The young clerk raised her brows and then moved to the computer. She typed for a moment. “He’s in room four hundred and twelve.”
Kyler couldn’t decide if it pleased him that the fucker was still in Vegas, or if it only proved how stupid Rory was. “Would you call him and ask him to come down to the lobby, please.”
“Of course,” the woman replied, before moving to the telephone. A minute passed, then she placed the phone back on the receiver. “I’m afraid he’s not answering.”
Fuck.
“Thank you for trying.” Kyler scraped a hand across his eyes, tension making his body heavy. He needed the asshole to go away. The stress of knowing that the man who abused Ella was in town ate at him.
Ella didn’t deserve this.
Kyler would be damned if he’d sit around and wait for Rory to act first. He lowered his hand and said to the clerk, “Please don’t alert Rory that the police are looking for him.” Especially because this wasn’t official police business.
“Of course,” the clerk replied with wide eyes. “Is there anything we need to worry about?”
Kyler shook his head. “This is a domestic situation, and nothing to be concerned with.”
Relief lifted the clerk’s voice as she replied, “Might I suggest you check out the casino before you leave? I have seen Mr. Snow spend some time there.”
Is that so?
“Thank you.” Kyler tapped his fingers on the counter, then turned toward the noise leading him into the casino.
When he entered the casino floor, he scanned the crowd, keeping the mental image of Rory in his mind. He didn’t see anyone matching Rory’s mug shot at the blackjack, poker, or roulette tables. Though Kyler suspected if Rory was in the casino he’d be in only one place.
On instinct, he headed toward the bar with the black glass on the walls. As he scanned the people sitting on the stools, his muscles went rigid.
There at the bar, Kyler spotted him.
He snorted and approached, dropping down onto the stool next to Rory. Kyler could see why Ella found Rory attractive. He had the good looks and an athletic frame. “For a man who shouldn’t be drinking, you’re doing a piss-poor job of it.”
Rory’s gaze jerked to him, and he scowled. “Excuse me?”
Kyler placed his badge on the bar, and Rory looked to it before his head lifted, some of the heat removed from his stare. Yeah, dipshit, I’m the wrong person to fuck with tonight.
The bartender came over, and she asked, “Can I get you anything?”
“Nothing for me,” Kyler replied, controlling the curtness in his voice. He turned to Rory and raised his brows. “I’m sure you’re up for another one.”
Rory gave Kyler a long look and asked through clenched teeth, “Who the fuck are you?”
The bartender’s eyes widened.
Kyler frowned. “Please leave us.”
The bartender didn’t need a further push and turned away, busying herself at the other end of the bar. Kyler inhaled deeply, fighting against the desire to push this asshole into the marble bar beneath his beer and leave him with a scar that matched Ella’s. “I know why you’re here.”
“Good for you.” Rory glowered. “Fuck off.”
“Not likely, Rory Snow.” Kyler kept distance between them, knowing if he got too close he’d make Rory never forget what he’d done to Ella. “I’ve come to give you the chance to be smart about this and leave. And I’m doing that for Ella.”
“How do you know Ella?” Slowly, though, awareness crossed Rory’s features and his gaze darkened. “You’re the new boyfriend.” He scoffed, shaking his head. “She’s dating a fucking cop.”
Kyler let Rory’s words roll off him. “Knowing that, it’s wise for you not to push these matters further than you already have.”
Rory blew out a harsh breath, wafting of beer. “She finds a fucking cop.”
The second jab stung, raising fury in Kyler’s chest. “This badge is the only thing that’s keeping me on this stool.” Rage and masculine fury invaded him. “Apparently, Ella wants things to go down a route that won’t land you back in jail, since she hasn’t already had you arrested. I’m following her wishes, but I’m telling you now, go back to Savannah.”
“She is my wife. She shouldn’t be dating anyone,” Rory bit off. “She belongs to me.”
“Was your wife,” Kyler corrected, looking Rory directly in the eye. “She’s with me now. The restraining order proves enough that she’s done with you.” Darkness filled Rory’s gaze, and Kyler suspected Ella had seen this look on him in the moments before he pushed her into a table. “Don’t fucking go there, buddy. Believe me, it won’t end well for you.”
Rory blinked and then looked away. “I’m here to talk to her and smooth things over and to bring her back home.”
Kyler didn’t need to see more or hear anything else. While Rory might’ve been more inebriated when he abused Ella, he wasn’t without logic. Rory had backed down when pressed. The coward. Show power in the face of a scared woman. In the face of a man, submit. Weak. “She’s fine and she’s staying in Vegas. Go home.”
“You don’t know her like I do,” Rory said in a much softer voice.
Kyler nearly punched the words right off his mouth and clenched his hands in his lap. “You’re right. I don’t know the Ella you do. But I know her now and I’ll know her in the future, something you won’t get.”
“We’re not divorced,” Rory said, looking to his nearly empty beer. “Did she tell you that?”
Kyler’s jaw clenched. As if this asshole was trying to make Ella look bad. Did he think Kyler would jump on the Ella-is-in-the-wrong bandwagon? “Do you think I care about a fucking piece of paper? The day you hit her was the day you lost her. And if you think I’ll let you stay around and frighten her, you are more fucking stupid than I thought.”
Rory’s eyes blazed. “I was drunk.”
Kyler nearly bolted off his stool, but if he did, he’d be no better than Rory. Violence in any form wasn’t his way. Besides, stupidity was stupidity, no matter the excuses one tried to give. “Which I don’t give a shit about.” He rose from the stool and swiped his badge off the bar, gripping it tight in his hands. “You should know I have a PI watching you.”
Rory’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, yeah?”
He ignored Rory for the piece of shit he was, and added, “Ella ran from you. Now you’ll be the one running. If you’re not on a plane by tomorrow morning…” Heat burned through him with every word he spoke. “I’ll find you.”
Rory lifted his chin, glaring. “Threats by an officer. You might not be the only one with an advantage.”
Kyler smiled, knowing it looked deadly. He pressed his hands against the cool, marble bar and leaned down into Rory’s face. “Don’t forget you’re in Vegas. You’re far away from your cop friends, and you’re in my city. On this matter, and where Ella is involved, heed my warning. Do not push me.”
Chapter Nineteen
Heading toward the kitchen to grab more desserts, Ella smiled at the laughter spreading out in her living room. It’d been years since she’d had such happiness in a house that belonged to her. The pasta dinner Cora had brought had been fabulous, as were Kenzie’s salad and Presley’s homemade rolls, though no one drank wine because of the plans to attend Club Sin tonight.
She glanced over her shoulder, and Kyler sat on the couch with Porter, Dmitri, and Aidan smiling at something they were discussing. Presley, Kenzie, and Cora were talking to Sawyer near the reading nook by the glass windows. Ella thought this group of friends made friendship look easy.
They were all so comfortable with one another. Conversation never halted, nor did laughter, among them. She wondered if seeing one another have sex produced that comfort level, but there seemed to be more to it.
They respected and loved one another.
She felt grateful to be a part of it.
After she grabbed the tray out of the fridge, she placed it on the counter and her gaze
drifted back to Kyler. God, this man, he overwhelmed her. Everything should feel perfect: She had some new great friends, she and Aidan had worked everything out to the point she didn’t feel at all awkward, and she was having the best sex of her life.
But things didn’t feel perfect.
She felt…unsteady.
Kyler seemed at ease, simply taking in the moment. She wanted to know that side of him, the real Master Kyler. She wanted him to be the Dom who played without worry of a woman suffering from abuse. And the Dom that she saw when he interacted with his friends—the laid-back man she’d first met at Aidan’s wedding.
The man who took her to his bed, all because passion led him there. The sexy-as-sin man who smiled that charming grin and did what he wanted with a dominant edge that first attracted her. Sighing to herself, she took off the plastic wrapping from the squares she’d made earlier.
She knew Kyler wanted her to share what had happened that night with Rory, and perhaps that’s what kept him at a distance. But how would he react if he knew how hard it’d been for her? If he knew how broken she’d been after that night with Rory? How long she’d cried? How long she had suffered day after day before she pulled herself back together again?
What started out between them as casual and fun had suddenly become messy. When had things turned so intense? Become so emotional? Feeling tension rise in her chest, she shut the thoughts down, refusing to go there. Her past made complicated look simple. She wasn’t that scared-and-lonely woman anymore. She’d left those parts of her behind in Savannah with the rest of her pain.
This woman was who he liked.
She didn’t intend to change his view of her anytime soon.
Suddenly, warm arms slid around her, and she snapped out of her thoughts. Smiling, she leaned into Kyler’s warm body at her back. “What is going on in that pretty mind of yours?” he asked.
She turned in his arms and smiled. “Just thinking about you.”
His head cocked in that sexy way, and that slow grin crossed his face. “Then you’re thinking wonderful, desirable things?”
“Well, of course.” She laughed.
He chuckled with her, then leaned down and pressed his mouth against hers in a modest kiss. When he broke away, his eyes searched hers. “You’re quiet tonight.”
Dammit.
Why did her mind have to be running wild? Here, in his arms, things were better than they’d ever been. Why couldn’t that be enough? Why did he want more of her, and why did she want more of him? Why couldn’t they just be content and have kept things casual and light?
She shrugged. “Just thinking, I guess.”
One brow lifted. “About?”
If this can work between us? I want all of you. You want all me. But somehow we’re just not getting there fast enough. “Just stuff.”
His gaze drifted over her shoulder, taking in the others within earshot. Then his soft eyes returned to hers. “Now isn’t the time to talk. But, tell me, is everything all right?”
She wiggled against him, running her hands up his chest, trying to remind them both of this side of their relationship. The uncomplicated part, where two bodies simply yearned for each other. “Yeah, I’m okay.” This passion is real, intense, and perfect. It’s the rest that’s a stinkin’ mess.
Tension creased the corners of his eyes. “Somehow I don’t believe you.”
She stilled in his arms as hardness formed in his features. Yet this was different, nothing she’d ever seen before. His eyes blazed in a possessive want. More and more, she saw that side of him. But more and more, she was beginning to wonder if it’d be enough. “For now, you’ll just have to.”
A frown pulled at his mouth and his lips parted to reply, when a sudden round of knocking sounded at her door. Loud knocking. Every head turned toward the door, and Ella’s blood ran ice cold. Now it wasn’t only knocking, someone was kicking the door and yelling.
Ella shut her eyes, cursing the damn fool who had allowed Rory into her building.
Bang. Knock. Bang. “Open the fucking door! You’re my damn wife!”
She froze, unable to move, as Kyler’s features slowly darkened. Oh, the possessiveness was palpable. The rage heady. Past the shock that Rory was beating down her door, embarrassment washed over Ella as she stepped out of Kyler’s arms.
Rubbing her hands over her arms, she looked from face to face, as everyone remained statue still. Presley had wide eyes, with her hands covering her mouth. Cora and Kenzie were glancing around, seemingly stunned. And all of the Club Sin Masters were looking to Kyler.
“Um,” Kenzie finally said, breaking through the thick silence between the loud bangs on the door. “Some crazy dude is at your door. Shouldn’t someone go handle that?”
The lack of movement in the room was nearly as awkward as the confusion in the moment. Thoughts rushed through Ella’s mind of some way to get out of this, but how could she? Her past and present collided together, and she couldn’t run.
Now everyone knows…
Why deny it?
They all got a firsthand view of how fucked up her life was. She should’ve known that the second things were good for her, something would ruin it all. It always happened. Nothing ever worked out. “He’s my husband,” she barely managed, moving to the door, since it now shook on his hinges.
Presley dropped her hands. “Wait. You’re married?”
Before Ella could reply, Kyler said with a stern voice, “Ella, stop right where you are.”
Her steps faltered and she hugged herself, shutting her eyes. Why?
For once, she had something good. She had new, amazing friends. She had a great guy in her life that she hoped could forget about Rory and her dark past. Curling around herself, she realized fate was a nasty bitch that for some reason had it out for her.
When Kyler’s warm body pressed against Ella’s from behind, she opened her eyes, staring at the shaking door. His soft voice came beside her ear. “Go over to Presley.”
She turned to him, but he wasn’t looking at her. His gaze was transfixed on the door. Doing as he asked, Ella went to Presley’s side. God, what must they all think of me? Every single person in this room seemed so put-together. So happy. So sure of themselves.
Presley took Ella’s hand, giving her a look. “Why would you not tell us about him?”
Ella parted her lips to give a reply, when suddenly Rory yelled, “That fucking scar won’t be the last one I leave on you! Let me the fuck in! You dirty cunt!”
Kyler stiffened.
All of the Club Sin Masters stood from their seats but stayed where they stood. Everyone remained focused on Kyler as he approached the door.
Cora sighed, moving to Ella’s side and taking up her other hand. “Okay, I guess that’s why you never told us.”
Ella couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak.
This cannot be happening.
Rory kicked at the door again, yelling words that Ella couldn’t make out simply because he was in a rage fueled by alcohol. Her insides shook at the memory of the last time she’d seen Rory like this.
When Kyler opened the door, a cold fear swept into Ella’s soul as she stared at not the Rory she had once loved, but the drunk Rory who terrified her. Cool and collected as always, Kyler’s voice sounded calm. “I believe I was clear when I told you to go home and to stay away from Ella.”
In a speed that her eyes couldn’t register, Kyler had a hand wrapped around the back of Rory’s neck and took him down to the ground. She stood in shock, unsure of what surprised her more.
The fact that Kyler had disabled Rory, pressing a knee to his back in less time than it took her to blink.
Or the realization that Kyler had confronted Rory as if they’d met before.
* * *
Outside of Ella’s condo, red and blue lights lit up the night sky as Kyler leaned against the police car. Fuck, his thoughts stayed with Ella, and the embarrassment she must have experienced. He never intended for anyone in Club Sin to
learn of what happened to her, especially in this manner.
“He’s something special.”
Following the direction Porter was looking, Kyler spotted the second cruiser. Rory kicked the window of the police car, screaming obscenities and spitting. He folded his arms and grumbled, “Something special indeed.”
“I take it you approached him?” Porter asked.
Kyler nodded, glancing away from the cruiser. “Thought that’d be the end of it and that he would see Ella’s not alone. I thought that by his knowing that I’m a cop it would smarten him up.” He rubbed his exhausted eyes and sighed. “I didn’t expect him to show up tonight and pull this fucking stunt.”
“Possibly, he felt pressed,” Porter offered.
“I’m sure he did.” In fact, Kyler surmised that’s exactly what happened and Rory had drunk himself into a craze. Perhaps Rory realized tonight there was no hope left for him and Ella. Part of Kyler was glad he’d been there when Rory showed up. The other part of him felt like a piece of shit for working Rory up enough that he’d caused this to happen.
He scanned the area, seeing his fellow cops talking to Dmitri and Aidan, while taking notes. It came of no surprise when he made the call that more than one cruiser showed up. More to the point, Kyler didn’t doubt that his father would be asking questions when he saw him next.
“Poor girl, if that’s what she had to face,” Porter said, staring at Rory, who used both feet to kick at the window.
Kyler had seen such behavior before, many times. Booze and a certain type of individuals didn’t mix, bringing out anger that looked animalistic. No sane part of Rory lived in him now. But a real man wouldn’t drink, if he knew alcohol made him this way.
Porter added, “Must’ve been scary.”
“I’d imagine so,” Kyler replied, which only tugged at his heart, reminding him how little Ella shared with him.
He’d been trained in how to deal with drunken assholes, and had the muscle mass to ensure he kept them at bay. Sweet Ella had none of those things. But why was it so hard for her to tell him how afraid she’d been? He craved her vulnerability like a drug…and yet he doubted he’d get his fix.
The Club Sin Series 4-Book Bundle Page 64
