by Vi Keeland
“What happened?”
He laughed again. Fondly. “They brought him to me and I told him if he wanted a job, he needed to take me down. He mouthed off, said he could do whatever he wanted. That’s when I told him that I was the guy who’d be coming after him if he didn’t make the right payments so he better know what he was getting into.”
“Did he take you down?” I grinned as I asked. I already knew he couldn’t, not then.
He chuckled and shook his head. “No. He still can’t. He can overpower me, but I’m quicker.”
“Like hell you are.”
Noah stood there, a wide smile stretched over his face, as he held a gym bag over his shoulder. He wore a similar shirt like Carter, ripped in places and looking like something he bought from a thrift store. His pants were even worse. Gray, faded in places so much that his skin shown through. The pockets looked like they’d been ripped out long ago. A deep chuckle reverberated from him. “Those are fighting words, my son.”
Carter chuckled. “That’s what I said to him all those years ago.”
It took a moment before I realized Carter had addressed that to me. He nodded towards Noah, who stood next to me now. “She asked about this picture. I was telling her how we first met.”
“Yeah.” A dark haunted look appeared over Noah as he sighed. “That was around the time Theresa’s parents died. I was close to her dad and was fucking angry at the world. I wanted to do damage. I don’t know if it was to myself or to others. Anyways,” he blinked a few times and the darkness disappeared. He forced a smile instead. “Don’t matter now. This man never let me anywhere near that lifestyle.”
Carter had been watching as well but caught my gaze and squeezed my hip. “I paid for his first fight.”
A genuine laugh rippled from the bigger guy. “And all the rest since.”
“You were his sponsor?”
“More or less.” Carter shrugged. His icy blue eyes grew thoughtful again. A shiver went over me. He was remembering AJ. I didn’t know how I knew it, but I did. He murmured, “He reminded me of your brother. Same look in his eye, angry and hurting. Ready to fight. When I saw the kid had talent, I knew he had a different future for him.”
“Kid?” Noah reached around me and punched his shoulder. “I’m two years older than you, man.”
“Age doesn’t mean a thing. I’m older and wiser.” Carter winked at me. “I’ll always be older and wiser.”
“My ass, you will,” Noah griped, but the fondness was evident between the two. As they moved for the fighting ring, I studied more of the pictures. There were more of the two dressed in business suits and still more of action photographs. Noah was in the ring, a feral snarl on his face, his biceps bulging as his fist was clenched and ready to make contact with his opponent. The word “Knockout!” was written underneath. My eyes drifted over the photograph and I sucked in my breath. Carter was in the background. A large and imposing man was next to him. This man sent chills down my back. If I ever saw him in person, I would’ve been terrified. A scar ran across the entire length of his forehead and his eyes were dead.
I glanced to Carter now. He and Noah had moved to the ring to stretch together.
That was his life then. Sometimes I forgot about whom he worked with and what he had done. That was the stranger side of him, the side he kept hidden from me. It came out. I glimpsed it at moments, when we had been ambushed by the cars and with Ben, but it was different. Those moments had been in-the-moment. He had been defending me, but there were times when he didn’t have to defend people.
I drew in a ragged breath.
My heart felt like a hand was squeezing it tight.
I couldn’t forget that side of his life. But then he glanced over and his gaze pierced mine. The hand tightened once more of my heart before it pounded with renewed vigor. It broke free of whatever hold that was and a different sensation flooded me.
Addiction.
And something else. A dark strength.
No matter what path Carter would take us, I’d go with him. I was becoming like him.
“Emma. Come over here. I want to teach you this move.”
I turned and followed. I’d always follow.
TWENTY-NINE
—CARTER—
The bigger man was waiting when Carter stepped out of his car. They had picked their old meeting place for a reason. No one would be around the abandoned warehouse, but three cars circled the block. Men got out and spread around.
Carter nodded in greeting. He hadn’t been thrilled to hear from his old colleague, but he wasn’t surprised. There’d been no word on Franco’s body. There should’ve been word. The radio sounded from his man. “All clear, sir.”
No time was wasted. Carter asked, “What’s the reason for this, Gene?”
The older and bigger man grinned, but it looked like a sneer. The scar across his forehead stuck out that night. The moonlight illuminated it, casting a shadow over the man’s eyes. Carter didn’t need to see them. He knew this man too well and he knew his comrade was troubled.
“Why couldn’t I have called just to catch up?”
“I’m out.” Carter’s eyes flashed a warning. “What’s happened?”
“You’re not that out,” Gene sighed. His wide shoulders hunched forward as he slid his hand into his front pocket. He pulled out his phone and checked the time. “You know why I’ve called.”
“His murder was called in.” Carter’s jaw clenched. “What happened to the caller?”
“Disappeared.”
“What do the Bertal Elders say?”
“They aren’t saying anything, which is why I need you to come back in.”
“No.” The answer was swift.
Gene growled, “Check your attitude, boy.”
“Check yours!” Carter snarled back. “You’re not calling the shots for me. You haven’t for a long time.”
“Fine,” the older man bit out, his teeth ground against each other as his hand fisted around his phone. “We’ll do this your way.”
“I want a meeting.”
“That’s not smart.”
“They didn’t hold up their end. A body was supposed to be delivered to me. It hasn’t and now their man disappears?”
“Franco is probably alive. You know that. It doesn’t mean they’ve reneged.”
“I don’t care,” Carter lashed out. His eyes took on a murderous glint. “I’ve held up my end. I’ve already given them their royalties. If they don’t agree to a meeting, I’ll go to fucking war.”
He started back for his car.
Gene called after him, “You’d do that for her?”
“I’m doing that for everyone. You, included. The Bertal family will either work with me or I’ll go against them. It’s their choice, but they will be told of my intentions.”
“You’re going to stir up a shitstorm. You know that, don’t you?”
Carter went to his car. The door was opened for him, but he turned back. A dead calm was in his gaze as he met his friend’s. “Shitstorm’s always been there. If we have to, it’s time to take them down. We know they’re weak right now.”
Gene sighed as Carter got into car and left.
The man beside him asked, “What are you going to tell the Elders?”
“To prepare for war.” Gene cast a shrewd glance over the younger man. He was new. He didn’t know the lengths Carter Reed would take to insure his win. And this woman of his had only made him even more lethal, no matter how often he teased him about going soft.
Getting out of the car, Amanda was right behind me. I glanced back to make sure she followed the rest of the way inside Joe’s and she was. Biting her lip and tugging at her sleeves, she rolled her eyes. “Why am I here? I don’t work at The Richmond.”
“You’re my friend.”
“But I don’t work at The Richmond. I’m not going to fit in.”
“Come on. You’ll be fine. Theresa’s already here. She’s holding the table.”
&n
bsp; “Oh my god,” she groaned as we went through the door. “You are both nuts for making me come here.”
I shrugged. “It’s Friday Wine Night.”
“No, this is not Friday Wine Night. That happens at home, with pajamas, with the three of us, lots and lots of wine, and pizza. Not here. Not with your stuck-up co-workers and definitely not with your boss here. He’s my boss too. It’s still uncomfortable for me. Noah owns the cafe, remember?” She inched closer and hissed again, “I shouldn’t be here!”
“Oh, hush. You’re here. You’re going to have fun. And you’re teaching again.”
“I’m going back over the break. He’s still my boss.” She grumbled again, “Seriously, Emma. I feel so out of place.”
My hand grabbed her arm and I latched on. “You’re coming.”
She had to, she was my plus one. Carter would’ve caused too much of a commotion. Since getting free from the Mauricio family, his name and image was everywhere. The media’s interest in him hadn’t lessened. It’d been leaked that he had been released from his mafia connections. The news spread fast he’d been made into the poster boy for redemption.
I had a gut feeling that the news loved to report on him. He raised their ratings every time, but when Noah asked if he’d come since Theresa had somehow blackmailed him to going to Joe’s for Friday Karaoke, Carter had laughed before punching him.
They’d been sparring.
As we went inside, I wasn’t surprised to find the place full. Most of the workers from the hotel were inside. Varying expressions of nerves were on most of them, a few were eager and another handful determined—I wasn’t sure for what, but the night would be interesting. Noah Tomlinson was going to make an appearance at Joe’s. The rumor had gotten out. He was rarely in the office since he preferred to work from his home office so it was the first some of the workers met the Big Boss in person.
Theresa popped up from a stool and waved us over. She almost slipped off her stool and pitched forward. Noah grabbed her arm, sitting her back down with a deep scowl over his face.
Amanda started giggling behind me. “He looks miserable.”
“See.” I threw a grin over my shoulder to her. “Nothing to worry about.”
“So says you whose boyfriend is even more intimidating than the boss.” She nudged me with her elbow. “We should go over. Theresa’s going to come over and get us if we don’t march over there.” She paused as we watched our friend start laughing. She hit the table with her hand and kept laughing, even as she spilled some beer from her pitcher.
Noah grimaced as he lifted the pitcher out of reach.
She kept laughing.
Amanda amended, “That’s if she can walk.”
I shook my head. “Let’s go.”
Leading the way, a few people said hello when we moved past. I extended a polite greeting, but I never wavered. Since my promotion people had been friendlier, but there’d been a time when they froze me out. I wouldn’t be forgetting that.
As I rounded the table of girls that I once considered casual work friends, it was the same reception. All of them were warm and a couple gushed to me, but they’d been the worst.
Bitches.
I wasn’t blind to their keen gazes as they watched us approach Theresa and Noah’s table.
“Hey!” Theresa threw her hands in the air again. The glass she’d been holding emptied onto a person walking by. They stopped, but saw Noah’s hulk size and kept going.
They were smart.
Then Theresa hollered, “My friend and roommate! You’re here.”
Amanda and I shared a look. This night was definitely going to be interesting.
Noah’s head leaned back. He gazed up at the ceiling, groaning at the same time.
“Heya, heya. Sit here.” Theresa padded the empty stool on her other side. She jerked her hand to Amanda. “Now.”
I nudged her this time. “You heard your roommate. Get going.”
“Emma,” Theresa wasn’t finished. She leaned forward. Her elbow grazed the top of the pitcher. It started to teeter as she commanded with a wide smile, “You sit there.”
Noah’s hand darted and he scooped up the pitcher before it spilled anymore.
“Good catch.”
He grunted in response and passed the pitcher to a waiter walking by. She started to ask him a question, but he turned his back to her. A scowl came over him and he scanned the room. “When is this over?”
I laughed, taking my seat. “It hasn’t even started.”
“Oh god.”
Theresa was whispering in Amanda’s ear. I gestured to her and asked him, “When did she start?”
“Don’t get me on that. She’s been going like this since I picked her up.” As his jaw clenched and his shoulders stiffened, I knew there’d been another fight between them.
“Are the two of you a two anymore?”
“We never get to that point. Something always comes up.” He shot me a dark look. I didn’t take offense to it. Ever since the sparring lessons, I’d gotten to know my boss a bit better.
“I thought you were going to be? I thought you told her how you felt.”
“What are you two whispering about?” Theresa’s voice jarred from across the table. Her eyes were narrowed, studying us, but she teetered on her chair again. Amanda caught her this time.
“You.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Really? What are you saying?”
Noah leaned back and locked gazes with her. “I was about to tell her that you’ve drank way too much for the night. I should take you home.”
“No.” She pounded a hand on the table. “You said you’d stay for Karaoke. It hasn’t even started.”
“Fuck Karaoke.” He glanced around the bar. “Look at this. I’m a damn freak show.”
“No, you aren’t.”
“Yes, I am. I shouldn’t be here. I’m everyone’s boss. This isn’t appropriate.”
Theresa shot her hand out and pinned his arm to the table. She leaned close, lowering her voice, but not enough. “You promised me you’d do this. I don’t care whose boss you are. Co-workers party all the time together.”
“Yeah,” he said. “At holiday parties.”
“Noah.”
He shook her hand off and stood from the table. As he reached for his wallet, he glanced up and froze. His eyes rounded and his mouth opened. Then a hush went over the room. I closed my eyes as tingles raced over my skin. I felt him coming. I knew he was there, and as I turned around, Carter stood behind me. A slight smirk was there.
He wore a hooded sweatshirt over custom-fitted jeans. I knew he aimed to look casual, but it only made him look younger and innocent. And everyone in the room knew Carter Reed was no angel, though his face teased at the image. His eyes were filled with dark promises as he skimmed over me. I hadn’t thought he was coming, but I was glad Theresa made me promise to dress up. I wore shimmering black pants, loose, but they rested low on my stomach. They matched the black top I wore. It was sleeveless and the ends tied around my neck. There was no back. It ended under my sides. That was it. His hand touched the small of my back as he sat beside me. A fresh burst of sensations shot through me. As his thumb rubbed over my skin, he leaned forward to kiss underneath my ear. It looked like he was saying something to me, but he wasn’t. He was nibbling.
I bit my lip to keep from groaning out loud. As if he sensed my battle, he swept his tongue against my earlobe and whispered, “If this is how you dress going to these things, I don’t think you can keep me away.”
I grinned. Our eyes met and held for a sizzling moment where he was close enough to kiss. Then he moved away, but not before he skimmed a tender hand from my hair down my back to rest on my waist. He pulled me closer to him as he turned to Noah. “Karaoke?”
A grunt, followed by a curse was his response.
Theresa and Amanda were both wide-eyed as they witnessed the exchange.
They’d been around Carter, but I knew both were still frightened
from conversing with him. Theresa had gotten over her disdain for him long ago. She seemed tongue-tied around him, even after Ben’s death and staying at his safehouse until Amanda was ready to move out. They murmured quiet hellos to him but conversed with each other after that. The drunken loud state Theresa had been in was shot down, way down.
I frowned. They should’ve been comfortable enough to say more than hello to him, but that wasn’t the case. When Carter showed up, he talked to me or Noah. Amanda confessed she was still scared of him, and Theresa confided that she didn’t know how to talk to him.
Theresa said something now and Noah looked over. As he was pulled into their conversation, Carter moved his hand up and down my back again. He murmured, “I hope I don’t have to sing because I came. I don’t think that’d be good.”
I sucked in my breath. Too many lustful temptations were going through me as his hand continued his caresses. “No.” Sneaking a glance around the room, it was how I thought. Most everyone was watching our table, but the attention was no longer on their boss. It was on Carter.
I couldn’t blame them. I couldn’t even blame the media. Their obsession wasn’t dying down.
“So,” Theresa spoke up. The brave one. Her smile teetered as she caught my gaze, but she pushed forward, “Carter, I hope you’re not trying to be incognito with that get-up.”
He stiffened but glanced down.
I burst out laughing. “He was.”
He grimaced at me. “Didn’t work?”
Theresa was building more confidence. She laughed with me, shaking her head. “I don’t think you can go anywhere in this city with that face and be invisible.”
I sucked in my breath.
Carter threw me a look from the corner of his eye, but he shrugged. “I thought I’d try to fit in with The Richmond work force.”
“Good luck. That’s not going to happen,” Theresa teased him. “Too mysterious and too gorgeous.”