by Zoey Parker
The other guys showed up, and we partied and drank for a few hours. When I was just starting to feel the slightest buzz, I clapped my hands and called for a meeting. The guys all followed me into the meeting room of our clubhouse, and I shut the door.
“So,” I said, my voice echoing off the wood-paneled walls. “I gotta talk to y’all. Big changes in store. And I can thank Marlo, Tristan, and Troy for helping me out of the biggest jam I’ve ever been in.”
There was raucous cheering and applause. For a moment, I smiled. It was good to be back. But there was something on my mind, something even more pressing than the needs of the club. And her name was Katia Reynolds.
“So,” I continued. “We’re gonna have to have a talk and a vote about the way we keep running things. You guys on board with that?”
Troy, Tristan, Marlo, and the rest of the guys nodded. After I thanked them all for helping me out with a toast, we settled down into the leather chairs.
“This is serious. Katia talked to the cops. I don’t know what she did, but she worked her magic, and now they’re gonna leave us alone,” I said firmly. “So, we gotta make sure we stay on the right side of the law. Y’all think we can do that?”
Tristan snorted. “Boss, come on, we gotta stay legal now?”
I nodded firmly. “I came too close to losing this club, and I’m not going to let that happen again. And it’s your job to help out with this transition. We gotta make sure that we all have legitimate, and I mean legitimate, sources of income. I’m talking body-guarding and maybe a little security work.”
The guys nodded. “It’s a relief,” Troy called out. He grinned. “I don’t fuckin’ think I can take being shot again.”
The guys all laughed for a moment until I pounded on the table and called to order.
“I don’t give a shit what it is, but you all need to figure out what you’re good at and how to make money,” I said sharply. “Find a store that needs a guard, or find a way to pass a piss test and start working as a private investigator. You think you can do that?”
Once the guys realized how dead serious I was, they agreed to change their ways in a heartbeat. In a certain sense, it was almost sad. It was like the end of an era. No more guns, no more drugs for the Heaven’s Veil. But I knew that now we had a better chance of being able to keep our club, and furthermore, keep all of our guys out of prison.
When the meeting was over, I banged the gavel on the table and went to talk to Troy. He was still perched in a corner, watching the rest of the guys take shots and chat up the strippers. He looked forlorn and morose.
“What’s wrong, man?” Slapping a beer in Troy’s hand, I stared into his face.
“I dunno,” he replied.
I rolled my eyes. “Always so fuckin’ verbose,” I muttered. “You okay? You havin’ nightmares or any of that PTSD shit?”
Troy snorted. “Fuck no.” He took a long swallow of beer and banged the bottle down on the table. “How’re you, man? Lookin’ a little weak.”
I sighed. “I can’t get Katia out of my mind,” I muttered. “It’s been days, and I can’t stop thinking about her. I bet she fuckin’ hates me for leaving her and for not being able to save her faster. Wouldn’t you?”
Troy shook his head. “No. And besides, she did a good thing. She saved our asses with the cops, didn’t she? Why the hell do you think she hates your guts?”
“I don’t know,” I mumbled, taking a long drink of my own beer. The malty, yeasty liquid was well on its way to filling up my stomach and numbing some of the hurt and loneliness that I’d felt ever since I’d watched Katia climb into the back of a police cruiser for a ride to the hospital.
“Don’t be embarrassed, man. You love her,” he said simply. “Why not just tell her?”
I squinted. “Wow, you really think I’m a fuckin’ pussy, huh?”
Troy burst out laughing. “No. But come on, Dante. We’re getting old. We ain’t gonna be young forever. Don’t you ever think about settling down?”
I rolled my eyes. “No. That was never my job. That was always my brother’s plan and my family’s expectations.”
“And Katia Reynolds’s not good enough? What are you waiting for? Someone better?” Troy snorted into his beer. He finished the bottle and tossed it across the room where it landed gracefully in the recycling bin. “Stop waiting,” he added. “You’re happy with her; I can tell. I watched y’all at dinner, and I saw it.”
I nodded. “I do love her. Shit, did I just say that out loud?”
Troy laughed. “And she’d be happy to be with you, as long as we don’t do anything illegal,” he said. “Tell me, come on. That’s the real reason you’re so dead-set on not going back to drugs or guns, ain’t it?”
I hated to admit it, but he was exactly right. I nodded slowly.
“Yeah,” I mumbled. “That’s it. I don’t want her to be ashamed of me. I want her to be proud. I know I’m not some Hollywood fop, but I don’t give a fuck. She’s the most perfect woman I’ve ever met. Even when she’s being a total asshole, I love her.”
Troy rolled his eyes. “You know what you have to do—call her. Ask her out to dinner.” He raised his eyebrows. “I’m sure she paid you fuckin’ well. Use some of that money to take her someplace nice. Chicks like that,” he added confidentially like I didn’t know shit about women.
“I’ll think about it,” I replied moodily.
But deep down, I knew the damage was done. I was in love with Katia Reynolds, and if I didn’t tell her, I’d regret it for the rest of my life.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Katia
I waited days for Dante to call.
“He doesn’t care about me.” I pouted at Anya. We were lounging in my living room, going over my plans for the next month. “If he cares about me, he would’ve called me.”
Anya rolled her eyes. “That’s not true,” she said. “How did things end? I mean, you didn’t really get to talk to him much when they got Ryan, did you?”
I shook my head, letting my perfectly-waved blonde hair fall in front of my face. “I couldn’t talk to him,” I confessed. “I was covered in bruises and cuts. And besides, those cops dragged me off before I had a chance to say anything.”
I swallowed hard. Deep down, I was glad the cops had done something before I’d had a chance to embarrass myself further. I didn’t want to tell Dante how I felt, if only because I knew he didn’t feel the same way about me. Sure, we’d had great sex. But then he’d left me, and now he was avoiding me.
“I think he just wanted to get away from me, you know, a clean break,” I said carefully, reaching down for my cup of diet seltzer. “That’s how men are. They’re so noncommittal.”
“Call him,” she said with a sweet smile. “I know how you build things up in your mind, Katia. You always have to have the perfect man who’s a perfect gentleman. But Dante isn’t that kind of guy. And if you don’t tell him how you feel, you’re going to lose him forever.”
I licked my lips. Along with the rest of my body, they were finally starting to heal from Ryan’s assault. At the advice of the doctor in the emergency room, I’d started going to a counselor to deal with the “lingering trauma,” but aside from a few nightmares, I hadn’t really had anything too horrible to deal with. The bruises faded in a couple of days, the knot on my head drained down, and the cuts and scratches healed over in a remarkably short amount of time.
“Anyway, I’ll let you go,” Anya said, getting to her feet and wiping her hands on her round thighs. “I know you probably want some alone time.”
I felt a tug of anxiety on my heartstrings as I watched Anya gather her things.
“Hey,” I said softly. “Thank you. For—for everything.”
Anya smiled, looking pretty and ten years younger. She smiled back. “I love you, Katia,” she said. “Even if you’re a royal pain in the ass sometimes.”
I grinned, feeling much more like my old self. Just as I was about to get up to hug my best friend, my phone starte
d buzzing on the table. When I saw that Dante was calling, my heart leaped into my throat.
“You’d better answer that,” Anya told me slyly. “I know how you’ve been dying to talk to him and all.”
I giggled. “Go!” I yelled playfully. “Give me some privacy!”
# # #
Six hours later, I stood nervously in front of my full-length bedroom mirror, staring at the way the black cocktail dress hugged my body. It was something I’d bought a few months ago but had yet to wear, and I was still self-conscious of the way it pushed my breasts into a high cleavage.
Still, it was probably the best thing I had for a date with Dante at Marcus & Fine, one of L.A.’s newest and most expensive steakhouses.
Sliding into the back seat of a cab, I pulled a mirror out of my purse and glanced at my reflection. With my hair teased and slightly over my forehead, the last of my bruises were all but invisible. Inside, though, I was feeling more nervous than I’d ever felt in my life. More nervous than when I auditioned for my first pageant, and much more nervous than I’d felt when I’d gone into my oncologist’s office to hear whether or not the leukemia had finally left my body.
Dante was sitting at a table in the back, looking incredibly handsome in a dark jacket with a dark T-shirt underneath. I instinctively grinned when I saw him.
Dante raised his eyebrows. “The lady arrives,” he said smoothly. He leaped to his feet, pulling my chair out in front of me. “Would she like to sit?”
“She would, indeed,” I replied as I sat down on the smooth velvet chair. The restaurant was dim and intimate with roses and candles on each table. Even though the tables around me were filled with chattering couples, I still felt like Dante and I were alone together.
“So,” I said softly. “How are you?”
“Well, things are getting back to normal,” he said. “I fuckin’ miss your condo though. That was a sweet place to crash for a while. My apartment doesn’t really feel the same.”
I smiled and blushed at the same time. As the waiter appeared to take our drink order, I grabbed the wine list from Dante before he could say anything.
“Ma’am?” The waiter glanced down at me with disdain. “Did you have a question?”
“No questions,” I replied sweetly as I pushed the wine list towards him. “But we’ll take the second most expensive bottle of wine on the list.”
Dante chuckled, and the waiter threw him a quick glare before turning his attention back to me. “But, madam,” he said calmly. “You don’t even know which kind of wine that would be.”
I shrugged. “I don’t care. I just know that it’s gonna be good.”
When the waiter left us alone, Dante stretched. He raked a hand through his dark hair; I noticed that it wasn’t nearly as unruly as usual. I blushed at the thought of Dante taking more time than usual to get ready for me. Something about that idea turned me on more than I was willing to admit.
I scooted my chair closer to the table. “So—”
The wine came, and I poured us each a generous glass, taking a sip of mine. The wine was a pinot noir, and it was delicious. I savored the way the rich, alcoholic flavor poured down my throat. It was almost enough to calm me, which is something I hadn’t felt since before The Incident had taken place.
“So?” Dante raised his eyebrows and eyed me. “What were you about to say?”
“I was just going to ask you how things were going. But now I think that we need to make a toast. We have our drinks now.”
“Okay.” Dante and I clinked glasses. His dark blue eyes stared into my own, and I felt a small shiver of arousal crawling down my spine.
“So, what do we toast to?”
Dante grinned. “You always gotta put me on the spot with these hard questions. But I think we should toast to you, Katia, for taking charge and clearing my club’s name with the cops. And for being fabulous, no matter what.”
My cheeks burned bright red. For a moment, I couldn’t even meet Dante’s eyes. Then I clinked my glass against his and drank.
“You were cool, too,” I said softly. “You—you saved me, Dante.”
Dante shook his head. “I didn’t do a good job. I really fucked up. It’s good you’re so strong, Katia. I know most women wouldn’t have been able to go through that and come out on top. But you…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “You’re a fucking champ.”
“I know and modest, too,” I replied, laughing and cocking my head to the side.
“You’re incredible,” Dante said in all seriousness. He stared into my eyes. When I could no longer meet his gaze, I had to look away.
I sighed. “I–I don’t know, Dante. I just—I can’t believe you left me. I woke up, and you were gone. Why did you leave me?” I demanded.
He ran his fingers through his hair, which ruffled the parts he’d tried hard to tame, and he let out a sigh. “I was trying to be the hero. I thought that I could take care of Ryan in one night, and in the morning, all your problems would be gone. I knew that you would try to stop me if I told you that I was going.”
“I probably would have,” I said with a bit of shame. I rolled my eyes and took another long drink of wine. “I’m sorry for being angry,” I added. “I just think I lost my confidence, or whatever it was that I had beforehand. Everything’s changed.”
Dante snorted. He drained his wine glass and poured himself a refill, smirking at me the whole time. “Well, I talked to the rest of Heaven’s Veil. And the other guys are with me, and they want to make sure that we stay as legitimate as possible. And Katia, that’s all thanks to you. If you hadn’t put in a good word for us, fuck, I don’t know. The cops would probably still be out there chasing me.”
I giggled. “I can’t believe they listened. If I had a dollar for every guy who thought I was some actress instead of myself.” I rolled my eyes.
“Well, I’m glad they listened,” Dante said seriously. “I’m actually going into body-work full time now, and the rest of the guys are going to do security or guarding or work as mechanics. Guns and drugs are off the table,” he added. “And thank you, Katia. Without you, I wouldn’t have had the incentive to really tell them how things had to change.”
I nodded. “So, you’re going to be working as a bodyguard again?”
Dante nodded. “Some girl, the daughter of the former mayor, she thinks she needs help. So, I’m going to be moving into the apartment over her garage to keep an eye on things for a few days.”
I couldn’t help it; my eyebrows went up. Suddenly, my mind was filled with horrible thoughts. What if Dante decided he liked this girl better than me? I knew exactly who he was talking about, too. She was young and very pretty. She’d already had dozens of boyfriends, and I knew that she’d like a guy as hot as Dante to watch over her. Probably a little too much , I thought as my eyes narrowed in jealousy.
“What?” Dante frowned. He took a sip of wine. “Aren’t you happy that I’m not a criminal anymore? Shit, Katia, part of the reason why I’m doing this is for you.”
I stared at him. “I don’t even know what that means,” I said, setting my wine down. The alcohol was starting to make me feel a little hot and fluttery inside.
“It means that I want to impress you,” Dante said patiently.
I licked my lips, not believing his words until he stretched his hand across the table and laced his fingers with mine. When he squeezed my hand, I finally looked into his blue eyes.
“You mean that? You won’t get all crazy over this new girl?”
Dante snorted. “She’s a child. I like you better.”
I love you , I almost said. The words were on the tip of my tongue. I swished them around in my mouth, staring at Dante and wondering if he felt the same way. After all, there wasn’t much he was getting from me anymore. I wasn’t paying him, and he’d even said that he was trying to impress me. So, what was I waiting for?
“So, again,” Dante said wearily. He grabbed my glass and refilled it to the brim. “Thank you, Katia
. For saving my reputation and the reputation of my club. I really owe you.”
“It’s not a problem,” I replied tenderly. “I love you.”
Dante stared. As the blood drained from his handsome face, I felt my heartbeats race in my chest.
“I love you, too,” Dante said. He squeezed my hand. “Is there anything I can do to thank you?” His voice was husky and deep. Just listening to him sent frantic, delicious shivers down my spine.
“Well, there’s one thing...”
# # #
Twenty minutes later, we were in the back of a cab, kissing passionately. Dante wrapped his arms around my neck and pulled me close, trailing hot kisses down my neck and breastbone until I was moaning with pleasure. As he slipped his fingers over the bodice of my black cocktail dress, I wriggled under his touch, desperate for his fingers to touch my bare skin.
