Play to Win

by Tiffany Snow

  And they both had Sage to thank for that. Without her, Parker doubted either of them would’ve reached out to try and repair the damage to their friendship. She’d united them, then tore herself away to keep them together. In other words, the complete opposite of what Natalie had done. Natalie had thrived to see them fighting over her. But not Sage. And that made all the difference.

  A few miles passed in silence before Parker pulled over and parked. “It’s on the next block,” he said.

  They both got out, falling into step as they approached the corner. Ahead, the glowing sign of an Italian restaurant blinked lazily. Two men, both in suits with telltale bulges at their sides, stood in too-deliberate casualness by the door.

  Parker didn’t pay them any attention as he brushed by, but then one of them grabbed his elbow.

  “Hey, you can’t go—”

  His next words were abruptly cut off by Parker’s fist in his throat.

  Ryker had the other guy down and out with two blows by the time Parker had knocked out the one who’d touched him. Together, they dragged the men to the side of the doorway out of sight, then proceeded into the restaurant.

  Parker laid eyes on Steven Shea immediately. In his late twenties, he was tall but shorter than Parker by a good two inches. He was fit in the kind of way that made women look twice, but not fit enough to keep him from getting his ass kicked in a fight.

  Glancing away from where Steven was holding court with two other men and a woman, Parker sat at a table toward the back. Ryker sat with him. Both had their backs to the door.

  A nervous waiter bobbed over, giving them menus and taking their order for a glass of wine each. They knew ordering anything else would look out of place.

  Parker and Ryker pretended to study the menu.

  “Do you have a plan?” Ryker asked, perusing the entrees.

  “I’m winging it.”

  “So the usual.”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Awesome.”

  The waiter returned with two glasses of red. “I’ll have the lasagna,” Parker ordered, his gaze catching on Steven as he got up from his table.

  “Make that two,” Ryker said, handing the waiter the menu. He glanced at Parker. He’d seen Steven get up, too.

  Steven headed for the bathroom, one bodyguard in tow. Parker rose and followed him. Ryker got up as well.

  The bodyguard was lax in his vigilance, and his unconscious body was hauled aside embarrassingly quickly. Ryker took up his position as Parker entered the men’s restroom.

  Steven was standing at a urinal and glanced over.

  “What the fuck are you doing in here? This is supposed to be private.”

  “Maybe you’re not familiar with the concept of a public restroom,” Parker said, taking a step closer. “Privacy isn’t part of the deal.”

  Steven zipped up and flushed. “Whatever.” He headed for the door. Parker stopped him with hard shove in the chest.

  “Didn’t you forget something?” he asked. “Always wash your hands. Dickwad.”

  “What the—”

  “Let’s talk about that,” Parker said, shoving him back against the wall. “And some other things.”

  “Rusty!” Steven called out. “Rusty! Get in here!”

  “Oh, you looking for your bodyguard?” Parker asked. “He’s been…detained.”

  Steven’s face turned red. “Who the fuck are you?” he snarled. “You hurt me, you’re going to regret it. I can promise you that, motherfucker.”

  “Let me tell you what I’m going to regret,” Parker growled, moving his hand to circle Steven’s throat. His other hand drew his weapon and he held the barrel to Steven’s temple. The man went very still at the touch of the metal against his skin. “I’m going to regret not ending this right here and now, but I’m hoping you’re smarter than you look.”

  “Fuck you,” Steven managed to squeeze out.

  Parker slammed Steven’s head against the tile at his back. The crack of bone against ceramic was loud in the tiled bathroom. “I guess I was wrong. You’re a dipshit. If you want to prolong your life expectancy, you’ll listen up and listen good. I know about your adolescent vendetta against the Muccino family. Get over it.”

  “They killed my father. I deserve revenge.”

  “You deserve nothing. Your father made his choices, and he paid for them. You keep on this path, you’ll follow exactly where he went.” Parker paused, squeezing the kid’s throat harder, cutting off his air supply. “This is your only warning.”

  He held him for another ten seconds, enough for Steven’s face to start turning blue. Then he abruptly let go. Steven bent forward, coughing and choking. Parker took two steps and was out of the bathroom.

  Ryker was waiting. One glance and they were heading for the back door. Sixty seconds later, Parker was unlocking his car.

  “Do you think he’ll heed the warning?” Ryker asked as they drove away.

  “Doubtful. But at least now he knows he’s up against someone who can fuck him over. We can hope maybe cooler heads prevail and he’ll take advice.”

  “I’m not betting on it.”

  “Me neither.” Parker sighed. It had been worth a shot.

  “Think the girls are okay?” Ryker asked.

  A niggle of unease crept through Parker, but he tried to shrug it off. “Yeah. I’m sure they’re fine. They’re girls. How bad could it get?”

  * * *

  I ground my teeth as the door shut behind Parker, leaving Natalie and me by ourselves while they went off to do who knew what.

  I was so going to kill him for this.

  “Didn’t I see that Parker has a wine rack over here?” Natalie asked, heading for the kitchen.

  Okay, so maybe she and I could agree on one thing: Lubrication was needed to grease these wheels.

  I grabbed our glasses while she uncorked another bottle. I didn’t ask what kind and she didn’t offer to tell me. The silence between us was the kind I imagined Old West gunfighters used to experience right after they’d paced off and before they drew.

  She fired first.

  “I guess we have a couple of things in common,” she said. At my questioning look, she added, “You know. Parker and Dean.”

  Wow. She wasn’t playing around, instead going right for the jugular.

  “Oh?” I decided to play dumb. “I thought you were just friends.”

  She laughed. “We were all much more than friends.” Taking a long drink of the white wine, she headed for the living room, leaving me in the unenviable position of trailing after her. She settled on the couch. I sat at the far end, leaving a no-man’s-land between us.

  “That was a long time ago,” I said. “They’ve moved on.”

  “To you, apparently.”

  I took a sip of wine. Decided that didn’t need a response. I was feeling very territorial over Ryker and Parker, and Natalie was obviously trying to antagonize me.

  “Listen,” she said, “I don’t want us to be enemies.”

  “You sure about that?”

  She laughed lightly at my dry tone. “I’m sorry. We have a history, the three of us.” She shrugged. “I guess I didn’t realize how much I’ve missed them.”

  “Why didn’t you come back before now?” I asked. “Why wait until Jessie went missing?”

  “I didn’t think they’d want to see me again.”

  “They thought you were dead.”

  “Exactly. I’d hurt them enough already. I didn’t want to hurt them again.”

  She looked so remorseful, I almost believed her.

  I smiled. “I’m sure they’ll let bygones be bygones. What’s important now is finding Jessie.”

  Anxiety crossed her delicate features and I thought it was real. But then again, I knew she was also a very good actress. I didn’t want to minimize the danger to Jessie, but neither did I want Parker or Ryker to put themselves in harm’s way for no reason.

  What was I saying? I was currently the biggest threat t
o Parker.

  Yeah, I really didn’t want to think about that.

  “You have no idea who could have sent that note? Who would think you had that kind of money?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I’m telling the truth. I have no idea.”

  Hmm. “So…what do you do for a living?” I asked. If the kidnapper had asked her for that much money, maybe he was somehow connected to her work, to think she had access to ten thousand dollars.

  “I’m a dental hygienist.”

  Dentists made decent money. Maybe she was sleeping with her boss. Shocker.

  I cut that judgy thought off right way. Like I was one to talk. Those who live in glass houses…

  “So in other words, you don’t have ten grand lying around and no one who knows you would think you would.”

  “Right.”

  “And your sister wasn’t involved in anything bad? She hadn’t said anything about being in trouble or being afraid?” You’d think there would have been some kind of warning, especially if ransom was involved. But Natalie was shaking her head.

  “Not a word.”

  Reaching over, she refilled our wineglasses. Huh. I hadn’t even realized we’d drank it all. It seemed I wasn’t the only one who could drink. Which gave me an idea.

  “I could use something a little stronger.” I got up and retrieved Parker’s bottle of scotch and two shot glasses. I poured some into each and handed her one. “To finding Jessie,” I toasted, clinking my glass against hers.

  We both tossed back the shot, each one eyeing the other for any sign of weakness. She didn’t cough at all. Dammit. This may be harder than I thought. People talked when they were drunk, their inhibitions lowered. I just needed to get her drunk, but first I had to outlast her.

  I repeated the process and we downed the second shot. Her eyes narrowed, watching me the same way I was watching her.

  My throat burned, my lungs wanted desperately to cough. I swallowed the shot down, my eyes watering.

  “Good stuff,” I managed to squeak out. I cleared my throat as a smile flitted across Natalie’s face.

  “Parker’s always had excellent taste,” she said. This time, she poured the shots. “Bottoms up.”

  Fuck. I was so screwed. A fact that became painfully obvious about an hour later when the room was spinning and I’d decided that listening to Air Supply was the best. Idea. Ever.

  “You’re every woman in the world…to me…” I warbled. Wine sloshed out of my glass onto the couch. “Oops.”

  “That’s alcohol abuse,” Natalie said.

  I giggled. “I could lick it up, I guess.” I bent over, but was laughing too hard and ended up getting wine on my nose. The couch was slippery and next thing I knew, I was sitting on my ass on the floor.

  We both dissolved into gales of laughter. Which was how Ryker and Parker found us when they walked in the door.

  “I see you found my scotch,” Parker said, picking up the empty decanter and setting it back on the table.

  “It was deeelishus.” I smacked my lips.

  “Yum,” Natalie agreed. “The wine, too.” Two empty bottles littered the floor.

  Mmmm, wine. I went to take a drink from my glass, but it was empty. “It’s gone,” I said sadly, turning the glass upside down. “No more wine.”

  “It looks like the remains of a frat party in here,” Ryker said, taking the glass from me.

  “We’re bonding,” I explained.

  “Is that what it’s called?” he asked. “I thought you were just getting stinking drunk.”

  “You’re being awfully judgy.” A burp escaped and my eyes went wide as I clapped a hand over my mouth. “’scuse me.”

  Natalie and I dissolved in a fit of giggles again. I swore I heard identical male sighs of long-suffering.

  “Upsy daisy,” Parker said, wrapping an arm around me and hauling me up to my feet. My knees weren’t cooperating, so I hung on to him. He didn’t seem to mind.

  “What am I supposed to do with this one?” Ryker asked as Parker started walking me toward the bedroom.

  “I don’t care. Take her with you.”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  But Parker was already closing the bedroom door behind us.

  Chapter Ten

  I flopped onto the bed and waited for the room to stop turning.

  “What possessed you to get drunk with Natalie, of all people?” he asked.

  His hands were braced on his hips, which drew my eyes south of the border. I really liked those jeans on him. I wondered if I asked him to turn around whether he’d do it.

  “No, I’m not turning around,” he said.

  Huh. I guess I’d said that out loud.

  “Was there a purpose to bonding with your nemesis?” he asked.

  “I thought maybe if I got her drunk, she’d let something slip,” I said. “But it didn’t quite go like I planned.”

  “No shit.”

  “Don’t get all pissy,” I groused. “I’m the one who’s going to feel like crap tomorrow.”

  “Well, did it work?” he asked. “Did she say anything?”

  I nodded, then immediately regretted the action. And just as the room had settled down, too. “It was about three shots and two glasses of wine in.”

  “And?”

  I closed my eyes. Had to get this just right. “She said, and I quote, ‘Is it weird that we’ve both slept with the same two guys?’” I cracked open an eye. “That’s when I took another shot.”

  Parker looked like he’d just bitten into a lemon.

  “Yeah, not something I want to dwell on either.” I hauled myself up. I wanted a bath.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I want to take a bath,” I said, getting carefully to my feet. So far, so good. The room remained upright. Now to make it into the bathroom.

  “Do you always take a bath when you’re drunk?” Parker slipped an arm around my waist while I tried to pretend I didn’t need the assistance.

  “It helps me relax.”

  “I’d think two bottles of wine and half a bottle of scotch would make you as relaxed as anyone should be.”

  Smartass. It was on the tip of my tongue, but then we reached the bathroom and sitting down seemed like a really good idea. I didn’t protest when Parker leaned me against the counter and began drawing my bath. It was kind of sweet, actually, the way he kept testing the water to make sure it was the right temperature.

  “I don’t have any bubble bath or salts or whatever women put in their baths,” he said. He was frowning, as though this was of vital importance and he’d have to fire someone for the oversight.

  “That’s fine,” I said, unable to stop a smile from spreading across my face.

  “What?” he asked, but I just shook my head.

  Last night, I’d been feeling uncertain about Parker and me. Tonight…well, tonight he looked pretty darn good in those jeans. My hormones decided they weren’t too drunk to stand up and take notice. He was wearing a button-down shirt, too, and I loved undoing buttons…

  “Oh no you don’t,” Parker said, holding up a hand and stopping me. I hadn’t even realized I’d moved toward him. “You’re drunk. All you’re getting tonight is a bath.”

  “I’m not that drunk,” I said, sliding my hands up his chest. Mmmm, hard…I angled for the buttons.

  “You’re drunk enough and I’m not about to have you do something tonight that you’ll regret tomorrow,” he said, grasping my wrists and pulling them away from his body.

  “I promise I won’t regret a thing.” I inched closer until his back was against the wall. “Two consenting adults…and it’s not like we haven’t done it before.” His grip on my wrists was lax and I pulled one hand free, pressing it against the bulge in his jeans.

  Parker’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “You’re not making this easy,” he said. I was gratified at the roughness in his voice and the way his gaze dropped to my breasts.

  “If it’s e
asy, then it’s not worth having now, is it?” I murmured, leaning close enough for our bodies to touch. His cock was hard beneath my fingers and an answering heat flashed between my thighs.

  Parker’s shirt was unbuttoned at the neck, exposing the skin there. It was tan and smooth and begged for me to taste. I stretched up and fastened my lips to his throat, my tongue tasting the salt on his skin. He didn’t move away, which I took to be an encouragement.

  Hand-eye coordination suffered with alcohol intake, but Parker was the best incentive there was to make the effort to undo a few more buttons on his shirt one-handed while my other hand was busy outlining his erection through his jeans.

  Lowering his head, he nuzzled my hair and ear, his lips just brushing against me. The slight touch made me suck in a breath as my skin tingled, so acutely sensitive was I to everything he did to me.

  The air was thick with humidity, steam from the bathtub billowing around us. Finally, I felt Parker’s palms close over my hips and pull me closer.

  Now we were getting somewhere.

  My fingers threaded through his hair as my lips inched up his neck to his jaw. I felt a groan vibrate inside his chest. His hands gripped me tighter, his erection pressing against my softness. My body felt like warm butter against his, molding to him. I twined my arms around his neck, moving my mouth closer to his. I could almost taste him on my tongue—

  The door flew open and Natalie came bursting in. She ran past us to the toilet and promptly threw up.

  Well, that was a mood killer.

  The sound of it made my stomach turn over and I bolted out of the bathroom so I didn’t end up doing the same damn thing. Parker or Ryker could hold her hair, though neither one looked to be in any great hurry to do so. Instead, Parker followed me.

  “Do me a favor,” he said to me. “Next time you want to get somebody drunk, drink the cheap stuff, okay?”

  Got it.

  * * *

  I didn’t feel as bad the next morning as I’d thought I would. I’d fallen asleep—not passed out (because ladies don’t pass out)—on Parker’s bed while Natalie was still heaving her guts out in the bathroom. When I woke up, I discovered she’d ended up lying next to me. I grimaced and eased out of bed.