Better When He's Bad

by Jay Crownover

  “I don’t have pull, Ernie, but I still have a temper. You might want to pass along to Benny and to Novak when you see them that nobody wants to be on the wrong side of it after five years on the inside. That’s a really long time to stew in your own fury.” I gave his hefty body a violent shake, which had his teeth snapping together. “What was the rich guy’s business with Novak?”

  “I don’t know. He wanted something done and came looking for someone to handle it. If he was looking in the Point, it wasn’t something legal, and Novak never met a rich person he didn’t want to exploit and have in his back pocket.”

  I stared at him hard, until I determined he was giving me as much information as he had. I shoved him away and took immense satisfaction in watching him hit his office floor assfirst. He swore and glared up at me as I went to pull the door back open.

  “You’re useless now, Bax. You aren’t in the game anymore, and Novak thinks you’re a loose end. Your days are numbered. You might want to consider how you want to spend your last days. Race let you go away without a fight. Novak would’ve let you burn. Any normal guy would walk away, hook up a few times, and go out with a smile. Why you gotta stir shit up and piss everyone off?”

  This time when I smiled, it actually had humor in it.

  “It’s what I’m best at. If you hear anything about Race, you better pass it along, or our next visit will be far less enjoyable for both of us.”

  In the hallway, I rolled over what Ernie had told me. Race came from money. His family was tied into a lot of really wealthy families and charities on the Hill. He knew a lot of really powerful men from his life before. He could’ve been asking about any one of them and if the guy he was asking about was in Novak’s pocket, that meant whatever he wanted done was big and all kinds of bad. It was a shame I couldn’t just go to the source and ask. If I got in a room with Novak, one of us wasn’t coming out alive and I wasn’t cocky enough to automatically assume I would be the one walking away unscathed.

  “Hey, Bax. Benny and his boys just rolled in and headed right for your redhead. You didn’t tell me you broke the old guy’s nose. Bet he was pissed.” I liked Chuck. He was a solid dude who just followed orders, and I think he was a pretty good judge of character.

  I pointed to my black eye. “He sucker-punched me not even a minute after I got my first taste of pussy in longer than I want to think about. He’s lucky the only thing I broke was his nose.”

  “I always said none of those boys knew what they were doing messing around with you. Even when you were a kid, you were still twice as scary as the lot of them together.” Chuck sounded proud of that fact.

  I lifted an eyebrow and nodded.

  “I tried to tell them that. They never wanted to listen.”

  I made my way back into the club and immediately saw Benny and two of his guys hovering at the edge of the booth where I had left Dovie. Honor caught my eye and gave me a wink from the stage. I rolled my eyes and shoved past Benny to slide back in the booth next to the redhead.

  Those eyes, so green and leafy-colored, were hard, but I could see the fear lurking in the darker veins. I didn’t want to know exactly what Benny had done to her last time, but I wanted to make it clear that he wasn’t going to put his hands on her again without facing blowback from me. I pulled her so that she was flush up against my side. I ran a hand across the back of her neck and got a fistful of all that orange-red hair. The curls were soft and springy where it was gathered up off the elegant curve of her face. Her freckles were dark against the pale canvas of her skin and her mouth looked like all the things I had dreamed about while I was locked up. She wasn’t going to like what I was about to do, but I hoped she was smart enough to just roll with it. If not, it was every man for themselves and she could figure out her own way to get Benny to leave her alone. I didn’t need her to like me or respect me when all this was said and done, I just needed her to do what I wanted and stay out of my way while I handled business.

  I brushed my thumb along the full sweep of her lower lip and saw her eyes widen in a flash of understanding right before I claimed her mouth with my own. I held her still with the hand I had wrapped around the back of her neck and held her face with my other hand so she couldn’t jerk away and set Benny off. She was stiff as a board and her hand was digging into my thigh like a claw. I was right, though; she was every kind of sweet and unsullied. She tasted like fresh strawberries and purity, and good God, that mouth, I could press my own to it forever and never get tired of it. The last thing she needed was a guy like me pawing at her. She didn’t open her lips, didn’t let me invade the moist heat of her mouth with my tongue, which I totally would have taken advantage of and done if she’d let me. It was probably a good thing. If Honor’s little bump and grind had elicited an unwanted erection, this closed-lip, virginal kiss with this bothersome girl had me ready to come in my jeans like a kid. I couldn’t feel anything other than the plush press of her mouth against my own, but it was erotic and a total turn-on, which was just one more surprise Race’s little sister had in store for me. I could only imagine what it would be like if she loosened up and actually let me kiss her for real.

  I grinned against her pursed lips and licked the tight seam for good measure. I felt her tremble, in either desire or annoyance, and I didn’t care which. When I pulled back, I winked at her and saw that she was glaring daggers at me. I squeezed her neck in warning and turned to look at Benny with a smirk.

  There was no missing the black-and-purple bruising around the white bandage that covered the bridge of his nose. He looked pissed.

  “I think it’s an improvement.” I nodded at his battered face and grinned just to get a reaction.

  He growled at me and I moved Dovie so she was pressed all along my side. She didn’t want to relax, and that wasn’t going to do anything to sell that I was into her to Benny. Not to mention she wasn’t my normal type, so chances of him buying it were slim already.

  “Your buddy is gonna crawl out from under his rock sooner or later, Bax, and then you’re all mine.”

  “You gonna sucker-punch me again, Benny? Might be harder now that I know you’re coming.”

  His gaze flicked to Dovie and then back to me. “Picked up right where your boy left off? There really is no honor among thieves.”

  I snorted. “Well, we all know Race owed me. And like you said, five years is a long time to go without. I’ll take my payback however I see fit.” I tilted my head in Dovie’s direction and tried not to grunt as she dug the pointy tip of her elbow into my ribs.

  “Why her? I’ve seen the girls you usually roll with. She doesn’t fit the bill.”

  I lifted an eyebrow and looked at her sideways. I could literally see where she was biting the inside of her cheek to avoid saying anything. She was pretty cute when she was indignant and put upon. Just to aggravate her a little more, I snatched her slouchy hat off her head and snapped the elastic band holding her hair back off her face. The red waves sprang free like they were escaping from jail.

  “I’ve lived in grime and filth for my whole life. Maybe now I want something clean and unblemished by this life. Don’t pretend like you know me, Benny. You never did.”

  “I’m starting to think this girl has something magical going on. First Race and now you. Maybe I’ll have to give her a spin to see.”

  He wanted me to react, to get mad, so he could have his goons work me over and pay me back for his nose, but I wasn’t stupid, and this was a game I had written the rules to, so I just reclined in the booth and pulled Dovie with me. She put a hand on my stomach and looked up at me under her rusty-colored eyelashes. She wasn’t happy, but she was smart enough not to fight me.

  “You can try. A couple of black eyes and a crooked nose will be a picnic after I’m through with you if you do it, but you’re more than welcome to push your luck.”

  He grimaced and pulled his pants up with a jerk on his oversize belt buckle.

  “Maybe she wants to try a man on for size i
nstead of a boy. Roxie said you forgot all about what a woman wants while you were gone.” He turned to Dovie. “How about it, sugar? Wanna give ol’ Benny a try?”

  His leer was enough to make me want to punch him in the nose again, not to mention the fact that he was actually stupid enough to proposition a girl he had just recently knocked around. What a douchebag. I was going to tell him to piss off, to just leave her the hell alone, but I didn’t get the chance because she grabbed my face with both hands and pulled me down so she could kiss me.

  There was no closed-lip, restrained press of mouth against mouth this time. Her quick little tongue darted between my surprised lips and stroked across my own. Her fingers curled into the side of my face, rubbing over the black star inked at the corner of my eye and around my neck, and every breath she took I breathed in and felt like she was trying to give me something I had never had before. I nipped the inside of her bottom lip with my teeth and pulled her closer so I could show her what happens when I kissed someone like I meant it. By the time she finally pulled back, her already-full lips were puffy and devoured-looking and her dark green eyes were almost as black as my own. Her chest was rising and falling in a rapid rhythm, and all we could do was stare at each other. Kissing wasn’t a big deal; in fact, it was normally boring and just a motion I went through to get to the main event. This wasn’t boring at all, and now I really, really wanted to know what she had going on under those ugly, baggy clothes.

  She blinked at me and tossed a saucy grin at Benny and his boys that looked all wrong on her innocent face.

  “I’m good. He’s better, so no thanks.” She dropped her head on my shoulder and batted her eyelashes up at me. I had to bite down a laugh.

  “You heard her. Move along, Benny. Stay out of my way and watch your step.”

  “You always were too sure of yourself, Bax. It’s gonna blow up in your face.”

  I shrugged and grabbed Dovie’s hand to pull her out of the booth behind me.

  “I’m surprised it hasn’t already, but it’s going to take someone bigger and badder than you or Novak to do it.” I pulled Dovie out of the booth and pushed past the goon closest to me while tucking her under my arm. I gave Benny one last look over my shoulder. “You know how I drive, Benny. Stay out of my way or you and all your boys will get run over.”

  I pushed my luck and guided my companion out the front door with a hand on her surprisingly firm ass. I needed to see this girl in clothes that actually fit her. Chuck stopped us at the door and I gave him the obligatory fist bump.

  “Lemme know if my little visit stirs anything up. I need to find Race.”

  “Oh, it’s going to stir shit up, which I’m pretty sure was your point, son. You better watch your back with Benny. He didn’t get to be Novak’s right hand by being reasonable and forgiving.”

  “I got this, Chuck. I have five years of ‘fuck you’ pent up and it’s all directed at Novak and his crew. I’m not going anywhere until he knows exactly what I think about how that last job went down. I just need to make sure Race is okay and not playing at something too dangerous for him to handle alone.”

  “I’ll keep an eye out. I take it you don’t want the boys to know Little Miss Sunshine is related to him?”

  “No. Let them think she was just a piece on the side. It’s safer for her that way.”

  “Playing with fire by sticking your tongue down her throat. Benny thinks she means something to you, he’s gonna get ideas.”

  “Good. Let him. Come on, Copper-Top, let’s get you tucked into bed all safe and snug.”

  I didn’t miss that she recoiled from my touch and walked as far away from me as she could on the sidewalk when we got outside. I had to hide an amused grin as she glared at me. That red hair wasn’t a lie. She was all kinds of fiery and full of fight. I shouldn’t like that nearly as much as I did, and I shouldn’t want to see her in my car, but that’s exactly what I was thinking as I led her silently to the Runner.

  CHAPTER 4

  Dovie

  I WAS SHAKING. I wasn’t sure if it was from fear, anger, adrenaline, or the fact that Bax didn’t seem to think posted speed limits and things like stop signs applied to him or his loud, wickedly fast car. I checked my seat belt every few seconds and gripped the dash in front of me with fingers that were white. We hadn’t said a word since leaving the strip club. He hadn’t mentioned what happened when he went in the back, the brush with Benny, or the fact I had practically mauled him in front of the sleazy mobster.

  That was so unlike me. I was reserved, shy even, when it came to the opposite sex. I never trusted their motivations and I had seen too many girls my age knocked up and abandoned because of pretty words rattled off a talented tongue. I didn’t want that for myself. I tried to make smart choices, choices that would eventually lead me out of places like the Point. That meant most boys who came from the streets were boys I didn’t waste my time on. Not to mention I dressed like a boy most of the time and didn’t bother to doll up. It wasn’t like they were pounding down the front door to get after me . . . but that kiss with Bax was different.

  When he had kissed me for show, I knew it was an act, a way to stake his claim and get the guy in the suit to back off. His nearly midnight gaze never wavered and it was like pressing my mouth against the unrelenting surface of a statue. Sure, he tasted like enticement and all the things dark and dangerous that oozed out of him, but it was all a game to him and I could feel it. I wished that had been enough to stop my skin from tingling and my lips from desperately wanting to spring open and pull him in. Being kissed by a guy like Bax for whatever reason was enough to mess with my already spinning head, and I didn’t like it, so when Benny had pushed, I needed to take the control back.

  Only it backfired, and kissing Bax for real was like getting sucked into a vortex of desire and not being able to tell up from down. The guy had skills. He had a touch. It was no wonder tramps across town were bummed about his recent incarceration. Everything about him screamed that he knew his way around a good time and anyone would be a fool to pass up the opportunity to have one with him.

  I couldn’t hold back a gasp as the muscle car squealed around the corner of the street in front of the diner and whipped into the parking lot. He drove like he was running away from the police, and even though the car stood out like a sore thumb, no one, the police included, seemed inclined to stop him.

  “Christ! Are you in a hurry?” I didn’t mean to sound terrified, that wasn’t how I wanted him to think of me, but it couldn’t be helped.

  He grinned in the dim interior of the car and I watched the way it made that star on his face crinkle up on the edges. It shouldn’t make him attractive—it was impossible to miss and screamed “troubled-and-trouble”—but it was hot. I hated to admit it, but he was all sorts of sexy felon. God, what was wrong with me? That kiss had made me stupid.

  “I need to take you home and hit up a couple other places. Race say anything to you about a rich guy tied into Novak?”

  I scowled at him and crossed my arms over my chest. “If you’re going someplace else, then I’m going with you. I thought that was the deal.”

  He looked at me, and I sucked in a breath as he leaned over me and shoved open my door. He smelled like lingering cigarette smoke and cheap perfume from the half-naked girl who had dry-humped him.

  “There was no deal. I have things to take care of not related to Race. My entire life was put on hold for years. I’m trying to put it back together and find your brother at the same time. Plus, girls who kiss with their mouths closed aren’t really my thing.”

  He smirked at me as I snapped the seat belt off.

  “I think anything with a heartbeat and a vagina might be your thing.”

  He leaned back and put his arm along the back of the seat. His dark eyes glittered against the darker interior of the car. They were like raw pieces of onyx, polished and put in his brutally attractive face. I wondered how he got that scar that bisected the dark stubble of hair on h
is scalp.

  “Two things I’m particular about. My ride and my women.” He winged an eyebrow up at me and kicked his mouth up into a half grin. “I like both to run smooth and be easy to handle. Neither of those things applies to you, Copper-Top. Even if I need a quick fix, I don’t tangle with complicated pussy.”

  I was going to snap a retort at him when I shrieked and spun around because a heavy hand landed on my shoulder and pulled me the rest of the way out of the car. I stifled a scream when I looked into Lester’s dirty and slightly deranged face. I put a hand to my racing heart, but before I could catch my breath, Bax was out of the car and between me and the veteran. I wanted to warn him that Lester wasn’t quite right, but he pushed me back so I was behind him and shoved Lester back with a hand on his chest. Lester stumbled a little and screwed his face up.

  “Dovie?”

  I grabbed Bax’s elbow and tugged until I could peek around him.

  “Sorry, Les. This is Bax. Remember I asked you to let him come up into the building last night? He’s friends with Race.”

  “He tried to break in?” Lester’s mind had gaps. Carmen thought it was from too much acid in the seventies. I thought it was from the war, but regardless, he carried a machete under his dirty overcoat and wasn’t scared to use it.

  “Yes . . . well, no. He’s trying to find Race. He’s okay, all right, buddy?”

  Lester and Bax had a standoff going on and I was scared one of them was going to get hurt before the other backed down.

  “Why are you over here, Les? You never leave the stoop after dark.”

  I tried to keep my voice soothing and mellow. Unwittingly I leaned my weight into Bax’s side, trying to show Lester that he was okay, not a threat. What a load of bull that was. I had never met any one single person in my life who broadcasted that he was a threat like this guy.

  “Bad things. Too many people. They made me leave. Gave me a bottle of whiskey.”

  “What kind of bad things, buddy?”