‘That could’ve been embarrassing.’
‘Or traumatising.’
‘I don’t think you’d have been put off sex for life,’ Colt said. ‘You know my lady will work through any issues you might have with you.’
‘You should start carrying her business card,’ Ruger said, finally managing to relax.
Knowing that Layla was safe didn’t alleviate any of his concern for her and although he’d done his best to keep her in his eye line, he was so much more aware of those in her periphery.
Anyone could be a threat, ready to sneak up on them, and he hadn’t done his best work in protecting her because he’d been too busy trying to get her naked.
‘Don’t beat yourself up,’ Colt said, squeezing his brother’s shoulder. Colt had always been perceptive and he’d been in a similar position himself with Lyssa. ‘Caring about the girl isn’t a failing. It just means you’re most likely to do whatever it takes to keep her safe.’
‘I don’t know how to keep her safe,’ Ruger muttered, watching the hand gestures Layla made as she spoke to police. ‘These guys could come from anywhere at any time. How do you prepare for that? How can you protect her from an enemy you can’t see?’
‘You could hole yourself up somewhere if you want to,’ Colt said. ‘Like Rushe has done with Flick. I’m sure they could recommend a good hiding place.’
‘Layla is just through telling me how she wants to make a go of this place. We were talking about… being together.’
‘That’s great.’
‘It won’t last long if this keeps going,’ Ruger said. ‘I have to talk to Jansen and get him to back off.’
‘You would tell him to sacrifice the truth in order to protect your girlfriend.’
‘Who is also his sister,’ Ruger snapped, taking his focus away from Layla to glare at his brother. ‘Who cares about some dumb story? It’s not worth losing her for. Who the hell does Jansen think he is?’
‘You forget that it was his woman who started this. And it’s about more than just the story. What Ashcroft is doing is wrong and if you think his crimes are victimless then you’re either naïve or just plain stupid.
‘Jansen and Serendipity are doing what needs to be done and they’re putting their lives on the line to do it. And I’m warning you now, if Layla hears you disparaging her brother then there won’t be much of a future for you.’
‘I can’t play nice and pretend that I’m on the same crusade as them,’ Ruger said. ‘I can understand their position and what you’re saying, but any practical argument goes out the window when I look at Lay and try to imagine what my life would be like if I fucked this up and she got hurt because of me.’
‘None of this is because of you and we’re all doing our best to keep Layla safe,’ Colt said. ‘You can come and stay with Lys and I if you want.’
‘No,’ Ruger said, shaking his head. ‘I’m not putting you both in danger too. These people have proved they can track us down no matter where we go. I just don’t like us being sitting targets.’
‘What’s the alternative?’ Colt asked. ‘Do you want to take the fight to them?’
That thought stopped Ruger cold. Flick had gotten hurt because Ashcroft’s men had blindsided them. But if Jansen knew where Ashcroft’s men holed up, where their sanctuary was, where they felt safe, then maybe they could use that information to their advantage.
‘Taking the fight to them sounds like exactly what we should do,’ Ruger said. ‘I bet Rushe could recruit a few guys to help me out.’
‘You think Blase and I can’t handle it?’
‘I think I don’t want you and Blase near it. You’ve got Lys and he’s going to be a father. Your days of playing with fire are over. Soon as Lys is pregnant, you won’t be able to come out on these kinds of calls either. Get your priorities right.’
‘I don’t need you to worry about my priorities. You went out there on your own for years, now you have back up.’
‘I won’t let you do it,’ Ruger said. Digging his hands in his pockets, he stepped back. ‘You and Blase have paid your dues, sit back and enjoy it.’
‘Soon as Layla is safe, we will. Do you think Lys or Bri would be with guys who would sit back and let an innocent woman exist in danger? Both of them have faced shit in their lives. They wouldn’t want Layla isolated.’
‘I’ve got to talk to Jansen,’ Ruger said.
‘My thought exactly,’ Layla said, approaching from behind Colt. ‘I have to talk to my brother. Can I use your phone, please?’
Icy words and a lack of eye contact made Ruger think that she was pissed off. He couldn’t think of anything he’d done, so he guessed she was just pissed off after enduring what she had tonight and he couldn’t blame her for that.
‘He’ll go crazy when he hears what happened here,’ Ruger said, taking his phone from his pocket.
‘I know how to handle my brother,’ she said, holding out a hand in expectation of him handing over his cell phone, which he did.
‘I need to talk to him too, so…’ Layla was walking away and dialling, so Ruger didn’t bother to finish his sentence.
‘That’s the cold shoulder if ever I saw it,’ Colt said, coming to Ruger’s side to rest an arm around his shoulders. ‘Are you sure you were getting cosy when the shot went off?’
‘That’s where it was headed,’ Ruger said. Layla was further along the sidewalk, with her back to the group of neighbours still trying to nosey in on what was going on.
‘Maybe next time, let her know that,’ Colt said, giving him a pat on the back then retreating.
Ruger kept on observing her. He couldn’t see her expression, but he could tell from the way her body was moving that he’d been right. Jansen wasn’t taking the news of this development very well.
‘Would you just stop talking?’ Layla said, trying to cut Drew off, but he kept on ranting.
‘You just couldn’t keep your head down, could you?’ Drew said through the phone. ‘I told you not to piss anyone off. I should’ve known that was beyond your capabilities. How did you draw attention to yourself this time?’
‘I did not draw attention to myself,’ she said, fixating on the strip of exposed brick in front of her. ‘You’re the one up there causing all this trouble and I’m the one who got shot at! A little sympathy here, brother.’
‘Ok, you’re right, ok, I’m sorry. Tell me again what happened?’
‘We were shot at,’ Layla said.
‘How many shooters?’
‘We didn’t see the shooters,’ she said. ‘They were gone by the time Ruger got down the stairs.’
‘Ok, how many shots?’
‘Just one, Ruger thinks it was a warning shot, a kind of “We’re watching” sort of thing.’ Scuffing her foot on the sidewalk, she admitted to herself that it was reassuring to hear Drew’s voice and she really wished he were here now to play big brother.
‘How close did this warning shot come to you guys?’
‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘We were lying on the couch together, neither of us saw it. But the bullet stuck in the drywall above the couch, so I guess if we’d been sitting up it would’ve been close.’
For a minute, he didn’t say anything and she pressed her hand to the cool brick and closed her eyes. She wished he was here to comfort her, but he probably wished he could be here to look after her too. It couldn’t be easy for him to be torn between the woman he loved and his sister, Drew wanted all of them to be safe, but he couldn’t cover all of the bases alone. Hence why he had needed Ruger.
‘Why were you lying on the couch together?’ Drew asked. His tone lost some of its panic and anger and took on a curious, shrewd hue that made her lose her words. ‘Layla?’
‘Uh… we were… uh…’ Being with Ruger was public knowledge down here, but Drew had no way to know about their association unless he was told, which she had just tripped over her words and done.
‘Goddamnit, Layla,’ Drew chastised leaving no requirement
for her to finish her sentence. ‘You’re sleeping with him, aren’t you?’
‘Maybe,’ she said. At least this served as a distraction from the possibility of death, which had loomed over her all night. ‘I don’t get why you care. It’s my business, not yours.’
‘Because you don’t know enough about him. You don’t know who he really is. I sent him to you and it wasn’t as some sordid screw-a-gram.’
‘Drew! It’s not like that it’s—‘
‘What? It’s special? You care about each other,’ he said and she didn’t appreciate his mocking. ‘I sent him down there to take care of your safety not your sexual needs. I’m going to fucking kill him.’
‘No, you’re not,’ she said, taking the risk of turning to glance over her shoulder to take a measure of where Ruger and Colt were. They were still where she’d left them except Colt now had his back to Ruger, who was scrutinising her. ‘I’ve been with loads of guys, in loads of relationships, and you’ve never cared about how any of them have treated me. Believe me, in comparison to some of my exes, Ruger is a saint.’
‘I didn’t set you up with any of your exes,’ Drew said. ‘And Ruger is involved with criminals, Lay, I don’t want you being party to any—‘
‘He’s getting out—‘Drew began to laugh and the growl of anger that tensed her made Layla’s fingers curl. ‘He made that decision before he and I got together. Not that that’s any of your business either.’
Layla had come on the phone to seek solace because Ruger had disappointed her with his earlier comment about Drew and his history with the police force. Instead, she found her brother mocking her boyfriend. Neither of them seemed to respect each other and the last place she wanted to be was caught in between them.
‘It’s my business if he’s going to mess around with my sister.’
‘If he was such a crook it’s a wonder you trusted him with my safety, or was the idea to off both of us so that you wouldn’t have to worry about taking care of your inconvenient sister?’
‘Hey!’ he said, now he wasn’t mocking or laughing. ‘I take your safety very seriously. There are plenty of guys I would trust to take a bullet for you. That doesn’t mean I want them sleeping with you. If he hurts you and this all goes to shit, as your relationships always do, then you’re going to blame me for getting the two of you involved with each other, aren’t you?’
‘I’m not,’ she said, understanding now where Drew’s aversion to the relationship came from. ‘I can take care of myself.’
‘I wish that were true, Lay. I hate you being out there alone. Serendipity and I have been through some shit, yeah, but it means something to have someone to come home to. It makes you fight harder. All I’ve ever wanted is for you to have that kind of security.’
As she drew in a breath, Layla turned to lean on the wall she’d been facing all of this time. ‘How do you think it feels from my point of view? You’re up there, taking care of business, and I’m down here, never knowing if you’re alive or dead. I can’t help you. I can’t come for you. I can’t be there for you.’
‘You don’t have to worry about that.’
‘Well I do worry about that,’ she said. ‘Telling me not to worry won’t change the fact that I do, and I should… we’re family.’
‘No, I mean, you don’t have to worry. Dipity has a buyer and the paper wants to verify some facts before they run the story, but it will be out there in the next few days if everything checks out, which I know it will ‘cause I gathered most of the facts. Once their lawyers sign off, it will be printed.’
‘That’s great,’ she said and the rush of pride eradicated all previous emotions. ‘So this could all be over in a day or two?’
‘Once it’s out there Ashcroft can’t come after us. If he tries it, he makes it a bigger story. We’ll have full protection and we’ll make sure you’re included under that promise.’
‘Does Ashcroft know? Could that be why he sent his shooter today?’
‘It could be,’ Drew said. ‘But if you want to come up here, you can come now.’
‘I can?’ she asked but her initial elation waned when she caught sight of Ruger who was on a path to her now.
‘I was going to call you about it tomorrow. I hoped we’d have a concrete print date by then.’
Since she had heard about what Drew was into, Layla had wanted to be with her brother. But if she left now, she would get protection, but she would have to leave Ruger to get it. He might assume that she didn’t trust him to protect her, and that wasn’t the case. She wanted to be with her brother, but if she left now, she didn’t know if Ruger would still be here for her to come back to when everything died down.
Chapter Eighteen
‘I don’t like it, Legs,’ Ruger said.
He was patching the broken window in her apartment with cardboard. Luckily, it was a dry night, but they wanted to keep the breeze and the bugs out.
‘I didn’t think you would,’ she said, using a handheld vacuum to clean up the drywall powder spread on the couch and floor.
When he’d come to her outside, he’d had his own conversation with Drew, which seemed to include Ruger displaying a lot of contrition. Except as soon as Drew told him about the deal with the newspaper, Ruger’s demeanour changed and his apologies all went out the window.
Their conversation had carried on after the cops left. Colt got the neighbours back to their houses and then left her and Ruger alone. This was the first chance she and Ruger had to address what was going on in Atlantic City.
‘Jansen thinks he can take care of you now, but this is when the situation is at its most dangerous,’ he said, using his task as a distraction to help balance his mood. While talking to her brother, Ruger’s face had set itself in a frown and although she could only see his profile, that frown was still there. ‘Ashcroft is a rabid dog trapped in a corner. When the story breaks, there won’t be any need for him to maintain his mask.’
‘The idea will be that when the media start digging the DA will have to as well, or face suspicion himself,’ she said, lifting the cushions to vacuum those and the upholstery underneath. ‘It won’t take the press long to put the governor and DA together, so the DA will want to distance himself quickly. I would assume that Ashcroft is going to fight the charges. He’s not just going to roll over and admit the truth. He’ll have a story, an explanation of some kind that he’ll want to feed to the public.’
‘That’s a lot of assumptions and I don’t like those. It’s going to be a circus,’ he said. She returned the vacuum to its charging point and went over to flop onto the couch. ‘The media will be all over Ashcroft, sure, but they’re going to want to know all about the woman who broke the story and where she got her facts, which means Drew and Serendipity are going to be a focal point too. Do you really want to be a part of that?’
‘I want to be with my brother,’ she said, rolling onto her side and propping her fist on her temple. ‘This is going to be difficult for him. He doesn’t like the limelight. Serendipity won’t give up her sources, so Drew probably won’t be caught up in the maelstrom.’
‘Except he’s not going to walk away from Serendipity, is he? They’ve been together for a long time. He’ll be a part of it as her boyfriend if nothing else,’ Ruger said. Finishing his task, he put the tools on a nearby table and turned to look at her.
‘Is that why you’re objecting?’ she asked. ‘You think Drew will lose sight of my safety when he’s lost in the craziness of the press?’
‘No, I just—‘
‘The newspaper will take good care of them. I believe that, and Ashcroft won’t go after them because if he does then he’s only proving their case, isn’t he?’
‘He can call them liars. He can smear them in the press. Jansen has a chequered past. Don’t forget that. As soon as the papers get a whiff of him leaving the force while on suspension, they’ll want to know every detail of what went on there.’
‘Which we both know you fault him for,’ she
said. The irritation of earlier flourished again.
‘Excuse me?’
‘Your comment earlier, about Drew screwing over the cops.’
He threw up his hands. ‘So that’s what had you in a snit…’ He shook his head. ‘I don’t fault him. I think the cops treated your brother like crap. I meant that’s why they did it and they believed they had good reason to shut him out. But if I was Drew and someone had my girlfriend? I would have done exactly the same thing. He faced some terrifying odds, but he kept on going, because he knew he had to get her back.’
‘Oh,’ she said, glad he didn’t condemn Drew’s previous behaviour, though that made little difference to their situation now. ‘Shouldn’t I be with him despite the odds we’re facing?’ Her determination made her sit up straight. ‘Doesn’t it reflect negatively on my integrity if I’m not? He doesn’t have to be alone on this one. I can be with him, I can support him.’
‘Calling it a circus doesn’t come close to what it will really be like, Legs,’ Ruger said.
‘Being with my family when they need me, that’s what I’m supposed to do,’ she said, grabbing a cushion to hug in her lap. ‘But I will be sorry to leave you.’
‘Hey,’ he soothed and came over to sit at her side and take her hand. ‘You’ve seen how close I am to my family. I understand why you want to be there for Drew and if it was me, I’d want to be with my brothers too.’
‘So why are you trying to talk me out of it?’ she asked.
‘Because I don’t want to see you get hurt and I don’t want the media to attack your character either. If you’re front and centre with Drew and Serendipity then Ashcroft will come for you as well.’
‘And they might link you and me,’ she muttered, considering for the first time what would happen if the media, or the cops, began to look too deeply into Ruger or his brothers. Blaser had done time inside, and Colt had left the police in the midst of a scandal just like Drew had. Intense scrutiny could reveal secrets and tear the family apart.
‘They will,’ Ruger said. ‘Because if you’re going then I’m coming with you.’
Game Of Risk (Risqué #3) Page 21
