by R. J. Lewis
I took his hand and pressed a kiss in his palm. “It’s not something you talk about in the bathroom right before you’re supposed to go out,” I tried explaining. “But I’ll talk to you about it later. I promise.”
He watched me for a few more moments like he was trying to decipher what was wrong. Then he sighed. “Don’t leave my side then. I want to be able to see you, make sure you’re not feeding me bullshit.”
I nodded. “Fine.”
We stood and got cleaned up. I fixed my hair again and readjusted my dress. All he had to do was zip his jeans up. I looked at his reflection in the mirror as I washed my hands and blushed at the mark I’d left on his neck.
Before we left the bathroom, he squeezed my hand and pulled me to him, delivering one more kiss on my mouth. He kissed me with so much passion, it made my legs wobbly. Then he pulled back and looked down at me with loving eyes.
“You want to know what I just realized?” he muttered just then, smiling peacefully at me.
“What?” I asked, drowning in his gaze.
“You’re the dove, and I’m the raven.”
My spine straightened in surprise. My skin broke out in goose bumps.
“What did you just say?” I asked in a shocked whisper.
Before he could respond, Ember’s voice shrieked, “We ever going to leave yet?”
Conor chuckled and tugged me to the door.
I stumbled over my feet, my head suddenly clouding with a memory of a raven.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Thames
He really couldn’t stand noise.
His ears immediately ached upon entering Jem’s bar. There were too many faces. And this time, he recognized many of them.
He was greeted, pat on the back by the very same people who waited for him to fall all that time ago. He squeezed Charlotte’s hand as Jem led them to a corner table. Now Jem, he looked like he was right at home, making idle conversation as they went, smiling up a storm the way Thames used to back in the day. Even Ember looked like she was in her zone. She fucking glowed, already stopping at the bar to order drinks.
So much had changed.
So much remained the same.
It was starting to dawn on Thames why that was.
Blackwater hadn’t changed.
Blackwater was the same, it was him that was different. He wasn’t the same man anymore. The bar scene – had he genuinely enjoyed that before? He wracked his brain, trying to remember, but it was blacked out. All of it. Because he’d spent so much of his life wasted on alcohol, blocking out the noise, thinking of his next hit.
He sat stiffly, looking about the room with a cautious gaze. He wasn’t searching for trouble, but he wondered if it would find him. What wasted idiot was going to insult him? What nosy prick would ask him about prison? How would he respond to it?
He didn’t know what to anticipate, but the shakes were already setting in.
Charlotte immediately grabbed his hand when they did. Her warmth seeped into his skin, and he looked to her, finding equal warmth in her eyes. She squeezed his hand and smiled reassuringly at him.
“If you feel something coming on, you just look at me,” she whispered to him.
He nodded, already feeling his heart rate come down.
He wanted to tell her he wanted to go. He wanted to be back at the house, in their room, fucking her, or bathing with her, or even watching Penny sleep.
No, no, what he wanted the most was her mouth back on his cock, her tongue flicking at his head. Why the hell had he taken so long for that to happen?
This being here was out of his element.
Guys he used to know stopped by the table for a quick word. They were welcoming and kind, not prodding or asking nosy questions. Conor answered with ease and they respectfully left, knowing very well that he needed his space.
This was good.
He could handle this.
Ember returned to the table with drinks in her hands. She settled beer bottles down in the middle of the table. “Drink up, guys. Char’s the designated driver. We’re safe tonight.”
Charlotte’s eyes narrowed. “I never volunteered that.”
“Oops, well, guess I just did for you,” Ember laughed, necking her drink quickly to ensure the responsibility was not on her.
“I’ll drive, dove,” Thames said suddenly. “You can relax.”
Charlotte pushed the beers in Ember’s direction, shaking her head. “I’m too old for this shit, Conor. I’m already thinking about bed.”
Ember’s brows shot up. “I hope you’re joking.”
“I’m not.”
“You don’t know how to have fun, Charlotte. That’s always been your issue.”
“Hey, leave her alone,” Jem intervened, frowning at Ember. “Char has a lot of responsibility.”
Ember looked insulted. “You saying I don’t?”
“Yeah,” Jem retorted. “I’m saying you don’t.”
“Fuck you, Jem, I have a kid, too, you know.”
“Yeah, does your kid know that?”
Now she was beyond pissed. “You don’t have the right to say shit like that to me. Who the fuck are you to tell me off about my parenting? And then to act as though Charlotte’s got it rougher than me. She had everything handed to her –”
“That’s bullshit, Ember, you’ve sponged off your mom for years now, and Grandma may as well be Mommy to Lily because you’ve always stepped outta the house to chase after dick and alcohol. You don’t get to ever compare yourself to Charlotte.”
Her mouth dropped open in shock. “I really don’t get what it is with men and Charlotte.” She looked at her. “Do you have unicorns coming out of your vagina, honey?”
Now Jem’s face turned dark. “Ember…” he said in warning.
“What, Jem?”
“You’re tipsy already.”
“So what?”
“So, you watch your fucking mouth.”
“I’m only curious,” Ember continued in her rage, huffing. “I’m not saying that you’d know. One here does.” She sent a fleeting look in Thames’ direction before adding, “The other’s missing in action. Do send Locke my love, Char.”
With that, she got up and stormed off, dangling a drink in her hand.
Charlotte
I hated her.
I hated Ember with a passion.
I couldn’t believe I felt bad for her back at the house.
I glared at her, feeling the flush of anger swamp my face. The table was tense. I couldn’t look in Conor’s direction, but Jem looked pale as paper.
“Your sister is still a handful, pal,” Jem uttered, trying to break the moment. He was staring at Thames, and I could tell in his expression that what he was looking at wasn’t good. I was still too much of a pussy to see.
I should’ve known she would say something. I should’ve known she had to regurgitate town gossip like it wasn’t my life she was fucking with.
This town was suffocating when it wanted to be. When I looked around, I saw the heads turn in our direction. There were pockets of quiet murmuring conversations. The ones that hadn’t approached Conor were dissecting him like he was a two headed alien.
Finally growing some balls, I turned to look at Conor. I didn’t expect him to look so calm. His expression was clear. I had to glance down at his hands, but they weren’t shaking. He wasn’t feeling anger, but…he wasn’t himself, either.
I started to think he hadn’t even heard what Ember said before she strolled off. His concentration was elsewhere.
His eyes were pinned on something across the room. I followed his line of sight and stilled when I saw his jail friend seated at the bar.
“Conor…” I started, but he was already standing.
Already moving across the room before I could stop him.
“What’s going on?” Jem questioned.
“That man…” I muttered, watching as Conor approached him.
“What about him, Char?”
&n
bsp; My lips pursed, and dread filled my stomach. “He’s trouble.”
We watched them for a while. Jem’s frown deepened. “I don’t know this guy. He from outta town or something?”
“Conor knows him from prison.”
Instantly, Jem’s shoulders tensed, and realization dawned. “Ah.”
What did his ah mean exactly? Did Conor talk about Holden to Jem?
“You know something I don’t?” I asked him.
He took a huge swig of his beer and scanned the room diligently. “I know about his prison friend,” he explained, his voice tight. “Like you said, he’s trouble.”
Dread coursed through my veins as I also glimpsed the room. “Should we be worried?”
“Cautious,” he corrected, returning his eyes to me. “Just cautious, sweetheart.”
Everyone’s interest was settled on Conor and Holden. The atmosphere shifted to curiosity as Conor and Holden spoke. I looked around the room again, paying close attention to faces, trying to –
“The people in the corner,” I hastily said, flicking my chin in the direction of the corner table across the room. “I don’t know who those guys are, Jem.”
Jem didn’t look. “I saw them already,” he replied vaguely. “Don’t stare too hard at ‘em, Char.”
I looked away, cataloguing what I saw in my mind. There were three men. Two were dressed casually in jeans and sweaters, but the third…The third was donning a charcoal coloured suit. The man in question appeared tall, had a dark/grey beard and was circling a glass of beer in his hand, his attention zoned in on Conor.
He had a quiet confidence. The kind you’d expect in someone who was in charge.
“I think he’s number one,” I muttered quietly, feeling shocked.
Jem seemed to understand. “Conor informed me he wanted to see him.”
“He told you about these guys?”
“Yeah, only recently. They’re a crew. I…don’t remember their name, do you?”
“No, he never mentioned it.”
“When I took the car around, we talked in the garage for a few hours before Penny came around. He talked about the shit he did in prison.”
That was the day Conor had finally opened up to me.
It seemed like he’d been ready to finally bring us in.
While it warmed my heart, unease still trickled through me.
“Do you know what they want from him, Jem?”
Jem simply nodded once in response, his eyes focused on Conor and Holden.
Whatever it was they wanted, he didn’t tell me and I was too busy glancing around the room, counting red flags to press about it.
Just when it couldn’t get any worse, the bar door swung open and Reid swept through the room. My stomach dropped. Jem caught my gaze and let out a sigh. “This night just keeps getting better and better, huh?”
Reid searched the room, his eyes stopping at Conor, but he didn’t go to him. Instead, he turned back and left the bar. Not a moment later I saw Ember hurry behind him. My mouth dropped as Jem and I exchanged looks.
“Don’t,” he said firmly. “Not our business.”
I nodded in response. He was right. I turned my attention back to Conor. He had a dark look on his face, but he was in control of himself. It was this Holden fuck that I was worried about the most.
“Conor’s in charge,” Jem assured me, noticing how stiff I was. “He can hold his own right now, no intervention.”
“I wouldn’t even know how to intervene.”
Reid stepped back into the bar, but he stood by the door. It remained open and he was glaring outside, moving his lips fast. Then he disappeared outside again.
What the hell is going on?
My phone pinged loudly, interrupting my thoughts. I figured it was an update from Megan about how the evening was going with Penny. I didn’t pick it up straight away, my interest piqued between the door and Conor. From my peripheral, the screen lit up on the table, prompting Jem to glance at it. Instantly, his face drained. He glanced at me solemnly. “Char,” he began to say just as I grabbed the phone.
Before I could ask him what was wrong, I looked at the message on the screen and felt my heart drop.
I need you, Charlotte.
No.
No.
Not now.
Immediately, adrenaline replaced my unease. I glanced at Conor then Jem.
“You have to go,” Jem told me sternly.
I noticed the look of understanding in his eyes. It wasn’t what I was used to when it pertained to Locke.
I shook my head. “I can’t leave Conor –”
“I’m here,” he cut in. “I’ll take care of him.”
“What if Conor reacts?”
“You know he won’t. I’m here, anyway. I wouldn’t allow it.”
“What if they do?”
“Sweetheart, I’ve got a Mossberg 500 shotgun behind the bar at the ready when I serve, just in case of trouble. Nothing’ll happen.”
When he noticed my hesitation still, he hardened his voice. “You have to go. Locke needs you.”
Glancing back at the message, I felt my heart beat faster.
“Charlotte,” he urged quietly, “if it were me he was asking for, I’d be there in a flash.”
“You’re asking me to leave Conor in this showdown –”
“Conor is in a crowded bar,” he cut in. “Locke is out there alone and in trouble and only you can help him.”
But it wasn’t that easy.
I looked at the men in the corner of the room, then at the door where Reid had stood, and then lastly at Conor, whose demeanour screamed all wrong, whose face looked lethal with fury.
“You should go for me,” I whispered. “Go, Jem. He’s at –”
“No,” he hissed, his face breaking apart before me now. “He doesn’t want me, and I think I know why, and I don’t know how to make it better if I’m right. I can’t, Charlotte. I simply can’t.”
His eyes were rimmed red and desperate. He bared his soul to me just then, and it alarmed me seeing so much emotion flooding out of Jem.
What the hell troubled him so much?
“Okay,” I whispered slowly. “Okay, Jem.”
He looked relieved as I stood up. I hurried out of the bar before I could stop myself, but fuck, it wasn’t easy.
The cold air hit me on the way out, cooling my hot nerves as I raced to the car and unlocked it.
I passed Ember and Reid arguing on the way, but I didn’t stop to wonder what was going on. I didn’t have time to.
Locke needed me.
And I needed to stop him from doing a very bad thing.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Thames
He slid into the stool beside Holden, sitting so close, he was practically pressed against his side. He glared at Holden’s profile, waiting. The fucker had already registered his presence, but he was smirking without care, staring up at the sports channel on the television screen.
“Did you know I’d be here, Holden?” Thames demanded, his voice tight with fury.
“Nah,” Holden answered casually, taking a swig from his bottle. “This is serendipitous, buddy.” When Thames didn’t answer, Holden turned to look at him, a cheeky look in his expression. “This is the only decent bar in town. You gotta cut me some slack for being here. Where else am I supposed to go for some night life?”
“You’re a liar.”
“Bumping into you is not a lie, my friend. But just so you know, you coming here is good timing. I got some business to take care of, and in the meantime, I’ve been checking out the town. Asking around about you, too. You were always a mystery to me.”
Thames didn’t buy for one second that this guy was here to check out the night life. That made little sense. He’d followed him, and frankly, he didn’t think this fucker had it in him to be so open about hanging around him after last time.
He was trying to send Thames a message.
Thames looked around, checking for any other
s he might not have noticed.
“It’s been me all week combing through town,” Holden said, knowingly. “I was a one-man army. I didn’t need to be coddled by men, Thames. I thought prison showed you that.”
Thames redirected his glare at him, hissing quietly, “What I saw in prison was a scared little guy who forced his own men to do his bidding because he was too much of a fucking pussy to do it himself.”
Holden chuckled, but he seemed edgy now. Thames had gotten to him. “You really…you really don’t give a fuck who you’re talking to, do you? You think flinging a few insults my way will change this dynamic between us?” Holden’s eyes brightened as he leaned into Thames, growling, “I’m the one that has the power over you, buddy. I’m the one that’s been leafing through your life, and the trail was practically laid out for me. See, you’re easy to figure out. People are so happy to talk. The town bully, the big man that walked the streets, starting trouble. You were quite the bad boy, huh? And then…then you did something unusual.” His voice dropped even lower. “You fell in love.”
Thames didn’t blink, watching him carefully as he studied him. He bit back the urge to smash his fucking head in with the bottle he was guzzling. He wasn’t going to do that. It wouldn’t solve shit. He just sat there, accepting Holden’s words because that was all he could do. Because he could hear Dominic’s voice in his head, telling him to be smart. And honestly, it surprised Thames how easy it was to contain himself, especially around this cunt.
“You murdered someone very close to your woman,” Holden carried on. “Something he did to her triggered you. Word on the street is you flattened his head so much, his brain was leaking out of his eye sockets. I didn’t get that reference about flattening my head in the driveway until now.”
Holden paused right then, watching Thames intently. Maybe he waited for a response, or a break in his expression, but Thames gave nothing away.
Sitting upright now, Holden took another swig, watching the screen, continuing. “You disrespected me when I came to your door. You tossed me out like I was trash, and all I was trying to do was help you. I welcomed you with open arms, Thames, and you stared at me like I was nothing but the dirt under your shoe. Then you threatened me. And it got me thinking…you have very little power. Your threats are empty. You know nothing about me out here. But me? I see you with your girlfriend and kid, and your mom, and your bar friend, and your sister and your niece and, Jesus, you got a lot of people close to you, and now I wonder if you remember prison. Do you remember how important it was to have no close ties to anyone in there? Loyalties often shifted. The people you were close to could be wiped out in some fight or a stabbing in some dark corner of the laundry quarters. You just never knew which one wouldn’t make it out.
