Courting Trouble: Running with the Devil Book 6

by Jasmin Quinn

  She didn’t know why. Wasn’t sure she should trust her instincts. But none of mattered right now. She was safe, at least for a night, off the streets, away from Jack Creed. She didn’t have to watch her back, didn’t have to think about what was next. It was blessed. She dropped the towel from her head, combed out her hair with her fingers, borrowed Hugo’s toothbrush and brushed her teeth. Then she crawled between the covers and was sleeping almost before her head hit the pillow.

  CHAPTER 8

  Hugo returned to the bar where he first saw Olivia. This time he sat in a booth, back to a wall so he could keep an eye on who was coming and going. Everything changed in just a few short hours. The place was busy now, lots of girls, but he was no longer looking. Why would he? The girl, the woman he wanted was already upstairs in his bed. Fuck. Who’d of thought that? That he’d have a woman in his bed who made all other women pale in comparison and that he’d be sitting in a bar instead of upstairs doing the deed with her. Not him, that’s for sure. He hoped word didn’t get out or his reputation would be ruined, not that he actually gave a fuck what anyone thought.

  But now he was on full alert, keeping an eye out for threats. Olivia tangling with Jack Creed took the danger to a whole other level. He and Jack went back a ways, he liked the asshole. But Jack was loyal to Jack and his brother, Rob. Maybe his new lady lawyer. Didn’t know, didn’t ask. He looked at the time on his cell phone before making the call. Only 12:30 am – Jack would still be awake. Too bad. He’d hoped to get the sonofabitch out of bed.

  He tapped out the number. No contacts in his phone. All kept in his head. What his phone didn’t know, it couldn’t tell. Hugo waited, a couple of rings and he thought it was going to go to voicemail, but then Creed picked up.

  “It’s Hugo.”

  Jack sounded more settled since his brother got out of prison, since he got his lawyer back. Hugo grinned to himself thinking back three weeks, when he walked into his hotel room to find Jack Creed sitting there. For a few brief seconds he thought that it was the end of the line for him. For whatever reason, his brain didn’t even ask the why of it. It just more or less told Hugo to kiss his ass goodbye.

  But Creed had been there for help, not murder, and Hugo was so relieved he gave up the information for free. Mr. Mafia needed to find his lawyer. Hugo wasn’t stupid. The man was in love. It was fucking amazing. Hugo never thought he’d see the day that Jack Creed would put his life on the line for a woman. He wondered if that would make Jack kinder and gentler. Figured he’d find out soon enough.

  “Hugo, I wasn’t expecting to hear from you.”

  This made Hugo grumpy. It came out in his tone. “I think you’re full of shit, Creed. You know why I’m calling.” It was a risk talking to Jack Creed like that, but one Hugo was willing to take. Sometimes you had to face down the bad guys by looking them full on in the eyes. It was about keeping things respectful, but it went both ways. If you didn’t demand respect, you didn’t get it.

  Jacked laughed. “I’m guessing you got the pretty package I sent your way.”

  “Why the fuck would you send her to me, Jack?”

  “I thought she’d be right up your alley. I owed you something big for what you did for me last month. I didn’t want you to leave town thinking I didn’t appreciate it.”

  Hugo shook his head at the phone he was holding too tightly. “So you thought you would repay me by sending me a woman.”

  Jack was quiet for a few seconds. “Not just any woman, Hugo.”

  Hugo sucked in his breath. “Yeah, you’re right about that. She’s got more baggage than the missing luggage department at the airport. She comes with a fucking dead husband who may not be dead, a million-dollar debt and a mother with a gambling addiction.”

  The mob boss laughed deeply, answering Hugo’s question about love making Jack kinder and gentler. He was still a prick. Hugo was glad they weren’t face to face. He would have been tempted to punch the asshole in his face. “Hugo. She’s perfect for you and you know it.”

  “Fuck you, Jack!” Hugo snarled.

  Jack stopped laughing. “Here’s the thing about Olivia West. She owes me a ½ million – ”

  “Her mother owes you the ½ mil,” Hugo interrupted.

  “Olivia took on the debt because the alternative was that mommy dearest took a long walk in the desert and never came back. For some reason Olivia objected to that.”

  “C’mon Creed, a ½ mil is chump change for you. You don’t have to torture women and children.”

  Hugo heard Jack’s hesitation. “That’s the difference between us, big guy. You don’t like picket fences, roots, anchors, but that’s what my world is about. The only way to maintain my home is to make sure it’s weeded regularly. Too many vultures out there thinking they can have a go at me if I show any weakness. So whether a ½ million dollars is chump change or not is irrelevant. And you fucking well know that.”

  Hugo took a breath, his mind sorting through all the possibilities. “So then kill the fucking mother.”

  “Can’t do… well, can do eventually, because mom isn’t gonna stay away from the tables long. But Olivia’s taken on the debt and I want it paid.”

  Hugo tapped his empty beer bottle on the table as he talked. “Okay, fine, I get where you’re coming from. What the fuck has this got to do with me?”

  The silence stretched between the two of them, Hugo waiting patiently for Mr. Fucking Mafia to answer.

  “I’ve got a buyer for her, Hugo,” Jack said softly. “Someone willing to pay a very high price. Someone willing to overlook the fact that she’s not a virgin.”

  Hugo froze at the implication. “Who?”

  “Can’t say.”

  Hugo was through the roof furious. Jack Creed was the most fucking manipulative bastard he’d ever met. He knew it too, known it for years, but he’d never been on the receiving end of it until today. He tried to keep his voice neutral, knew he hadn’t succeeded when he heard the hostility in his tone. “So again, Jack. What the fuck does this have to do with me?”

  “I guess I have a soft spot for her, Hugo. She’s pretty fucking loyal.”

  “So’s a German Shepherd.”

  Jack ignored his sarcasm. “The offer on the table is $20 million.”

  Hugo sucked in his breath. Twenty million fucking dollars. No wonder Creed was tempted. Whoever wanted her was a big-time player. Olivia’s baggage just turned into a one-ton trunk. “No disservice to Olivia, but why the fuck would anyone pay $20 million for a woman, especially one who’s already been around the block?”

  He could almost see Jack shrug. “The heart wants what the heart wants, Hugo. You can have her for a ½ mil. Pay her debt. She’s yours. Keep her. Take her home to Vancouver. If you don’t want her, I’ll pass your name along to the buyer.”

  “Why? You get the shit end of the deal, Creed. And I know you well enough to know that you don’t give away your shit.”

  “Olivia’s a hot mess, but she’s a good girl with a heart of gold and I have a little soft spot for her. She paid off the last debt her mother racked up by helping Rob and me out after Amber’s death.”

  Rob was Jack’s brother. Amber was Rob’s girlfriend. Rob was charged with Amber’s murder. It was all pretty fucked up.

  Jack continued. “A little payback that wiped her mother’s debt. Anyone else I would have paid a couple of mil for the help but she did it for 500k. Walked away, dragging her mother along behind her. So I figure I owe her one. And I owe you one too. You helped me get my lawyer back.”

  Hugo rubbed his hand over his whiskers as he listened. Yeah, gave Michael Black up to Jack Creed. Hugo would have to watch his back now, even more than he usually did. He knew there were still some hard lessons coming his way over that one. “Let me see if I understand you correctly. You have a soft spot for Blondie, don’t want to sell her to Mr. Pervert with the deep pockets. You think you owe me, so for a mere ½ mil I get the penniless trouble-maker. If I do choose to keep her and not cash her i
n, I spend the rest of my short fucking life looking in the shadows for some fuck willing to drop $20 mil for her. No one says no to that kind of offer without some consequences, not even you. Jesus, Jack, don’t do me anymore favours.”

  Jack laughed softly. “I’m not afraid to say no to the buyer. I simply tell him that I had a better offer.”

  “It’s not a better offer.”

  “It is a better offer, Hugo. It wipes my slate clean with you. You could stand to make $20 million on the deal.”

  Hugo wanted to punch the sonofabitch. “You know I don’t peddle in flesh.”

  A pause. “That’s what I’m counting on, Hugo. How much time do you need to decide?”

  Hugo stretched his neck up towards the ceiling, stared at the yellowing tiles trying to process everything that was happening. If he paid Olivia’s debt to Creed, he will have essentially bought the curvy blonde, because whether she knew it or not, Jack Creed owned her and would continue to own her as long as she was in debt to him. Hugo had no doubt how bad the outcome would be if he walked away from this one. He couldn’t fathom it, that someone like Olivia would cease to exist in the world as he knew it because she was too good to abandon a mother with a gambling problem.

  To Jack he said, “Are you at the nightclub?”

  “Yes.”

  Hugo closed his eyes and gave his head a little shake. “I’ll be there in an hour. But Jack, I want the buyer’s name too.” He hung up.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  When Hugo got back to his hotel room at the Mirage it was 4:30 in the morning. He was tired, out of sorts and a little bit angry. He didn’t know what to think, didn’t know who to trust. The information he had would eventually get him killed unless he killed first. By doing what he did, Jack Creed put a target on Hugo’s back. And the funny thing is that Jack thought he was doing Hugo a favour. Thought Hugo should be the one to thank him.

  Olivia was sleeping when he stepped into the room. He stood at the end of the bed and assessed her in the dim light. He didn’t have a problem stealing, maiming, beating, kidnapping, blowing things up and even the occasional murder, but he’d never bought a woman before, not even a hooker. Up until this night, he’d never had to, never wanted to. Now he was suddenly the proud owner of the biggest piece of trouble he’d ever encountered. He didn’t think she’d appreciate that she’d just been bought and sold. Didn’t think she’d think him noble for paying off her debt to Creed. And the mother, he needed to track her down and lock her up somewhere before she cost him more money. Because now that Olivia was his, so was momma’s fucking debt and he didn’t need an albatross like that weighing him down.

  Olivia moaned in her sleep and flipped to her back. Her eyes opened slightly, then as they registered the looming Hugo, they flew open and she sat straight up with a small shriek. Fuck if she wasn’t the prettiest thing he’d ever seen, or owned, or whatever. Just fuck!

  “It’s me,” he muttered, then moved to the small table in the corner and dropped into one of the chairs. He slid his ass down to the edge and splayed his legs out as he leaned his head back, his face up to the ceiling. He was toasted.

  He heard the blankets rustling and shifted his head so he could watch Olivia as she crawled out of his bed and walked to the bathroom. His T-shirt didn’t completely do her justice but it stretched across her beautiful breasts and showed off enough of her legs to confirm that they were as shapely as he imagined them. A few minutes later she emerged, stepped over his feet and sat at the table in the remaining chair.

  “Just getting in?” She seemed to be holding onto some anger. He thought she thought he’d been out fucking around. It kind of felt good that she was pissed at him.

  “Yeah,” he said. “Had some business to take care of.”

  “Is Mr. Penis a happy little guy now?”

  Hugo swiveled his head and gazed at her across the table, not smiling, not even showing a bit of warmth. He thought he should throw her on the bed and show her just exactly how wrong she was about the size of his prick, but then he remembered their wrestling match the day before and decided maybe he should wait until he got her somewhere more private, someplace where he wouldn’t get his head stuck or security knocking at his door. But it irked him not to call her out for sleeping in his bed and then asking such a fucking disrespectful question.

  He swallowed the anger that was growing in him, chalked it up to being overtired. He usually had a better sense of humour and crushing comebacks. But not now. He was out of his element, maybe over his head. A first for him.

  “How old are you, Olivia?” Now that she was his, he thought he should know some things about her. And he was curious too, maybe because she wasn’t going to be an overnighter. She was going to be a keeper for a while.

  She didn’t answer immediately and for a few seconds he thought she wasn’t going to. He didn’t want to start off the morning by losing his temper and getting pissed at her. But then she looked down at herself, gave a tug on the T-shirt, which had ridden up her thighs, said something softly under her breath, then looked sideways at Hugo. “Just turned 25.”

  “How old were you when you got married?”

  No hesitation this time. “20.”

  “Why’d you get married so young?”

  “Pregnant.”

  Fuck! How much more complicated could this get? “Where’s the kid?”

  A little pause, then softly, almost inaudible, “Miscarried.”

  Hugo looked down at his big hands, calloused, deadly, rough. “Sorry that happened.”

  “Thanks,” she answered, her voice still wispy.

  The silence lingered. It wasn’t what Hugo expected and he didn’t know what to feel. Relief that he wasn’t suddenly weighed down with another little care package, but sorrow too, for the woman in his room. It prickled at him that she seemed so alone in this world, gave him a little insight into why she masked her vulnerability the way she did.

  Hugo counted 10 more seconds, then said, “You on birth control?”

  Another hesitation at the intimacy of the question. “Yes.”

  If she thought that one was bad, she sure as hell wasn’t going to like his next one. “Who are you currently fucking?”

  He hated it when he was right about shit that he didn’t want to deal with. Olivia jumped to her feet, red in the face mad. “None of your fucking business!”

  He didn’t move. They were going to have another fight, voices raised, lamps breaking, punches thrown. Or he could diffuse it now. “You want my fucking help?” Meanest voice he had.

  She stood for a moment, staring down at him, contemplating her next move he guessed. Then he saw when she crumbled, a tremble to her lips, a bright sheen of tears in her eyes as she folded back into her chair. “Yes.”

  “Who are you currently fucking?”

  “No one. Not since Tony died.”

  Hugo didn’t know whether to be irritated that she threw her sexuality around like it was an open line of credit or happy that he didn’t have to deal with a jealous boyfriend. The voice in his head called bullshit – he was just fucking happy she was a good girl. “So you lied about everything, did you? You offered to pay in fucks, but you haven’t spread your legs in two years. What would you have done if I took you up on the offer?”

  Olivia glared at him. “I’d have given it up. Fucking’s not that hard.”

  Hugo laughed harshly. “You haven’t fucked with me yet, baby. You’ll find out how hard it is.”

  “Why are we having this conversation?” He saw that she was trying to maintain her composure.

  “You got no money Olivia. I don’t work for free.”

  She didn’t say anything, then he heard her sniffle. She was crying. Then her voice, a little high, but under control. “Tony disappeared for a reason. He always had money. A lot of it. Then he was gone, and so was the money. Nothing left but the life insurance policy. I never understood how the money could just disappear, but didn’t spend a lot of time questioning it, didn’t hav
e a lot of time because mom owed the Creeds and I had to solve the problem. But now, I think he took it with him.” She turned fully towards him, looked him in the eyes. “He has a lot of it, Hugo. When I find him, I’ll make him pay Jack Creed and you too.”

  “How will you make him do that?” Hugo knew he was being an ass, but it annoyed him that Blondie wasn’t thinking it through.

  “I’ll threaten to expose him. He committed fraud by pretending he died. He’ll pay me to keep my mouth shut.”

  “Or kill you.”

  Olivia sucked in a breath. “Either way, what the fuck does it matter? Jack Creed will kill me if Tony doesn’t pay up.”

  Hugo considered her in the dawning light. How much should he tell her? How could he tell her? Creed just sold her, Hugo just bought her. Yeah, on paper that doesn’t happen, it’s illegal, but not in his world, not in Creed’s and now, not in hers. Hugo decided to shift direction.

  “Where’s your mom?”

  Olivia pursed her lips. “Are you going to help me find my deadbeat husband, Hugo?”

  Silence. Then, “Yeah, but I don’t want money.”

  Hugo was about to make the biggest fucking mistake of his life.

  “Then what do you want?”

  “I wanna get married.”

  She started laughing, a high-pitched giggle at first, that escalated into full-out hysterics. “You’ve got to be kidding!”

  CHAPTER 9

  I wanna get married.

  Olivia couldn’t stop laughing. So hard, she was gasping for breath, her sides hurt. So hard, she fell out of her chair, fell on her knees, on the carpet, slapping it with the palm of her hand. So hard, she was helpless with giggles, tears on her face. She couldn’t even protest when Hugo wrapped his big hands around her biceps and roughly pulled her up from the floor, giving her a little shake.

  “Stop it!” He sounded pissed off. “It’s not that fucking funny.”