a couple more cars to get away from Maze to head for the opposite street. She didn’t even get to the corner before Maze caught up at her side.

  “If you want to dump Ryske and turn your back on your crew, that’s just fine. But, I’ll lock you up in the basement myself before I’ll let you go back to the prick who couldn’t keep you happy.”

  “Least I could keep that prick happy,” she said without missing a step. “Maybe he’s the only man I’ll ever understand.”

  Maze matched her speed with little effort. “I know Ryske can spin a lot of plates, but with you he’s… well, he’s about as straightforward as I’ve ever seen him. I don’t know what happened between you two, but me and the guys, we keep saying he’s an open book with you. He’s never had his poker face fail him so much. He just can’t keep his cards hidden.”

  She didn’t know what any of that meant and wasn’t interested in figuring it out. On her trek down the next block, she tried to gather some enthusiasm about the idea of going back to the life she’d left. Her parents had told her that she wouldn’t make it in the city. Moving home would prove their point.

  Maze was still there beside her, keeping pace, frustrating her. “Are you going to follow me all the way home?”

  “If I have to,” he said. “You know the rules, you’re not supposed to go anywhere without one of us.”

  “Then prepare to meet my parents and my boyfriend.”

  Rupert wasn’t exactly her boyfriend yet. If she went back to him and told him she’d be everything he wanted her to be, he wouldn’t reject her. Not like Ryske had.

  “I’ve met your boyfriend.” Maze was talking about Ryske, not Rupert. “I’ve known him longer than you have and he’s not the type to give up easy… He says stupid stuff all the time. You know that, he says stupid stuff to you. I’ve never seen you react like this. Usually, you know exactly how to play him at his own game.”

  Snorting out a semi-laugh, she couldn’t rid herself of her rage. “Oh, I did. I played him right back and found out the truth.”

  “What truth?” he asked. When she didn’t answer, he took her arm to pull her to a halt. “Damn it, Nightingale. What did he say?”

  “This has been a game, all along. I’ve been a distraction, a way to hone his skills.”

  Shocked, his fingers drifted away from her arm. In his moment of reflection, Harlow got the chance to absorb where they were. This was the spot where it ha
d started. They were standing at the end of the alley where Ryske had first crashed into her.

  Maze’s shock wasn’t rooted in the same place as hers. “He loves you,” he said, while she was still off balance trying not to think too hard about the night she met Ryske. “That’s why he’s acting like a jerk. Ryske has never been in love, always said he was impervious, which was how he could seduce any woman and never get attached. But, in you, he found something pure. Not innocent, no, you’re anything but that.” He touched her cheek. “You have fire and grit, two things that he admires. You’ve never been afraid of anything and he’s drawn to that fearless quality. You didn’t look down your nose at us or where we live. You’ve accepted everything about our lives, about his life. He loves you.”

  She edged away from his caress. “No, he doesn’t. We might all live together, but you guys don’t know the truth of our relationship, of what we are.”

  “I don’t doubt that. No one outside a relationship knows the full truth of what’s going on in it.”

  “You might think he loves me; the guys might think it too. It’s not the truth.” Conceding a sigh, she tried to calm down. None of this was Maze’s fault. “Maybe it wasn’t all a game. But there’s one truth that none of us can deny. There’s no future for us. For Ryske and I. All there can ever be is sex. As long as he does what he does, that’s all he can offer me. And before you freak out, I wouldn’t ask him to give up the con. He loves what he does. But there’s no space in his life for me.”

  Maze took one step back. A solemn air descended around him. “You’re right.”

  She nodded once, letting the sadness of that truth weigh her down. “I know I am. I don’t fit in his world and I won’t ask his world to fit around me.”

  “You have to get out,” Maze said, like he was putting pieces together. “You have to be free to move on with your life without him pulling you back.”