WINDY CITY: The complete series

by Stone, Measha

  “That’s what I was expecting you to say.” Ryder sighed.

  “We can put in a security system at your place for the time being. A trigger alarm that would alert you and the security company if someone enters the apartment.”

  “That might be a good idea. I don’t like her sitting in the apartment alone while I’m working. She has an interview tomorrow, then she’s spending the afternoon helping George. But Tuesday, she’s going to be all by herself all day,” Ryder said.

  “I can have someone out tomorrow night.”

  “Great. Perfect. Thanks, man.” Ryder scraped the last bit of salad from a dish and handed it over to Kendrick.

  “You said George is friends with her older brother. Where’s he in all this? If my sister were involved in this mess, I’m not sure I would be comfortable leaving her alone.”

  “Your sister wouldn’t let you anywhere near her if you were to barge in all commander style.” Ryder laughed. Kendrick’s sister had an independent streak that ran wild and deep.

  “True. Sharon would hate it.” Kendrick dropped the dishwashing pod into the compartment. “Still, I’d probably at least go check in on her.”

  “Well, Paul is a bit caught up in his own drama right now, so he can’t get away.”

  “Oh yeah? Anything bad?”

  “His wife, or ex-wife, is giving him trouble or something.” Ryder shrugged.

  “Jerri? What is she doing to Paul? Why can’t he get away? What’s going on?” Samantha interjected from the kitchen doorway. Ryder turned to see her holding the large salad bowl in her hands, her glare on him.

  “What is it? What aren’t you telling me?” she demanded, putting the bowl on the counter. Kelly stepped up behind her.

  “What’s wrong?” Kelly asked.

  “Nothing,” Kendrick answered. “Maybe we should give them a second,”

  “Ryder?” Samantha pressed. “Oh, I get it. I can’t keep things to myself, but you—you can keep whatever you want a secret, even if it’s about my brother.” She spun around to Kelly. “I’m sorry, but I think I’m going to head home. It was really fun to meet you, and I’d absolutely would love to meet up for lunch this week, but I need to go.”

  “Sam,” Ryder said, stepping toward her.

  Kelly’s gaze flickered to Ryder, then settled on Samantha. “Sure, hon, that’s fine. You have my number.”

  “Samantha,” Ryder said with more heat. He could and would explain everything, she just needed to give him a second.

  “It was nice to meet you as well, Kendrick.” Samantha gave him a little wave and hurried from the kitchen.

  Ryder’s jaw clenched. “Samantha, don’t you dare leave,” he called after her, then turned to Kendrick. “I’m sorry. I’m gonna take her home.”

  Kendrick nodded with a grin. “Of course. I get it.”

  “Why is she upset? What did you do?” Kelly set her fierce glare on Ryder.

  “Kelly, stay clear of it,” Kendrick warned.

  “She’s upset.”

  “Ryder will take care of her.”

  “He’s the one who upset her,” Kelly pointed out.

  “I better catch up to her. I’ll text you tomorrow about the security system,” Ryder waved and navigated around Kelly out of the kitchen.

  “Leave it be, Kelly,” Kendrick’s voice trailed behind Ryder. He caught sight of Samantha as soon as he opened the door.

  “Sammy! Not one step!” he called down the hall and started to jog.

  Chapter 25

  “You don’t get to be upset.” Samantha pushed past Ryder into his apartment. The ride from Kendrick’s place to Ryder’s had been stuffed with silence.

  “I told you not to leave, and you did,” Ryder shut the door and locked it.

  She tossed her purse on the side table. “Yeah, because you aren’t telling me something. I want to know what the hell is going on with Paul and Jerri!” She fisted her hands on her hips and settled a heated glare on him.

  He didn’t look the least bit affected.

  Instead, he stepped up to her, lifted her chin with one finger, and set his own stare on her.

  “Don’t raise your voice, little girl, unless you’d like me to raise my belt.” His voice, smooth and creamy, wasn’t loud, or forceful, but strong enough to break off the jagged edges of her annoyance.

  “Tell me then,” she said with less volume. She didn’t try to pull away from him; his proximity calmed her enough to keep her temper from flaring. When he didn’t touch her, when he stood away from her—that’s when she would start to feel lost, her control would slip.

  He released her chin and pressed his lips into a thin line.

  “George didn’t tell me exactly what was going on, but he did say Paul didn’t want you worrying about it.”

  She studied his eyes. “So, you don’t know.”

  He shook his head slightly. “No, not really. Only that she’s been giving him trouble.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” she demanded, draping her hands from her hips.

  “It wasn’t my information to tell. You brother didn’t want you to know yet because you’re already dealing with Randall. And George wanted the same thing.”

  “So, you can keep secrets to protect me, but I can’t do the same thing to keep you out of my drama?” she asked, more heated. “I may enjoy an afternoon of coloring and braiding my hair, but I’m not an actual child, Ryder. You should have told me.” She turned on her heel and marched into the living room.

  He caught up to her and grabbed her elbow, spinning her to face him.

  “It had nothing to do with that. I don’t even know exactly what’s going on. George told me Paul couldn’t come up here right now because of some trouble with his wife and asked that I not mention it. So, I didn’t mention it.”

  “How is that different?” She yanked her elbow from his grip.

  He retreated to the other side of the room, rubbing his hand along his jawline. “It may not seem drastically different to you, but it is. When you asked, I told you. I didn’t lie.”

  “But I shouldn’t have had to ask.” She threw her hands up.

  He tilted his head to the side. “You know everything I knew. Does it help?”

  “What?” she snapped.

  “What real information do you have right now that you didn’t this morning?” He crossed his arms over his chest, settling in for a long battle or wanting her to remember who the Daddy was in the house.

  “Nothing really. Other than Jerri is causing problems. I knew she’d moved out—”

  “So, how is this the same thing as not telling me your ex-boyfriend, who you helped put in jail, was on probation and looking to rattle your cage?” His dark brown eyebrow arched, and his jaw clenched.

  She rolled her eyes.

  “Okay, fine. Maybe it’s not exactly the same. But still, you didn’t tell me,” she said with a pointed finger in his direction.

  “I would have told you what I’m telling you now at Kendrick’s, but what did you do?” He tilted his head a little more, warming up.

  She blew out a breath.

  “Sammy, what did you do instead of giving me a second to explain?” He pushed.

  In truth, she hadn’t given him a chance to explain anything. She’d jumped to the conclusion that he was keeping secrets from her. And instead of letting him talk, she ran.

  “I left.” She moved her gaze down to his boots.

  “That’s right. And didn’t I tell you not to leave?”

  She folded her hands behind her back.

  “Yes.”

  “And?”

  “And I left anyway.” She popped her gaze back up to his. “But I wasn’t rude to Kelly or Kendrick. I was polite to them.”

  His lips twitched. Maybe he could see her side and decide she’d just overreacted a little.

  “Yes, you were polite to them. And I do appreciate that.” He dropped his hands to his sides, letting go of his authority stance. “But that doesn’t take away
your disobedience. Also, there is the little matter of you not telling me about your lactose sensitivity. Or how you’ve been eating it without concern for your health.”

  He would have to bring that up.

  “I know how much I can have before it becomes a real problem.”

  He sighed. “If it makes you sick, then you shouldn’t eat it at all.” He put his hand up when she started to speak again. “No, we aren’t discussing that right now. Right now,” he pulled his phone from his back pocket and handed it to her, “you’re going to call your brother, and we’re going to figure out what our next steps are.”

  She cradled his phone in her palm. “Okay,” she said.

  Dialing Paul, she put the phone up to her ear, watching him stare at her.

  “Speaker?” she asked.

  “Ask him if it’s okay first,” he said with a short nod.

  She rolled her eyes. Of course, she’d tell him, she wasn’t rude.

  “The eye rolling is going to stop now,” Ryder announced. She bit down on her lip. Not a strong habit of hers, but her annoyance of the afternoon had started to kick her brat into high gear.

  “Hello?” Paul answered his phone on the fourth ring.

  “Paul. Hey, it’s me.”

  “Sam? You okay? What’s this number?” He rushed the questions.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m calling from Ryder’s phone. He’s here. Mind if I put you on speaker?” she asked, keeping her eyes lined up with Ryder.

  “Sure, go ahead.”

  She clicked over to speaker and held the phone in her palm between her and Ryder.

  “Ryder. You’re George’s friend.”

  “Yeah. I volunteer at the Gallant Domination,” Ryder stated.

  “Sam’s been staying with you?”

  “Yeah, Paul, I already told you that,” she said into the speaker. If they wanted to size each other up, they could do it later. “I want to know what’s going on with Jerri. What’s happening?”

  “I told you, Sam, she moved out—”

  “Cut the bullshit. I want to know what trouble she’s causing you,” Samantha cut him off. Her stomach nosedived a few inches at the dark glare Ryder gave her at her choice of words.

  Paul sighed hard and let out a soft curse. “Shit, Sam, I didn’t want you to worry about that.”

  “Too bad. Tell me,” she demanded.

  “She filed a domestic abuse charge against me.”

  Dread filled Samantha. “Charge? Like she had you arrested?”

  “Yeah. I was out within a few hours, but there’s an investigation. I’m out on bond, so I can’t leave the state. I can’t get up there, and now I hear Randall petitioned to have his entire case overturned.”

  “Why would she have you arrested?” Samantha asked. Randall could wait.

  “I don’t know, Sam. She wasn’t happy, I knew that, but I didn’t think she was that unhappy.”

  “No specifics needed, but the last time you two…well, uh…played, were there marks? Bruises?” Samantha’s brother and his wife played pretty hard from what she did know. Living in a small community meant she knew the same people, and stories got around.

  “We hadn’t played in months. But yeah, the last time, there were a few bruises from the cane.”

  “Is that what she’s claiming?” Ryder asked.

  “Yeah. She must have taken pictures and held onto them. The DA showed them to me.”

  “What’s Anderson doing about this?” Sam asked.

  “He’s working on it. It’s going to be fine. We have a history of playing at the clubs, and that scene took place at the dungeon. It’s not going to go anywhere, but it has me tied here.”

  Ryder stepped closer. “Does she have any ties to Randall? Could she be helping him keep you down there?”

  Sam’s gut twisted. Jerri wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t. Samantha hadn’t been overly friendly with her, hadn’t exactly been thrilled at her brother’s choice to marry her, but she wasn’t like that.

  But Samantha wouldn’t have thought she’d file charges against Paul after a play session.

  “At this point, I can’t say. I thought I knew her, but now…”

  Sam frowned. Her brother was hurting.

  “Paul, maybe I should come home.”

  Ryder visibly stiffened.

  “No, Sam.” Paul’s voice hardened. “Absolutely not. I’m fine down here. As soon as this gets cleared up, I’m coming up for a visit.”

  “Maybe I could talk to her.”

  “No.” Ryder shook his head.

  “Yeah, Sam, don’t. It could make it worse. Just let it play its course. I have things under control here. But, what about up there—what’s going on there?”

  “I have a second interview at the Harold Washington tomorrow,” she responded. Leaving Paul alone to fight this battle didn’t feel right, but she knew that tone. Discussion was done.

  “Good. And apartment hunting?” he asked.

  Sam’s gaze dropped away from Ryder.

  “Uh, I haven’t started yet. As soon as I accept an offer, I will. But without income, I don’t see how anyone would give me a place,” she explained.

  “I guess that makes sense.” Paul paused. “Ryder, thanks for letting her crash at your place.”

  “Not a problem,” Ryder said, a hint of darkness lingering behind the words. “As long as she needs,” he said with finality.

  “Thanks. Anderson is supposed to get back to me tomorrow about Randall’s appeal. As soon as I know anything, I’ll call.”

  “Sounds good.” Ryder took the phone from her hand. “If anything changes on this end, we’ll let you know.”

  “Thanks, man,” Paul said. “Sam, text me when you’re done with your interview and let me know how it went.”

  “I will. Are you sure you don’t want me to come home for a few days?”

  “No, you stay in Chicago. Randall is still here, stuck just like me. If you come down here, he could see it as you trying to stop his appeal.”

  “Do we want to stop it?” she asked, lifting her gaze back to Ryder.

  “The reasons you came forward in the first place haven’t changed. He’s bad news, and it was the right thing to do.”

  “So I should come down and try to help keep the appeal from going through.”

  “I don’t know…that’s really you’re call, Sam. It looks like he’s greasing the right palms, it might put you in danger for nothing.” A pause. “I want you safe more than I want him behind bars.”

  “If she lets it go through, doesn’t testify again or give a statement, you think he’ll leave her be?” Ryder asked, his brow wrinkled.

  “I do. But it’s up to Sam. Whatever her call is, I’ll stand with her.”

  “We agree on that,” Ryder said, though worry still creased his brow.

  “I’ll think about it later,” Samantha piped in. “Let me just get through the interview tomorrow. Besides, Anderson may not need me at all.”

  “True…I’m gonna let you go. I have to get ready for work. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  “Sure.” She sank into the couch as Ryder ended the call.

  Silence filled the room.

  “You okay?” Ryder perched himself on the coffee table in front of her. His warm hands cupped her knees.

  “Jerri wouldn’t have done this for no reason,” she said firmly. “I mean, she’s always been selfish and self-centered, but not like this. She wouldn’t do this to him for no reason.”

  “Well, some people take breakups hard. She could just be acting out.”

  “Trying to send him to jail? Having him arrested?” She shook her head. “No, there’s more to it than that. He could be blackballed at the dungeon he belongs to. He mentioned she was distant before, but they weren’t fighting. It’s not like they hate each other.”

  Ryder lifted a shoulder. “Well, it’s not going to stick. Especially if those marks were made at the dungeon. He’ll have witnesses that she consented…I’m sure it won’t ge
t anywhere.”

  “Yeah.” She agreed with him, but the sinking sensation in her stomach wouldn’t shake. There was more there, but what?

  “Now.” He clapped his hands and rubbed them together briskly, drawing her attention to him. “About my little girl’s punishment for disobeying her Daddy.”

  Chapter 26

  Sammy’s eyes went wide.

  “You didn’t think we were done discussing that, did you?” He leaned back on the coffee table.

  “I thought you were keeping secrets.” She went back to the old defense.

  “We just went over that, didn’t we?” he asked, running his hands up her thighs, beneath the skirt of her dress.

  “Yes, Daddy.” A pout pushed the words from her lips.

  “Now, since you couldn’t wait for my explanation, and you had to hurry off, I think we should work on that.” He got to his feet. “You waiting.”

  She tilted her head back, a bright blush already forming on her cheeks. Too adorable for his own good.

  “Come on, Sammy. Daddy’s going to teach you a new lesson.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her up from the couch, then led her to his bedroom.

  “You’re not going to make me use the pacifier again, are you?” she asked, only a slight ribbon of concern in her voice.

  “No, not this time.” He brought her to the corner of the room. “This time, you’re learning to wait and do as your told. Go ahead and take off your clothes. You don’t need them for this.” He let go of her hand.

  “Can’t you just spank me?” She offered with a flirtatious smile.

  He huffed. “I could…but I doubt you’d learn this lesson as effectively.” He pointed to her dress. “Undress, Sammy. Don’t make me repeat myself.”

  She scrunched up her lips in a familiar pout, but yanked the material over her head and tossed it on the bed. Not needing any more instruction, she reached behind her and unhooked her bra, letting her breasts bounce free of the restrictive cups. Panties were next, rolled slowly over her hips and down to her ankles before she kicked them away.

  “Good. Now put your nose in this corner with your hands folded on top of your head. I need to get a few things. I want you to wait for me right here.” He moved out of the way and gestured for her to step forward.