by Angel Steel
Zane’s arms loosen slightly around my waist, but he’s still holding me to him.
“If I see one single tear over him, he’s dead, Hellcat. I mean it,” he says, but his eyes are on Zane.
I reach out and touch his arm. “I know. Now can we go back to work?”
Torch’s eye flick to Zane’s one more time then he nods his head. “Fine. I have things I need to do for your dad anyway,” Torch says stepping back.
I grip Zane’s hands and remove them from me and step forward out of his reach.
“Amelia?” There was that question in the air between us.
Shaking my head, I walk toward the door, leaving both of them in the booth. I need a minute to myself. I can’t keep allowing my body to want Zane. How the fuck was I meant to stop that from happening? I can’t fight what I’m starting to feel for him. I knew it was a bad idea to have any kind of thoughts for him. I don’t know who he is, or why he’s here, and more to the point the main thing, exactly how long was he sticking around for?
The way it was going, my heart will be his in no time and I don’t know whether I can handle that. Handle giving him the only undamaged part left of my heart. Walking toward the bathroom, something deep inside is telling me that if I did he would break it into a million pieces. But how do you fight against your body? The one thing it wants the most is the one thing that could ruin me completely.
I haven’t seen Amelia all week. She has purposely ignored me. Every chance I had a minute alone with her, she bolted. And when I found her again, she was with someone. I couldn’t get near her. Checking the time on my phone, I quickly place it back in my pocket and look around. Chopper wasn’t meant to be back for another twenty minutes. I’d watched him leave the office cursing and stomping out the back door.
Stepping toward the door, I glance over my shoulder one more time and quietly open the door and slide into the office. Locking the door, I step away and look around the tiny office space while I stand.
Hitting the receiver near my ear. “I’m in,” I say making my way to his desk.
“All clear out here,” Rosko’s voice echoes through the ear piece.
I glance over the desk, registering where everything is before I start to lift things looking for the order books. Opening the drawer to the left and shifting papers, I push my hand in feeling my way around, but don’t feel what I’m after. I do the same with the other drawer but come up empty. Getting frustrated, I only have a ten-minute window to get in and out. I shift toward the filing cabinet and begin flicking through the files. Invoice after invoice in alphabetical order, but no damn books.
Looking around the room again, trying to figure out where the books might be, my eyes land on a painting on the wall close to the door. Taking a step toward it, I look it over. It doesn’t seem to blend in with what’s in the room. Technically nothing matched in the room, but something about this picture stands out. Stopping right in front of it, raising my hand, I push it to the side and find a silver safe staring back at me. Smiling, I lift the picture from the wall and place it on the sofa chair to my left and stand still looking it over.
“I found a safe. I guess the books are in there,” I speak into the receiver.
“Why would they be in there unless there’s something to hide?” Rosko says in my ear.
“Obviously there in there for that reason, for someone not to find them,” I respond back. “I can’t get into it now. I need more time with it.” I pick the picture back up and begin relocating it. I freeze when I hear the door handle rattle from the other side. “I thought you were meant to keep an eye on the area, Rosko,” I hiss, moving away from the wall and toward the door. Reaching for my Glock at my side and flicking the safety off, I aim it to the door, my hand resting on the handle.
I hear Rosko’s fingers skim over a keyboard through the ear piece. “It’s Amelia.”
“Shit!” I place my Glock back into my jeans. Fuck! How am I going to explain being in here to her? The handle rattles again, then she starts knocking.
“Dad,” her voice echoes through the closed door.
“You either open the door and explain or wait till she leaves,” Rosko says.
I can’t explain just yet. We need the books first before I say anything to her. The door handle shifts again then stops. I hold my breath waiting. Leaning my ear against the door, I wait till I hear her steps move away from the door and out of my hearing range.
Letting the breath I was holding out, I unlock the door and stand there as I lean against it. I have a strong feeling in my gut that the books are in the safe, now it’s a matter of how the fuck to get back in here and have enough time to get the safe open and have a look. Maybe it’s time to find out more from Hellcat about the business. Get her to tell me where the books are.
Laughing, like that’s going to fucking work. She’d end up hurting me in some way. Grabbing a hold of the handle, I wait for the all clear. Once I get confirmation, I open the door slightly and step out and close it behind me, then make my way toward the front of the shop. They had to find another way in to check the safe out. The only time it would work is when there’s no one here and that was at night.
A plan had to be set in motion. If I can spend a little time alone with Hellcat and get what I can out of her. Then they can proceed with the safe, but that has to be soon. Very soon.
I’ve dogged Zane every chance I can. After the incident in the booth with him, then Torch, I can’t face him. I don’t want to explain what Torch was about to say and I know Zane has questions about it. How could I tell him that I was still hooked up in my past? That I can’t get over my dead husband! That I can’t move on from it. Shaking my head, I make my way toward the front of the shop to where Lexie is dealing with a customer.
Dropping my body into the spare sofa chair beside the front counter and closing my eyes. I know I have to move forward, but was Zane the one to move forward with? He’s bad news, I know it, but I’m drawn to him in every way and it’s getting harder to fight it. I don’t know if I want to stop or not. My body craves his in every possible way, and he was beginning to seep into my heart. That, I was fighting hard. I don’t want someone else replacing Dante in there. That was his place… alone. Was it possible to love more than one person at one time? I didn’t want to let go of Dante completely. No one was ever going to take his place.
I jump from the sofa when something hits me on my thigh. Opening my eyes, I glance up, and Lexie is standing before me frowning down at me.
“What’s up with you?” she asks as she sits beside me.
“Nothing,” I mumble, resting my head in my hands.
“Don’t tell me that shit, Lia. I know you, remember?” she says resting her hand on my leg.
Shit! Was it that obvious that something was going on with me? Sitting up straighter. “I slept with Zane,” I whisper through my hands.
“What!” she gasps beside me. “Holy shit, babe. Wait.” I look up and face her. “Why are you upset about it?” she asks me.
“I haven’t slept with anyone other than, Dante.”
“Sweetie,” I hear the concern in her voice.
“I know Lex. I need to move on, but do you know how hard that is when everywhere I look I see him. I know he’s here with me, but not really.”
She grabs hold of my hand and holds it in her own. “Lia, life isn’t meant to be easy. People come and go in our lives and when that happens we need to learn to move on without them. I know what happened hurts, but you can’t keep holding onto the past. Dante would want you to move on with your life and be happy.”
“I know that, Lex, but it’s hard. I miss him. I want him here with me,” I whisper holding back the tears.
“Maybe it’s a sign that Zane is here. Maybe Dante sent him to you so you’d be happy and move on with your life. You need some happiness, Lia.”
“I doubt Zane being here is a sign, Lex,” I laugh.
“Probably not, but you need something, and I really think Zane is the o
ne to give it to you. Even if only for now.”
Maybe she’s right. Maybe I could enjoy the time while Zane was here even if it is for only a short time.
“You’re thinking about him now, aren’t you?” Lexie asks a grin covering her lips.
“No,” I answer, getting up from the sofa chair and walking over to the counter while I begin to flick through the calendar.
“You so are, you dirty bitch.” Lexie laughs, slapping me on my right arm. “So am I going to get any of the deets on how it was with him? Oh wait, how big is he?” she asks curious of my answer.
“I’m not telling you how big he is, Lex. Jesus!”
“Aww, come on. Just use your hands. You don’t have to actually tell me if you can’t,” Lexie tells me raising her eyebrows up and down continuously.
“You need to get laid,” I laugh as I tell her. I close the calendar and begin to walk toward the back.
“Already happened, twice actually,” Lexie says behind me.
“Well, you don’t need me to tell you anything then,” I say walking around the corner.
“Lia, you haven’t had sex in like forever, and it doesn’t count when you do it yourself,” she pauses giggling. “I’m happy you finally got a cock in you. You haven’t been yourself around here and I miss my best friend.”
I stop walking and turn to face her. “I’m sorry, Lex. I’m here now, okay? Let’s get together tonight and we can talk about anything you want.”
“Finally, I knew you’d crack eventually. How about 8:00 p.m. tonight, your place? And I want all the details, nothing left out at all.”
Laughing. “Yeah, fine. I’ll see you then.” I turn around and wave over my shoulder and make my way back to the change room.
Maybe it’s time to move forward and finally do something for myself. Pushing the door open, I step in and move to my locker. Pulling out my work clothes, I sit down and begin to unzip my boots. Removing my clothes and standing there in only my panties and bra, I reach for my shorts and pull them on. Ready to pull my shirt over my head, someone comes stomping into the room, the door slamming behind them. Screaming, I hold up the shirt in front of my chest, covering myself.
Shit! Zane.
Gripping the shirt to my chest, his eyes land where I’m holding it. Gulping the lump in my throat. “What the hell is wrong with you? If the door is closed means someone is in here, Zane.” I turn my back to him and quickly pull my shirt on. Getting my breathing under control, I turn back to face him.
“I’ve been trying to talk to you all week,” he says standing there completely still, not once taking his eyes from me.
“Well, I don’t want to talk to you, Zane. So if you excuse me, I have a job to do.” I grab my clothes and shove them in my locker and turn around to leave, but stop when my eyes land on Zane standing in my way. Crossing my arms over my chest. “Zane, I’m giving you one chance to move out of my way, so I can leave,” I growl.
He steps forward and stops directly in front of me, his eyes boring into my own. “I want more of you, Amelia. That will happen again I promise you and soon, but we need to talk about what happened in the booth. I want to know what Torch was about to say?”
Pushing past him, I reach out for the handle to open the door, but I’m stopped with his hand covering mine holding the handle in place, unmoving. Ripping my hand from under his, I spin around and get in his face. “It has nothing to do with you. You don’t need to know about it,” I say, my voice rising.
Suddenly I’m pinned to the door, my hands above my head, held in Zane’s strong grip as he trails his nose along my throat. He can do anything to my body, but I’m not going to tell him anything.
“Hellcat, I have my ways to get the answer out of you. You know that.”
My eyes roll into the back of my eyelids as I feel his tongue glide down my neck, then his teeth nipping at my skin. I whimper at the sting he leaves behind. His other hand begins to slide down my arm, skimming the side of my breast with his thumb for a single moment and then down over my ribs, stopping on my hip while pulling me harder into him.
Shaking my head no, I pull at his hand holding mine tightly. It doesn’t help, when his body presses into my own and I feel every hard inch of his beautiful body against me. I moan as he rubs his erection into my stomach. His hand shifts from my hips and in between us, lightly stroking over the seam of my shorts adding the slightest pressure where I need it. I gasp, at the pleasure running through my body. I can’t allow him to manipulate my body like this whenever he’s around. Taking a breath and opening my eyes, I dig my nails into his hand holding me, as hard as I can. As soon as his hand lets me go, I push hard against his chest and launch him away from me. He stumbles backward slightly, but just as quickly he rights himself and comes toward me again.
I’m out the door and practically running to the booth before he has a chance to get near me. Glancing back over my shoulder to see where Zane is, I round the corner and run smack bang into a body. My hands shoot out gripping onto whoever is in front me to stop myself from falling over. Hands grip my hips steadying me.
“Shit, Lia, why are you running?”
Stepping back, I look up into my dad’s eyes. “Sorry, Dad. I was in a hurry to get back to the booth.” I hear footsteps behind me and look toward them and find Zane heading my way. He stops and looks from me to my dad.
My dad spots Zane and his look hardens. “Zane, care to share why you’re out here?”
“I was coming to see you actually,” Zane says stepping up behind me.
“Really?” Dad says raising his eyebrow looking between us both.
“I have a job to do,” I tell my dad. Pulling my arm out of his grip, I step aside not once looking back in Zane’s direction.
“Are you all right, Amelia?” my dad asks.
Not turning around. “Yeah, just want to finish Melody’s bike,” I reply.
“Okay, I’m here if you need me.”
I spin around to look his way. “I know.” I smile toward him.
“Right, well since you wanted to see me, Zane, let’s go into the office.”
I don’t hear Zane’s reply as I make my way to the booth. I can’t be alone in a room with Zane at all. I can’t control myself around him, and that isn’t good in my books. I’m falling for him in the short amount of time he’s been in my life. Locking the booth door behind me, not wanting anyone to come in unexpectedly, I need to focus on my job and not him. I know it’s going to be hard that we both work here, but if I can keep myself occupied on something other than him, I can do it, I know I can. It’s only the matter of if my body will comply with me and follow what I want.
I take my time with Melody’s bike. Something, that would normally take me only two and half hours, turns out to be five hours. Most of that time I stand here looking over the finished design. I was close to leaving the booth, knowing if I did at that moment I’d probably run into Zane or my dad and I wasn’t ready for either. So I keep myself occupied with mixing paints to see which ones would look best together on spare parts in the booth. I came up with several mixtures and wrote them down. I slid the pieces with the paint on it to the end of the bench, so I can keep them to show to customers.
Looking at the clock in the room, 5:46 p.m., it was close to closing time. Breathing a sigh of relief, Zane would’ve left at five, leaving only me, Torch and Dad here in the building. Ripping the apron from my body and throwing it toward the bench, I clean up the remainder of the tools I have left out and make my way to the door. Flicking the switch to turn the light off, I open the door and step out, closing it behind me. Walking past the mechanic shop, I slow my steps down as I hear tools clinking where they’re dropped onto something that’s metal. Peeking my head around the corner, my breath releases from my lungs as I watch as Max fiddling with the fuel tank of a Harley bike.
He curses lightly and I’m ready to step into the room, when he steps back from the bike, something in his hand. He drops it down beside him and starts to tur
n around. I quickly shift back against the wall, out of view.
“Wonder what he’s still doing here?” I ask myself.
Max only stayed behind if my dad asked him to. Obviously someone wants their bike by a certain time, if Max is still in there and cursing. I know what that’s like, I’ve had several customers like that. Glad I haven’t had any this week.
I wait until I hear movement in the shop again and I push away from the wall and quickly step back the way I came. Deciding it’s better to just head home, no point to change clothing before I leave when I’ll be doing it again once I arrive home. Plus, there’s still that small percentage of a chance that Zane’s still here.
I quicken my stride, closing the back door behind me as I make my way to my truck. Once I’m inside, I massage my temple while my head begins to throb. I need to sleep better. I was starting to get more hours of uninterrupted sleep, still only a few, but it has helped. Maybe that’s what I need, a hot shower to wash away the day, and try and get a couple hours sleep before Lexie comes over.
Possibly not think of Zane, I snort at that. Yeah, that’s going to be easy to do. Even if I can, even for a short period of time, which would change the moment Lexie steps into the room and starts drilling me for details about our times together.
Shaking my head, I pull out of the carpark and drive down the road. What’s the point in not thinking about him? He hasn’t left my head, his touch still lingers on my body, and there’s no point in fighting it. He was there whether I wanted him to be there or not. I shift gears as turn into my street, each house different to the next one. I slow my speed as my house comes into view. I can’t bear to sell it after Dante died, it was our house. A house that we built together.
And the fact that the house still held a part of him, I wasn’t leaving. If I could still have even a small glimpse of him here with me, I was staying. I was never going to give that up.
