STEPBROTHERS (3 Book Stepbrother Romance Collection) (34 page)

P
lagued
by the evening’s events, I crashed in the gym. My mind whirled with thoughts of Beatrice or whatever her name was. Restless, I paced around the floor barefoot, collecting dirty discarded towels and bundling them into the washer. But it was as if she’d never left, constantly in the back of my mind. Something about her wasn’t right—she was keeping something, a part of herself, shielded, hidden from sight. And I wanted to know what it was.

She’d gotten under my skin. I wanted to figure her out, take her apart and see how she was built. I wanted to know everything about her. I groaned as I loaded the last load of washing into the machine and made my way back to my office. My head was too busy to even contemplate driving home now. I’d spend a night on the couch—it was comfy enough.

But as I lay down and leaned my head back upon the arm rest, my arms behind my head, all I saw was her. That dress, that body, and fuck me, that kiss. I was getting hard again just thinking about what I wanted to do to her. And though she came off tough, I had a feeling it was all an act.

I awoke the next morning with a crick in my neck and feeling none too refreshed. I felt like I was at a loose end, my mind still on her, and the prick who had abused her in the worst way imaginable.

It made my blood boil all over again, and I tried to tell myself it wasn’t my problem to deal with, but I was a stubborn fuck. She’d come into my life for a reason, and whether she liked it or not she needed my help.

Before the morning lot arrived for their workouts I decided to get my own in before the rush. I wrapped my hands and went to work on the worn bag. It’d been split so many times that there were several layers duct tape wrapped around it.

The bag became my enemy as I imagined Donte’s face plastered onto it. Sweat poured off me, dripping to the mats below my dancing feet, as I went round after round with the bag, slamming my fists against it. It was probably for the best that I took my aggression out on this bag instead of Donte’s face, I thought. I had to resist every thought of getting into my truck and going to hotel, finding him, and knocking him into next week.

I would try to be patient, to wait till I was asked for help. She would call me, or at least I’d hoped she would. I had to have faith that for once in my life when I offered my help someone would take me up on it, instead of me going in, guns blazing.

“You’re in early,” Travis called out to me over the stereo that I had blaring in my lame attempt to obliterate my constant negative thoughts—yeah, like that would be enough to work.

My arms dropped to my sides, tired from the brutal workout I’d just gave them.

Travis approached and held the bag for me, his cast braced against the leather. One more round, I thought.

“Did you crash here last night? Got worried after you didn’t come back. Thought something had happened.”

I shrugged. He hadn’t been worried enough to call, I thought. There was always some underlying and unsaid thing between us. As if he were jealous of what I had—which wasn’t much, to be fair—but it was always there just beneath the surface.

I swung my arm back and launched it towards him, hitting the bag but sending it hard into his chest, causing him to step back.

“Jesus, Vin. Did someone piss you off?”

“You could say that,” I replied, slightly breathless, but I threw another left hook, then a right. Travis had to cling onto the bag to keep it steady.

Once I felt the slight tremors in my arm and the weakness come over me, I knew it was time to stop. Leaving Travis at the bag, I moved to turn the stereo down and then faced him again.

“Surprised you turned up this morning, on time, what with your arm.”

“Well, I didn’t want to fuck things up again.”

I nodded. “Does that mean you’re up to going out on your collections today?”

His eyes darted away, and he shifted from side to side uneasily.

“Don’t fuck around, Travis. I need to know if you’re up to this or not. We need to put an end to it all. Collect the last of it then be done with it.”

“I know. And I am, I am… it’s just I think I need more time to heal before I start knocking on doors demanding payment. How would it look if I turn up like this? They’ll just laugh in my face and tell me to get lost.”

“What if I sent someone with you?”

He shrugged noncommittally. It was as if he didn’t want the job. He wanted all the perks that came with it but didn’t want to put the time in.

“Fuck’s sake, Travis.”

“Are you still sure you want to shut everything down? Couldn’t we just keep it on, on the side… I could—”

“You could what? Run it yourself? You barely do what I ask you to do now, how would you run a business like that and not get caught? I’ve come close enough as it is…”

“But—”

“No, Travis. I’m done. I want out. It might’ve been fine when we were kids, but I’m tired of worrying all the time. Thinking the next knock is going to be the one that lands me in jail.” I swung the towel around my sweaty neck and took a gulp of water from the water bottle. “I’ve got a good thing here. It’s enough.”

Travis didn’t seem too pleased by my answer. It was a conversation that reared its head repeatedly, ever since I informed him of my plans to go legit, to make a clean break from the underground money-lending world. But he just couldn’t let it go, pound signs rattling in his eyes, thinking he would strike it rich on the pitiful interest. It just wasn’t worth it anymore.

“So you want me to bring Jimmy in to help you, or can you handle it?”

“Whatever, you decide,
boss.”

I shook my head. Fuck him and his little tantrum. I walked away.

“Don’t forget to open up!”

I went to clean up, grabbed a quick shower then barricaded myself into my office. I didn’t want to have to micro-manage him—I needed someone reliable who I could count on to think and do shit before I even thought of it myself. I didn’t want to have to wipe Travis’s nose and order him about constantly. I gobbled down an energy bar and washed it down with another couple of gulps of water.

Jimmy, the security guy and an old mate from high school, he had the right kind of attitude, not to mention the build for the job. It would be a short stint, but the extra cash might do him some good.

Regretfully I hadn’t had the foresight to get Jimmy’s number. I searched around my battered office desk, opening and closing drawers, looking for the little book that held all my contacts, tallies and payments. But it wasn’t where I’d left it. Normally it was right there in the top drawer, but today it was missing. The only other person that had access to it, and my office, was Travis.

Frowning, I got to my feet and moved out the office and back out into the main part of the gym. Weights clanged all around me, and the stale scent of sweat got worse as I searched for Travis.

“Anyone seen my shit-head of a cousin?” I yelled over the din.

A few guys looked up and shook their heads; the rest were oblivious, concentrating on their workouts. They were in the zone and completely ignored me.

“He just left, Vin,” a voice behind me called. “He was in the car park just as I arrived, talking to some guy, then they drove off.” Rick, who was twice my size, pointed a meaty paw behind him, then carried on to the changing rooms.

“Fuck. Thanks, Rick.”

What the hell was he up to? There were only so many passes I could give him before I cut him loose, or worse.

I headed back into my office to retrieve my phone with the plan to pull up an internet search for the Regal Hotel’s number so I could get in touch with Jimmy. But as I picked up the phone, it started to buzz in my hand.

“Hello?” I answered. The display hadn’t provided me with the name of the caller, and for one hopeful moment I imagined hearing Beatrice’s voice on the other end of the line… asking for my help.

“Hey, Vin, it’s Jimmy.”

“Oh, hey. Just the guy I was hoping to reach.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, was hoping to give you some extra work if you were still up for it. But before I get into that, you called me. What’s up?”

“Think I have a lead on your guy, Rene.”

“Really? Tell me more,” I said, grinning. Rene was in deep shit; he would know I’d be looking for him. Did he really think getting fired was going to put an end to what he owed me? Nothing would give me greater pleasure than taking out my anger on that little weasel.

Jimmy explained how he’d managed to flirt the information out of one of the managers at the hotel. He told me Rene was due to pick up his severance check on Sunday evening.

“Good fucking work, Jimmy. I really could use you. And you’d know I’d pay you more than what you’re making at the hotel,” I said.

“Sounds good, Vin. Probably best if I keep my job at the moment, kids to feed and all that. I wouldn’t be opposed to doing some work on the side, though.”

“Yeah, fair enough. Anyway if you’re there tomorrow I’ll pay you what you’re owed.”

“Night off, Vin. But I know you’re good for it.”

“Aye, come by the gym when you can then.”

I rang off and hung round the gym till late, shooting the shit with my guys and squeezing in another workout before leaving. I’d hardly slept the night before, and I headed home, leaving one of the regulars who wanted to stay a little longer and work into the night to keep an eye on the place and to lock up.

On my way home I tried calling Travis, but his phone just went to voicemail. He hadn’t shown his face all bloody day, and I had to the uneasy feeling that he was back to his old ways again. Using; getting high.

“Where the fuck are you?” I shouted impatiently into the phone. It wasn’t as if he had another job to go to, or a girl for that matter—according to him, his girlfriend had kicked him out and wanted nothing to do with him… unless she’d taken him back, which wouldn’t have surprised me. But I would have to deal with him later, again. It was becoming a nasty habit, and I couldn’t help but think that he wanted me to break his other arm.

I
didn’t get
much sleep Saturday night after all; too much worrying about Travis, about Beatrice… and I lazed most of the day on Sunday.

I had to see her again, but the ball was in her court. I hated waiting, yet I wasn’t going to turn all stalkerish on her—that would be a sure-fire way of turning her off.

After dozing, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I made my way to the bathroom, splashed some cold water onto my face, threw some jeans on and checked the time. I had about an hour before Rene would turn up at the hotel, but I didn’t want to miss him, so I headed that way early, just in case.

Travis still hadn’t checked in, either. Nearly two whole days and no word. He was either up to something or dead. I’d make a quick stop at the gym to make sure that he’d at least had the sense to lock up—Sundays were always my days off, and he fucking knew it. The last thing I needed was to advertise that the gym was fair game for robbing; there was a lot of expensive equipment in there.

Thankfully as I drove up, the shutters were down. But the lock was missing. A regular must’ve pulled down the shutters, or Travis had forgotten to slap the lock on. Fuck. Quickly, aware of the time, I found the spare twin chunky lock that I kept in my truck and clicked it into place.

A prickle at the back of my neck made me turn around sharpish. It felt like cold water had trickled down my spine, and I shuddered. Peering into the darkness, I couldn’t see anything that would’ve made me react like that—it almost felt like I was going to get jumped. Either way I stood tall and studied the road and the corners of the darkening car park, glancing from side to side, looking for anything suspicious. You never knew who was out there, and especially in my line of work you end up making a few enemies—those who couldn’t pay, those who wouldn’t…

Satisfied that all was well, I jumped back into the truck and headed to the hotel, ready to get my hands on the squirmy little fucker that was Rene.

Luckily it was a different doorman on tonight, and though I wasn’t dressed in my Sunday best he opened the door and didn’t think twice about letting me in.

It was early for Christmas party-goers, and with it being a Sunday, not many businessmen had made an appearance, though a few were dotted around in the shadowy corners of the hotel bar, sporting their shiny suits and arm-candy.

I chose a stool at the end of the bar’s rounded edge and sat facing the lobby’s double doors. Though I considered that, as an ex-employee, Rene might still have access to the back and come through the staff entrance, so I made sure to keep my eyes open.

The barman, a different one—not sure if I could’ve kept my cool with that little shit from the night before—asked what my poison was then promptly delivered a draught of beer in an ice-cold glass.

Sipping it slowly, I waited. Now normally patience wasn’t in my repertoire, but I was looking forward to this—seeing Rene’s face and savouring the moment when he realised he’d fucked up. It would be a sweet moment that couldn’t come soon enough and would give me a chance to work on my anger issues.

As if on cue the little weasel slithered by, passed the bar’s open doors, presumably on his way to collect his final pay check—which would soon be mine—from an office in the back.

I’d wait, I thought. Wait for him to make the return journey back out through the lobby, and grab him on the street, away from prying eyes and respectable customers who would end up being witnesses to what I had in mind.

I didn’t have to wait long. I downed my drink when I saw Rene passing by again and made to follow him outside, cracking my knuckles as I pursued him.

He was a few metres away from the Regal’s entrance when I managed to grab hold of his collar and shove him into an alleyway that ran alongside the hotel.

“What the fuck?” he squealed. I sucker-punched him in the gut, and he gasped for air. At least he wouldn’t be able to yell now.

“Lovely evening, ain’t it, Rene?”

He was huddled over, his hands wrapped around his middle as he tried to suck in the much needed air he’d been robbed of. Being winded was a bitch; you thought you were dying, never believing you’d draw breath again, and I couldn’t help but smile.