Sexy Hers

by Carly Phillips

  “Hey. What’s wrong?” he asked, coming up to her. He glanced down and saw the picture of her brother, the one she kept on the windowsill.

  “It’s an anniversary of a really bad day.” She looked up at him, her gaze glassy with unshed tears.

  He settled on the edge of her desk but didn’t take the picture from her hand. He remembered her telling him her brother had died. He knew from experience what that date could mean to the people who loved the deceased person.

  “Tell me what happened.”

  She put the photo against her chest. “He was working at a bodega near our apartment. A small convenience store. And a group of guys came in and held up the place. Hank, my brother … he…” She swallowed hard. “He didn’t want to give them the money in the register. You see, he knew that Mr. Sawyer, the owner, needed every penny for his wife’s asthma treatments. “They shot him in cold blood.”

  He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again. “I’m sorry.”

  She nodded. “Thank you. Me too.”

  He pried the picture from her clutches and set it back on the shelf where she normally kept it. Looking over her.

  Then he took her hands. “I understand, you know. Landon, his twin, Levi, Jason, and I met in college. Manhattan University. We were freshmen and immediate best friends. Levi wanted to join a frat. My gut screamed it was a bad idea. Hell, none of us wanted it except Levi. But he was bold and brash and kind of our pack leader. So he convinced us.”

  She listened, her gaze never leaving his.

  “The guys who ran the frat were assholes. One in particular, Victor Clark.” He forced air into his lungs as he said the name, did the deep breathing his therapist had recommended in order to control the anger that came over him when Vic’s name came up.

  “There was hazing, despite school rules against it, but until then, nothing we couldn’t handle. But the night of the final initiation, we’d heard rumors the party got out of control. We shouldn’t have gone…” He shook his head. “The drinking was over-the-top. Shots, drinks, paddling, pain … and then we were each given a handle of what we thought was regular vodka.”

  “It wasn’t?” she asked.

  Tanner shook his head. “Turns out it was one hundred proof but we didn’t know it at the time. And Levi volunteered to go first. We begged him to leave.” He remembered his gut screaming at him. “Landon said fuck the frat. But Levi wouldn’t listen. He drank. Vic handed him a backpack filled with rocks. Made him run up and down the stairs… He tripped, Vic slapped him, told him to keep going. Levi tried, fell backward…”

  If Tanner told the rest, he’d throw up. His friend’s head banging on the stairs. The blood on the floor, Landon hitting his brother’s face, begging him to wake up.

  “Jesus, Tanner. I’m sorry,” Scarlett said, her voice cracking.

  He managed a grim smile. “The club is named after the date he died. So I really do understand what today means to you.”

  She squeezed his hand. “Sucks to have the death of a loved one in common.”

  He blew out a long breath, realizing they’d just shared something heavy. “Your brother would be proud of you.” Hell, Tanner was proud of her and he’d just begun to scratch the surface.

  “I hope so.” Scarlett glanced at the picture, then up at Tanner. “The guys who robbed the store and killed Hank, their lawyer got their case thrown out on a technicality.” Her eyes burned with anger, her entire body vibrating with it. “They walked free and that’s when I decided to become a lawyer. To make sure that no one who committed a crime would get away with it easily, not if I could help it.”

  Tanner stilled. “That’s … good,” he managed to say. Even as his heart squeezed tighter inside his chest. His past not only included being arrested for assault but for skating on it after Gabriel Dare pulled strings. He didn’t think that was something Scarlett would understand or forgive.

  Which meant they’d gone from something that bonded them to something else that could tear them apart. He had a record. She put away criminals. He’d had his record expunged. She resented people who got away with crimes no matter how they’d done it.

  “I need to go.” He pushed himself up from her desk.

  “Tanner?”

  “I forgot about a security meeting at the club,” he lied.

  “What?” Scarlett stood up, obviously surprised. “Are you okay? I know we just talked about some pretty deep stuff.”

  He clenched his jaw, only knowing that he needed space. He had to take a big step back from Scarlett, because everything that defined him was everything this woman despised.

  * * *

  Hours later, in the late evening, Tanner picked up his cell phone, pulled up Scarlett’s name … and put it down on his desk again. “You’re an asshole,” he muttered to himself, still annoyed he’d walked out on her earlier today.

  But as soon as he’d heard the venom in her tone as she’d described why she’d become an attorney and how she’d never accept someone getting off for a crime without paying, he knew he’d probably lost her before he’d ever truly had her.

  “Finally realizing what we all know?” Jason asked, striding into the office and sitting down in a chair across from Tanner.

  The main office they shared consisted of desks for all three men along with a couch and chair area where they sat now. Chrome and glass desks along with black and chrome chairs, a look similar to the club itself, made up the décor. Sleek and elegant, as Gabe and his decorator sister, Lucy, had recommended.

  “Funny.” Frowning, he glanced at his phone once more. “What are you doing here? I thought you and Landon were downstairs.”

  All three of them were at the club tonight. Faith had a party she’d created candy party favors for, and she’d been asked to stay and hand them out, which left Jason at loose ends. And here at work.

  “Landon was worried about you. He said you were upstairs moping and that, since I was attached by a ball and chain, maybe I could understand.” Jason shrugged, clearly unaffected by Landon’s words about his marriage.

  Ever since he’d gotten together with Faith, it was like a huge burden and shadow of pain had been lifted from Jason’s shoulders. Landon was happy for Jason. He just couldn’t understand the feelings that his friend experienced … and neither had Tanner. Until he met Scarlett.

  “So Landon’s the asshole.”

  Jason narrowed his gaze. “No changing the subject. How did you fuck up with Scarlett and can I help?”

  Tanner ran a hand over his face, about to explain when both of their phones began to buzz at the same time. Alarmed, they both grabbed for their cells.

  “Yeah?” Tanner asked.

  “Someone called in a bomb threat. We’re evacuating,” Landon said.

  Tanner had no doubt Landon was getting the same call from security. They both jumped up from their chairs and headed downstairs, unsure of what to expect or whether or not it was a credible threat.

  * * *

  “I don’t understand it, Leigh. One minute he was sitting here listening to me pour my heart out and him doing the same, and the next he couldn’t leave fast enough.” Scarlett sat in her office, hours after Tanner had abruptly walked out, and she still had no better comprehension of what had occurred.

  “You said he told you something personal, right? Maybe he just couldn’t handle talking about it.”

  Scarlett nodded. “Maybe. I told him about Hank, he reciprocated about Levi, something spooked him, and he left.” She played with her bracelet, which she’d had fixed as soon as possible after Tanner had returned it.

  “Look into his background,” Leigh suggested.

  Scarlett whipped her head up to meet her friend’s gaze. “What? No. He told me what I needed to know.” Exposing herself to another person didn’t come easily to Scarlett, so she didn’t hold it against Tanner that he hadn’t found it easy either.

  But he’d seen her family drama firsthand. She’d confided in him about Hank. Why had he felt
the need to take off?

  “Come on, Scarlett. You told me his best friend died in a hazing incident in college. That’s not a typical thing to happen. Don’t you want more details?” Leigh crossed her legs in front of her, staring Scarlett down. “I’m certain the information is available online.”

  “No.” Scarlett had already done her own surface search. He’d told her enough.

  Besides, after Tanner’s departure, she’d finally gone onto Club TEN29’s website and scrolled around, coming to the About page regarding the three partners. Full-color photos of each man greeted her, and though she hadn’t met the other guys in person, they were all good-looking, though none had the rougher appearance that Tanner had, the darker look in his eyes that drew her to him.

  She’d scrolled to a dedication that brought tears to her eyes now that she knew the whole story. Club TEN29 is named in memory of Levi Bennett, who died in a tragic accident on October 29, 2009, beneath the photograph of a young man who appeared almost identical to the older photo of Landon.

  She swallowed hard. “I’m not going to go digging any further. He’ll tell me more if he wants to confide in me. Besides, I doubt I’d find anything that would explain his behavior.”

  Leigh pulled her phone out of her pants pocket. “Fine. If you’re not curious, I am. A few taps of my finger…” She typed something into her browser and wrinkled her nose as she scrolled down the screen. “Aha. Hazing death at Manhattan U involving four freshmen. Tanner’s name is here.”

  “Cut it out, Leigh. I need to get back to work.”

  “Fine. But if he were my guy, I’d run a background check. Just saying.” She shrugged her shoulders, gave one last glance at the screen, and laid it down on her lap.

  Scarlett braced her hands on the desk and stared at her friend. “You checked out Cliff?” she asked of the man Leigh was now steadily seeing, horrified at the prospect.

  “Damn right I did. I need to make sure the man’s record is clean and there’s no wife I don’t know about.”

  She shook her head. “You’ve got trust issues, my friend.”

  Leigh flushed but she didn’t back down. “I’m just saving myself a lot of trouble. Why fall hard for a guy if he’s only going to turn out to be someone you can’t be with for whatever reason? Better to know sooner rather than later.”

  “Go away,” Scarlett moaned, laying her head in her hands. If Tanner needed space, she’d give him space. It wasn’t like they had a commitment or anything. But the stricken look on his face had stayed with her as did the twisting in her stomach when he’d left so abruptly.

  For someone who claimed not to have the time or desire for a relationship, she was certainly letting him work his way into her life … and her heart. As it was, she’d had to work late tonight to make up for all the frustrated daydreaming and wondering she’d done all afternoon. Not to mention the morning she’d lost remembering Hank. Leigh had a big robbery case and she’d stayed late as well, which had brought her to Scarlett’s office for a break. This was their schedule, their lives.

  “Hey. Just heard about a bomb scare downtown on the news.” Paul Schaffer, a fellow ADA stuck his head into Scarlett’s office. Another late-night worker.

  “Really? Where?” Leigh asked, rising as did Scarlett so they could follow Paul back to the conference room, where there was a large-screen television bolted to the wall.

  Scarlett stepped into the room, immediately catching sight of the reporter on the scene. But it was the location of the bomb scare that had her freezing in her tracks.

  “Club TEN29.” She pulled on Leigh’s hand. “It’s Tanner’s club. I have to go.”

  Chapter Six

  By the time Scarlett and Leigh arrived on scene – they’d had to get dropped off far from the site and show credentials to get past barricades—the club had been emptied out and the police were talking to as many people as they could to see if anyone had seen anything of interest.

  She looked around, wanting to see Tanner. Although she knew there’d been no blast, the entire incident had frightened her and she needed to see for herself that he was okay.

  “I see someone I know. I’m going to try to find out what’s going on,” Leigh said, placing a hand on Scarlett’s arm. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded. “I’m going to look for Tanner.”

  “Okay, I have my cell. Text me and I’ll do the same.” Leigh pulled her in for a reassuring hug before heading over to a woman Scarlett had never seen before.

  Blowing out a deep breath, Scarlett walked around, searching for Tanner or one of his partners, coming up empty.

  “Scarlett!”

  She turned at the sound of her name. An officer she recognized from some of the crime scenes she worked called her over and she headed his way. “Hi, Frank. What’s going on here?”

  Officer Frank Rhodes scowled as he turned toward the club. “Apparently more than we knew about. They’ve been having some vandalism issues they didn’t report. Now a bomb scare.”

  She blinked in surprise. Clearly the police weren’t the only ones Tanner hadn’t told of his business issues. He’d never mentioned to her that there were problems at the club. “Was the scare legitimate? Did they find anything?”

  “Not so far,” he said with a shake of his head. “Doesn’t appear to be a credible threat. Just one aimed at hurting their business. Asshole owners thought they could handle it themselves.” He jerked his head and Scarlett glanced in that direction.

  Tanner stood with his partners in an alley beside the club, all three men looking pissed off. He caught her gaze, his eyes opening wide at the sight of her, then warming as he reassured her with a wink.

  “Thank God,” she murmured under her breath.

  “You involved with him?” Frank, who Scarlett knew from work and past crime scenes, not as a friend, asked.

  She stiffened at the sound of his judgmental tone. “Who?”

  “Grayson.”

  “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.” She pulled her suit jacket around her and met his gaze.

  “Whoa.” Frank held up his hands. “Just trying to do you a favor. You seem like a classy woman who can do better than a lowlife like him.”

  Scarlett narrowed her gaze. “Just what do you think you know about Tanner?”

  He let out a rough laugh. “Grew up in the same neighborhood. The guy likes to use his fists. Got himself tossed out of his fancy college and eventually ended up behind bars for assault. Then his partner’s rich cousin bailed him out, pulled some strings, and got his record expunged.”

  She stilled, taking in the information. “He what?” she asked, but she’d heard. Oh, she had heard.

  The man she was falling for had been arrested for beating someone up and had gotten himself off. Just like her brother’s killers.

  “I gotta go talk to more club patrons. Just be careful.” Frank walked away, leaving her off-kilter. Clearly Frank had some sort of grudge with Tanner, but his information, if true, was disturbing.

  Scarlett wasn’t the type of person to judge someone by facts she’d been told secondhand, but she didn’t like hearing that anyone had gotten away with something thanks to favors pulled—any more than a person walking on a technicality. Which was how her brother’s killers had gone free.

  She swallowed hard, needing to process what she’d heard. Decide how she felt about it. Whether it changed her burgeoning feelings for Tanner.

  She looked his way but he and his partners had disappeared. She ran her tongue over her lips, knowing they needed to talk. But it wouldn’t be happening tonight.

  Time to get an Uber, she thought. She opened her phone and texted Leigh, who said she’d meet her at the curb. She was about to head there when she had the distinct sense of being watched.

  She glanced up into a pair of glittering eyes, staring at her and taking her in, the man’s leering gaze trailing over her from head to toe. A slick smile crossed his face and he drew a line across his throat.

&nbs
p; Her eyes opened wide just as Leigh joined her. “What’s wrong? You look pale.”

  “Frank!” She glanced around frantically. “Frank!”

  The cop came rushing to her. “What’s wrong?”

  “That man–” She turned to point where she’d seen him but he was gone. Shaking, she wrapped her arms around herself. “Never mind.” She swallowed hard. “There was a guy who freaked me out but he’s gone.”

  “Office Rhodes, ass over here,” someone yelled.

  “I’m sorry. If you’re okay?” She nodded and he headed to talk to his superior.

  “Scarlett?” Leigh asked, obviously worried.

  “I’m fine. Just get me out of here.”

  Leigh glanced around. “This is our car. I called.”

  “Leigh?” a female driver asked through the open window.

  Scarlett let out a relieved breath and nodded. “Yes. Thank you.” She quickly opened the door and slid into the car and Leigh followed, slamming the door and locking it behind her.

  Leaning against the back seat, Scarlett groaned, happy to be safely enclosed in the car and on her way home.

  * * *

  Hours later, Tanner and his partners sat in their office, trying to come to terms with how serious shit had gotten around them. If Sutherland wanted to make his point, he’d fucking made it.

  Tanner had been sucker-punched twice. Standing with Jason and Landon when his gaze had fallen on Scarlett. Seeing she’d come to check on him, relief had filled him … and then he’d laid eyes on her talking to Frank Rhodes, the asshole from his childhood. And before he could process that, he’d seen Vic. Larger than life and out of jail.

  Anger like he hadn’t felt in years had boiled inside Tanner, and it’d taken Landon and Jason holding him back from beating the living daylights out of the man. They’d literally dragged him inside before he could cause damage, not just to Vic – nobody gave a shit about Vic – but to himself and the guys. And, he realized now, to Scarlett, who would have seen the whole thing.

  He unbuttoned the top buttons on shirt, which were strangling him, and threw his jacket onto the floor. “How the fuck did he get out of jail?” he asked, pacing the room.