by Susan Stoker
The waitress then placed the two bottles of liquor down, one in front of each of the men.
“Tequila Tapatio. Best shit we’ve got. Enjoy.”
Without a word, the Hispanic man opened the bottle in front of him—the safety seal crinkling loudly in the quiet bar—and quickly poured a generous shot into each of the glasses on the table, not caring when it overflowed and spilled onto the carved-up wooden tabletop. He picked up his glass, sloshing it over his hand in the process, and turned to Alexis. “To a pretty puta I can’t wait to get to know better.”
Alexis smiled gamely, pretending not to know he’d just called her a bitch, and picked up her own glass. Fucking shit. She’d never been a big drinker, much preferring the sweet mixed cocktails she’d mentioned earlier. She glanced at her watch. It was only ten minutes after eleven. Damn. She needed to stay as long as possible to get as much information about the gang as she could, but she was going to be completely shitfaced in no time if the men kept pouring the shots as fast as they were.
No matter how drunk she got, she knew without a doubt that Blake would take care of her. He’d make sure she got home safely. All she had to do was play her part until she could safely escape. And it looked like she’d be making that exit sooner than she’d planned if things continued as they were.
Bringing her glass up, Alexis said, “Running into Kelly at the store was the best thing that’s happened to me lately.”
“Us too, Alexis Grant. Us too,” the white guy said grinning.
The use of her last name when she hadn’t given it to either man was the last real clear memory she had of lunch. She did shot after shot, smiling and laughing with Kelly and the two men as they continued to drink. Her salad came, and Alexis remembered eating as much of it as she could between the shots the men were pressing on her.
The room was spinning, and Alexis knew if she drank one more glass of liquor she most likely wouldn’t be able to walk. She’d lost count of how many shots she’d done, but one bottle was empty, and they’d made quite a dent in the other one.
The white guy—his name was Chuck, which she thought was more of a nickname than a real name—had gotten more and more handsy with her as lunch had continued. He’d pulled his chair closer to hers and had his hand resting on her leg. His fingers brushed against her inner thigh, and Alexis knew she really would throw up if he tried to feel her up. Thank God she was wearing pants. She was pretty sure that if she’d been in a skirt he would’ve had his hands up it.
Even the Hispanic guy, who turned out to be the Damian, Donovan’s brother, had seemed to ease off her a bit as the lunch went on. He asked lots of questions, which Alexis hoped she’d answered correctly. It was getting tougher and tougher to keep her mind on what she was supposed to be doing. And Kelly seemed to totally relax. They’d laughed over things they’d done as preteens and reminisced about their friendship before the seventh grade.
Alexis finally called a halt to the lunch. “What time is it? Twelve fifteen? Oh shit, I gotta go.”
“Don’t go yet. We’re just starting to party,” Chuck drawled, clamping his fingers together roughly on her leg when she tried to stand.
Holding back the whimper at the pain his hard grip was causing, Alexis giggled like the airhead she was trying to be and pushed at his wrist playfully. “Some of us gotta work, ya know!”
“But you said you don’t have to work,” Damian drawled. “Stay here with us, chica.”
“I don’t really, but I’m supposed to be there today,” Alexis told him, smiling. “Don’t worry, I’d love to hang out with you guys again. You’re fun. If you wouldn’t mind?”
“We wouldn’t mind,” Chuck answered immediately.
He ignored the scowl Kelly threw his way.
“Did I pay for the shots already?” Alexis asked, trying to sound confused.
“No, you said you’d run a tab,” Kelly was quick to say.
“Oh shit. Okay, I’ve got cash, I can pay. How much was it, do you think?” Alexis could hear her voice slurring, and she wasn’t even acting now.
“How much you got?” Damian asked, leaning forward.
How they could’ve drunk as much as she did and not even look tipsy in the least was beyond Alexis.
She fumbled in her bag and once more brought out her wallet. She made a production of looking in the compartment that held her cash. She wrinkled her nose. “It’s dark in here. I can’t see. How much do I have?” She held out her wallet to Damian. He did as she wanted and took it from her, rifling through it.
He pulled out some bills—Alexis had no idea how many—and handed her wallet back. “This ought to do it.”
“Thank you so much,” Alexis trilled at him, smiling. “Jeez, I need to build up my tolerance,” she giggled.
She stood, dislodging Chuck’s grip once and for all off her leg. She held her hand up to her face, using her pinkie and thumb to mimic talking into a phone, and turned to Kelly. “Call me, Kel. I can’t wait to do this again.”
“I’ll be in touch. Don’t worry. Later.”
“See ya, doll,” Chuck said, leering at her, his rotten teeth making her look away so she wouldn’t throw up in his lap.
Damian just lifted his chin at her once again and poured himself another shot of the top-shelf alcohol she’d just paid for . . . twice.
No one at the table, or even in the bar for that matter, said one word about calling her a cab as she stumbled drunkenly to the door, obviously completely shitfaced. They didn’t give a damn if she drove drunk; they’d gotten what they’d wanted out of her: money.
Alexis pushed open the door, wincing at the bright light that assaulted her eyes. She turned back once more to the dark room and waved in the direction of the table she’d been sitting at for the last hour or so even though she couldn’t see a thing.
“Bye, Kelly! Bye, Chuck and Damian! It was great meeting you guys and seeing you again! Till next time!”
No one answered, so she turned back toward the fresh air, tripping over the jamb on her way out. The door slammed behind her and Alexis stood in front of it, trying not to fall over, squinting to try to see where she’d left her car. She vaguely remembered parking on the side and to the back, out of the way of the front door of the bar.
She took a deep breath of the fresh air, but it only made her dizzier. She took a step toward her Mercedes. Then another. She had no idea how in the hell she was going to drive out of there, but she’d do it . . . if only far enough to park in the nearest parking lot away from prying eyes. Her thoughts were muddled. She knew she absolutely shouldn’t be driving anywhere, but she had to get her car out of the lot; it stood out like a sore thumb.
She somehow reached her Mercedes at the far side of the lot and took her keys out to put in the lock, when a hand closed around hers and a large body pressed her hard into the side of her car.
Chapter Seven
“Get in the car, Lex.”
“Blake,” she breathed out in relief.
He didn’t respond but clicked open the lock and opened the door for her. He watched, furious as Alexis clumsily crawled over the driver’s seat on her hands and knees and into the passenger side. Her ass in his face should’ve turned him on, but he was so pissed off at what had happened in the bar, at what Alexis had been made to do, all he could think of was getting out of there and back to her apartment.
“What about Nathan’s car?” Alexis slurred as Blake started up her Mercedes.
“That piece of shit will blend right in here. No one will touch it.”
“I could’ve left mine here.”
“Lex,” Blake said in exasperation. “You know we can’t leave your Mercedes here. It’d be stripped before nightfall. Trust me, Nathan’s piece of shit won’t be noticed.”
“Oh. Yeah.” She furrowed her brow in confusion. “Okay.”
Blake clenched his teeth together. The second that asshole Damian ordered the first shots of tequila, he knew lunch wasn’t exactly going to go as planned. He’
d had to sit and watch and listen as Lex downed way too fucking many shots for her slight frame. It’d be a miracle if she remembered anything. He was impressed she was still upright at the moment.
But even though he was pissed, he was as proud of Lex as he could be. Not once did she break her cover. She gamely got as much information out of Kelly and the men as she could, all the while choking down the alcohol.
Because of Alexis, they’d learned that Damian was visiting his brother every week, and Donovan was still very much in charge of his gang. He gave Damian orders to be carried out, and Damian seemed more than happy to do so. He didn’t tell Lex specifics but insinuated enough for them to know Donovan was just as dangerous behind bars as he was free. They’d also found out that Kelly was Donovan’s girlfriend, as they’d suspected, but if the tone of the other woman’s voice when she’d talked about a mysterious ex-girlfriend was any indication, she wasn’t too happy that Donovan still kept tabs on his ex. Chuck seemed to be the gang’s main enforcer. He was a mean motherfucker, who not only seemed to screw any chick he felt like, whether she wanted the attention or not, but he had no problem using the pistol he kept in a holster on his leg, which he happily showed to Alexis when she expressed interest in seeing it.
All in all, Alexis getting drunk had seemed to loosen the trio’s lips—probably because they rightly assumed she wouldn’t remember anything they’d talked about. Luckily, Ace Security had both the audio and video of the lunch.
As he’d done the first time, Blake had stopped the recordings as soon as Alexis left the bar and right before he made his way to her. He knew she’d be embarrassed to be on tape while drunk, and anything she said or did after leaving the bar was no one’s business but theirs.
“I’m drunk,” Alexis announced unnecessarily as Blake drove away from Snake’s Bar toward the interstate to head back to Denver and her apartment.
“I know, Lex,” Blake said patiently.
“No, Blake. I’m drunk,” she insisted.
“Alexis, I know,” Blake repeated. “I fucking sat there and watched you do all those shots.”
“They were gross,” she stated, still slurring.
His lips twitched at that. Not quite ready to smile, but he couldn’t help it. The assholes she was with, especially Chuck, could’ve easily taken advantage of her drunken state. Blake had been on the verge of getting her out of the bar several times over the last hour. The men could’ve taken her to a back room, or even spirited her out the back door. Yes, he and Logan had told her what to do if they’d tried it, but they hadn’t taken her being completely trashed into account. She would’ve been completely vulnerable . . . not able to defend herself in any way against them. The thought scared the shit out of him.
“I don’t even like the taste of alcohol. I can drink sweet wine and froufrou drinks, but not that.” She shuddered. “Tequila. Yucko.”
“I’m afraid you’re going to be in quite a bit of hurt later,” Blake told her honestly.
Alexis laid her head back on the leather headrest and nodded. “I figured. But you’ll take care of me.” She sounded completely certain, and Blake was touched. Now that he’d gotten her out of the bar, he was getting less pissed off, but her flat out saying she knew he’d have her back went a long way toward making him relax. He had her now. Safe and sound.
“I was scared,” she continued, drunk. “I didn’t know what else to do.” She swiveled her head in his direction. “But I knew you were listening and watching me. You’d protect me in case they did something. It’s the only reason I kept drinking. Blake?”
“Yeah, sweetheart?”
“I don’t like them. At all. Not even a little.”
God, she was killing him. “I know, Lex. Neither do I.”
“But I like you.”
Damn.
She went on, the alcohol loosening her tongue, making her say exactly what she was thinking. “I used to think tattoos were sexy. But not anymore. I’m so glad you don’t have any. Wait, do you? I haven’t seen you naked, so I don’t know for sure.”
“I don’t have any tattoos, Lex,” he reassured her.
“Good. Although, I know yours would be cool. No teardrops. ’Kay?”
As if. “I need to get you some water,” Blake noted, talking more to himself than to her.
“I tried to drink some between shots, but the skank waitress wouldn’t bring me another bottle.”
“I know, I saw, remember?”
“Oh yeah. You probably saw her boobs hanging out too. My boobs aren’t that big.” Alexis bought her hands up to her chest and lifted her breasts to show him. The alcohol had done its job well enough to lower her inhibitions to the point she obviously wasn’t even thinking about what she was doing. “Do guys only like big boobs like that? Did you see Damian stick his fingers up that skank’s skirt?”
He ignored her question about boobs. As far as he was concerned, her tits were perfect, but now wasn’t the time or place to discuss it. “Yeah, Lex. I saw what he did.”
“I about died. It wasn’t sexy. Not in the least.” She closed her eyes for a second; then they popped open again as she suddenly remembered something else. “And Chuck’s hand on my leg hurt. Not like when you touch me.”
“He touched you?” Blake’s hands tightened on the steering wheel in his agitation. “I didn’t see that.”
“Yeah. And it hurt. Kelly was acting so nice at the end. Do you think she’s gonna invite me out again?”
Her changes in conversation were abrupt but easy to follow. He wanted to talk more about that asshole Chuck touching her, but he’d get a look at her leg soon and make sure she was okay. “Yeah, I’m sure she will. She’s gonna want to meet up with you again. Hell, Lex, you gave them almost a thousand bucks. It’s probably the easiest money they’ve made in a long time. They’re gonna want more of that.”
She was quiet for a long time. Blake thought she’d finally passed out until she spoke again. Quiet. And her words were clear, with no slurring, as if what she was saying was important enough for her to be clear and concise.
“People have only wanted to be my friend because of my money. I know it was my fault and I made it happen, but it’s how it’s always been and probably how it always will be. Those men scare me, Blake. Sitting there, knowing they were being nice only because of my money and all it would take was one wrong word on my part for them to turn on me reminded me of when I was thirteen, and I knew those boys were stronger than me and could do whatever they wanted.”
Blake couldn’t keep his hands to himself anymore. He wanted to take Alexis into his arms, but he had to wait until he got her back to her apartment. He pressed down on the gas, needing to get there as soon as possible. He moved his right hand from the steering wheel and wrapped it around the back of her neck as he usually did. His thumb stroked the skin right under her ear. “You’re done, Lex. You don’t ever have to see them again.”
Her head fell against his arm as if it were too heavy to keep upright. “I do have to.” Her voice was slurring again. “They want more money. So I will. As long as I know you’ll be there to keep me safe, I can do it.”
Fuck, she was seriously killing him. “Lex—”
She didn’t let him say what he wanted to say. “I’m scared, but you won’t let them hurt me. If you were around back then, you’d have taken all those boys on for me. I know it.”
“Damn straight. I would’ve protected you back then, and I sure as hell will make sure nothing happens to you now, sweetheart.”
Alexis lifted her head and turned in her seat, dislodging his hand from her neck, bending one leg at the knee, and facing him awkwardly with the seat belt holding her immobile. She caught his hand as he was pulling it back to the steering wheel and placed it on her knee.
Then she ran both her hands up his forearm, past his elbow, until her fingertips disappeared under the fabric of his T-shirt. Then she reversed her actions, running her hands over him until she reached his wrist. She did this several time
s, seemingly mesmerized by the feel of his arm under her.
When Blake didn’t think he’d be able to stand it anymore, she finally spoke. “I love your arms. They’re so strong. Not crazy mus-cu-lar, but they’re so hot. I’ve dreamed about them.”
Blake felt his cock hardening under his jeans. Damn, she was so sensual, even when plastered. He should stop her—she’d be embarrassed that she’d been so candid with him—but he couldn’t seem to make himself do it. Her hands on his skin felt too good.
“What do you dream, Lex?”
She raised her eyes and met his then, and Blake had to swallow at the lust he saw there. She was way past drunk, which made her bolder. Made her say exactly what she was thinking.
“Your arms around me. Holding me still as you take me from behind. Slicked up in the shower. Shit, Blake, all you have to do is flex, pick up something, and I’m so wet for you I have to change my panties.”
Unbelievably, he was getting embarrassed. He’d known she liked his arms—had guessed—but hearing her straight up admit it made the times he saw her nipples get hard and her breathing increase all that more potent. Because she’d done it a lot. Practically since the first day they’d worked together. Knowing she’d been turned on by him since the beginning was hot. “Lex, I don’t think—”
But she was on a roll. “I don’t know why your arms do it for me so much.” She wrinkled her forehead, deep in thought. Her head tilted as if she was thinking hard, and she bit her lip before she spoke again. “I don’t look at Logan’s that way. And he’s muscular too. Nathan’s arms do nothing for me. Not that he’s bad looking, but he’s not you. I wasn’t such an arm whore until I met you.” She ran her fingertips over the veins in his forearm as she looked down at it. “Arm porn—that’s what your arms are for me.”
