by Aspen Drake
“Not much.” I give him the minimal information I have about Emma, including her address. Thank god she took me back to her place last week. That’s usually the first piece of information I have to ask Tim for.
Tim is one of the smartest guys I know, and when I need anything done that’s not completely legal, I trust him to be discreet and fast.
Tim used to be an attorney. He followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the firm his father founded thirty years earlier. But after just a few years of defending scumbags and cheaters, he decided it wasn’t for him. He walked away from the firm that he was destined to partner at and opened a private security consulting firm. He focuses mostly on cybersecurity and keeping the bad guys out of the good guys’ networks. But he’s one of the smartest guys I know, and when I need anything done that’s not completely legal, I trust him to be discreet and fast.
“I’ll run a few basic checks and see if there are any cameras near her place I can tap into. You never know what you’ll learn about a person until you see videos of them coming and going from home when they think no one is looking.”
“Thanks, man. I’ll owe you a steak.”
He laughs. “You’ll owe me a whole fucking cow, but I’ll settle for a steak. I’ll call you later.”
I hang up feeling slightly guilty for invading Emma’s privacy this way. But until I know what her game is, I won’t be able to rest. Is this just a hustle? Did her mom put her up to reeling me in to get a piece of my pie? Or does she not know a good thing when she sees one?
Chapter 11
Emma
“100%!” I hold up the spelling test Owen had stuck to the fridge with a magnet. “How did you possibly get 100% on a test with a hundred words?”
Owen just shrugs, playing coy. “I don’t know. I just remembered them all.”
I shake my head in mock shock. “I can’t believe it. I thought grades like this were all myth. I never got more than ninety-five right on hundred-question tests.”
His grin gets wider by the second. “I guess I’m good at spelling. I’m the only kid in my class who got every word right.”
“This calls for a celebration, ya know.” I carefully affix the sheet of binder paper to the fridge again then turn to him. “Let’s go out for dinner. Anywhere you want.”
“Anywhere?” He holds his hands in front of his chest like he’s praying. “Even McDonald’s?”
Damn, this kid is a cheap date. “Yes, anywhere. But are you sure you want McDonald’s? We can go to Red Robin or Chili’s or Olive Garden. You’ll love those places.”
He thinks about it for a minute as he slips on his shoes. “I like the fat fries at Red Robin.”
A boy after my own heart. “And they have the best shakes too.”
“I can get a shake?”
I ruffle his silky blond hair with my hand. “You can get anything you want.”
“Can we go now?”
“You bet. We just need to stop by my apartment for my purse.” Even though I’m trying to save every penny I make to help Eli out of his situation, I also want to celebrate Owen’s win. He’s come a long way in just a few months and needs to know that if he works hard, he’ll be rewarded.
I actually forget about my uninvited and unwelcome houseguest until I open the door and hear him singing along to some stupid commercial. Hoping he won’t notice us, I quietly sneak into the kitchen and grab my purse from the counter. I’m almost back out the door when Eli stands up and looks straight at me.
“Oh, you’re home?” He scratches his belly through his T-shirt. “I didn’t even hear you.”
“We’re not staying. I’ll be home late.”
He walks to Owen and holds out his hand. “You my sister’s new boyfriend? I know she likes them young, but this is a little weird.”
Owen laughs and makes a face. “No. She’s my nanny.”
Nanny, huh? I don’t know how I feel about that word, but if Owen likes it better than babysitter, I guess I can let it go. “This is Owen, Mercy’s nephew. He’s staying with her for a while. Owen, this is my brother, Eli.”
“Oh, cool.” Eli holds up his hand for a high five. “Nice to meet you, man.”
Owen holds up his hand in response but he seems a little shy. This kind of behavior is both out of character and a little disconcerting. Owen’s never shy around people. Although, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him around a guy before. I make a mental note to talk to Mercy about it.
“So where are you going that you’ll be out late?” Eli’s looking at me with puppy dog eyes. Damn him. He has the same blue eyes I’ve seen in the mirror my whole life.
“We’re just gonna grab something to eat, and then I’ll stay with him at Mercy’s. She’s usually not home until after midnight, so leave a light on or else I’ll probably wake you up.”
Now Eli is the one with a concerned look on his face. “After midnight? Where the hell does she go?”
The only response I can give him is a firm glare and an arch of my eyebrow toward Owen. “We can talk about that later. Right now, Owen and I are gonna grab dinner.”
“Dinner? I’m starving. Where’re you going?” He looks down at Owen. “Do you like ribs, kid?”
“McDonald’s.”
Eli’s excitement fades as he turns to me. “Really? You’re feeding him shit food when you babysit? What kinda nanny are you?”
“The kind who let him pick anywhere he wanted to go, and that’s what he chose.” I shrug, a little bummed myself. “I was pushing for Red Robin, but the boy has made up his mind.”
Eli turns back to Owen and places a hand on his shoulder. “You sure you want McDonald’s? She said you can pick anywhere.”
Owen’s whole body stiffens underneath Eli’s touch, but he manages to nod his head. “Yeah, I like McDonald’s.”
Eli backs away and reaches for his coat that’s hanging over the back of a chair. “All right. McDonald’s, it is.”
What the hell just happened? He did not just invite himself to dinner with us, right? Except, he totally did. Dammit. “Fine, let’s go.”
~**~
It’s not until we’re walking back with milk shakes in our hands that Owen finally seems to relax around Eli. And that’s about the same time Eli starts to get weird. Well, weirder than usual.
“Do you feel like we’re being watched?” He keeps checking over his shoulder like he’s expecting someone to jump out at us.
“No.” I roll my eyes and tug Owen closer to my side. “You’re just paranoid.”
Eli heaves out a low breath and shoves both his hands into his pockets. “Yeah, I guess.”
I don’t know if it’s his paranoia rubbing off on me or what, but I kinda feel it too. Not enough to make me nervous for my safety but just a strange vibe like someone is paying more attention to us than normal. “This is why you shouldn’t piss off bad people, E. You can’t ever relax because you’re constantly waiting for something to happen.”
He nods and looks around us again. “Yeah, I’m starting to think coming up with money isn’t the answer.”
“What does that mean?” I ask quietly.
Owen is a few steps ahead of us and doesn’t seem to be paying attention to what we’re saying, but I have to be careful about what we say in front of the kid. He’s obviously heard and seen a lot of grown-up shit in his time, but I don’t need to contribute to any of the fears in his head.
Eli looks me right in the eye. “I might have to come up with a more permanent solution.”
“God, Eli. You’re so stupid. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but promise you won’t do anything. We’ll talk about whatever lame-ass idea you came up with when I get home tonight.” I shove my hands into my jacket to keep them warm. It’s only fifty degrees out, but seventy is cold for me. I’m freezing, and the milk shake I just finished isn’t helping. “Until then, just don’t do anything to make this worse.”
After we arrive at our building and head upstairs, Eli turns toward my apartm
ent, and I follow Owen to Mercy’s, calling out to my brother over my shoulder. “I mean it, E. Don’t do anything stupid.”
He shrugs. “No promises, Em. I need to end this so I can move on.”
~**~
Mercy sneaks in at almost one in the morning with her shoes in one hand and the other hand pressed to the top of her head. “Can you do me a favor and find me a few Advils?”
“Sure. Are you okay?” I hop off the couch and go straight to her stash of meds in the kitchen. I take a second to fill up a glass with tap water before bringing everything back to her.
“My head won’t stop pounding.” Her eyes are squeezed shut, and her palms are wrapped around her skull like she’s trying to keep it on her shoulders.
“What happened?” I stand behind her and gently knead her head, trying to imitate the scalp massages I’ve gotten during haircuts.
“Just the music. It’s so loud in there. Sometimes it doesn’t bother me, but I made the mistake of having a glass of wine before my shift. That made the noise seem so much louder. Like a thousand times louder.”
“Maybe you should quit?” I flatten my palms around her head like she had her hands earlier and gently press.
Her hum of pleasure tells me it’s helping. “You know I can’t. I need the money.”
“You have the restaurant.”
Mercy barks out a laugh. “In one night at the club, I make two weeks wages at the diner. My credit cards are almost paid off, and I should be able to pay off my car within six months. I really can’t walk away from that yet.”
I know she’s right, but I hate that she’s in pain. If I made that kind of money, I wouldn’t leave it either. With bonuses and tips, I make good money delivering for Meals2Me…but not stripper kind of money. And if I had a body like Mercy’s, I’d definitely consider riding a pole a few nights a week. She’s all curves and boobs and the kind of vagina you only see in porn.
As for me, I’m not exactly the supermodel type. I don’t like how most of my parts look. I’ve asked my gynecologist if everything looks normal, and she’s assured me a hundred times that I look like all the other women she sees. But I don’t quite believe her. My breasts are fine, but not what I’d consider to be pretty. They’re not big, but they’re not small. My ass isn’t flat, but it’s not bubbly. My arms are thin but not particularly shapely. My stomach is flat, but not firm. My legs are probably my best feature since they’ve toned up from all the walking I do every day, but I’d never feel confident enough to put my body on display in front of strangers in the hopes that they’d toss cash my way. With my luck, they’d ask for their money back and walk out. At least that’s how that particular fantasy always plays out in my mind.
“Maybe we can get you some earplugs to wear.” I press my fingers under the base of her scalp and pull up slightly. “So it won’t seem so loud.”
She moans. “That’s not a terrible idea. If my hair’s down, no one will see them.”
“Exactly.” I tug the strands of her hair and then begin rubbing her scalp again. “And if anyone asks, you can just say the angel is taking a message from the heavens.”
She giggles and swats at me. “You’re such a dork.”
“Yes, but I’m the only dork rubbing your head at the moment, so you have to love me.”
“Oh, I definitely do.” She moans again and leans back into my hands. “So, how was Owen?”
“Perfect, as always. We went to McDonald’s…and Eli tagged along.”
Her eyes pop open at the mention of his name, and she seems much less tired. “Oh, yeah?”
Ugh. She does still have a thing for Eli. I can hear it in her voice. She can do so much better than my idiot brother. “Yeah, and it was fine, but Owen seemed a little nervous around Eli at first.”
“Really?” Mercy pulls out of my grasp and turns to face me. “Like how?”
I explain to her how Owen tensed up when Eli touched his shoulder and how Owen stuck to my side on our way to the restaurant. She listens intently, and I can tell she’s worrying about the same thing I am.
“Do you think he was abused by someone?” I don’t know if I want the answer because it’ll break my heart, but if there are other issues Owen’s dealing with that he hasn’t addressed, the sooner we know about them, the better.
Mercy drops her chin to her chest and lets out a long sigh. “God, I hope not. But it’s possible. My sister always left him with random people when she was high. Anything could have happened to him.”
I sit down and pull Mercy into my arms. “He’s safe now. We’ll make sure he stays that way.”
She nods and rests her head on my shoulder. “And that’s why I can’t quit, Em. Who knows what kind of therapy he still needs that he’s not getting.”
I hold her tighter. “I’m here too. We’ll get him whatever help he needs.”
Right after I figure out how to keep my brother from getting himself killed.
Chapter 12
Sebastian
A kid and husband? At least, that’s what it looks like from the photos Tim pulled from a surveillance camera outside her apartment. But I was in her apartment, and I didn’t see anything to indicate she lived with someone. Granted, I didn’t spend a lot of time searching through drawers on my way in or out that night, but I’m fairly certain I would have noticed if there had been wedding photos on the walls or toys on the ground.
But the photos on my computer don’t lie. That’s definitely Emma, and she’s definitely with a dude and a kid.
“I’ll do some digging now that I have photos.” Tim is already punching keys on his computer while I look at the photos he emailed to me.
“Thanks, bud.” I close the lid to my laptop and head out the door. Abbott asked me to meet him for dinner tonight. I tried to beg out of it, but he insisted. So, I’m meeting him at The Chop House in twenty minutes.
I don’t want to waste too much energy thinking about what-ifs and maybes. Either she’s married or not. Either she has a kid or not. I’ll find out the answers soon enough. And when I do, I’ll be able to make real decisions on how to proceed. Truthfully, I almost hope she does because then the decision will be made for me.
I won’t see her again, and I can go back to how things were. I’ll visit the girls at Pearls a few times a week, and I won’t get caught up in anything that might possibly lead to a relationship. Because that’s the last damn thing I need to be thinking about right now.
~**~
When I arrive at the restaurant, I’m not surprised to see Jason standing in the waiting area. Jason is Abbott’s twin brother and the more conservative of the two. When we were kids, Jason was the one who’d cover for us when we snuck out to raise hell with the Mayson boys. And when we needed a ride after getting drunk at a party, Jason was the one always at home studying, just waiting for our call. He’s a good guy but too uptight to hang with us on a regular basis. This must be important if Abbott’s bringing in the brains.
“Jason, it’s been too long.” I pull him into a quick hug, patting his back. “How are you?”
Jason gives me a simple shrug. “Good. You?”
I chuckle at that response. “Still a man of few words, I see.”
“My brother says enough shit for the both of us. I’m just evening things out.”
“Can’t argue with that.” I take a look around. “Is he here yet?”
“Not—” Jason stops speaking then nods toward the front door just as Abbott walks through it.
“What, you guys didn’t order our drinks yet?”
“Just waiting for you, man.” He shrugs out of his jacket before giving it to the maître d’.
“Abbott.” Jason gives his brother a half hug. “Why are you always late for our meetings?”
Abbott laughs. “I’m busy. I can’t just leave my club without making sure everything’s running smoothly.” He waves his finger between me and Jason. “I don’t think my partners would appreciate if I just bailed whenever I have dinner waiting for me.�
��
He’s not wrong about that. Jason and I are both cash investors, but Jason also has quite a bit of time and effort sunk into the club. He’s a venture capitalist and has invested in most of the companies Abbott and I own. Pearls is one of Jason’s seedier enterprises, but also one of the most lucrative.
We’re quickly escorted back to a private table, and Abbott wastes no time ordering two bottles of wine. I don’t really pay attention to what he orders because I don’t actually care. Whatever he gets will be good. I’m not a huge wine drinker, but with a nice steak, a glass or two of Cabernet can’t be beat.
We barely place our orders before Jason asks the question on both of our minds. “So, Abbott.” He swirls the wine in his glass and looks up at his brother. “Tell us what you’re trying to drag us into now.”
A huge grin covers Abbott’s face. “I thought you’d never ask.”
I take a drink from my glass and lean back in my chair, waiting. Abbott likes a dramatic pause before delivering good or bad news. “You know the West Samford Motel, right?”
Jason rolls his eyes, and I just smirk, already knowing where this is going.
“Yeah,” I say. “Didn’t they shut it down last year?”
That motel was notorious for being a place for CEOs and visiting businessman to hook up with prostitutes. It was a thing for years…decades. But the previous owners went bankrupt about a year ago, and it’s been closed ever since. Abbott has mentioned the place a few times over the past few months, and I’d kind of hoped he would’ve forgotten about it.
Clearly, he hasn’t.
“I bought it.” Abbott is beaming with pride as if announcing spectacular news.
“Why?” Jason and I ask at the same time.
“To fill the gap in this space.”
“Is there a gap?” Jason asks.
“I happen to know that there is,” Abbott responds. “I only went to the place a few times when it was open, but it served a market that is currently untapped.”
