Down & Dirty: Romantic Suspense Series (Dirty Deeds Book 3)

by AJ Nuest

  But Ben had known long before stepping one foot inside that he should’ve lied and said he’d made other plans. Irritation ground his back teeth until pain triggered the ticking muscle near his temple. In his line of work, he’d dealt with plenty of women who had no choice but to use their bodies to put food on the table. Whatever agonizing circumstances forced them into the lifestyle, from start to finish, their stories always dug under his skin like a tick.

  Playing party to those hardships in his off hours was like standing at attention while being beat over the head with a Billy club. He swung a sharp glance around the room. It was anyone’s guess what kind of abuses the minimal lighting was hiding. The place was filled with a putrid stench and every surface was coated with God only knew how many decades of the same sticky filth.

  Lifting his drink, he sipped at his scotch and swirled the mellow burn around on his tongue. But it sure was a huge fucking load-off to see Adder and Sean were getting along just fine.

  The alcohol wore a path down his throat as he swallowed, churning through the food in his gut. The moment the limo had eased to a stop in front of Smith Manor and Adder had ducked onto the seat behind Kelly, Ben had known his evening had taken an about-face straight into the latrine. Not that he’d been in the best partying mood to begin with but, shit.

  After that jaw-jacking fight with Tanner, the last thing he’d wanted was to spend time pretending to relax with the maggot responsible for creating his problems in the first place. Act as if he could stand to be anywhere near the asshole when every instinct Ben owned shouted he’d be better off crushing Adder’s larynx with a hard to jab to the throat.

  And yet, one misplaced sneer on his part, the smallest indication Ben was prepping to rip the Adder’s head off, and he knew. Kelly and Xander would pick up on his aggravation, and the second they did, the two of them would be at him demanding answers Ben was in no kinda headspace to provide.

  He’d given Captain D’Avella his word to quietly work the case. And if that wasn’t a good enough excuse, until he had something solid to go on, he wasn’t about to put his friends in that kind of danger. All while he stood here, forced to pal it up with the one jackass he was convinced could not be trusted.

  The same tightness he’d been struggling to hide all night fisted in his chest, and Ben’s lips parted on a sigh. Honest to Christ, he couldn’t have made this shit up if he’d tried.

  The twenty-something brunette swinging around the pole landed on her heels and shimmied a seductive dance. Sean waved her over with a stack of singles and she strutted her stuff toward Kelly. Ben cocked a brow as what had to be a table of regulars seated nearby hooted and slapped Kelly on the back even as he waved her off with an emphatic no.

  Ben grunted. A wise decision on his best friend’s part. Eden caught wind of Kelly dabbling in that particular pre-wedding ritual, and any plans he might’ve made to consummate their vows would hit the ground quicker than the incoming payload off a Nighthawk stealth bomber.

  Jamming his hand in the slash pocket of his dress slacks, Ben rested his weight on one hip. But it wasn’t as if Kelly had ever needed the incentive. Except for that tense week Ben had been forced to put up with his miserable ass, since the day Eden and Kelly had met, they’d been inseparable. The two of them had fallen so hard and fast, they’d clicked on a level Ben found more confusing than the total sum of all the hardships he’d lived through in his thirty-two odd years on this planet.

  If there was one thing he’d gladly put money on, it was that Kelly would never betray Eden. Guaran-damn-teed, no matter what kinda bootie was flaunted in his face.

  Slouched in the chair on Kelly’s left, Adder laughed and downed what had to be his fourth shot of Jack Daniels in the last thirty minutes. A vein hammered in the base of Ben’s skull as he narrowed his gaze to search that slimy snake’s face.

  During his years of service, it had been well-rumored among his unit Shahzar could hold his alcohol easier than a fish sucked water. Kelly smiled at something his brother said and toasted him with the long-neck bottle of his IPA beer. Standing from his seat, Adder flapped a few bills to catch the stripper’s attention and jerked his head toward Xander. Arms crossed with his back to the show, Xander shot a squint at Adder that said he’d be better off suggesting that bullshit to the Pope.

  Asshole. Ben dragged his hand down his face. Looked as if exploiting women wasn’t the only personality trait Adder and Shahzar had in common. If he seriously thought Xander would ever consider cheating on Charlie, the dude’s head was loaded with blanks.

  Since the day he’d slipped an engagement ring on her finger, Xander had openly admitted to anyone within earshot that Charlie was the only woman he’d ever loved. With their wedding less than a month away, the guy wasn’t about to do anything that would screw up his chances at meeting her down the aisle, much less paying for a lap dance in a skeezy club like this.

  Rolling his eyes, Xander glanced toward Ben, shoved to his feet and wove through the crowd toward the bar. “Like I need that headache.” He bumped his chin toward the bartender. “Club soda with lime.”

  The guy didn’t drink. Never had, from what Ben had been able to gather. But whatever Xander’s reasons for abstaining, Ben couldn’t deny it was nice having a sober friend among the group.

  The bartender pointed at his half-empty glass and he shook his head. His days of catching a buzz were over right up ʼtil he located whatever outcome awaited him at the end.

  “Wish that piece of shit had stayed gone.” Xander grabbed his drink and faced the room, leaning against the bar at Ben’s side. “And thanks to you, I can’t do a damn thing about it.”

  Ben hesitated, darting a sidelong frown at the Brofessor. What had crawled up his ass and died?

  “Charlie read me the riot act when she found out I’d narced on Tanner, and she wouldn’t let up until I promised to steer clear of Adder.” He chugged a swallow and his lips twisted as if the lime juice had left a bad aftertaste in his mouth. “You need to work on your surveillance technique.”

  Aw, shit. Ben grimaced. “Sorry.”

  Then again, it wasn’t like Xander was embracing the pain on his own. Incurring the wrath of any woman within the Dirty Deeds organization was enough to make a rational man willingly leap on top of an IED. Had Ben ever been dumb enough to forget, the wind-sucking void that had filled his chest after Tanner had slammed the door of his truck had done a fine job of reminding him just how miserable the fallout could be.

  The disappointment in her eyes, the sadness brimming along her lower lashes had jammed him up eighteen ways of wrong. Those first few seconds, it had taken everything in him not to chase after her. Blurt things no man in his right mind should ever say.

  Not even the two hours he’d spent scouring the internet on the secure laptop Molly had given him had helped removed the image of Tanner’s stricken face from his mind. At the same time, he kept praying to high holy Christ he’d find something to prove Adder and Shahzar were the same guy.

  A good dose of eye strain later, and the only things Ben had stumbled across were a couple of blurry photos, Shahzar’s face either hidden by a scarf or turned far enough away from the camera it was impossible to tell if his resemblance to Adder was anywhere close to being the same.

  Scattered applause came from near the stage, and Ben refocused on Adder as he tucked several bills inside the stripper’s G-string. Running his hands up the backs of her thighs, he clutched her bare ass with a leer.

  A hard shove, and Kelly’s brother laughed as Adder brought her hips to within inches of his face.

  “For Christ’s sake.” Xander raked his hand through his hair. “Can’t you arrest him for being a dick or something? Go over there and cold-cock him with your gun?”

  “My sidearm’s locked up at home.” Damn shame, too. Boosting his chin, Ben took another survey of the darkened interior. Didn’t mean the manager couldn’t intervene. Maybe employ a little muscle to ensure Adder obeyed the hands-off rule that was
normally enforced in places like this.

  God knew, if the circumstances were different, Ben wouldn’t have wasted another second delivering Xander’s message to the side of Adder’s head. And he would’ve done so without questioning the Brofessor’s motives in the least.

  Whatever Xander’s hold up, the reasons behind why he hated Adder so damn much didn’t matter. Not to Ben, and yet, given their mutual dislike for the guy, it didn’t seem right to ask until he was prepared to return the favor.

  After the wedding, though. Maybe he’d revisit the issue. See if there was some way he could confide in Xander without saying too much or putting him in harm’s way. If Adder stuck around long enough, Ben would only find himself in this exact same spot the closer Xander and Charlie got to their big day.

  Wagging her finger at Adder, the stripper backed out of his hands. She rubbed her thumb along her fingertips as if he’d come up too short in the cash department for whatever twisted ideas had slithered into his brain.

  Just twenty-four hours. Ben squinted as Adder jostled Sean with his elbow and asked for a few extra bills. One more night and, hopefully, Ben would be able to make some decent progress into why Adder had even returned to Chicago in the first place.

  Tanner had been right when she’d said the guy could’ve easily cashed in on his inheritance over the phone, and Ben didn’t buy the excuse that Adder had shown up here in some lame attempt at a sappy reunion for a second. “You all set for tomorrow?”

  Bobbing his chin, Xander slanted away from the stage as if glad for the change in subjects. “Molly and I are heading to Navy Pier first thing in the morning to double-check the schematics got wired to our specifications. And since he owed me, Byrne made an exception and loaned me a few off-duty Feds to watch the perimeter. No one’s getting within a five-mile radius of the ballroom without me hearing about it, and those who do will have their activities recorded on camera.” He shrugged. “Worst case scenario, I figured the video would make a nice wedding gift for Eden and Kelly.”

  Good. Ben returned Xander’s nod. His contacts at the Justice Department and the help Xander had given Special Agent in Charge Elias Byrne working various internet schemes the past few years would go a long way toward guaranteeing security for the event functioned tighter than a Black Ops directive. With the long list of problems currently riding his shoulders, Ben couldn’t have been happier to have one less thing to worry about.

  The Brofessor could go ahead and watch everyone else. As things stood now, Ben would be watching Adder.

  Another round of cheers, and he locked eyes with Xander before facing the stage.

  Jesus H. Christ. Ben quickly studied his feet.

  Adder had reclaimed his seat, and the way the stripper had straddled his thighs, naked breasts swinging as she performed a personal bump and grind, was not something Ben needed to see. Another brief peek just to make sure the woman was in it to win it and he resumed the intense study of his shoes.

  “After tonight, my brain’s gonna need to be bleached.” Xander shook his head, paused a beat and then opened his palm toward Ben. “Give me your phone.”

  What? No.

  Ben scowled. He’d rather gore his eyes out with a spoon than to have that nauseating display show up on his cell for later reference. Would serve Adder right if his junk rotted off with whatever designer STD was making the rounds. “I’ll pass.”

  Cocking a brow, Xander swiveled his shoulders to scan Ben’s face. “You sure about that?”

  What in the perverted voyeuristic shit was he talking about? The way everyone associated with Dirty Deeds constantly deployed one screwy endgame after the next was enough to make Ben’s blood pressure go ballistic just trying to figure out what the hell they were doing.

  Of course, he was sure. Why would he ever want that bullsh—

  Awareness clicked in, and he slumped.

  Tanner.

  Ben jerked his focus back toward Adder, thrusting his hips in time to the stripper’s gyrations, and then carefully placed his drink on the bar before his grip tightened more than it already had and he shattered the glass in his hand.

  That greasy sack of shit hadn’t hesitated to spend time with her. A vein pulsed in the center of Ben’s vision, momentarily blocking the view. Not that any man would, if she asked. But if Adder ever got it in his head to make a move on her, double down on any of the two-faced lies he’d told her… A dangerous growl rolled up the back of Ben’s throat. The thought alone was enough to make him want to haul the bastard up by the shorthairs and rearrange whatever cosmetic surgery had been done to his face. Proof or no proof.

  No, goddamn it. Tanner deserved better than some asshole who had no qualms about getting his rocks off in front of a bunch of bar rats at a strip club. She was beautiful. A strong, smart, beautiful woman who had her whole life in front of her. Who deserved to be treated with affection, admiration and respect.

  Not this. Not anything even remotely close to this.

  Slipping his phone from his pocket, Ben smacked the device into Xander’s out-stretched hand. Every hunch he had screamed that Adder was lying, and if he’d gone so far as to change his appearance, Ben had zero doubts the jackass would lie to her about everything else. Up to and including his sexual history.

  Standing on the sidelines while that sickening ordeal unfolded was not up for discussion. Ben wasn’t about to let Tanner get hurt that way. “Light ʼem up.”

  “Good call.” Xander lifted the phone and snapped several pictures before handing the device back to Ben. Top lip curled in a sneer, the Brofessor turned away from the stage and leaned his elbows on the bar. “I must’ve asked Charlie about a hundred times what the girls were up to tonight. Considering the stories we’re in for tomorrow, I’m rethinking how pissed I was she wouldn’t tell me.”

  Something along the lines of a mortar shell detonated in Ben’s stomach. Eyes in a tight squint, he followed Xander’s example and pivoted away from the show. “The girls were going out?”

  “Bachelorette party. And before you grill me for answers, be forewarned I wasn’t allowed to ask.” Xander tapped the bottom edge of his glass against the bar. “Charlie said the only one who would be in any danger was me if I tracked her phone.”

  Rubbing his palm over the shaved hair along his nape, Ben tried to pinpoint what it was about that piece of information that made his trigger finger itch. All the girls would be together—Eden, Charlie, Molly and Tanner. Most likely Kelly’s sister, Moira, and hell, they’d probably even invited Mocha to join in the fun.

  He trusted they knew how to have a good time while watching one another’s backs, and yet… He swiped his thumb over his phone to check the hour. The mere idea of them loose in the city, all dressed to the nines and out looking for trouble, made an air raid siren blare in his head. “It’s after midnight. Maybe you should text and see if everyone made it home okay.”

  “Everyone?” Tipping his head back, Xander shook an ice cube into his mouth, his shrewd glance making Ben shift uneasily against the rail. “How about you see after whoever you want and leave me out of it. I got my hands full with Charlie.”

  A friendly slap landed on Ben’s back, and he swung around to find Kelly standing beside his older brother, shrugging his jacket onto his shoulders. “I’m calling it a night. Early day tomorrow, and Eden will kick my ass if I show up to the wedding hung over.”

  Thank God. Ben made a mental note to bear hug her the first opportunity he got. A quick check of the stage, and he frowned at the blonde swinging around the pole. “Where’s Adder?”

  “Said he’d find his own ride home.” Kelly straightened his collar around his neck. “And that we shouldn’t wait up.”

  Even better news yet.

  Collecting his jacket off a nearby stool, Ben trailed the group, settling up with the bartender before following Xander through the door. Listening to Adder rehash the night during the limo ride home would’ve likely had him knocking the guy through the privacy window into the front
seat.

  In honor of the groom, the driver dropped Kelly off at his place first. It’s location within walking distance of Navy Pier made Sean’s hotel the next closest stop, and Xander shook Ben’s hand before hopping out at Smith Manor.

  In the welcomed silence that followed, Ben stretched his legs inside the roomy interior and reclined against the seat. Outside the tinted window, the multi-colored lights of the city streaked past, the sky whitewashed with a simulated sunrise from the glow.

  Leaning to the side, Ben worked his cell from his pocket and activated the screen.

  No texts. Nothing on voice mail. He tapped his phone against his thigh.

  Dammit, what was it about not knowing where Tanner was that kept niggling at his gut? Bracing his elbow on the armrest, he rasped his hand along his jaw. If that repulsive display at the club was anything to go by, Adder was out of commission for the night. Though his being temporarily distracted certainly wouldn’t stop any other guy from eyeballing her.

  Or buying her drinks.

  Or asking her to dance.

  Ben muttered a curse. Or getting her number.

  Christ, this was stupid. Shoving away from the door, he scrolled through his contacts list, pulled up her name and thumbed the keys. Xander had been right when he’d said Ben could check on whomever he wanted. He was making sure she’d made it home okay, not composing sonnets and poems. Text me when you get in.

  Except for one problem.

  He hesitated with his thumb over the send icon and then quickly deleted the message.

  If she wasn’t back yet, receiving his text in the presence of the other Dirty Deeds women would only send up a red flag, resulting in him being backed into some ridiculous corner. A single glance at the screen, and they’d invariably want to know who was interrupting their special night out. Tanner would maybe even hand over her phone so they could read his message and jump to a bunch of exaggerated conclusions.