Jardin’s Gamble

by Roberts, Laylah

  “While I’m grilling these steaks, how about you take a dip?”

  “Um, I don’t have swimsuit.”

  “I can find you a T-shirt and shorts. Gonna be a bit big, though.”

  He could say that again. He was huge.

  “I’ll just dip my feet in.”

  “Sure?”

  She nodded. Stripping wouldn’t be wise anyway. Not with the fading bruises she was still trying to hide.

  “Want a drink?”

  “Beer if you have it.”

  “You got it, rocket.”

  Settling by the edge of the pool, she took off the flip-flops he’d grabbed from the store for her and dipped her bare feet in. She groaned.

  “Feel good?” he called out from the porch where he was lighting up the grill. The backyard wasn’t huge but it had a good-sized porch and a small grassy area that was well taken care of.

  “Amazing. The boys would love this.”

  “Bring them over anytime.”

  “You might want to meet them first before you say that. They can be a handful.” She leaned her head back, letting the sun bathe her. Summer heat could be a killer, but she loved that time of night, just before darkness fell. When everything felt like it was slowing down. When she could just sit and be, without any stresses or fear.

  She really had no business being there. She couldn’t afford to get involved with anyone. Not when everything was such a mess. But Carrick was so sweet. So caring. So fucking handsome it made her teeth ache.

  “How old are they?”

  She started, opening her eyes to realize he’d walked closer and was standing over her. He handed her a cold beer and she took it with a grateful smile.

  “Oh, uh, Ace is seven and Keir is nine. They’re super smart. But they’re also hellions. Full of energy.”

  “And you look after them a lot?” It was a simple question; one anyone would have asked. But she had a feeling Carrick saw more than most.

  “Yeah, my mom died several years ago, when Ace was just a baby. I’ve been looking after them ever since.”

  “Your dad?”

  “Is useless.”

  “You must have been just a kid yourself,” he guessed.

  “I was nineteen.”

  “Most nineteen-year-olds wouldn’t want to look after two kids.”

  “It wasn’t Ace and Keir’s fault. They lost their mom too. They had no one but me to look after them.”

  He nodded. “Bring them over. Anytime. I mean it.”

  And she knew he did. Carrick was something special. The sort of man she’d always hoped to meet but had never dared to dream of. And yet here he was in flesh and blood. So why was she also thinking of another man with cold, caramel-colored eyes and a sharp tongue?

  Because you’re screwed up, that’s why. You can like two men. But you can’t have them both.

  Dinner was nice. Conversation flowed easily. She’d laughed, she’d eaten good food, and she wished she could do it every night. But all too soon, it seemed, it was over. He drove her back to the garage to pick up her car, crowding her up against the side as she went to say goodbye.

  His hands clasped her cheeks, raising her face up so he could kiss her. And, boy, what a kiss. He devoured her, stole her every breath, her every thought until she was slumped against him, grateful for the support of the car behind her.

  “Damn, you’re beautiful.”

  She huffed out a breath, about to tell him how wrong he was but then she noticed the firm glint in his eyes. Okay, so he didn’t like it when she spoke the truth about herself. She’d need to learn to keep her mouth shut if she wanted to avoid that spanking.

  Then again, she was pretty certain she didn’t want to avoid that spanking. She was no innocent, but she hadn’t been with a lot of guys; she didn’t have much time for that. But there had been a few who’d drifted in and out of her life. While she’d never been spanked by a lover before, she’d been with guys who liked to take control in the bedroom. It was pretty hot.

  She’d bet with Carrick it would be even hotter.

  “Drive home carefully. I don’t like that I’m not taking you home and seeing you safely inside, so make sure you text me when you get there, or you’ll earn yourself that spanking I’ve been promising. I’ll see you in the morning?”

  She cleared her throat. She’d never had anyone tell her to text when she got home. It had been a long time since anyone had cared she was safe. The boys loved her, but they weren’t old enough to worry about her like that. It was her job to worry about them.

  She was kind of in a daze, from the epic kiss and his words, as he opened her door and she climbed in. She started the car.

  “Wow, it’s never started so easily before.” It sounded like a whole new car.

  “I’m guessing it’s been a while since any work was done on it,” he commented without judgement. She figured what old Joe had done didn’t really count.

  “Thank you for dinner and for fixing my car.”

  “Thank you for letting me bribe you into having a date with me.”

  “I feel like it should have been me cooking for you.”

  “Next time,” he told her warmly.

  So, there was going to be a next time. Thank God.

  “Good night, Carrick.”

  “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

  “Oh.” She thought they’d already had their goodnight kiss. But she leaned up to brush her lips against his, which wouldn’t have been possible if he wasn’t bent down already.

  He cleared his throat. “As nice as that was, rocket. I was talking about your seatbelt.”

  “Oh right. Yep.” She blushed. Whoops. Messed that up. Idiot.

  She buckled her seatbelt. It wasn’t something she usually bothered with. Then he surprised her by swooping down, wrapping his hand around the back of her head and taking her lips with his.

  “And that’s how you give a goodnight kiss. See you tomorrow.”

  Her heart was still racing when she got home. She drove up the small, potholed driveway to park outside the dilapidated garage. She hadn’t parked inside it in years, she didn’t trust it to still be up in the morning.

  Climbing out of the car, she moved toward the house still wearing her flip-flops and searching through her handbag for her keys. She should have left a damn light on. She hated coming home in the dark.

  Walking inside, she immediately felt a dark blanket of despair slide over her. Without the boys there, the place was cold and lonely. There was no ignoring how awful it was. She sighed and moved into her bedroom, sitting on the side of the bed.

  At least she’d had a good night. A great night. And her car was fixed. Things could be worse.

  Her phone started to ring and she smiled, grabbing her bag and searching through it. He’d been too impatient to wait for her to text him, huh?

  Her smile fell as she saw the name on her phone.

  “Danny? What’s going on?”

  Danny was an old friend from school who worked at a bar down in the Bywater district.

  “Hey, Thea, hate to tell you this but your dad’s here. I cut him off and he’s fallen asleep against the bar. The boss isn’t happy, but I’ve managed to stop him from calling the cops if you’ll come get him right away.”

  Part of her wanted to tell him to call the police. At least then she could be sure he wouldn’t be home tonight. Her wrist ached. It was psychological rather than physical. The bruises only hurt if she banged them. But the memory was still raw and hurting.

  She’d thought about telling Carrick after he’d said that stuff about letting him know if she had a paper cut. But she knew he didn’t want to hear all about her darkest shit. They’d just met. Just had their first date. He didn’t want all her baggage. She didn’t want it.

  “Thanks for calling me. I’ll come get him.”

  “Sorry, Thea.”

  Ending the call, she dragged herself back out the door. Twenty minutes later, she made her way into the dim bar.
The smell of body odor, stale beer, and cigarette smoke assaulted her, turning her stomach. It was a smell she was all too familiar with. That stench was something she associated with her father.

  There had been so many bars like this where she’d gone to find him and drag him out. Back when she’d actually cared. When she’d figured he might be worth saving.

  She no longer thought that.

  So, what are you doing here?

  That was a good question. One she had no answer to. Maybe she was simply a masochist. After all, the thought of Carrick spanking her turned her on.

  Yeah, but Carrick would never harm her. Wouldn’t make her feel powerless and small. That she was so certain a man she’d known a week wouldn’t harm her and yet a man who was supposed to love and care for her would . . . well, that said everything, didn’t it?

  Yet, there she was.

  There was still a tiny part of her, deep inside, a little girl crying for her daddy to protect her. Soon, that little girl would completely disappear. And she wondered if that time wasn’t very, very close.

  “Thea!” Danny waved over at her, his face filled with worry. “Shit! I’m glad I caught you. I tried calling you again.”

  “You did?” She pulled out her phone and saw it was dead. Shit. And she hadn’t texted Carrick. Guilt filled her but she couldn’t do anything about that right now. “Where is he?”

  Danny grasped her wrist and started dragging her through the surprisingly large crowd of people. She flinched and tried to pull her poor, bruised wrist free, but he tightened his hold until they were walking through a door and out into the employees only area.

  “Ouch! What are you doing?”

  He finally let go of her wrist and she cradled it against her chest. Shock filled his eyes. “Fuck! Did I hurt you? I didn’t mean to. I just needed to talk to you before they found you.”

  “I hurt my hand the other day. It’s fine.” She showed him the bandage and he didn’t say anything about the fact he’d grabbed her wrist not her hand. Even though it throbbed something wicked, she forced herself to lower her hand to her side.

  She knew all about not showing weakness.

  “What’s going on? What do you mean you needed to talk to me before they found me?” she asked.

  “About ten minutes ago, some nasty looking guys grabbed your dad. My boss was riding my ass about him, and I was explaining you were on your way when they came in and dragged him out the back.”

  “What the hell? Where is he now?” Fear thrummed through her. “You just let them take him?”

  Who had him? Were they going to hurt him? Shit.

  “I tried, but my boss held me back. Thea, he recognized one of them. He’s an enforcer for Derrick Silvers.”

  She froze. Shit. Fuck. Derrick Silvers? There were few people in New Orleans who didn’t know who Derrick Silvers was. He was bad news. He was slime. A crime lord who had his fingers in almost every underground deal going. Drugs, gambling, and prostitution. He’d been arrested several times but usually evidence went missing.

  Or witnesses did.

  “Why . . . why would Silvers’ guys grab my dad?” He was a small fry. He couldn’t be mixed up with Silvers, right?

  “I don’t know, Thea. But whatever he wants with him, it can’t be good. And you need to stay the hell out of it, understand?”

  Danny laid a hand on her shoulder. But unlike when Carrick or Jardin touched her, it felt wrong. She had to work hard not to shove it off. She knew he was trying to help her. He was one of the few people who had attempted to over the years. And she was grateful to him. Just not so grateful she welcomed his touch.

  “What if they’re hurting him?”

  “No offense, Thea. But so what? The guy’s a drunk and a bully. How often did you come to school with bruises?”

  Fuck. Shit. “I’m clumsy.”

  “You’re not that clumsy. And you might have fooled the teachers, but you didn’t fool those of us that cared. Stay away, Thea. You’re better off without him in your life. If he’s involved with Silvers, you need to keep yourself safe. You need to keep your brothers safe.”

  Fuck. He was right. She couldn’t risk Ace and Keir to save her father. He’d never do the same in return.

  “You’re right. I know you’re right.” She raised a shaking hand and wiped it over her face then gave him a tired smile. “Thanks, Danny.”

  “You know it, babe. Come on, I’ll walk you out to your car.”

  “Danny!” a deep voice barked. She glanced over to find a bald, overweight man glaring at them. “Go check the kegs. The Heineken tap has stopped working.”

  “I’ll do it in a minute,” Danny called back.

  “You’ll do it now. You’re on my dime, not your girlfriend’s.”

  Danny gave her an apologetic look. “I’m so sorry—”

  “It’s okay. I’m not your responsibility, and you’ve done more than enough for me.”

  “Just promise you’ll stay out of Silvers’ way.”

  “I will. I promise. I’m not going anywhere near that asshole.” She moved to the door and turned to wave at Danny before stepping through. She pushed her way through the crowd, suffering some asshole groping her ass, and someone else slapping it. Jesus, why did these dickheads think they had the right to touch her?

  She finally reached the door and had just walked outside when someone moved up beside her, grabbing her bicep with a hard grip. Great, now she was going to have more bruises to add to those on her wrist and neck. Something cold and hard pressed to her side and she glanced down in shock.

  “Miss Garrison?”

  “Are you holding a gun on me? Is that real?”

  “Yes. It’s real. Thea Garrison?”

  “I don’t know, shouldn’t you make sure you get the right person before you hold them at gunpoint?”

  “Stop being a smart-ass. I know you’re Thea Garrison.”

  “Then why did you keep asking me when you already knew?”

  All right, her smart mouth was going to get her into trouble. It was a reflex when she was nervous or upset. But it wasn’t going to serve her well in this situation.

  “Come on, Mr. Silvers wants to talk to you.”

  Shit. Fuck.

  “Well, I’m kind of busy right now. Maybe he’d like to make another time we could meet and talk?”

  He dug his gun into her side. The door opened behind them and he stepped aside as a drunk couple appeared. The woman already had her hand down the front of the man’s jeans.

  “Say a word and I’ll shoot and then where will those brothers of yours be?”

  Terror flooded her. Stealing her mind. Her breath. Her thoughts.

  “What? Nothing smart-ass to say now? Didn’t think so.” He kept a tight hold on her arm as he steered her to the parking lot where a dark car sat. He opened the back door of the car. She glanced around but other than that couple who were currently fucking against the wall of the bar there was no one else around.

  No one was saving her.

  Why hadn’t she told anyone where she was going? Why hadn’t she just taken a minute to send a text to Carrick?

  Well, likely because he would have made you wait for him and you didn’t want him to see your secret shame.

  But that seemed inconsequential now when she was faced with her own demise. What would happen to the boys if she died? They’d be put into foster care. Would they be split up?

  Fear flooded her. So sharp and consuming she wondered how she managed to keep moving, breathing.

  “Get in the car, bitch and don’t give me any more trouble.” This guy’s breath stank of garlic and onions and it made her stomach roll over. “The boss don’t like to be kept waiting. He told me to bring you in alive, but he won’t much care what state you’re in.”

  With no other choice, she slid into the back of the car. The man in the front seat didn’t bother to turn around. As soon as the goon with the gun slid in, the car took off.

  She didn’t bother wit
h her seat belt, wasn’t much point.

  “Hand over your bag.”

  She wanted to hold onto it. To open the door and throw herself out. Except she was pretty sure that would end badly for her. So, instead she handed over her bag. He started pawing through it. He grabbed her phone, checking it over then pulled out her wallet, opening it up and tipping it upside down. It only had a bank card, her ID and a few coins in it.

  “Appreciate it if you left my tampons alone,” she told him. “I’m going to need them soon.”

  “Shut up, bitch.”

  Yeah, that was probably good advice to follow.

  After he’d gone through her bag, he threw it on the floor of the car. She reached for it but he pushed her back.

  “You’ll get it back if the boss says it’s all right. Not before. Now sit the fuck still before I start to lose my patience.”

  Asshole.

  They drove for another ten minutes before pulling up outside a corrugated iron fence. Where were they? The driver lowered his window and waved his hand at someone. Then they were driving slowly forward.

  There wasn’t much light other than the car’s headlights, but it was enough to show the stacked piles of flattened cars.

  A junk yard.

  Oh, she didn’t need to be a genius to know it wasn’t good. Not good at all.

  “What are we doing here?” she asked as the car came to a stop.

  The jerk next to her let out a cackling laugh that raised the hairs on her arms. “Like I told you, bitch. We got a meeting with the boss. Word of advice, he don’t like it when you talk back to him.”

  Oh, God. She was done for.

  9

  The asshole with a gun dragged her toward the shipping container in front of them. It looked like it had been converted into an office because they stopped in front of a proper door. She didn’t know what happened to the driver, he must have stayed with the car. Hopefully, he was hunting down her tampons for her.

  Jesus, Thea, you need to stop worrying about tampons. You have bigger concerns here.

  Besides, if this got any freaking scarier it wasn’t tampons she was going to need but a Depend, because she was close to peeing herself. The door opened and the asshole shoved her forward. She tripped over the threshold in the doorway and fell onto her hands and knees.