Never a Saint (Polished P & P Book 2)

by Lila Rose

  By the time I got to Polished, I was freezing my ass off. The fucking heater in the Jeep decided to kick the bucket on one of the coldest nights. I pulled my jacket around me more as I made my way into Polished. I couldn’t help but feel unsettled. I really didn’t want to be here and wished I was back with Kylo. I knew I was damn lovesick, but usually I could handle a few hours away from the guy. Tonight was different, and I didn’t understand it.

  Me: You good there?

  Kylo: Yep, you made it all right?

  Me: Yeah, except for the heater in the Jeep taking a hike.

  Kylo: I’ll take a look at it tomorrow.

  Me: Thanks, now rest up, lover.

  Kylo: Already looking forward to seeing you.

  Me: Same.

  Placing my phone on my desk, I sat when a knock came to the door. “Enter,” I called.

  West stepped in. “Hey, ah, I thought Country was on tonight?”

  “He had to step out. What’s up?”

  He glanced around everywhere but at me, then cleared his throat and said to the floor, “Right… ah, my regular, Mr. Hail?” I hummed under my breath, so he knew he had my attention since he wasn’t looking at me still. “Well, is there any chance I could be switched out with someone else?”

  Since I had to pretend Kylo hadn’t said anything, I had to ask, “Has he done somethin’?”

  His eyes snapped to me. “No, no, nothing like that. It’s just…” He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I like him. I didn’t mean to get feelings, but I did and don’t think it’s perfect for me to continue because it could lead to me hurting in the end, and if I prevent that now, it would be better in the long run.” He started pacing. “Shit, I didn’t mean to get feelings and don’t know why I have. He’s never done anything indicating that he likes me, but I just like being around him. Even when he doesn’t talk so much.” He groaned. “Jesus, I’m fucking useless.”

  “West,” I called. He stopped and faced me. “It’s fine. I’ll look into it. Besides, you’ve got your other regular customers to keep you going.” I glanced down at the roster Country must have left on my desk. “Are you okay to see him tonight?”

  His eyes widened. “I don’t usually have him. We’re set for every second weekend, and that would be next weekend. Shit, what do I do? I can’t leave him in the lurch and not go, and then if I do go, I could end up rambling.” He growled at himself. “I’m not usually like this. He sends me into a ranting fool because he confuses me.” He leaned into the desk and whispered, “I don’t even think he’s really gay. Was there a mistake in the office end? Did he ask for a woman to start with and then I showed?”

  “No mistake and, West, how about I see if I have someone else available for him tonight?”

  He sighed and nodded. “It’s probably a good idea.”

  “All right, I’ll call him and tell him of the change and see if he wants someone else. Take a break. Then you have your other client at eleven who wants arm candy at a club.”

  “Thanks, Saint. I really appreciate it.”

  “No problem, West. Our employees come first, always.”

  As soon as he was gone, I brought up Mr. Hail’s details. The details Death had found on him were that he was a businessman who owned a few casinos in Vegas. It was obvious he was a private person from the lack of details we had on him, and West had been our first employee assigned to him. Since I knew he’d respected the boundaries we had for West, meaning no sex in any form, I couldn’t find a fault in him.

  Pressing in his number on the office phone, I waited for him to answer. I checked the time West and he usually caught up. Other than the first time, which was earlier, the rest had been set for late in the night—midnight, in fact. At least I had a couple of hours to find him someone else if he wanted.

  “Da,” he answered in Russian. I only knew it was Russian from a show I’d seen.

  “Mr. Hail, this is Saint, co-owner from Polished. Unfortunately, Ben is no longer available. Would you like to reschedule with someone else?”

  There was a pause, and then he asked, “Is he good?”

  “He is.” I wasn’t going to give him more than I needed.

  “Will he be available for next weekend as usual?” His accent was thick where will sounded like vill.

  “Unfortunately, no, sorry. If you go to our website, we have more men online for you to view. I’ll just have to give you the password to access them.” Which I would since we’d already looked into him.

  “Net,” he clipped in Russian. “I would prefer Ben. Is he working with your company still?”

  Fuck, it didn’t seem like this guy wanted to give up West, which had me thinking maybe the attraction had been two way and not just on West’s side.

  “He does, for now, but the hours he’d been doin’ aren’t suitin’ him any longer.”

  “I’ll take any hour he has available.”

  “I’m sorry, but that won’t be possible. He’s already been booked out for the next month with his new hours.” I was talking out of my ass and hoping this guy would buy it.

  “Will he be sleeping with these other clients?” he bit out.

  “It’s no business of yours what my employee does,” I told him with a hardness to my voice.

  “Fine. Give me the access code and I’ll take a look, then get back to you.”

  I passed on the code, since I couldn’t not, even though I didn’t fucking like his attitude. We ended the call, and I sat back in the seat, staring at the phone. It wouldn’t be bad if I had Death look further into Mr. Hail. I made a note of it before Erica walked into the office and I gave her the details for her night.

  As the hours dragged by, I couldn’t help but feel off, the urge to call Kylo riding me hard. My gut had been twisted since I got here. I’d just reached for my phone when my door crashed open.

  Torch stood there, panting, “Get to the hospital. Gun’s hurt.”

  I stood and grabbed my things as fear had my blood rushing through me. My chest ached like a bitch. “What the fuck happened?” I demanded, making my way out.

  Torch followed me to the doors. “Just get there, brother. Drive safe.”

  Fuck, fuck, fuck, why wouldn’t he say? Did it mean it wasn’t good? I couldn’t think of it now. I had to get to the hospital and find out what the fuck was going on. Then, and only when I knew Kylo was okay, could I let myself think and feel.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Kylo

  Already I missed him, and he hadn’t even been gone long. What was good was that Zion seemed to be having the same problem since it was only moments ago he’d messaged me from the club. The show I usually loved just wasn’t keeping my attention. Maybe sleep was what I needed, and then the time would go faster for when Zion got home.

  Fuck me sideways. I sounded like a lovesick fool.

  But I couldn’t help it because Zion was… hell, everything I’d ever wanted to have in a relationship. He made me smile, gave me those stupid yet kickass feelings in the gut, and my heart beat faster every time he was near, and I hadn’t seen him in a while.

  Was it too soon to call it love?

  Fuck it.

  I was in love with Zion Storey.

  He was mine.

  Mine.

  Just thinking it brought a smile to my face.

  Laughing at myself, I climbed off the bed and made my way into the kitchen. Maybe the fluttering in my gut was hunger and not from thinking of Zion. Who was I kidding? It was Zion. Still, while I was there, I grabbed a glass and filled it with water. Leaning my ass against the counter, I looked around the place.

  I’d felt more at home here as each day passed. I knew Zion would have me move in if he had a choice, but it still scared me we were moving too fast and that it’d crash down in the end.

  I didn’t want it to end.

  Placing the glass down on the sink, I started toward the bedroom when there was a knock on the front door. It was nearing eleven at night. Who would come to Zion’
s this late? I quickly grabbed a tee off the floor and went to answer. Only when I unlocked the door, it was pushed open from the outside, causing me to stumble back. Two figures entered; one hit me in the jaw, knocking me sideways from the impact.

  Shaking my head, I took the person to the ground in a tackle. He let out a huff. I straddled his waist and laid a fist into his face. It was on the second hit when I recognized who it was.

  Henry.

  Motherfucking Henry.

  My so-called father.

  “Get off him” was screamed, and something smashed into my side, knocking me off Henry.

  “What the fuck? What the fuck?” I shouted up at Samantha, who held a baseball bat in her hands.

  Henry sat and pulled something out from behind him.

  A gun.

  Fuck.

  My pulse was beating a million miles an hour, but it kicked up even more and sent my gut to my feet.

  Slowly, I stood as Henry did.

  “What do you want?” I asked, looking right at Henry. Both looked strung out, their eyes wild, their clothes tattered and torn. Samantha kept twitching her head to the side, then up and down. Henry shifted from one foot to the other and scratched at his thigh with his free hand. The one that held the gun shook, but in his state, I worried he’d fire it if I moved an inch.

  “Been following you. Know where you’re working. You got money, boy, and it’s time you gave us some.”

  You have got to be fucking shitting me.

  “Are you serious right now? You think I fuckin’ owe you or somethin’?”

  “You wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for us,” Samantha said in a quiet tone as she scratched at her neck.

  “Yeah, she’s right, you wouldn’t.” He waved the gun around in the air, still shifting from one foot to the other. “You wouldn’t be where you are either. Bringing in money for selling yourself. Hooking up with a fucking man, you faggot. You make me sick to think you came from us, but like your momma said, you wouldn’t be here without us, so you owe us, and we want it paid in money before it ends in blood.”

  They were threatening me.

  My own parents were threatening me.

  Not only that, they threatened all I’d built in my life. In a second, they could take away everything with a bullet. I couldn’t let it happen. I was happy, in love, and I wanted a future with Zion at my side, yet they thought they could take that away in blood if I didn’t give them money?

  “You think I carry a heap of money around with me?” I asked the stupid motherfuckers.

  Samantha swung the bat back and forth in front of her. “Take us to get it,” she said with a giggle. She was either high or coming down from one. I expected they needed the money for more, so they thought up this fucked-up plan. “Take us, and then we’ll let you walk away and never bother you again.”

  Bull-fucking-shit.

  If they got away with it this time, they would come back again and again.

  It wasn’t happening.

  But how did I stop it?

  “No,” Henry snarled. He kicked at the ground and looked around. “He ain’t going anywhere.” It was the grin that put dread in my veins as his eyes landed back on me. It was then I heard footsteps on the front porch. Since the door was still open, two other men stepped into the room.

  “Henry, what’s this? Henry, no, we talked about this,” Samantha said. Her eyes were wide with horror. She stumbled over to Henry and grabbed his arm, but he shook her off.

  I backed up when the guys started my way. “What’s goin’ on?” I demanded.

  “You’ll give us your PIN to your account and your bank card, or things will get messy,” Henry said with a gleam in his eyes before he started cackling like a lunatic.

  “Stop, no stop,” Samantha yelled. She stepped forward, then back, then forward again. Her mind couldn’t make up what she wanted to do. “Don’t do this. Don’t.” Finally, she moved in front of me and tried to push the men back.

  “Sammy, get the fuck outta the way,” Henry growled.

  “No.” She stomped her foot and dropped the bat to put her hands on her hips, but she kept rolling her head from side to side. “We talked about this. Our plan was to get him to the bank, get money, and leave him alone. The plan was working. Why would you do this? We planned this. You got Country out of there with a house fire so his guy had to go to work and we could get in here. We planned this,” she shouted again.

  So that was how they knew Zion had left. I didn’t think they’d be smart enough in the first place or fucking sober enough, but I was wrong.

  “Plans change. I knew this fucker wouldn’t just walk out the door with us,” Henry said, scratching his arm with the gun.

  “I won’t let this happen,” Samantha screeched, rocking back and forth on her feet.

  Henry snorted. His eyes darkened as he smiled. “Like you have a choice. Now move, bitch.”

  “Move, Samantha,” I said softly. She was a shit mother, but she proved she had a small amount of feelings for me trying to stop this shit.

  She shook her head over and over and then stilled to yell, “No, I won’t. I’m not moving. You said he’d be roughed up a bit not—”

  The gun fired. I dove for the ground, and in the next blink, I saw Samantha’s body on the floor with a hole in her head.

  A boot connected with my gut hard. I coughed out a breath, but I couldn’t look away from the body.

  From my mother.

  He shot her.

  Shot his wife.

  “Why?” I asked harshly.

  Henry laughed. He bounced up and down as if happy he’d just killed her. “It’s my way. My way. I was sick of her bitching and whining. Now I’ll get what I want and won’t have to listen to her.”

  I got to my knees, with three of them standing around me after one of the guys dragged Samantha’s lifeless body out of the way. “She was your wife.” White-hot fury burned me inside.

  He chuckled. “You stupid little faggot. I only put up with her for so long because she was easy and gave it up to anyone who’d give us drugs.”

  I ground my jaw together, fisted my hands, and it was the first time I’d thought of murder. I wanted his life gone. I wanted his blood on my hands, and I would get it.

  It may not be possible now, but if so, I’d relish in it.

  “Wallet, PIN, card, now,” he ordered, scrubbing a hand over his oily hair and then down his face, only to do it again and again.

  Wallet.

  My fucking wallet where I kept one of Death’s alarmed pins. Standing, I said, “I’ll get it.”

  He hummed under his breath. “Good boy.”

  “Do not call me boy,” I snarled.

  Henry chuckled, so did the other two fuckers. They moved aside and followed me into the bedroom. I listened to their comments about how sick it was that I was with a guy while I snatched up my wallet from the bedside table, opened it, and took out the pin from the back pocket. I switched it on and hit the alarm before taking out my card. Turning, I dropped the pin to the bed behind me, hoping they didn’t see it while I handed over the card with my other hand.

  “Here,” I said, and gave him the digits to gain access. I didn’t give a fuck if they took everything. I just wanted them out of the house in case any of the neighbors called the cops, and then Zion would be notified, and he’d come home. I couldn’t risk him… even when I knew they wouldn’t leave without hurting me. At least I knew Death would come with reinforcements.

  “That the right numbers?” Henry asked, a smirk placed on his mouth, using the gun once more to scratch at his arm.

  “Yes.” I nodded.

  He handed the gun off to one of the others and stepped closer. “Is that the right numbers?”

  “Yes, why the fuck would I lie? I just want you gone.” Not that they would leave, not after what I saw. Why Henry shot her in the fucking house in front of me in the first place, I didn’t have a clue…. Unless he expected I wouldn’t be alive to say anything
to anyone.

  Fuck.

  Really, I’d already suspected even before he’d shot Samantha, but I’d hoped. Now hope was running out.

  Henry pulled back his fist and threw it forward toward my face, but I caught it. Henry’s upper lip pulled back in a snarl. He pulled his hand free. “Hold him,” he ordered. The guy without the gun dragged me in front of him, pinning my arms behind my back. I struggled, but I was already sore and weakened by the hit to the head and gut. As soon as I stilled, Henry punched me in the face, the gut, and then my face again. My lip split, my eye stung like hell, and I wanted to throw up, but I breathed through it.

  “Are those the right numbers?” Henry asked again.

  “Yes,” I ground out.

  “You’d better be right.” He shifted away. “I’ll let you two know when to leave as soon as I get the money. You know what to do.”

  They didn’t answer, but they must have done something because Henry walked from the room to the front door. “Have fun,” he called with a chuckle before walking out and closing the door behind him.

  Pain erupted in my side when one stabbed me, more pain fired through me at my face, my ribs, my leg, my gut. Over and over, they pummeled me. Some were stinging like the sharp blade slicing into my skin. I dropped to the floor and curled into myself. Still, more pain came with hits and kicks. I hated I didn’t have the energy to fight back. Hated feeling exposed and vulnerable. Fucking hated it.

  All while I prayed someone would come, anyone other than Zion.

  “Stop, he still needs to be alive until we get the go-ahead.”

  Agony radiated throughout me; it was hard to stay focused, awake. All I wanted to do was close my eyes and let sleep take me away. I coughed, and blood dripped from my mouth. I didn’t move to wipe it away though, not only because I didn’t want to get their attention again, but I wasn’t sure I could move at that point. I kept my eyes closed, feeling every throb, every ache as I stayed as still as I could.

  “Did you hear that?” Thing One said.