by Lane Hart
“I know just the person for the job,” Sax says with a grin. “She’s amazing and beautiful with a medical background.”
“Well, ah, good,” I say with only a hint of jealousy for the woman he thinks is amazing and beautiful. What do I care when I’m leaving today? “I can talk to her before I leave if you want.”
“I was referring to you, Isobel,” he replies, slipping his hands in the front of his jeans and looking too good to be true, sexy with just enough of the bad boy image thanks to the leather.
“Sorry, Sax, but you know I can’t stay.” I have to decline, despite how good he looks.
“Can’t you postpone your journey for just a few days?” he asks, giving me big, blue puppy dog eyes. “Please?”
“He’s going to be fine,” I assure him, glancing over at his sleeping friend.
“I’d feel so much better if you were here to make sure,” Sax says. “So would the other guys. And as soon as Gabe replaces his tattoo gun and supplies, he could give you that cherry blossom and butterfly you wanted, right here in the house.”
“I can’t, Sax,” I say on a sigh. “I’m scheduled to sing at a bar in Charlotte tomorrow, then catch a flight to the UK for the International Balloon Fiesta.”
“You can’t or won’t stay?” Sax asks. “I’m sure you could reschedule with the bar.”
“I don’t like going back on my word when I agree to do something,” I tell him.
“It’s not going back on your word, just postponing for a few days,” he says. “And I bet you haven’t even booked a flight for the UK yet, have you?”
“The event is only a week away, and I can’t miss it. Today was scary and reminded me just how short life is,” I declare, refusing to budge.
“So then you can stay for, what, five days and still make the flight in time?” Sax asks. “Sometimes being spontaneous is about breaking rules, right? Even your own.”
Sitting down slowly on the edge of the bed to avoid jostling Cooper, I sigh as I stare up at the sexiest man I’ve ever met. I need to move on, to put miles between me and Sax before I grow even more attached to him. But for whatever reason, I find myself caving. “My car has probably been towed by the bar by now. I need to get it so I can finally change my clothes.”
“Done,” Sax says, his face lighting up with equal parts relief and joy. Holding out his hand, palm up, he says, “Give me your keys, and I’ll go get it right now.”
“Right now?” I repeat.
“Yes. You can stay here to keep an eye on Cooper, and I’ll get the prospect to give me a ride down in the van.”
“Okay,” I say as I go grab my purse I hung on the closet door and pull out the keyring. “Thanks,” I tell Sax when I drop them in his outstretched hand.
“No, beautiful. Thank you for agreeing to stay,” he says before he turns to leave.
“Only for five days,” I remind him. “Less, if he’s up and around before then.”
“I know,” Sax says when he pauses to look at me over his shoulder. “No matter how long you’re here for, I’m going to enjoy every fucking second.”
He then turns and walks out of the room. Just the sound of the back door opening and closing makes my chest tight. I miss him already, and he hasn’t even left the property yet.
This is bad.
I’ve got it bad for Sax, and I just agreed to spend more time with him.
“What the hell is wrong with me?” I ask aloud to myself before I slump down on the foot of the bed again. “You need to get better fast, buddy,” I tell the sleeping man.
The truth is, if I left and something happened to Cooper, I would feel awful and blame myself for leaving him unattended. These stubborn men should have taken him to the hospital, but I understand their reluctance after being only a few feet away from one explosion. They’re jumpy, worried what else may be coming at them, with no idea who it is that’s hurting them.
And maybe part of me is staying close to the Savage Kings until they rule out my father’s involvement. I could never forgive myself if he’s the one responsible for nearly killing one of Sax’s friends.
***
About half an hour after Sax leaves, I’m placing my hand on Cooper’s forehead and chest again to check for warmth indicating a fever when I hear a man’s raised voice from the living room. The rest of the guys cleared out of the bedroom so that Cooper could rest, but they obviously didn’t go far.
“There’s some attorney at the clubhouse asking where Cooper is. Jade said she’s pretty worked up and is refusing to leave until she gets an answer,” a deep voice says to the others.
“Is she short and stacked? Blonde? Liz something or another?” another voice asks, and the first guy repeats that information back like he’s on the phone talking to someone.
“Yeah, she is. You know her?”
Curious, and bored since Cooper is still out cold, I slip down the hallway to listen in on their conversation.
“Yeah,” the guy with tattoos on his arms, head and neck says. “She’s cool. Her and Cooper are fuck buddies.”
“Any objections to giving her this address?” Red Beard asks the guys in the room with the phone up to his ear.
“Yes,” the grumpy man in charge who originally tried to keep me out of the house says. “Someone could follow her from the clubhouse to here.”
“If she’s a lawyer, then I think she’s smart enough to notice if she’s being followed or not,” Tattoo guy says. “And it might do Coop some good if she’s here, having a friendly face and all.”
“What’s her name again?” the guy on the phone asks. “Elizabeth Townsend? Then why the fuck does Coop keep asking about a Jenna?”
“Is she one of the new dancers?” the grumpy man asks.
“Oh fuck. Jade, did the firefighters find anyone else in the building?” the man on the phone questions. “It was too early for any of the dancers to be there, right?”
When his face goes pale around his reddish facial hair, it’s safe to guess he just got bad news.
“Jenna Higgins was found dead at Avalon,” he informs the group. “The medical examiner told Jade she had a broken neck and spine, and likely died instantly when a beam from the ceiling fell on her. That must be why Coop keeps asking for her.”
“Oh no,” I gasp as I cover my mouth. Only after all the men turn to look at me do I realize that I must have said that out loud. “Sorry.”
Ignoring me, the guy on the phone says, “So what’s it going to be, Torin?”
“Tell the attorney to park two streets over on the corner of Sea Trail Road and Bishop. I’ll meet her there on foot and walk her over here,” Torin, I now know is his name, says.
***
“Jesus, Cooper,” the blonde in a black pantsuit says when she freezes at the bedroom doorway. A second later, she’s by his side, brushing his wavy, chin-length hair back from his face, her eyes scanning over all of the various bandages. “Is he…is he in a lot of pain?” she asks me.
“I don’t think so. He’s just sleeping. I gave him some morphine to take the edge off and make him more comfortable so he could rest.”
“So he’s going to be okay?” she asks.
“Yeah, I believe so. Most of the cuts are superficial. The biggest concern is his hearing.”
“His hearing?” she repeats, her face crumbling even more.
“It looks like both of his eardrums were ruptured in the explosion. He couldn’t seem to hear what we were saying to him and kept asking the same questions over and over.”
“Oh no,” she says as she sinks down to her knees next to the bed and clasps his hand in both of hers.
“The hearing loss could be temporary,” I tell her, and she nods silently. Her face is hidden by the curtain of her sleek, shoulder-length blonde hair, but I don’t have to see it to know that she’s crying.
“I’ll leave and give you some time alone,” I say, suddenly feeling like an intruder.
Since the house is pretty full, I grab my phone from m
y purse and slip out the back door to take a seat on the deck steps, eagerly waiting for Sax to return. Before I forget, I send a text to the bar owner in Charlotte to postpone, apologizing profusely.
I still can’t believe I agreed to stay for Sax, or that I’m glad to have a reason to hang around longer. For the first time since I started on this bucket list journey of mine, I was dreading leaving.
The door behind me eventually opens, and then the lawyer is coming out and slumping down on the step next to me. I think one of the guys said her name is Liz.
She doesn’t say a word, so I wait patiently until she’s ready to talk, if she decides to. Her occasional sniffles are heartbreaking.
“Do they know who did this?” she whispers.
“Not yet, I don’t think.”
“I hope they make them pay when they figure it out,” she murmurs. The mention of retaliation coming from such an elegant looking business woman is somewhat shocking. “Wow, I can’t believe I said that,” Liz immediately adds, slapping her palm over her mouth. “You must think I’m a horrible person. I guess I’ve just been sleeping with an outlaw for so long he’s rubbing off on me in all sorts of ways.”
“I’m sorry he was hurt,” I tell her.
“Me too, he’s a good man,” she agrees with a sigh. “And I wish I knew who Jenna was. After you left the room, Cooper sort of, um, moaned her name.”
“I overheard the guys say that she was one of the dancers at Avalon,” I inform her.
“Oh.” After several seconds she asks, “Do you think…I mean, it seems obvious that he was probably sleeping with her, right?”
“That I have no clue,” I say. “All I know is that she was in the building when it exploded. And she didn’t make it out.”
“Oh god,” Liz says on a gasp. “Now I feel like such a bitch for automatically disliking her.”
“So you and Cooper are…seeing each other?” I ask.
“Only casually, you know? Nothing serious. How can you be serious with a man who manages a strip club and is around perfect, naked women all day?” she asks. “And I mean, why else would Jenna have been at the club alone with Cooper before noon when they don’t even open until four?”
“Ah, no clue,” I say honestly. “Just because one possibility is that he was sleeping with her doesn’t mean he was. There are plenty of other reasons why she was with him.”
“Like what?” she asks.
“Um, well, maybe she was practicing her routine.”
The side-eye look Liz gives me is highly skeptical.
“Could it have been payday?” I ask. “Or maybe she left her phone there the night before and went to pick it up. Who knows? Don’t drive yourself crazy thinking the worst until you know for sure.”
“Thanks for talking me off the cliff,” Liz says with a pat to my forearm. “The messed up thing is that it doesn’t even matter if Cooper was sleeping with her or all of the girls. He could’ve died today, and I can’t imagine never seeing him again.”
“He’s going to have a tough recovery ahead of him, especially when he realizes his hearing has been compromised for however long and he finds out about Jenna,” I tell her. “I’m sure he would appreciate having you around to help him through it.”
“Thanks,” she says with a heavy sigh. “I just realized I don’t even know your name. I’m Elizabeth, by the way,” she says, offering me her palm that I take.
“I’m Isobel, Sax’s friend,” I reply. “And in another lifetime, I was a nurse. That’s what brought me here.”
“The Savage Kings didn’t want Cooper in a hospital where cops would want to ask him questions,” she says with a nod of understanding.
“That and they’re all vulnerable until they catch the person responsible. If someone wanted them all dead, it wouldn’t be hard to hit the hospital. I don’t think they’re just looking out for themselves.”
“Yeah,” Liz agrees. “That makes sense in a horrible way I guess.”
Chapter Fourteen
Sax
As soon as I’m alone in Isobel’s Lexus, which was thankfully still parked at the bar in Myrtle Beach, I call the number her father texted the address from.
“This better be important,” Governor Washington snaps when he answers.
“Your daughter nearly died today, so yeah, I would consider it important,” I tell him. He’s silent, and I can’t tell if that’s because he doesn’t know about the explosions or if he’s kicking himself in the ass for not considering that Isobel could be inside one of the buildings he blew up.
“What happened?” he eventually asks.
“Avalon and Savage Ink were blown all to hell today. Did you do it?” I ask him through gritted teeth.
“No,” he answers. “Was Isobel hurt?”
“We were outside the tattoo studio when it happened, so no,” I respond and hear his audible exhale of relief. So his heart isn’t completely cold and shriveled up.
“Why would you think I’m responsible?” he asks. “I’m trying to get reelected, which is highly unlikely if I blow things up, even shitty biker bars. Were there any fatalities?”
“No. As far as I know, just one King was injured,” I say since Avalon was still closed when it happened. Although, that could be why Coop kept asking about someone named Jenna.
“I’ll look into it,” he says. “If someone almost hurt my daughter, then I’ll make sure they’re caught and pay for their mistake.”
Judging from his offer to look into it and from his tone, I believe he may actually be telling the truth. He may hate that Isobel and I are together, but he’s the one that set it up. There’s no good reason for why he would blow our businesses up. Guess the Russians are at the top of our list of suspects.
“Could it be Russian retaliation?” the governor asks, thinking the same thing.
“Possibly. We wiped out most of the important members of Kozlov’s syndicate, although it’s possible they could be regrouping.”
“I’ll see what I can find out and let you know,” he says. “How are things going otherwise?” he asks. “Isobel is pretending you’re her boyfriend and actually came home, so you must have made a good impression.”
“Her nursing skills are coming in handy today. I’m doing the best I can, but she’s pretty set on getting to the United Kingdom within a week’s time.”
“Then you better come up with a plan to stop her. I need her to start making a few appearances on the campaign trail and back me with her mother’s trust fund.”
“You told me my job was to get her to settle down and go back to nursing, not work for you and pay for your fucking campaign!” I shout at him through the phone.
“One and the same. If Isobel stays, there’s no reason she can’t support my reelection.”
That’s what he thinks. From what I can tell, she loathes her father and doesn’t want anything to do with him or his campaign despite the fact that I was able to convince her to go see him on his birthday.
“You’re a dick, you know that?” I ask him, but his only response is to laugh and hang up on me.
***
Isobel
Liz and I are still hanging out on the steps, talking about everything and nothing when the black van pulls back up, followed by my car.
“Yay!” I stand up and cheer, not just because this means I can finally put on a pair of jeans, but I’m also happy to see Sax again when he shuts off the engine and opens the driver door. The delight is also accompanied by a jolt of desire, wanting to be with him, to feel his warm hard body on top of mine.
Which is stupid because he’s already given me enough orgasms to make me start feeling an attachment to him. I blame that attachment for convincing me to sleep with Sax again tonight, even though it’s a bad idea.
I’m getting ready to go down the steps to greet him and tell him my idiotic decision when the back door opens, and then my phone is suddenly plucked from my hand.
“What are you still doing with this?” Torin grumbles. �
��What is she still doing with this?” he shouts at Sax as he approaches us.
“Sorry, I forgot,” Sax answers with a wince.
“Forgot what?” I ask as I stand up.
“We need to keep your phone while you’re here.”
“Why?” I ask.
“Because someone could be tracking you, or you could be sending photos and shit to our enemies,” Torin huffs.
“Wow. Paranoid much?” I ask.
“Yours too,” Torin says when he glances down at Liz.
“Don’t worry, I’m leaving,” she says when she gets to her feet. “Cooper needs to rest, so I’ll take off.”
“Are you sure?” I ask her since I know she’s worried about him.
“Yeah, I just wanted to make sure he was still in one piece; but we’re not together, and he may not even want me here when he wakes up.”
“You could stop by tomorrow. Maybe he’ll be more alert…” I suggest, but Torin instantly shoots my idea down.
“No,” he says. “I don’t want a bunch of people coming and going from here until we neutralize the threat.”
“Understood,” Liz says as she swipes at the dirt on the back of her suit pants. “Will you just let Cooper know I came by and that I hope he recovers soon?”
“Sure,” I promise her before she jogs down the steps.
“Cedric, walk with her to her car over on Sea Trail Road,” Torin orders before he turns around and stomps back into the house while Sax comes up to the porch.
“Sorry,” he says when he takes my hand and pulls me down the steps and over to the picnic table in the backyard. “Torin’s in charge, and he’s a little on edge.”
