by Faith Gibson
Fin cocked an eyebrow. “Would you like to expound on the everything part?”
“He was nice to me without knowing me. I’m not used to men being nice. Is it some kind of code you guys have?”
“We do have a code, Rocky. We protect those who cannot protect themselves, and those who are unaware they need protecting in the first place.”
“So you’re not the mafia.”
Banyan laughed softly, but Finley let out a belly laugh. “Definitely not the mob. We’re tougher than they are,” Fin said with a wink. Rocky laughed with them, but Finley quickly turned away. “I, uh… need to…” He grabbed his glass of tea and disappeared with it and his plate.
“Did I do something wrong?” Rocky asked Banyan.
“No, love. Part of our code is we protect the mates of each of our Brothers, and we never cross any type of line that would hurt the other or upset him. Finley is a flirt, and as such sometimes forgets himself. With Sinclair out of town and you under our watch, Finley doesn’t want to betray Sin’s trust by flirting with you, no matter how innocent his intention.”
“Is that why he was freaking out when Sin asked him to stay here with me?”
“Yes. Sinclair must trust Finley implicitly where you are concerned.”
“Why did you use the word mate? That’s an odd term for wives.”
Banyan looked at the ceiling briefly before meeting her eyes. “Not all of our Brothers are married to their women. Partner is another term we use interchangeably for those who remain unmarried, but mate is the word most often associated with the one the cosmos has chosen for us.”
“The cosmos, huh? You said your boyfriend doesn’t want you. Is he not the mate the cosmos chose for you?”
“He is, but sadly, he wants nothing to do with me. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”
“Right, your phone calls.” Rocky smiled, and Banyan inclined his head to her before leaving her alone in the kitchen. Rocky was stuffed, but she couldn’t stop eating the chicken. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had such wonderful food. Her aunt had been a terrible cook, and Rocky had never really learned. Maybe she would ask Ingrid to teach her. You’re getting ahead of yourself again. That she was.
With Sin out of the country, Rocky was supposed to be weighing the pros and cons of getting involved with someone so quickly. Again. So far, all the arguments were in the pro column other than the time factor. Rocky took the last bite of chicken and rose to rinse her plate off. After she placed the empty dish and glass in the dishwasher, she leaned against the counter and took in her surroundings. The view out the window was inviting. Sin’s home was surrounded by greenery, and Rocky tried to imagine living in such a place, but she honestly couldn’t. She still didn’t understand what he saw in her. He could have any woman he wanted, but according to Sin, he wanted her.
Rocky pushed away from the counter and stepped out the back door. Her phone pinged with a text. She grinned, fully expecting it to be from Sin, but when she realized it was from Bridget, her happiness waned a bit.
Still on for this afternoon with the talk?
Yes. Banyan and I will be leaving soon. He wants a quiet walkthrough.
Do you want me there?
Rocky didn’t want Bridget to feel obligated to come in early, but she would be the one working with Banyan. Totally up to you.
Bridget responded a few seconds later. I’d like that. See you soon.
“Here you are,” Banyan said from behind her. Rocky jumped and grabbed her chest.
“God, you scared me.” She stuck her phone in her pocket while her breathing slowed down. “You guys are too quiet.” Sin was just as quiet entering a room, but with him, she always felt his presence. It was as though the two of them were connected mentally somehow.
“I apologize. You must have been deep in concentration with whomever you were texting.”
“Bridget. She wants to meet us at RC’s if that’s okay with you.”
“Of course. Are you ready to go?”
“Yes. Let me grab my purse.” Rocky hurried and retrieved her purse from the kitchen and met Banyan outside. “Am I driving or riding with you?”
“Which would make you more comfortable?” Banyan asked, keeping his distance. Must be that code thing these guys had going on. The only thing Rocky didn’t understand was why Finley and Sinclair had shared women if they had a code.
“I don’t mind riding with you. Taking two cars is foolish since we’re going to the same place.”
“It would be a waste of gas, but your comfort is of more importance.”
“I’ll be fine riding with you.”
“Excellent. Shall we?” Banyan gestured to where his car was parked. Rocky was eager to spend some quality time with the man and possibly pick his brain about Sinclair.
Chapter Nineteen
Rocky climbed into the seat of Banyan’s SUV as he held the door for her. When he slid inside and was seated, he put the key in the ignition and started the motor. Before he pulled out of the driveway, he said “I need to ask you a rather personal question. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, and I apologize in advance if I upset you.”
Rocky thought he was going to ask her about her relationship with Sin. She was wrong. “Ask your question.”
Banyan waited until he’d navigated onto the roadway before asking, “Do you think your cousin Tommy is capable of something as atrocious as child molestation?”
“What?” Rocky whispered. How could Banyan possibly know about that?
“Sin tasked me with looking into his past. What I’ve uncovered so far has led me to believe your cousin is one sick and twisted sonofabitch. Pardon my language.”
“I’ve called him worse, so no apology necessary.”
“I take it your relationship was strained when you lived under the same roof?”
“You could say that.” Rocky didn’t know Banyan well enough to trust him, but Sinclair did. He trusted the man to not only keep Rocky safe but to also look into the men in her past. “And to answer your question, yes, I think he’s capable.” Rocky kept her eyes focused on the road in front of them, but she could see Banyan watching her out of the corner of her eye.
“Thank you,” Banyan responded softly.
Rocky hated thinking about her years spent suffering at the hands of her cousin, so she did her best to think of something happier. Like Sin. It had only been a few hours since his flight left, but she was empty without him. How was that even possible? “Can I ask you something?” Rocky didn’t know if he would answer, but she needed to ask anyway.
“Yes.”
“Do you believe it’s possible for two people to feel a deep connection after just meeting? I’m not talking about love at first sight. I doubt I’d even know what love felt like if it smacked me upside the head. I’m talking about a deep-rooted tether that has you thinking about someone constantly.”
“Yes, I do,” Banyan answered immediately. “There are those people who are meant to be together, and no amount of fighting it will matter.”
“What about you? You mentioned your mate didn’t want you. Do you still feel the pull to be with him?”
“Every single minute of every single hour. And when he’s around? It’s the worst kind of feeling in the world not to be able to pull him into my arms and hold him. Kiss him.”
“I’m sorry. I really don’t understand this thing between Sin and me. He can have anyone he wants.”
“Can he?” Banyan asked as he turned the motor off. Rocky had been so caught up in her thoughts she hadn’t realized they’d arrived at the bar.
“Can he what?”
“Have anyone he wants? He wants you, Rocky. Can he have you? I know it’s been a fast twenty-four hours, but I promise you this; Sinclair Stone is serious about a relationship with you. He will move heaven and earth to make you happy. To keep you safe. To make you his.”
“I… I’m pretty sure I don’t have a choice.” Rocky let it go and got out of the car. A
s Banyan met her at the front door, Rocky fished her keys out of her purse. “I guess I should give you the key,” she said after she turned it in the lock and opened the door. Rocky froze, and Banyan all but ran in to her. “What the fuck?” she muttered. The inside of the bar was wrecked. Tables and chairs were splintered into fragments. The bottles of liquor once lining the shelves behind the bar were smashed to pieces. The mirror behind the shelves was spider-webbed.
When Rocky tried to step farther into the room, Banyan grabbed her arm and shook his head, placing his finger over his lips. Rocky remained still and silent while Banyan stared off into space. He released her arm, and said, “I’m going to call the police. Please don’t touch anything.” Rocky stood where she was, not able to comprehend what she was seeing. Never in all the years she’d worked at or owned RC’s had there been a break-in. Since Banyan had signed the papers stating the bar was his, this was technically his mess, but it didn’t hurt her heart any less.
“What the fuck?” Bridget screeched as she entered through the back hallway. She turned around in circles as she took in the damage. “Rocky, are you okay? What the hell happened?”
“I’m fine. It was like this when we got here. Don’t touch anything. Banyan’s on the phone with the cops now.”
“The safe!” Bridget exclaimed and took off toward the office. Rocky followed her and stopped Bridget from touching anything.
“Wait, Bridget.” They both took a good look around at the mess in the office. The items she kept on top of the desk were now strewn across the floor. The sofa cushions were slashed, the stuffing having been pulled out. The supply cabinet doors were open and the contents in disarray.
When Banyan caught up to them, Bridget said, “At least they didn’t get the money.”
“How do you know?” Banyan asked, looking around at the mess.
“Because the garbage can is still where it should be,” Bridget said, pointing to the metal bin next to the desk. “The safe is underneath those floorboards. If whoever did this knew where the safe was, they would have moved the trashcan, which would have triggered the alarm. Since neither one of us got a call in the middle of the night, the money’s still there.”
“Why didn’t the alarm go off when things were being broken in the bar?” Banyan asked.
Rocky stared at her feet. This was on her. Banyan’s bar had been trashed and the culprits got away because Rocky had let the security invoice lapse one too many times, and the alarms had been disabled.
“Rocky?” Bridget took her hand. “Please tell me the alarms still work.”
Rocky couldn’t hold back the tears. She was so ashamed. She had been making one stupid choice after another ever since she said yes to a date with Blake, and now someone else was paying for it. “I’m sorry, Banyan,” she whispered.
“It’s okay. I have insurance, and I was going to remodel anyway.”
Rocky looked up to see if he was serious. He reached out to touch her face but pulled away before they made contact. “The thing that pisses me off is no one except the three of us knows the bar is mine. This was done to you, Rocky. This chaos was directed at you, and I vow I will find whoever is responsible and make them pay.” Banyan cocked his head to the side and said, “Rett’s here.”
Banyan left the women alone in the office, and Bridget pulled Rocky into a hug. She allowed the woman to hold her briefly before she walked away. This was Rocky’s fault, and she didn’t deserve compassion or concern. Rocky pulled a cigarette out of her purse and lit it. Bridget frowned but didn’t say anything. As she inhaled deeply, it dawned on her this was the first cigarette she’d had since meeting Sin. Now, she wanted to smoke the whole pack.
“Miss Cartwright, Miss Jones,” the policemen said as he entered the office, tipping his hat to them. Rocky crushed the cigarette out on the bottom of her shoe and shoved the butt in her pocket. She wiped the tears from her face, not caring if the cop was waiting on her to acknowledge him. When she first met him in the hospital, Rocky figured Rett was part of the brotherhood since he had the same look about him. Focused. Intense. Now she was positive. “I wanted to question you both before I called in the crime scene analysis unit.” Rett allowed them to sit down on the torn up sofa as he asked them the standard questions about if they had any suspects, whether they thought an employee would have done this, or if they had any enemies. “The back door was jimmied open, Rocky. I want you to make sure your apartment is intact before we go any further.”
Rocky hadn’t even thought about her apartment. She remained seated, because she didn’t know if she would be able to stay calm if her apartment looked as bad as the bar. “Do you want me to go look?” Banyan asked.
Rocky nodded. She pulled the ring of keys out of her purse, found the one that unlocked her doors, and handed it over. “This opens both doors,” she muttered. Bridget remained by her side, and Rett continued to ask questions. When Banyan returned, his face said it all. “Oh, god.” Rocky buried her face in her hands, and the tears began falling again. How she wished Sinclair was there with her. She needed his strong arms around her, but he was somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean.
Rocky was numb by the time the bar had been combed over for fingerprints and other clues as to who might have broken in. With the amount of people who came and went at any given time, it would be nearly impossible to find whoever was responsible since Rocky didn’t have working security cameras. As the employees arrived for their meeting, each one was asked where they’d been between the time the bar closed and when Rocky had found the mess. She had explained to Rett she knew none of the employees would have done this. Not to her but especially not to Bridget. They all needed the money, and with the bar closed, they’d be out of work.
Banyan had taken the opportunity to introduce himself as the new owner. The immediate reactions had been less than stellar, but when Banyan explained they would all be receiving a paycheck while the bar was being put back together, that went a long way to win him over to their side. A couple of the guys offered to stay and help clean up after CSU released the bar to them.
Instead of sitting on her ass feeling sorry for herself, Rocky dusted herself off and pitched in with the clean-up. Banyan said it wasn’t necessary, because he would hire a crew to come in and clean, but Rocky wasn’t having it. This was her mess, and she was going to do her part, however small it was. Bridget had been right about the money. The safe was untouched under the floorboards, and that was the only saving grace Rocky could find in all the rubble.
Over the next couple of hours, she and the others got into a groove. The men cleared out the tables and chairs while Rocky swept up broken glass behind the bar. Bridget had taken the office and was doing her best to salvage the paperwork. The more broken glass she cleaned, the heavier her heart became. Deciding to take a break, Rocky headed out back so she could grab a cigarette. Stepping out the back door where the employee smoke area was, she lit up before pulling her cell phone out of her pocket to see if Sin had texted. He hadn’t, but he was on a plane, and even though Rocky had never flown before, she was pretty sure you weren’t supposed to use cell phones on a flight.
Taking a long pull, Rocky allowed the smoke to hang in her throat a few seconds before blowing the excess smoke into the air. She was leaning against the brick of the building, her hair catching in the roughness. While she smoked, she pulled her hair free only to lean back and get it caught again. The slight tug on her scalp was a needed distraction from what was going on inside the building. When the ember had almost reached the filter, Rocky took one more drag and deposited the butt into the tall outdoor ashtray.
As she turned around to head inside, someone ran into her, knocking her phone to the ground. When she noticed who it was, Rocky asked, “What are you doing here?” Shelby Billings. Again. Something about her being behind the building during the day set off an alarm inside Rocky’s head. She tried to step around the woman, but Shelby blocked her path.
“Get out of my way,” Rocky demanded, bu
t Shelby smiled at her. A sting pinched Rocky’s neck, and she slapped her hand over the spot. She tried to turn around, but before she could see who was behind her, Rocky slipped to the ground.
“Hurry up,” Shelby seethed at whoever was helping her. Rocky’s body was already going numb. She tried to get up, but someone grabbed her under her armpits and dragged her behind the Dumpster. Rocky’s efforts to get away were hampered by someone holding her down while the other person jabbed a needle into the bend of her arm. The fluid filling her veins soon turned to fire, but she was helpless to do anything about it.
Right before Rocky lost all consciousness, pain shot through her wrist. The sting from the sharp blade was muted by the warmth of the blood trickling down her arms. Soon after, the same feeling in her other arm registered in her brain. No! She didn’t want to die. Not now. A knife was placed into her palm and her fingers wrapped around the hilt. She blinked her eyes, begging them to stay open. When the person responsible came into view, Rocky screamed, but it was only inside her head.
Sin was ready to jump out of the airplane and fly beside it. His beast had been restless ever since he’d left Rocky at the airport. Sin had a good feeling about Rocky agreeing to be his mate, but he still wanted to take things slow and give her time to decide he was one of the good guys. It was hard to focus his attention on the information he’d received from Xavier. At this point in the game, Sin was sure he wouldn’t be returning with his mother. Donovan had managed to get word to X that Athena was being held in Alistair’s compound on Ithaca, the same place Donovan had managed to infiltrate with none of Alistair’s Goyles catching on. That was the good news. The bad news was the compound was the training ground for Alistair’s army, and Sinclair wouldn’t be able to get anywhere close to his mother.
After talking it over with Rafael and Frey, it was decided Sin would make his presence on the island known. He would stay long enough for Alistair to get wind of “Rafael” being there. As soon as that was accomplished, Sin would return home where they would plan their next course of action. Xavier had reached out to the twins, and the two had agreed to meet with Sin as soon as he arrived. Even though Sin would love nothing more than to stay on a yacht at the marina Hunter was currently living in, he felt it would be more suited to Rafael’s tastes to find a secluded villa. Alistair’s compound was on the north side of the island, therefore Sin would stay on the south, as far away from the Greek King as possible. Sin wasn’t there to confront his uncle, merely to make a showing so word would get back to Alistair.
