"You seem to know them well," I said, thinking he'd obviously seen this play out with Nick before. Where Nick was my one and only ice-blue eyed perfect cowboy, maybe I was just one of many "angels" to him.
"Well, I know them yeah, and havin' just seen Dominic fall for the love of his life, I see the signs right now in Nick too. But don't let him know I said that, my life would be a livin' hell if he knew I'd ratted his lovesick arse out to ya."
I paused on the threshold to my father's flat, my hand on the door handle, my eyes on the ground before me.
And smiled.
Chapter 11
Nothing Could Have Prepared Me For This
Dad and Cary were playing a game of cards. Both sets of eyes came up as I entered the room with Ben, my shadow, at my back. Cary's ran over my face quickly, but then got sidetracked with all that is Ben over my shoulder. Dad's gaze lasted a split second, before his attention returned to the cards in his hand and he reached out and pulled a new one from the upside down pack between the two men.
"Your turn, mate," he instructed Cary, effectively dismissing my reappearance in the flat.
For some reason it didn't cut to the quick like it had done in the past.
"This is Ben," I said, indicating the towering hulk of a man behind me. "He's taking me to the cop shop to make my statement."
"Cool," Cary answered, rearranging his cards. "I'll stay with your Dad while you're gone."
I hesitated, then placed the Breedlove in its case, which was lying on the floor where I had left it earlier. Cary had come all the way from Tennessee to see me, he didn't want to stick around and look after my sick Dad, I was sure. But then, who else could I get to sit with Dad? I couldn't phone Aunty Jessie, the least amount of time I had conversing with Levi's mother the better. Dad had said she'd promised to be there by four, he'd even phoned her that morning to ensure it - which was well beyond normal Ray Rowe behaviour - but asking her to come hours earlier would not go down well.
I wasn't certain how much she knew Bailey and his brothers were in trouble, and although I'd like to think they had all crossed a line she would have drawn in the sand, I couldn't be sure. Aunty Jessie loved her boys and she hated me. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where her allegiance would lie.
I shook my head and frowned down at the Breedlove case as I closed it and then did something I had never done before. I accepted an offer of help from a friend, allowing him that much further under my skin.
"OK. Thanks, Cary," I said as I picked up the case to take it back to my room for safe keeping.
I heard Cary murmur, either to himself or my Dad, I'm not sure, "Atta girl."
The trip to Central Police Station, where Detectives Pierce and Stone were waiting for me, took twenty minutes. Traffic on the weekend in Auckland can be atrocious, even though Eden Terrace is less than three kilometres away from Cook Street, where the big old multi-storey building is located. Ben found a carpark around the corner on Vincent Street and escorted me into the reception area, his hand on my elbow to gently guide me - and I was thinking to send a signal to anyone else that I was in his care.
I'd never enjoyed being in a cop shop and decided pretty much straight away that this would be the final time. It had a decidedly rank smell and was noisy and over crowded, the latter making Ben actually twitch. Thankfully we didn't have to wait out on the plastic seats with the scary looking locals, but were ushered immediately through to the inner sanctum of the building by a uniformed officer who seemed to recognise Ben. No words were spoken, just a chin lift and then Ben directing me to follow the cop with a gentle squeeze on my elbow.
We walked into a large room filled with desks and mainly plain clothed cops. Walking out of what could only be an interview room of some description over on the far side of the open space was Detective Pierce, in deep conversation with... Nick. Seeing Nick was a surprise... and it wasn't. I knew he'd have to make a statement too, but it just hadn't occurred to me that he'd be making it right at this second, when I happened to walk into the room. Then, shaking my head I chastised myself. Of course he would know when I would be arriving. I hadn't seen Ben make a call or press any buttons in his car to send a signal, but I was guessing his car had GPS and the ASI control room had advised Nick we were on our way.
Nick being Nick, made sure he was here to greet us, thereby bypassing my edict to stay away from me until tonight, under the pretence of this being "work" or some such ridiculous thing. Well, I could be professional too. And just because he'd found a way to be near me when Derek was obeying the rules, didn't mean he'd gain any footing. I could be stubborn as well as professional, I was sure.
"Detective Pierce," I said reaching out and shaking his hand when we made it to within a few feet of the men.
"Ms Rowe, thank you for coming."
I smiled at him and then dimmed the wattage a little, but kept a professional smile on my face, when I looked at Nick.
"Nick."
"Eva," he shot back, the edges of his lips darn well twitching. Which brought my attention to the bruise along his bottom jaw and the scrape on his right cheek.
I wanted to reach out and soothe them, to make sure they weren't causing too much pain. I think I may have stared at them for longer than necessary, before I tipped my head down and frowned at the floor. Darn him for reminding me why I was pissed off.
"Any troubles?" I heard Nick ask, and I was guessing it was to Ben, as he was the one to answer.
"Nah, no sign of trouble, even though Eva decided to take a walk on her own."
At that my head shot up and I gave Ben the best ice cowgirl princess glare I could. He ignored me, leaning back against the wall of the large room without a care in the world.
"Did she now?" Nick drawled. I could tell his eyes were on me, but I kept my head resolutely averted.
"Well," Pierce said, an obvious note of humour in his voice, "best we get on with this statement, then you can all get on with your day. I understand its an important one this evening."
My head came up and met his friendly eyes, then got blinded by the most amazing smile, making his Garth Brooks lookalike goatee beard seem as sexy as all get-out. I couldn't help offering a smile back in return.
"I'll be waiting out here for you, Eva," Ben offered and a glance over my shoulder showed me he was already walking towards some chairs lined up against the wall a little way away, his back to us.
I turned to follow Pierce, who had opened the door to the room and taken a step inside, when a firm arm wrapped around my waist, hand splayed flat against my stomach, as I got pressed back into Nick’s chest. His hot breath washed over my ear as he whispered, "Go off walking on your own again, angel, and I'll be forced to spank your arse." His hand slid slowly down my side, over my hip to finally cupped the curve of my rear. Then he gave it a little squeeze, to emphasise exactly what part of my anatomy he was referring to.
"You'd have to be allowed within ten feet of me to accomplish that and if memory serves," I said pointedly, twisting and pushing him back a step, "you are disobeying my rules."
"Don't mistake me for someone who gives a damn about rules, angel. Not when something this important is on the table."
We stared at each other for a second or two. There was surprisingly no frost in those ice-blue eyes. I was full of it, but Nick clearly was enjoying himself too much to bring the ice. I shook my head at him, halfway enraged, halfway incredulous... halfway kind of turned on. The twitch that had been threatening his lips won out and he speared me with one of his signature stop traffic smiles.
It was way better than Pierce's - Garth Brooks lookalike goatee beard or not.
"Go make your statement, angel. I'll see you tonight." And with that Nick spun on his heel, showing me his mighty fine back and ass, and walked out of the room.
I must have been standing there ogling his butt the entire way, because my entertaining musings were interrupted by Pierce's - clearly amused - voice, "Ms Rowe, shall we get on with this?"
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I jumped, spun around and faced him, finding to my increasing embarrassment that Detective Stone was already waiting in the room as well, and blushed.
"Sure," I said, sweet as pie. "Couldn't think of anything better, Detectives," and threw in a little Tennessee charm.
By the end of the statement I had them eating out of my cowgirl hand. Both of them promising to come along to my show that night and insisting I call them by their first names. Harvey for Detective Stone and Ryan for Detective Pierce. We were winding up the meeting when Ryan said, "We can probably hold him for a further 24 hours, but it's likely Bailey will be granted bail." Ruining the good cheer that had enveloped us since the first name basis exchange.
"Just that long?" I asked, getting even more angry at my loser cousin for making me feel so small and scared. I never used to be frightened of them, but all of this statement making and police station visiting was ratcheting up the fear factor to the extreme. Levi and his brothers had only appeared as bullies to me in the past, but with Pierce and Stone taking the entire episode so seriously, warning me to watch my back, and insisting that the threats Bailey had made were not to be taken lightly, my whole perspective on my cousins' abilities to do me harm was being turned upside down.
But I would not let them win. When times get tough, cowgirls get tougher. I had a show to prepare for. I had a father who needed tending. A best friend to make feel welcome. And a soon-to-be-ex-kind-of-boyfriend to sort out. I was not going to let the Russell boys come between me and my life. Not that I intended to do anything stupid, like run off on my own to the Reserve again, but I would also not cower inside my bedroom all day and night. I had a life to live and I was so darn well going to live it.
"'Fraid so," Stone added. "But stick close to Nick or one of the other ASI men and you'll be fine. They know what they're doing. They are the best at personal security in this city, you couldn't have a better team on your side."
Well, Ben didn't seem too bad to have around, he certainly didn't say a hell of a lot. Or maybe I could ask for Adam, although that may make Adam feel uncomfortable. I hoped not, I would have liked Adam as a friend - albeit a brief friend while I was here in Auckland - and losing that chance because of unrequited attraction or whatever it was we'd had, would be a darn shame. And then there was Nick of course. Who had made it quite clear he wouldn't let me out of his sight again. Although the fact he trusted Ben to be my personal guard today - and not take the task on himself - said something about Ben's skills in his eyes.
I forced a smile on my face, pushed all concerns about who on the ASI team I'd be tagged with and shook hands with the detectives. It was well after lunch and I was starving, Cary would be too, not to mention Dad probably needed a rest and a small bite to eat. So, leaving the Police Station gladly, I asked Ben to stop off at a bakery so I could grab some lunch for everyone to have back home.
By the time we arrived at Dad's flat my stomach was rumbling loudly, which caused all manner of amused looks from Ben at my side. A taxi was just pulling away from the curb as we came to a stop, but I couldn't see anyone around who could have used it, the street outside Dad's flat was bare. Grabbing the bag of baked goods I headed towards the door, only to be stopped by Ben's arm on my shoulder and a curt, "Wait up, cowgirl. Someone's here."
I glanced around, but took a sharp breath in when I noticed Ben had a gun out, held loosely in his hand. He wasn't holding it out in front of himself obviously like they do on TV shows, it was kind of hidden down the side of his jeans clad thigh, but his eyes were alert and face hard, as he pushed me behind his back and opened the front door.
I knew immediately who was here, the sound of his rich Tennessee accent reaching us as soon as the door swung open from Ben's touch.
"Where is she?" Derek demanded from just inside the lounge.
"Not here," Dad replied succinctly.
"I see that," Derek shot back. "Is she with him?"
"If she is, you gotta know it's no longer any of your business," Dad replied steadily.
"To hell with that!" Derek almost shouted back. "She's my girl. I've come here to take her home."
Take me home? I wasn't ready to go back.
"Derek," Cary said softly, "I'm not sure Eva's ready to go home." Good call Cary.
"She's got no choice in the matter. She comes home with me tonight."
OK. Enough's enough. I pushed past Ben, who was still trying to block my ingress into the room, and slapped my hands on my hips.
"Derek, I can't go home yet. Dad needs me." Dad grunted, I was guessing in agreement.
Derek spun around and I watched his face soften as he spotted me. It darn near broke my heart, because I just didn't feel the same way about him.
"Babe, I was worried about you," he said softly stepping towards me, but being cut off by the big black-clad body of Ben.
"Not one step closer, cowboy," Ben instructed, arms loose at his sides, legs spaced wide apart, directly between us.
"You don't wanna come between me and my girl," Derek said in an impressive growl.
"She ain't your girl, 'sfar as I can see."
"You ain't looking closely then," Derek shot back. "Tell him, babe."
And all eyes turned to me. I blinked slowly and took a deep breath in. Forced myself not to look down at the ground and said, "Derek, we need to talk."
"No," he said abruptly, surprising the darn hell out of me. "You need to pack your bags and get ready to head out to the airport. Our plane is set to leave at eight."
"What plane?" I asked dumbly.
"Our plane, the one I've got us both booked on to head back to Nashville and our lives. We've been dancin' around this for too long, baby. Times we made it official and you moved in with me."
What?
"What?"
"You gotta know, Eva baby, that I want you in my home, in my bed. I want you there when I come home from my run. I want to know when I talk to you on the phone those lonely nights on the road, that you're lying in my bed. It's been buildin' for a while, time to do the deed."
Oh, holy hell. This was not what I expected. I thought Derek was happy with casual. Hell we'd been casual for close to six months now. If he'd wanted more, why hadn't he acted sooner? He didn't want more, I knew this. I was certain. But three months of me not returning his text messages straight away, three months of me being on the other side of the world, and he turns possessive.
I had absolutely no idea what to say. I felt like he'd blind-sided me. Caught me completely off guard. And unfortunately it wasn't the first time this week that I'd felt this reaction. Hell it wasn't even the second or third. I'd had my world tossed and tipped and scrambled to such a degree since that first practice run at Sweet Seduction, that this was just the last straw. One more thing to mess with my head. One more thing for me to have to face.
And you know what? I was sick of having to face up to things. I was so darn tired of being forced to unscramble my scrambled life. I wanted peace and quiet, to perform with my band, sing Country and play my guitar, and see out the last of my Dad's days at his side. To maybe, just maybe, rekindle a relationship with him that I may have been able to have, but had somehow overlooked when I was young.
Was it too much to ask for?
"Eva?" Derek asked uncertainly. I hadn't realised how long I'd remained quiet for, my head about to explode.
"I can't do this," I said, feeling suddenly trapped. "There's too much going on right now to deal with this as well."
"Eva, baby," Derek said soothingly.
I shook my head and held up my hand to stop him from going on.
"Derek," I took another deep breath in, then another and another. It occurred to me I was breathing rather fast, but I pushed it aside and went on. "My Dad's dying. I have a show to perform tonight. I'm not done here. Not by a long shot." And you're not the one I want.
Why couldn't I just say it? It needed to be said, but I didn't have it in me.
Cary appeared at my side, placed an arm around my s
houlders, then curved me into his chest.
"Eva, sweetie, slow down. Slow your breathing down."
"I think you should leave," I heard Ben say in his deep, gravelly voice.
"I think you should butt out. And who the damn hell are you anyway?"
"Eva's bodyguard," Ben shot back immediately.
"Bodyguard?" Derek asked, clearly surprised that I'd need one.
Cary had forced me to a seat and made me lean forward, head between knees, to slow my breathing down. But despite all of that, I could still hear the conversation going on around me. I could still feel the pressure against my skull. A headache was forming and I so did not need a headache the afternoon before a performance. I was beyond hungry, emotionally upset and careening towards tears.
Cowgirls don't cry and I'd be damned if I did it again now.
Which only made me madder and caused my head to pound and my breathing to escalate and Cary to demand, "All of you, get the fuck out!" I'd never heard my Nashville friend swear like that. He was a sweet Southern man with the good manners to go with it. But something had got him riled pretty good.
"I'm not leaving unless he leaves!" Derek ground out.
"I have a right to be here, you don't," Ben shot back. Then added, to my increasing horror, "In case you didn't know already, she's fucking someone else."
I thought I was at my limit before, clearly I was wrong. Because nothing could have prepared me for this. And there was no way I could deal with it right now.
I stood up, hands fisted at my side and screamed. Just screamed. One long pain-filled sound. It was high-pitched and agonised, and I realised too late that it damaged my larynx. My voice tapered off on a moan of discomfort, a cracked sound hitching halfway down my throat. My hands already wrapped around my neck to still the ache that had settled there announcing to my numbed brain that the damage had already been done.
And there was nothing I could do about it, the performance at Sweet Seduction tonight would have to be called off.
Sweet Seduction Serenade Page 12
