by Karen Renee
She smiled at me and shook her head. “You knew him before he lost his sister and before he found Riot. I won’t ever have that, but I’m certainly not holding that against you. It’s just the way life happens.”
Mallory stood up and declared, “Ok, ladies. Let’s lighten things up around here. Who needs a refill?”
I shook my head and said, “Not me. I need to leave soon, and I haven’t eaten since lunch.”
I felt warm breath on my ear before I heard Vamp say, “You can have another. I’m more than happy to be your designated driver, baby.”
Turning my head, I found Vamp’s face much closer to me than I expected. I jolted just a tad and Vamp backed up a little, but his expression darkened.
“I’m gonna switch to water, and drive myself home thanks.”
“Don’t know why, babe. We’re both goin’ to the same place anyway.”
My head cocked slightly at his statement, “Thought I had a prospect watching me tonight?”
“Nobody’s gonna watch you at night but me. Not until this shit is settled.”
I did not think so. It was one thing for Vamp to infiltrate his way into things last night, but surely someone else could pull the ‘babysitting Frankie’ card tonight. Even though we had an audience, I let my attitude fly.
“Not tonight you aren’t. Last night was a one-off type of thing. Somebody else can be assigned to me. Not you, mister.”
A sly grin lit up Vamp’s face. “So sorry, Frankie. I don’t hand out the assignments. My president does. Ain’t up to me. I’ve got the night-shift where you’re concerned from here on out.”
I pursed my lips at him, slid off my barstool, and stomped into the living room to find Henry. I heard Vamp chuckling behind me and Natasha called after me, “Give ‘em hell, girl!”
In the living room, I stood in front of the flat-screen television, my hands on my hips, in order to command all of Henry’s attention. Vamp followed me, but stopped short of entering the living room, leaning his shoulder against the door jamb. When I had Henry’s eyes, I said, “Listen, Henry, you gotta help me out here. Put someone else on my house tonight, and have Vamp stand down.”
Henry sat back on the couch and folded his arms across his broad chest. I suddenly realized he hadn’t just filled out since I saw him last. He had seriously filled out. His biceps were rounded perfection, and his forearms were thick and had bulging veins running through them. He looked at me with an arched eyebrow and a thin set to his lips. I knew he was trying to call up some patience with me.
After a long pause, he said, “Have I walked into your place of business and told you who should handle loans or which underwriter should review an application?”
“No, but—”
With a head-shake, he continued, “No ‘buts’, Lo. You don’t get to tell me how to run my club. Decision was made last night, and it was officially voted on this morning during church. That’s all the club business you’re gonna hear about from me, and only because it directly impacts you. Vamp’s my brother, and I know how capable he is of carrying out whatever needs to be done. That fuckin’ asshole shows again, it’s a helluva lot better he see Vamp. If someone else has to protect your ass, it’ll be me. Not only will you not like that, but if I get a lock on that fucker, he ain’t gonna to be around long.”
I was silent as I contemplated that having Henry protect me would be so much better than having Vamp around again, but I didn’t want to take him away from Jackie, especially since it seemed she and I might be able to develop a decent friendship. The problem with being quiet for too long was that people often misinterpreted things.
Henry misinterpreted my silence and continued, “You don’t want me to meet this Stillman fucker. When I say ‘he won’t be around long’, I mean ‘he won’t be around‒at all’.”
That got my mouth going. “What? No, Henry, you can’t kill this guy! That’s insane.”
I could feel anger in the room, and it was coming from both Vamp and Henry. Their anger was frightening, but I realized the anger from Henry was nothing compared to Vamp’s. Mainly that was because Vamp had gone quiet, which I knew from past experience was an indicator of his anger being in the extreme red-zone. Vamp said in a hushed voice, “What is insane is that the motherfucker thought it was all right to punch a woman. What’s also insane is that you think it’s ok for him to still walk the earth after what he did to you.”
Henry gave me a simultaneous eyebrow-lift and chin-lift, “See? That quiet rage right there. That’s what makes Vamp the perfect brother to keep an eye on your ass at night. Now that I know the woman we’re protecting is basically my long-lost little sister, or as close to one as I’m ever going to have again, you can bet your ass he’s my go-to man for your safety.”
CHAPTER 6
Tucker was waiting at my doorstep when Vamp pulled my SUV into my drive. Tucker was like Vamp in that he had an early on-set receding hairline, but Tucker was not committed to going one-hundred-percent bald. His hairline, though, was the only thing about Tucker that was receding. Every other aspect to him was escalated, from his nose to his toes and every area in between; he was a big man. His presence was strong and intimidating, even when he was just milling about in my front yard, texting on his phone.
Vamp put my vehicle in park, and asked, “You know this behemoth?”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s Tucker, Reggie’s main squeeze, and he’s not a behemoth.”
Vamp turned his head fully to me. “Babe, he makes Roll look like a dwarf, and that is saying something.”
I wiggled my nose slowly as I thought about it, then said, “I don’t think so. I’d say they’re evenly matched, size-wise.”
“Whatever,” he muttered as he unfolded out of my vehicle.
I introduced the two men and when I unlocked my door, Vamp told us to wait while he cleared the house to make sure Stillman wasn’t lying in wait. With the all-clear from Vamp, the three of us moved to my kitchen, and I offered them drinks and started my oven to pre-heat. Jackie had put out some finger-food before we left, but it hadn't been enough for me and I was going to heat up a frozen pizza. Vamp came over to say something to me, but his phone buzzed. He checked the display, and then said, “Sorry, but I’m gonna have to take this. I’ll be right outside the front door.”
We heard the front door click, and Tucker asked, “So, that’s Vamp, hunh? No wonder you get all dreamy-looking when you talk about him. Few more inches in height and girth, he’d be my hetero doppelganger.”
I chuckled, but then realized Tucker being here was a blessing from Heaven. I grabbed his hand and bee-lined to my bedroom.
“You gotta help me get into my pajamas. I can’t deal with Vamp and his pushy, ‘I’m gonna help you,’ bullshit. I really should only need help with the bra, but either way, you’ll be fast and then I’ll just have to get ready for bed.”
Vamp came back into the kitchen just after I had set the pizza into the pre-heated oven. He gave me a sidelong glance as he noticed my change in wardrobe. He looked at Tucker, and then he grinned.
“So, it’s really just ‒me‒ you won’t take help from, I see.”
Tucker laughed. “Oh, no, sir. She wasn’t going to let Reggie or me help her Saturday or Sunday when we were here. Lucky for us, we’re both far more stubborn than Frankie.”
Great. It looked like Tucker was warming to Vamp and that I wasn’t going to get much help from him, besides getting into my pajamas. I pulled out half-a-bottle of chardonnay from my fridge and pointed it at Tucker, he shook his head ‘No’. Out of courtesy I glanced at Vamp and he gave me a look that not only said ‘No thanks,’ but also ‘You can’t be serious.’ I set the wine aside in order to grab two Blue Moon beers from my fridge and put them on the counter next to each man.
While pouring a hefty glass of wine, I asked, “So, Tucker, what brings you by tonight?”
Tucker had retrieved my bottle opener from a drawer, and once he opened his beer he said, “Just thought I’d drop by. R
eggie mentioned that Stillman made an appearance here last night, and I wanted to make sure he didn’t think to do that tonight. I didn’t know you’d have Vamp here with you again.”
Vamp had taken the bottle opener from where Tucker laid it down, and I said, “Well, thanks, hon. I don’t want to keep you from Reggie, though.”
Tucker shook his head at me. “Puh-leeze. He’s got some agency-wide meeting tonight. He’s not likely to get home ‘til ten, if that. Besides, I wanted to hear about this Emily chick and the friend who saw you being attacked.”
Vamp suddenly started coughing. When he was in better control, he asked, “Emily? As in, the sister-in-law? And what the fuck is this about a witness?”
After a fortifying sip of my chardonnay, I laid it out for both men about my visitor to headquarters and her desire for me to accompany her to tell her sister about Stillman.
“Not happenin’,” Vamp decreed.
The fact of the matter was that I hadn't been planning to meet with the two sisters, but having someone tell me it was “not happenin’” made me want to change my plans. Call me a contrarian, but really, I did not like being dictated to about what I could or could not do. I had been doing my own thing for a long time now.
I leveled my gaze at Vamp, “I appreciate you taking time out of your life and your schedule to watch over me. It’s very kind of you. I will point out though, that I have been taking care of myself—”
Vamp stepped toward me, “You’re not taking that meet.”
“I completely agree,” Tucker added. Men!
After a deep breath, I continued, “I have said nothing about the meeting. As I was saying, I have been taking care of myself for quite a while now. I really don’t want to wade into the fray on this situation, but you need to recognize that telling me it’s not happening or that I’m not going to meet them, is not the way to help me out, or prevent me from meeting with these women.”
Vamp’s lips were pressed together in a hard line of restrained anger. I was getting uncomfortable with the conversation and I suspected Tucker was also when he gently provided his level-headed response. “Honey, the bottom line here is that it’s up to the sister and her friend to make the wife see the light. You are not part of that problem anymore. And just to say, it’s a tacky-ass move for that chick to ask you to be there with the wife and rehash what happened to you.”
“Cunt move,” Vamp mumbled.
Tucker shrugged at him. “If you have to be vulgar about it, yes, it definitely is that. Now, have we convinced you that you don’t need to meet with these women?”
Tucker did convince me, but before I could say anything, Vamp said, “She ain’t takin’ the meet, whether she’s been convinced or not.”
I glared at Vamp, pulled my good hand through my hair, and then shouted, “You do not tell me what to do!”
He moved another step closer to me and said, “I do if it protects you.”
“I don’t need protection from three women, Vamp!”
He narrowed his eyes at me, “I’m not talkin’ about physical protection here, Rainey.”
Well. That was actually somewhat nice of him. Had he led with that information, I might have conceded the point without any drama, but I wasn’t about to let him have the last word on it. I had my dukes up and I intended to get in the last verbal punch, as it were.
“There are things you absolutely cannot protect me from, and for that matter you don’t get to protect me from this. It’s my decision, and if I decide that I need to take my lumps for getting involved with another fuckin’ cheater, then that’ll be my decision to make.”
Vamp turned his head away from me and hissed, “Fuck.”
I had nearly forgotten that Tucker was there until he said, “On that note, I’m gonna split. Frankie, you need me to keep an eye out, just call me, yeah?”
I nodded, and then Tucker said, “I can see myself out, but just have to say I was right. Fireworks.” As he said the word ‘fireworks’, he lifted his fists and opened them wide and wiggled his fingers in a pantomime of actual fireworks. It was cute-ish, but definitely annoying, because it was accurate.
I blew out a sigh and Vamp said, “There are no lumps you have to take because you hooked up with a cheating asshole.”
I finished my wine, shook my head at him, and then said, “I’m not so sure you’re in a position to tell me that. Like I said, thanks for keeping me physically safe, but you can’t keep other shit from getting to me.”
I went to the sink and rinsed my glass. I dried my hand on a kitchen towel, and when I turned around to leave the kitchen, Vamp was in my space. I put my left hand to his chest and tried to side-step left to evade him, but his left arm curled around my waist and he pulled me to him. He tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear and watched his fingers as they slid around the shell of my ear.
His eyes came back to mine. “I’m going to protect you physically, psychologically, any way I need to protect you.”
“Why?” I whispered.
His gaze gentled, “Why do you think? Other than Riot, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I was a twenty-something dumbass when I shoved you out of my life. I told Mallory about you two months ago, and not three weeks later I find you at Jared’s. I thought my luck was changing, but then I heard that woman say your engagement ring was ready, and my first thought was ‘Fuck me, I’m outta here.’ Then I thought, ‘No, I gotta congratulate her and move on.’ I can’t tell you how fuckin’ relieved I was to find out you were not engaged. I don’t normally believe in Karma or divine intervention or that other bullshit, but I want a second chance, Rainey.”
Oh, no. A snowball would soar through the depths of hell before that ever happened. I didn’t want any more cheaters in my life, and I knew full well that Vamp was a mammoth cheat. Besides, a second chance for a cheater meant I might as well put my heart in a blender for pulverization. After all, as the saying goes, “Do me wrong once, shame on you…do me wrong twice, shame on me.” Being cheated upon was shameful enough in and of itself, I didn’t need to invite more shame into my life.
“Well, we all want things, but often, we don’t get what we want. Afraid you’re in that boat, so I suggest you figure out something else,” I said, ducking my head at the end so I wouldn’t have to suffer Vamp’s blue gaze any longer.
He tipped my chin up, “I hear what you just said, but let me say this much and I’ll drop it. For now. Any decent man, the first woman he hurts, he actually learns something from that infraction. I never forgot the look on your face when you opened that door, let alone when you were asked to participate. I’m sorry, I never ever want to see that look on your face again and I sure as hell don’t intend to be the dickhead who puts that look on your face. I hurt you, but believe it or not, I learned that I never want to do that again. It’s a lesson I learned too many years too late, but you gotta stop wallowing in your past and your pain. You’re gonna give me a chance, and it’s gonna be with a relatively-clean slate. Now, I say ‘relatively’ because I don’t realistically expect you to forget, but I do expect you to forgive. Can you do that?”
God! If I had felt schizophrenic about Vamp being here last night, that revelation made me feel like I had a certifiable case of multiple personality disorder. I wanted to say, ‘Sure, I can try to do that,’ but then the rational part of me shut that down. He wanted a second chance and that excited me, but there was no way I was going to set myself up for failure again. I suppose I should try to forgive him, even if I didn’t give him another chance. My resentment was getting a little out of hand, I suspected.
I gently pulled my chin out of his grip, “I’ll try to forgive you. Hate to say it, but the second chance is a pipe-dream on your part.”
*** ***
I woke up feeling alarmed. It was slightly brighter in my bedroom than it normally would be, and I had to wonder if I had set my alarm clock last night. Except I knew that I had, mainly because I had to turn the thing fully upside-down in order t
o flip the switch. I was also alarmed because I felt a warm, weighty arm on my waist. The fingers at the end of that arm were nestled between the waist band of my pajama shorts and my camisole. Those fingers were tracing lazy patterns on the skin of my belly and making my insides flutter. I was about to shiver, but in an effort to prevent it, I stiffened my entire body. Vamp’s fingers stopped and I heard the sheets behind me rustle.
“You gotta admit, baby, that is a much better way to wake up than the painful strains of Psycho from your alarm clock,” he whispered into my hair.
Waking up that way reminded me of old times, and part of me wanted to enjoy it, but I knew it would only lead to heartache. I lightly batted his hand away from my belly, and said, “I wouldn’t say that. The only reason I’m awake is because it’s lighter in here than it ought to be, which means I’m probably running late.”
Before Vamp could respond, the sound of crashing waves filled the room and it sounded like it was coming from his phone. I moved to my back as he turned away from me to grab his phone. The screen lit up as he silenced the alarm and then he aimed it my way. The display showed the time was five-twenty-nine.
I turned on my bedside light and Vamp was smirking at me. “Actually a minute early. Now, tell me that isn’t a far better way to wake up.”
I wasn’t about to concede that to him, and turned it around on him even though I didn’t want to do it. “So, you turned off my alarm, without letting me know?”
Shaking his head at me, Vamp said, “Still so stubborn. Yep. Didn’t let you know that I disabled your alarm. I also didn’t tell you that Patch and I upgraded your hot water heater yesterday afternoon. So, get a move on, woman. You use all the hot water again, you’ll pay.”
