Game Of Risk (Risqué #3) (15 page)

‘Thank you,’ Layla said. ‘Though I’m not sure that it makes a difference how careful we are. They already know I’m here.’

Colt stopped writing and slowly turned until his eyes met hers. Layla anticipated a response. Except Colt said nothing to this revelation, so Lyssa filled the silence. ‘Uh, Ted, could you give us just a minute please?’ Lyssa asked.

‘Sure,’ the lanky redhead said and departed the back shop.

‘What do you mean they already know that you’re here?’ Lyssa asked, coming around her to stand next to Colt. ‘Why would you think that?’

‘I saw them at the hotel, yesterday morning,’ Layla said, leaning against the counter where the two checkbooks were laid out. ‘I wasn’t sure at first. It was just an odd car that caught my attention for a couple of fleeting seconds. I tried to shrug it off. But the more I think about it, I don’t know, it’s just instinct, I guess.’

‘Instinct,’ Colt said, giving away nothing of his reaction to this news.

‘I guess maybe I’m being stupid, maybe it wasn’t them at all. It was just a car in a busy street, there were dozens of them.’

‘In my experience, nothing outranks instinct,’ Lyssa said. ‘And Colt would agree with you if he wasn’t working up such a lather.’

‘I’m not mad,’ he said. ‘But I don’t get why you didn’t tell Ruger.’

‘Maybe she did and he dismissed her,’ Lyssa said. ‘Did you?’

‘No,’ Layla said, shrinking under this scrutiny. ‘Ruger was on the phone with Drew when I noticed the car then he whisked me out of the hotel and dumped me at your mother’s. There was no time. Everything after that happened quickly. He seemed to be on this important mission. I didn’t have the time to—‘

‘When your life is in danger, you make the goddamn time,’ Colt said, his severe tone caused Lyssa to take his hand.

‘Calm down,’ Lyssa said. ‘It’s ok. We’re here with her. Nothing is going to happen.’

Snapping around to look at his fiancée, Layla was forgotten. ‘Ruger is going to go nuts when he hears about this and I’m the one who has to call and tell him.’

‘You don’t have to tell him,’ Layla said, but the couple ignored her.

‘I have never seen Ruger irrevocably angry,’ Lyssa said. ‘He’ll make a joke and you’ll talk him down.’

‘Not about this,’ Colt said. ‘You have never seen what he’s like with a woman he cares about. He’s protective of his girlfriends and after what happened with Bri… he already feels responsible for one woman being traumatised, if it happens again… I don’t know how he’ll turn out.’

‘You’re his brother,’ Lyssa said, stepping in and rubbing her hands on his arms. ‘You know how to help him. You and Blaser are here, nothing is going to happen to Layla.’

‘Not until these bastards want it to,’ he said and exhaled. Pushing Lyssa out of his way, he stalked to the loveseat and then turned to examine both women. ‘We better get over to Mom’s. I don’t want to be late. We’ll call Ruger from there and I’ll just have to hope that he doesn’t drive off the road in his haste to get back here.’

‘He trusts you,’ Lyssa said, traversing to him and taking his hand. ‘He knows you’ll look after Layla, just like you trusted him to look after me.’

‘That was different. I needed someone to cover the front while I was around the back. I was right there the whole time. It would’ve been tough for him to screw up.’

‘Are you saying that he wouldn’t have done whatever was necessary to protect me?’

‘He would have, of course he would have.’

‘Just like you’ll do anything for Layla.’

The couple shared their intimate moment. While Colt kissed his fiancée, Layla ripped out the deposit check Colt had written and took it to Ted, who was on the sidewalk outside with the building keys in his hand.

‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘When would you like to move in and open up?’

It was on the tip of her tongue to say as soon as possible, but Colt came out with Lyssa tucked under his arm. ‘All done?’ Colt asked, more relaxed now than he had been inside.

‘We were just talking about a moving in date,’ Ted said.

‘It will be a couple of days at least,’ Colt said.

‘We can pick up the keys tomorrow if that suits everyone,’ Lyssa said, checking each expression. ‘That will give us a chance to clean up and get the place ready for Layla before she opens up.’

‘But she won’t be moving in right away,’ Colt said.

Layla was speechless that the couple was taking such a leading role in this decision about her life. With no opportunity to assert herself, she listened to the men confirm a time tomorrow evening and then Ted was in his car driving away.

Glaring at Colt and at Lyssa too, Layla wasn’t going to let them get away with such heavy-handed behaviour. ‘What was that?’ she asked. ‘What did you think you—‘

‘You’re under my protection while Ruger’s out of town,’ Colt said. ‘I’m not protecting you here. When Ruger gets back into town, you can take up this fight with him. But until then, you do as I say.’

‘Or what?’ she asked.

‘Or you’ll find all of your liberties taken away,’ Colt said. ‘If what you said is right, and the car outside the hotel was Ashcroft’s men then that means you’re in danger. While you’re in danger and in my house, you’re endangering people I care about.’

‘Colt,’ Lyssa murmured, but he kept on looking at her.

‘I’m sorry, Layla, but that’s the way it is,’ Colt said. ‘I won’t let Lyssa be hurt by this and Bri’s been hurt enough already.’

‘It sounds odd hearing you come to Bri’s defence after the way you treated her when she and Blaser got back together,’ Lyssa said.

‘We’ve been through a lot since then, and figured a lot of stuff out as a family. She’s one of us now.’

‘And how do you know that Layla isn’t?’ Lyssa asked. ‘Have you spoken to Ruger about how he feels?’

‘Why would I have done that?’

‘Because if in six months they walk down the aisle, you’ll be telling everyone that she’s one of us too.’

‘When Ruger tells me that she’s his, then I’ll change my tune,’ Colt said. ‘Come on.’

Loosening his arm from Lyssa’s shoulders, he took her hand and turned to lead her to the car. Lyssa was wearing an expression of apology, but Layla couldn’t argue with what Colt had said. Neither she nor Ruger knew how they felt about each other yet, and she didn’t want to hurt people who had been kind to her.

Lyssa was Colt’s future, as Bri was for Blaser, and at the moment Layla was no more than a distraction for the youngest Warner. In due time they’d figure out how they felt about each other, but that didn’t affect the danger she was in now.

The only conclusion she could come to was that Ashcroft’s men were watching her and without evidence to the contrary it seemed sensible to assume that was the case. Since Layla knew they were out there, she was more alert, though if they knew she was aware of them, they would probably skulk back into the shadows.

The more imminent concern was for Ruger and if he would be upset or angry when Colt revealed her suspicions.

Dinner at the Warner house went without a hitch. Colt showed no signs of his earlier annoyance and Layla was surprised to hear that there was an engagement party happening this weekend, here at the Warner home. The couple had set a date for the wedding, just twelve weeks away, and Layla wondered if she would be there to witness the event or if Ruger would be done with her by then.

It was while they were in the living room drinking coffee that Colt slipped away. At first, she thought nothing of it, but when ten minutes passed and he still wasn’t in the room, Layla knew he was talking to Ruger.

Sure enough, less than five minutes after that, Colt came through the living room with his cell phone in hand.

‘Phone,’ Colt said to her as he came back to join the family.

From his glare, she knew Ruger hadn’t taken the news well and she didn’t want to be berated by her one-time lover over the phone. But in front of Mr. and Mrs. Warner, Layla couldn’t put up an argument without revealing more of herself than she wanted to.

‘Thanks,’ she said, rising and taking the phone from his hand. She excused herself and went out on the back patio before she brought the phone to her ear. ‘Hi, honey, miss me?’

‘Oh, honey, is it?’ he asked. ‘You weren’t thinking that when you started keeping secrets.’

‘I didn’t keep a secret,’ she said, frustrated that he felt the need to be dramatic. ‘What did Colt tell you?’

‘The truth, which is something that you should’ve done.’

‘Look, it was just a creepy feeling, that was all,’ she said. ‘I didn’t know for sure. No one jumped out of the vehicle wearing an Ashcroft button.’

‘A creepy feeling is enough; a creepy feeling could’ve changed things. When there are crazy, violent people out after you then creepy means a whole helluva lot.’

Surprised by the potency of his reaction, Layla pulled out one of the patio chairs and sat down. ‘I’m sorry, Ruger, I… I didn’t think it was a big deal. I really just tried to shrug it off.’

‘Well don’t next time, ok?’

‘Ok.’

‘Now I’m worried about you, see? I’m driving faster than I should because I want to be there. I have to get to you. Like I wasn’t already in knots about being away from you, now I have to deal with this?’

‘You were in knots?’ she asked, a sappy spiral of flattery zipped through her.

‘Yeah. You better get ready for some action when I get back there.’

‘Sex,’ she whispered, caught between the buzz of intimacy and the regret of eagerness. Perhaps if Ruger was only enticed by sex, there would be no future for them after all.

‘What other kind of action is there? You think I’m going to come in there and start beating on you? I might be pissed, but I’ve never raised my hands to a woman yet.’

‘I just thought maybe, you know, you missed me.’

‘I do, I just said that, didn’t I? Now listen to me, Colt and I have figured it out. You’re going to stay at his place tonight and then tomorrow he’ll take you to Blaser. You can help out at the garage or at Risqué. Wherever Blaser is, you stay with him, ok? I’m going to be back tomorrow. I’ve only been on the road back for an hour, I’ll drive for as long as I can, but I’m going to need to stop and sleep eventually.’

‘Drive safely,’ she said. ‘Don’t worry about me. I’ll do what Colt says.’

Much as it pained her to take orders from anyone, if it appeased Ruger for her to be compliant then she would be because Layla would never forgive herself if Ruger drove himself off the road through tiredness.

‘I didn’t expect you to comply so easily. Have you fallen and hit your head? Been replaced by a doppelganger? What?’

‘You might not care about me beyond sexual satisfaction, but I care about you. Your family love you and they need you.’

‘Oh, I sense a misstep,’ he said, losing some of his anger to contrition. ‘I do miss you, Legs. Do you think we jumped into the sack too soon? You regret it?’

‘No,’ she sighed and fixed her sights on the clear table in front of her. ‘Did Colt tell you what I did today?’

‘No.’

‘Oh,’ she said, taken aback by Colt’s omission. He hadn’t been as honest as Ruger thought. ‘What did you do today?

‘I got a job,’ she said. It wasn’t the whole truth, but this wasn’t the time to have “the talk”.

‘A job? You better not be working at Risqué. I will kill Blaser if he—‘

‘No, it’s not at Risqué. It’s at a salon, near your mom’s.’

‘Well, that’s good. It will keep you busy. But you can’t start until all of this Ashcroft crap is dealt with. If you’re out in public like that then the guys could take a shot at you and anyone standing beside you—‘

‘I know, Colt has already given me the, endangering people he cares about, bit.’

‘I care about you, Lay,’ Ruger said, his voice becoming softer and more gracious. ‘We’re going to get through this, you and me. I’m going to be at your side until all the danger is taken care of.’

But what would happen when it was? Layla wanted Drew to hurry up and do what he had to do. She wanted Serendipity to get the story out there and to hear that all the guilty parties had been brought to justice.

But when all of that was done and the danger was gone, Layla feared that her appeal to Ruger would be gone too. No one had mentioned any commitments that he’d made to women in the past. If he liked to bed and bolt then she’d made a terrible decision in the hotel room they’d shared.

Layla didn’t want to be anyone’s temporary distraction, but if Drew hadn’t sent Ruger to her then she never would have met this man, so it was possible that he was a distraction for her too. But she couldn’t think like that because she wasn’t the type to fall into bed with someone just because they were there.

The intensity of their bond could come from the danger in their lives and when that was gone, she didn’t know what would be left for them to share.

Risqué was in full swing by the time he got there. It was dark outside and he’d already spoken to Colt to confirm that Layla was at the club. He was tired and traffic had been a bitch, which made him cranky. All he wanted to do was go into the club, get his girl, and get the hell out again without answering too many questions.

The guys on the door didn’t acknowledge him because they were dealing with a gang of idiots who looked to be from a bachelor party and some of them were already too drunk to stand on their own two feet. So he went past the throng of men just inside the door and headed for the family corner of the bar.

Before he got there, however, he saw Layla standing at the centre of the bar with three men who were laughing at something she’d said. Smiling, she took her drink from the bar and tongued her straw into her mouth, the action had the men transfixed and Ruger knew exactly what they were thinking because he’d been witness to that act too.

Without any notion of tact, he marched over, shoved one guy aside and got hold of her arm. ‘What the hell are you doing?’ he demanded of her.

‘Celebrating,’ she said, hollowing her cheeks to suck the alcohol from the glass. Her glittering eyes and glossed lips were very pleased with themselves, but he didn’t share the sentiment.

‘So you thought you’d get drunk with a bunch of strangers?’ The men weren’t backing off, in fact one of them moved in closer with an air of propriety.

‘I don’t know who you think you are, man, but the lady is having a good time.’

‘The lady is wanted by a hitman,’ Ruger said. ‘And she’s not going home with you, so back off.’

‘Who says she isn’t?’ the guy piped up.

Most men didn’t even try to stand up to him. With his superior height, he intimidated most people. He could tell from the way the guy puffed himself up and the distinct scent of liquor that this guy thought more of himself than the rest of the world saw.

‘I say she isn’t, and she says it too,’ Ruger said. He didn’t want to leave Layla alone and open to attack, which he would if he chose to start a fight with this guy. Glancing to his right, he saw Dax, a Risqué security guard, approach and they made eye contact. If something was going to go down, Ruger had back up there on hand. ‘Cut your losses and go home.’

Layla was watching something and when he followed her line of sight, he saw a guy by the entrance, just inside. ‘Who is that?’ Ruger asked her.

‘I don’t know.’ Without sparkle or charm, he saw the sheen fall from her mask. ‘He looks like…’

‘The guy you saw in the car?’ Ruger finished her sentence and their eyes met. She didn’t have to confirm it. Tearing his eyes away, he sought out Crystal, who happened to be behind the bar with Blaser. ‘Crystal! Come here.’

Keeping his eyes on the guy by the door so as not to lose him, Ruger tried to be discreet in his scrutiny. He was pleased to see that Dax was moving closer to the person of interest at the door. The security man was being discreet and keeping busy, so as not to alert anyone to their suspicions. Dax must have got a bad feeling from the guy too, which made sense because the perp was standing at the door taking in his surroundings, without admiring the view.

Crystal came up at his side. ‘What’s the problem, Ruge?’ she asked. ‘Layla’s just having some fun, nothing wrong with that.’

Reminded of the letches around his girl, he grabbed Crystal’s hand and put it in Layla’s. ‘Take her to Colt’s office.’

‘What’s going on?’ Destiny asked, sauntering over.

‘Ruger’s in a snit about Layla flirting with these handsome men.’

‘Oh, baby, don’t pout,’ Destiny said, arranging her body around his.

His sense of humour had abandoned him. Snatching hold of Destiny, he shoved her back and then glared at Crystal. ‘I don’t have time for this shit, Cryst, get her upstairs, now.’

It was so unlike him to speak with any kind of anger or annoyance that Crystal composed her solemnity and jumped to action, dragging Layla away from the bar. Destiny trotted on behind the women, no doubt in search of the gossip. He would apologise and deal with them later.

Whirling around, he advanced on the suspicious guy. The perp clocked Ruger’s advance—which wasn’t difficult, given his height—and began beating a path out of the club. But Dax was on him, and although Dax and the culprit disappeared into the corridor leading to the main entrance, Ruger didn’t have to worry about losing the guy. With Dax and Risqué security on the job, the dirty work would be done by the time he caught up.

Turning into the poorly lit corridor, his supposition was confirmed. There were security men from outside crowded around Dax, who had someone pinned to the wall. Slowing his pace, Ruger wanted this stranger to know how out of his element he was because with power like Ashcroft behind him, the stalker probably believed himself to be invincible. But here in Risqué, Warner word was law.

‘Keep your mouth shut,’ Dax said, slamming the guy to the wall and searching his person for weapons. Dax found a gun, which he handed off to one of the security guys.

‘Get rid of it,’ Ruger said when he got there and the security man toddled off.

With Colt’s connections to the cops, it was easy for them to make an anonymous weapon donation to the station. Disarming men who abused their power was fine by Ruger’s conscience, and he didn’t like that the guy had so easily brought a weapon into a place filled with people that he cared about.

Staying behind Dax, who was holding the guy in place, Ruger scrutinised the stranger from head to foot. ‘Ashcroft likes them young I see,’ Ruger said. ‘Inexperienced.’

‘I got all the experience I need,’ the guy said, trying to wriggle free of Dax’s hold with no success.

‘Not from the picture you’re in now,’ Ruger said. ‘My man here can snap you and nobody here will speak to witnessing a thing.’

‘I’m not the killer here, you are.’

‘Your buddy shot at an innocent woman,’ Ruger said, assuming that he was talking about the guy Rushe killed. ‘What’s your name?’

‘Suck my dick.’

Pursing his lips in a smile, Ruger tilted his head before he shook it. ‘That’s not a service we offer here at Risqué, but I guess now we know how you spend your Saturday nights. What’s your name?’

‘Answer him,’ Dax growled, increasing his pressure on his captive’s chest.

‘Padget.’

‘Well, Padget, I’m glad you came to visit us,’ Ruger said. ‘Saves me the trouble of tracking you and your cohorts down.’

‘It’s not gonna work,’ Padget spat out, glaring at both Dax and Ruger. ‘You’ll never be able to protect her.’

‘We’re doing a fine job so far,’ Ruger said, giving up his humour.

‘Yeah, only ‘cause he hasn’t given the word yet.’

‘So why are you here? Sightseeing?’

‘I’m here to watch her, to figure out what’s going on. It wasn’t that tough to track her down. Just got hold of Potter, he was the last guy to see her in Miami.’

Potter was the man in Miami who Layla had been in a meeting with when Ruger approached and he’d made the rookie mistake of using his name, which meant Ashcroft now knew everything about him and his family.

‘You’ve got a lot of pretty girls around here,’ Padget said. ‘It will be a shame to see them all out of work when we shut this place down.’

‘Many have tried,’ Ruger said, finding humour in his aggression again. ‘You’re not the only one who has friends in high places.’

Though to be honest, his contacts didn’t quite reach beyond a governor. Bluffing wasn’t beyond him and if they could slow Ashcroft down, make him think twice before hurting Layla, then that might buy Jansen and Serendipity enough time to make their case to the public.

‘Not high enough,’ Padget said. ‘We know you, know your family, you can’t take a shit without us knowing about it.’

‘They do say knowledge is power,’ Ruger said. ‘But I don’t think that’s what they meant. If you’re here to take her out then what’s stopping you?’

‘I’m not here for that. I report back and when it’s time to make the move, I’ll get word. You and your girl won’t stand a chance.’

‘As you can see I have plenty of back-up,’ Ruger said, nodding at Dax. ‘Run back and tell your boss that, then you tell him that my associate who snapped your buddy’s neck isn’t done yet. You make sure he knows who he’s messed with, because my associate won’t stop until your ranks are decimated and then, he’ll go straight to the top because anyone who messes with his girl is on borrowed time.’

‘You don’t scare me,’ Padget said, but Dax grabbed his hair and smacked his head off the wall behind him.

‘We don’t care if you’re scared,’ Dax said. ‘You deliver your message like a good little errand boy and when you’re ready for the fight, you know where to find us.’

‘It takes some kind of coward to hide behind the likes of you, Padget,’ Ruger said. ‘Ashcroft isn’t fooling anyone. If he had the balls to face up to guys like me and my friends he wouldn’t need grunts like you.’

Dragging him away from the wall, Dax threw Padget toward the exit. ‘Consider yourself barred,’ Dax said.

Regaining his footing, Padget glared and wiped his hands down his clothes where Dax had touched him, but he had no chance of finding composure or making a dignified exit. Security from the door came up behind him to seize his shoulders and he was carted out like any other common miscreant.

‘Thanks,’ Ruger said.

‘No worries,’ Dax responded. ‘Is your girl ok?’

Layla was his girl now, but that being the case, he was a bit peeved that she’d been flirting at the bar. Hurt pride wasn’t a topic for discussion tonight however. He had to catch up and find out what she’d been up to since he’d been out of town.

‘Think so,’ Ruger said. ‘I’m going to check.’

‘If there’s gonna be a brawl…’

‘You’ll be the first to know,’ Ruger said and turned on his heels to stalk through the club and up to Colt’s office.

Dax was a fighter. Ruger had heard about how the fight night here at Risqué had gone down, and how Dax had wiped the floor with his opponent. Dax was also a married man and therefore knew the primal need to protect his woman, something which Ruger had experienced when he saw Padget in the doorway.

Opening the door to Colt’s office, Ruger saw that the women were seated in the sofa and loveseat in front of Colt’s widescreen TV. Layla did not look like she was having a good time.

‘What happened?’ she asked, springing to her feet before he was fully in the room.

‘Can you guys give us a minute?’ Ruger said. Crystal rose, and had to grab Destiny to force the tiny woman to come with her. ‘I’m sorry that I was short downstairs.’

Destiny didn’t respond to his apology. Crystal patted his chest then went out and shut the office door. ‘Will you just tell me?’ Layla demanded. ‘Was that him? Was that one of Ashcroft’s men?’

‘Yeah, it was. Maybe now you’ll listen to me.’

‘Listen to you about what? I did everything that I was told.’

‘Yeah and it still could’ve gotten you killed,’ he said, navigating the furniture to get to her. ‘What were you doing flirting with those guys?’

‘I was with Blaser. He was looking after me. He offered me a drink and it’s not like that was going to kill me, not here, in this place owned by your family. I know that there are no drugs allowed in here, so they couldn’t spike my drink.’

‘You can never be a hundred percent sure.’

‘I think if I fell down and had to be carried from the building Blaser or one of his security guys would’ve noticed,’ she said, returning his glower. ‘I was safe.’

‘And if one of them had a knife or followed you to the restroom?’

‘I use the restroom in the employee locker room. Blaser said I could and patrons aren’t allowed back here,’ she said, bringing her hands to her hips. ‘Why don’t you just say what you’re really thinking instead of making up these excuses?’

‘And what am I really thinking?’ he asked. He liked being taller than people and right now it served his purpose. He might be incapable of intimidating her, but the position of superiority irked her and he wanted her pissed off just like he was.

‘You’re jealous,’ she said and then rested her hands on his chest. ‘I wasn’t going to go home with them. I wasn’t interested in them. I was having a drink and a laugh at the bar and they came over. Nothing physical happened. We were just talking.’

‘Talking to guys like that encourages them, and if we’re a thing then you’re going to have to get used to—‘

‘What? What will I have to get used to?’ she asked, her narrowed eyes had laser focus on his. She was all about this fight and oblivious to everything else.

‘Not flirting with other men.’

‘Like you flirt with Destiny? She was up here talking to me about you, asking questions about us.’

‘So what? We’re friends. It’s no big deal.’

‘No big deal to you maybe,’ she said. ‘But you didn’t tell me that I was getting in the middle of something. Are you just using me to upset her? Your family think there’s something between the two of you.’

‘This is nuts,’ he said. Losing his gusto, he backed off and flopped down onto the couch. ‘I’m not messing around with Destiny, and I know there was nothing between you and those guys.’ Forcing himself to lean forward, he doubled, and caught his face in his hands.