Surface Below: Dark Secrets (The Surface Below Book 1) (6 page)

“You’re going to get us caught, Z.” Nikki breathed hard against his neck. Z smiled devilishly and held her tighter.  He thrust into her hard and she barely stifled a cry. “Z…”

“You love it.” He taunted her, nestling his lips into the nook of her shoulder. She yelped as he pounded into her again and again, the desk creaked beneath them.

Becca and Linda chuckled as they passed the office door.

“You’d think at 27, the two would get bored of doing it everywhere but a bed.” Linda teased.

Becca shrugged with a giggle. “Oh I’m sure there are few places left they haven’t played on.”

“Come on, let’s get a shot in before we open.” Linda pulled at her.

It had taken Becca years to get used to the idea of Nikki and Z being anything more than just friends. She’d noticed their growing attraction in freshmen year of high school. It was subtle at first but became very prevalent by the end of that school year. And ever since then the two had been inseparable. Which left Becca as the third wheel.

“You’d think Danny would have caught them by now.” Becca giggled, grabbing two shot glasses. She had caught them enough times herself.

“Nah, he’s always too preoccupied with stock levels and numbers.” Linda laughed. “As long as you three were safe and happy he wasn’t worried.” She poured whiskey into both glasses. “Plus, he’s known for years that the two of them do it in there, and everywhere for that matter.”

Becca’s mouth dropped. Danny was actually aware of something, she thought. Not a chance.

“Oh come on,” Becca said in disbelief, swallowing the warm harsh liquid hard and shaking her head. “He does not.”

“He’s a father, Becca, don’t forget that,” she reminded her.

That much was true. Becca was six when she lost her mother, and her uncle was quick to step up. Taking on the role of not only her uncle but her father. Danny learned early on the art of multitasking when it came to Becca and his son Z. His mother had left when he was young. And when Nikki came not long after Becca, Danny had his hands full.

“So tell me about
William.
” Linda pulled her out of thought. She had a prying look and Becca could tell it was up to no good.

“Oh Linda, you’ve been talking to Nikki, haven’t you.” She groaned. Linda raised her brow at her and poured another shot.

“Ugh, okay.” Becca gave in.  “He’s mysterious and sweet and hot and…”

“And you’re falling for him,” she teased her. Linda recognized the look. Becca’s eyes were twinkling. She hoped for Becca’s sake that this one had been raised with a shred of respect. “You’ve gone out with him a couple of times since Friday?”

“Yeah, Sunday and then again on Tuesday,” Becca said with a shy smile. She had enjoyed every minute of that evening.

“Hmm-mm, think he’ll come by tonight?” Linda asked, snapping Becca out of her pleasant memory.

“I hope so.” Becca shrugged. He was making her wait longer than she would have liked. It only made her feelings grow with each passing day. She couldn’t keep her mind off of him.

Danny walked out into the bar and threw his hands up. Both women looked up to the clock above them and knew immediately why he was irritated.

“What are you two doing? It’s time to open.” He walked towards the door. “And tell Z and Nikki to quit screwing and get out here.”

Linda and Becca snickered and cleaned up their glasses. Becca went to the back and knocked on the office door.

“Hey, Uncle Danny said quit screwing and get out here.” She laughed at the hurried muffled voices behind the door.

The night started like any other bar night. Customers came in, new and old. Becca taxied back and forth to the bar, filling shots, opening beers and even making a call to Mario’s Pizza to order for a table of college guys. It was the usual.

None of it, of course, was enough to distract her from the thoughts in her mind. Where was William? She had hoped he would come tonight, even for just a little while. But the later it got, the more disappointed she was. William hadn’t come.

By the time they called last round, the bar was nearly empty. With the exception of some loyal locals.

“Come on, Frank.” Becca lifted an older, large man from the stool and steered him towards the door. “Time to go home.”

“I…I…I’m not ready yet.” Frank slurred his words and stumbled. As far back as Becca could remember, the man had been coming to the bar. Every night at the same time for at least 20 years.

Nikki ran over and caught his other arm. She gave Becca a knowing look as the two women fought to keep hold of the 225-pound man.

“Sure you are, Frank. Come on, the sheriff is outside waiting to take you home.” Becca laughed, pushing open the door, and a gust of fresh air hit them. It was refreshing, especially after spending a whole night in a smoke-filled room.

“Here you go, Dave.” Becca handed the inebriated old man over. “I’m sure his wife will be happy to have him home.”

“Come on, Frank, let’s go.” The sheriff put him in the back and waved to the girls before driving away.

“Let’s go get this place cleaned up.” Nikki tugged on Becca. “I want to go home.”

Becca tried to put off cleaning the bathrooms until the last minute. She detested doing it but the rotation chart hanging in the back let her know it was her turn.

She did the women’s bathroom first. It wasn’t bad tonight, but bad just the same. The smell of vomit, sweat and beer mingled in the usually sweet aromatic bathroom. Becca cringed and made quick work of mopping, disinfecting and renewing the fresh scent of lavender in the small room.

It was the men’s bathroom that Becca despised so much. She wasn’t sure who had taught any of the men who had frequented the bar how to aim, but she was sure they were no good at it themselves.

Backing out of the bathroom, pulling the mop bucket with her, she was taken by surprise when a firm hand grabbed her, twisted her around and slammed her into the wall. It made her wince some as a pain jolted up her back.

Mucky water from the bucket sloshed out and onto the floor, barely missing her leg and shoes. Her eyes met with her attacker and they narrowed. Davin’s grip tightened around her upper arms, pinching her skin. His rage filled through his eyes.

“Let go of me, Davin,” she demanded, pushing as hard as she could to try and loosen his grip. But he tightened his hands and slammed her hard again against the hallway wall. A whimper escaped her this time.

“Who is he? Huh?” he growled.

Raymont was a small town. The kind where everyone knew everyone and most knew something about you before you did. Becca thought of the festival. Almost the entire town population had been there. It was inevitable that Davin would hear about her intimate date with William.

She almost felt good about hurting Davin for once. The jealousy spilled off of him in bursts and she could feel that tension between them. Becca was all too happy to drive the knife even deeper.

His days of reigning over her and her life were over.

“Someone better than you.”

His eyes grew and a rage Becca knew too well stared back at her. He jerked her close to him, their noses just barely grazing each other.

“Better than me?” Davin’s hand closed around her jaw and he held it there. “You little bitch.”

Roughly he pushed her face away. He didn’t hear the footsteps approaching them down the dimly lit hallway. Davin was too focused on her, and how he could punish her for even thinking that there was someone out there better than him.

His hand came back ready to strike, but another hand grabbed hold and twisted Davin’s arm backwards. And he moaned against the pain.

A satisfied smile crossed Becca’s lips as her eyes found William’s. She felt her body relax and the fear slip away.

William thrust Davin against the wall face first with so much force that it took the wind out of him. He eld the back of his neck and twisted his arm even harder when Davin tried to fight back.

“Now, let’s see how you like it.” William seethed at him.

“Screw you,” Davin mustered, still struggling to get free.

“Screw me?” William grunted. He grabbed Davin’s shirt collar and jerked him backwards. “Let me tell you, buddy, I’ve had better offers.”

Grabbing the back of Davin’s shirt collar, he jerked him backwards and then slammed his head back into the wall, Davin’s nose making contact with the hard, flat surface.

Blood flowed freely down his face, followed by a gurgled grunt.

The Beast within William caught the aroma of the freshly spilled blood and his eyes flashed a little darker. He buried the urge to sink his fangs into the man’s shoulder, and began dragging him towards the bar’s entrance, desperate to get him out of the building. Droplets of blood fell to the floor, leaving a trail behind them. Becca hurried to keep up.

William threw the man hard towards the door, forcing Davin to collide into some chairs and then fall hard on the ground.

The commotion traveled to the back of the bar, where Linda, Z, Danny and Nikki had been. The four had snuck out back for a smoke and to cool down after another night at the bar.

Z and Danny jumped to action and went for the front, her uncle grabbing the metal baseball bat just inside his office door. Linda and Nikki followed closely behind, just trying to keep up. When they pushed through the storage room door and saw the standoff between William and Davin, they froze for a moment. Their eyes darted back and forth.

Linda pushed past them all and went to Becca’s side. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I am now,” she said with half a smile, her hand rubbing at the spot on her upper arm.

“Now get the hell out of here!” William said through gritted teeth, fighting the urge to do more.

Davin held the bridge of his nose, but blood still flowed down his face and covered the front of his shirt. He eyed Z and Danny, then the bat. He was outnumbered and already defeated. Davin pushed himself up from the ground and staggered out of the bar.

“Becca are you sure you’re okay?” Linda asked as she eyed the red marks left behind from Davin’s grip.

“I’m fine,” she mumbled, still watching William.

He stood still for a moment before turning and facing them all, ensuring that he could contain the darkness inside of him.

William went over to Becca, also eyeing the marks left on her arms. His fingers grazed the red marks lightly. It sent a powerful rage through him.

She could see the hurt in his eyes.

“Really, I’m fine.” She insisted, bringing her hand to his arm.

“Well, good thing you came when you did,” Linda said, looking up at him.

William only nodded.

Danny felt his heart stop when he saw William. He couldn’t forget that face. Not even after 20 years. A sick feeling started in the pit of his stomach. The fact that he was standing in his bar with Becca could only mean one thing. The day had finally come. All the secrets surrounding Z, Nikki and Becca would be revealed. He only hoped that they could find a way to forgive him for it all.

William didn’t notice the intense stare he was getting from Becca’s uncle. He could only focus on Becca.

“You wanna get out of here?” he simply asked.

“Yeah, I really do.” She could see something in his eyes. Something dark, almost, but she brushed it off as nothing more than the adrenaline.

“Uncle Danny? Can I go?” Finally he snapped out of his trance and looked to Becca. He wanted to tell her no, but he knew that no matter what he said, Becca would do what she wanted to do.

When William looked to him for silent permission, he got that knowing feeling again. A pull, a draw; something was off about this family. He could almost feel it in his bones now. William was sure he knew this family – it was just a matter of how.

“Yeah, go ahead,” he said, crossing his arms.

She gave him a sweet smile and welcomed the comforting embrace William had around her. Opening the truck door, he let her get into the truck and quickly went for the driver seat. Caleb was on the prowl again. Watching and waiting to make a move. William could feel him. It was his presence that had encouraged him to go to the bar in the first place. The last thing he wanted was for Becca to get pulled into the evils of his world.

Pulling out onto the road, he stole a glance at Becca. She smiled when his eyes met hers. And he couldn’t resist but flash his sexy smile. It sent a shiver through her.

“Thank you.” She said, watching as the town fell away from them and morphed into the beautiful countryside that surrounded it.

“No need to thank me. Anybody with an ounce of sense would step in.” He hoped at least. She shook her head as though it would tell him otherwise.

“You’d be surprised how people can turn a blind eye,” Becca said, recalling how many times Davin had grabbed onto her violently in public, and no one had ever blinked an eye.

William relaxed some as the feeling of being watched dissipated. Caleb had backed off after the bar. The thought worried William. Either Caleb had grown bored of watching him, or he was up to something and would make a move soon.