Asa (Marked Men #6)

by Jay Crownover

  Ayden and Jet had stayed for a week. My sister wanted to be there when Shaw took baby Ry home and got settled. The nickname was cute and Shaw loved it because she was a huge J. D, Salinger fan, plus knowing who the kid’s dad was, he was bound to have a little Holden Caulfield rebellion in him. It wasn’t enough time with my sister, and even though I could see she was happy, really happy with her choice to move in order to get more time with her man, I missed her and I could see that she was still worrying too much about me. I tried to tell her that I was fine. I tried to explain that if I was going to fuck up, it wouldn’t matter if she was here in Denver or in Austin, but that just made her tawny eyes spark at me in anger. I loved Ayden more than I ever knew I was capable of, but I wasn’t going to try and fool her into believing that I was never going to screw up again. All I could do was try. Try and be better, try and be honest, try staying on the right side of the law and not running when things got hard. Trying was just going to have to be enough. For Ayden and for me.

  During the day the Bar was fairly quiet. There was a whole slew of retired veterans that liked to hang out and share old war stories. It never ceased to amaze me how many of them had to do with ex-wives and old lovers rather than any actual war. Rome typically opened the bar up and hung out until I got there in the early evening to run the night shift. He wanted to be home with his family during the evening and I couldn’t say I blamed him for that. Being a retired soldier himself, Rome had an easy way with the grizzled clientele and preferred to leave the more lively and rambunctious party crowd to me.

  When I walked in the front doors, he wasn’t around, and Brite, the guy who had sold Rome the Bar in the first place, was standing in my usual spot behind the long wooden bar. Darcy, the Bar’s cook and Brite’s ex-wife, had her head poking out of the kitchen and the two of them appeared to be arguing in low voices.

  I don’t think either of them copped to the fact that they might be exes but were still practically married. Wife number three was long gone, and Darcy wasn’t just his only child’s mother, but really the love of his life. I had asked Rome about it once and he just shrugged and told me that good women were complicated and hard to hold on to. I didn’t understand it until I walked into the liquor storeroom unannounced one day between shifts and found Darcy with her legs in the air and Brite’s giant form hovering over her in an unmistakable way. There might not be rings, but there was love and passion still there. Too bad their daughter was a grade-A pain in the ass.

  Brite cut off whatever he was saying to Darcy, and she ducked back into the kitchen. His teeth flashed at me through the miles of beard that covered his face and he crossed his arms over his barrel-like chest. Brite had so much don’t-fuck-with-me pouring off of him it always surprised me how soft-spoken and insightful he really was. He looked like a Hell’s Angel not a savior, but he was. He had saved this bar. He had saved Rome. He had given all those vets a place to feel secure, and now he was trying his hardest to save his obviously wayward daughter even though she absolutely didn’t seem to appreciate the fact.

  “How’s it going, son?” His voice rumbled like thunder over the Rockies.

  I shrugged off my coat and ran my hands through my hair. “It’s going. You have any idea why Rome called me in early?”

  He shook his head and lifted a bushy eyebrow at me. “How is Avett doing? Tell me the truth, Asa. Rome doesn’t want me to worry, says he can handle her, but I raised that girl. I know all the kinds of headaches she can be.”

  I sighed under my breath. “Her attitude sucks. She doesn’t listen. She fights with Darcy. She hates it here, which is a shame because she’s one hell of a good cook.” She really was. When she wasn’t just throwing together the bar food the joint specialized in, when she made something for herself or was playing around, the girl was obviously talented. I told Darcy once that someone should tell Avett to go to culinary school, to which Darcy had sighed and looked like she was going to cry. Turned out Avett had just flunked out of regular college, so any kind of expensive specialty school clearly wasn’t in the cards. The girl was on a downward spiral. I could see it clear as day, mostly because it was a ride I was all too familiar with.

  Brite swore under his breath and raised a hand to stroke his beard. “You feel comfortable firing her if she crosses a line?”

  I dipped my chin down, thinking about the beer in her purse. “I will do what I have to in order to keep the Bar and Rome safe.”

  He nodded grimly at me. “That’s what I wanted to hear. She’s driving Darce nuts. The girl is going to be the death of us both.”

  I made a noise of agreement. “Rome in the office?”

  Brite nodded and again flashed me a grin that had to fight through his facial hair. “You look nervous, son. Don’t be.”

  I was annoyed that my typical mask of indifference and carelessness had slipped, so I struggled to put it back in place as I walked down the hallway where the restrooms, storage, and tiny back office were located. I knocked on the door before pushing it open and noticed Rome was on the phone when I walked in. I sat in one of the ratty chairs that was up against the wall while he continued to grunt and reply in one-word sentences to whomever he was talking to. There was paperwork on the desk, cases of alcohol were piled up on the floor, and Rome’s gym bag took up the space on the other available chair. His chair squeaked as he leaned back heavily in it, said, “I love you more,” meaning the person on the end of the call had to be Cora, and finally hung up and looked at me.

  I wanted to grin at him, to play it all off like whatever was about to go down didn’t mean shit to me, but instead I felt my spine stiffen and my eyes narrow. “What’s up?” I didn’t really know what to do with the fact that this somehow mattered so much to me. The only things I had ever cared about before were materialistic and my sister; this was so foreign, and I hated how uneasy it made me. I wanted to squirm but I forced myself to stay still.

  He rubbed his palms into his eyes and pressed down on the scar that bisected his eyebrow.

  “Cora’s pregnant.”

  I rolled my eyes and crossed my leg so that my ankle was resting on my knee. “You don’t say?” Sarcasm was as thick as Kentucky grass in my tone.

  He blinked at me for a second and then blew out a breath. “What do you mean?”

  I snorted. “I saw her at the hospital. I saw you at the hospital. If it was the flu or just a cold, you wouldn’t have been all over her like a mother hen, and I doubt Cora would’ve looked so happy.”

  His blue eyes widened a fraction and then a grin split his stern expression. “Yeah. She just hit a little over two months. She wasn’t as sick with RJ, but she was a hell of a lot moodier.”

  “I didn’t know you were trying to have another baby.”

  His big shoulders rose and fell. “We weren’t. But we weren’t not trying either. I got a fiancée and a new baby all within a few months of each other and that makes a man start to think about what’s next.”

  That made me laugh. I was genuinely happy for him. “Congratulations.”

  “We wanted to wait until Rule and Shaw got to take Ry home and had a little while to bask in the new-baby awesomeness before we said anything. Rule as a daddy is a miracle that needs to be appreciated fully for a while, and I don’t think my mom can handle any more Archer good news without exploding. So you and Brite are the only ones that know for now.”

  “Got it. Is that what this little powwow was about?” If so, all my muscles could unclench and the breath I was holding could finally escape my frozen lungs.

  I gritted my teeth when he shook his head in the negative.

  “No. I need to talk to you about the Bar.”

  I didn’t want to give away the fact I was sort of falling apart on the inside, so I just stayed silent and waited for him to keep talking.

  He just stared at me for a minute and then rocked back in the chair and put his hands behind his head.

  “Brite sold me this bar for a hundred bucks. I thought he was crazy.
” I agreed. “I didn’t get it at the time, but I do get it now. It wasn’t about the bar or about giving me something to do, it was about taking something beaten, something that had adapted and survived, and breathing new life into it. Did you know that even with the expense of adding Dixie and Avett to the payroll, we still turned a profit last year? And not just a few bucks; an actual, decent-sized profit.”

  We were busier and busier and the crowd was getting more and more diverse. The live music helped and so did the fact that Rome’s friends and family were gorgeous and liked to hang out here. The Bar was hip now, so I really wasn’t surprised.

  “That’s good news.”

  “Yes, it is, and it has a shit ton to do with you, Asa. You work your ass off. You’re here more hours than is healthy. You take care of the staff. You take care of the customers, no matter who they might be, and goddamn, you’re good behind that bar. People fucking love you.”

  That’s because I spent most of my life tricking people into thinking I was lovable when the opposite was true.

  He dropped his arms and got to his feet and walked around the desk so he could perch on the corner closest to me. It was a small space and Rome was an intimidating guy, but there was a gleam in his gaze that was all about excitement and expectation.

  “I want you to hire some more staff. I want Dixie to have help on the floor and I want you to hire a full-time day bartender that’s good with the military guys and a night guy to give you a break.”

  “I don’t know that a break is the best thing for me. You know what they say about idle hands.”

  I lifted both my eyebrows up at him as he scowled down at me from where he was most definitely looming.

  “This bar gave both of us a crutch to lean on when we were trying to figure out what we were doing with our lives. It’s helped us both out by keeping us busy and given us something to focus on. You more so than me because I had my Half-Pint and the baby to worry about. I think it’s also offered me the insight into what happens next.” He looked at me to see if I was still with him and I was. I couldn’t disagree that the Bar was a safe haven when I was trying to leave behind a life and turn into something, someone, more respectable. “There are a lot of businesses that could use a little revitalization, a second chance, if you will. The gym I go to is falling apart. It needs some new equipment, some new blood, to bring it into this century. I like that the place feels like an old gym from the 1930s or something, but it needs some help. I want to invest in it.”

  I blinked in surprise and just stared at him. He cocked the eyebrow with the scar in it at me and kept going.

  “Nash has a buddy with a garage. He does killer restoration projects but is pretty small-time. I’ve seen his work and met the guy a few times. I think I want to funnel some cash into his enterprise as well.”

  I hissed out a whistle between my teeth. “Man, you weren’t kidding about a decent profit, were you, Boss?”

  Rome grunted at me. “I also want to help Nash and Rule out if they do decide to expand and open a third shop somewhere. What I don’t want to do is sit on my ass anymore and wait on whatever it is that’s going to happen next to find me. I’m buying a house. I’m having another kid, and when all that’s said and done I’m marrying the most perfect girl in the world.”

  I didn’t really think “perfect” and “Cora” went together in the same sentence, but to him she was absolutely the perfect choice and there was something to be said for feeling that way about the mother of your kids.

  “Those are all good plans, Rome, and I gotta say I’m a little shocked you decided that being an entrepreneur and investor was your calling, but I can get behind you wanting to help out struggling businesses. That’s pretty noble of you.”

  He gave me a hard look. “Second chances matter. You and I both know that.”

  “They do.” I worked hard every day to make sure my second chance wasn’t wasted. I owed myself and the people that loved me at least that much.

  “I want you to consider being my business partner. You do a good job here—fuck, a great job. You’re way better with people than I’ll ever be and I think you’re the only other person that can understand why I want to invest in the businesses I do.”

  Well, shit. That was unexpected.

  I scooted forward on the chair a little and raised my hand to rub vigorously at the back of my neck. Old shame and bitter regret surged to the surface and I had to try really hard to fight it back down.

  “I don’t have that kind of money floating around, big guy.”

  He paid me a fair salary and my cost of living was practically nil, but when you died on an operating table and they brought you back to life, it cost a fortune. With no insurance, that meant every extra cent I had went back to paying the medical bills that were astronomical. Ayden and Jet had offered to help, but as soon I settled into my job at the Bar, I refused to let them. It was the first time in my life I was actually owning up to the consequences of my actions.

  His mouth quirked and he pushed off the desk so that he was on his feet. “So give me a hundred bucks. It’ll be the best money you ever spent.”

  I swore at him and got to my feet. I still had to look up at him, but he seemed less imposing now that I wasn’t sitting down.

  “Look, I appreciate the offer and I would jump at the chance, but I can’t, and I can’t let you give me a free pass like that.”

  He opened his mouth to argue with me but I cut him off by putting a hand on his massive shoulder and shaking my head.

  “I’ve always taken any shortcut I could find. When I didn’t get shit handed to me, I took it because I thought I was entitled to it. I can’t do that with you. Not after everything you’ve done for me, Rome. If I ever get in a place where I can legitimately buy my way into a partnership with you, and the offer is still there I’ll jump on board. Until then, you just let me know if you need help with anything. I can be your go-to guy.”

  “You’ve been that since the first day you started work here.”

  I cleared my throat as heavy gratitude pressed in on me from all directions. “Thanks for trusting me enough to even consider getting into some kind of business with me.”

  He grunted and we both left the office. “You’ve never given me a reason not to trust you. I know there was ugly shit before, but that doesn’t have anything to do with now. I’ve had to learn to leave the past where it belongs or it really fucks up the good stuff happening in the here and now.”

  We were both pretty solemn as we walked back into the front of the Bar. Brite was gone and Dixie was standing behind the bar watching Dash, who insisted we all just call him Church like Rome did, as he walked around straightening tables. Rome gave the cocktail waitress a one-armed hug and stuck his head in the kitchen to let Darcy know he was leaving. He also gave Church a fist bump as the other dark-skinned ex-military man walked up to the bar and then looked at me with lifted eyebrows as he turned to go. “Lemme know if you change your mind, Opie.”

  “Will do.” The nickname was ridiculous. I was so far from being the innocent southern kid in overalls at the water hole it was laughable, but a drunk kid had once lobbed the name as an insult, and not surprisingly it stuck.

  Since it was a Saturday night I ran through what we were looking at business-wise for the night and told both Dixie and Church that Rome wanted to look for some more staff. I told them if they had any recommendations to send them my way and then went into the kitchen to make sure Avett had at least showed up for her shift. She was standing by the big walk-in cooler and Darcy was in front of her.

  The older woman had her daughter’s chin in her hand and was screaming at her, “I know goddamn well you did not trip and fall and give yourself that black eye, Avett.”

  Avett’s gaze darted anywhere but at her infuriated mother and landed on me. I saw her bottom lip tremble and I frowned at her over the top of Darcy’s head.

  “If he’s putting marks on you that other people can see, it’s only gonna get wors
e. Not only does that mean he doesn’t give a shit about you, it means he doesn’t give a shit that you actually have people that might not want to see you hurt. That’s dangerous. You should cut ties and run like a rabbit with its tail on fire.”

  Avett’s swirly eyes narrowed at me and she jerked away from her mom. “You don’t know anything. Neither one of you do. Jared was drunk. It was an accident. Leave me alone or I’ll walk out and you won’t have anyone to work the busiest night of the week.”

  She was shaking and I knew she didn’t believe her own words. I could see it as she bit the inside of her cheek. You had to be able to lie to yourself before you could lie expertly to other people. Avett wasn’t quite there yet, and maybe there was time to stop her before she got there. I was done playing babysitter; it was time to let the bad guy out and maybe he could get results where coddling this troubled girl had failed.

  I told her flatly, “You walk out, you aren’t walking back in. I’m done playing your spoiled-brat games. You don’t wanna be here, well, guess what, I really fucking don’t want you here either, but I owe your dad and your mom is a good lady, so I endure working with you. This”—I waved a hand around the kitchen to encompass the dramatic scene I had interrupted—“is the threshold for my bullshit tolerance.” I made sure I looked at Darcy so she could see how dead serious I was before I walked back out of the kitchen.

  It was a busy Saturday night even without a band, but all the patrons seemed to be on their best behavior. There was one little squabble among some girls, but as soon as they saw Church making his way over to where they were causing a ruckus, they quieted down and went immediately into flirt mode. I stayed busy until midnight, when a scraggly-looking dude walked in looking strung out and shifty. I had the sinking suspicion he was here for Avett. He totally looked like the kind of scumbag that had no issue hitting women or asking them to steal from work.