“Have I worn out my welcome, yet?” Chelle joked. “I mean, I love it here, but if you want me gone—”
“Hell, no. When Erebus first told me you were coming, let’s say I wasn’t too thrilled. But now, consider this your home away from home.”
“You’ve promised me a pub meal where I can cook my own steak.” Chelle teased. “As if baking my own bread hasn’t been enough of a chore.”
“As soon as we get the all clear to show your face in public, I expect you to cook all of us the best damn steak.” Felicity flicked a roast potato at Chelle. “Until then, you’re stuck with walks along the beach or playing cards with the smitten Viper.”
“I’m going back?” I said as much to convince myself as to agree.
Four days.
I’d been gone four days.
Ibby had said a week, but it had only been four days.
What did it mean? Had things miraculously resolved or gotten worse? My head wanted to explode with questions that neither Felicity nor Chelle could answer.
Like, whether Ibby was missing me as much as I craved to be back in his arms.
Whether he wanted me to sleep in his bed, or back in my own room?
And finally, what could I possibly say or do to Garrison for the man to realize I wasn’t for sale, or available in any other way.
“Okay, spill.” Now it was Chelle throwing food at me. Luckily, she had a bad aim and two seagulls flew down to fight over the scraps.
“What?” I tried to replace my smile with a look of innocence. Hard to feign when my heart and body cried out one word, Ibby.
“You know what. If Dee’s not here, I’m supposed to be your best friend, spill.”
“What do you want to know?”
“You and Ibby? He’s demanding you go back, but not me? What gives?”
“Katie, we’re on your side. If you don’t want to go back, you’re welcome to stay here,” Felicity insisted. “I’ll ask Erebus to call back—”
“No, it’s fine. We had a moment, maybe he wants another.” First thinking and now admitting the words, I jumped up and screamed, “Yes!”
“Wow! How about you tell us how you really feel.” Chelle pulled me down into a hug. “How big of a moment are we talking? Did you finally get him to kiss you?”
“When I got taken,” I hesitated, not knowing how many people know about Garrison’s involvement. “Ibby got the Kingsmen and Redbacks to work together and find me. He took me back to his place so I’d be safe.”
“Instead of sending you here so we could be together?” Chelle didn’t believe me. “He is so into you.”
“I don’t know about that, but now he wants me back and I’m going.”
“Just be smart about it, okay?”
“As opposed to following my heart? You know how I feel, how I’ve felt for the longest time. We had a moment and now he wants me back.”
“I’m not saying don’t go back, but be smart.”
“About what?”
“Have you ever seen Ibrahim with the same woman more than once?”
“No, but—” I wanted to say this was different. He’d called out my name. He’d taken me to The Venue.
“Has he giving you any indication that he’s ready to settle down?”
“No, but—” He’d fed me his mother’s cooking. Hand fed me, fork by delicious forkful of lamb.
“Katie, enjoy the moment. He’s a sexy guy and probably the right person to come between us and Garrison, but don’t start wishing for a future.”
“I’m not.” Yes, I was. But I hadn’t even wanted to admit to having a moment. “But he made me feel special.”
“Oh, honey, that’s his charm. He makes every woman feel special, until he doesn’t.”
I couldn’t argue with the truth.
Ibby
“So, this is what’s been keeping you busy?” Darius’ expensive suit didn’t make it through the entry of The Venue without picking up flaks of plaster.
Bastard strode in as if he owned the place. Probably could bankroll me using change from his ashtray. Most people found our friendship strange, but the truth was we were both two self-made rich assholes who enjoyed the company of women.
Until he fell in love and traded in his one-night randoms for spending every night with one woman. More surprising was how often they came to The Club, enjoying the benefits of co-ownership and their private viewing room.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Feeling underdressed in old gym gear, I set aside the paint rollers to offer my friend a bottled water. “Feel free to pick up a paintbrush, or two.”
“Not my thing. The CEO wanted me to go through next year’s IT budget, so I figured coming to see you would keep me off the grid for an hour or so.”
“You’d rather hide with me than do your job? Why not go to The Club?”
“Mason can always find me there. He turned up once and flashed those green eyes at Janet. Now she’ll throw me under the bus any time he asks.”
“Poor baby.”
“How soon before this is finished?”
“I’ve been paying for 24-hour shifts, we’ve made tweaks to the design and I reckon another five weeks at the most.”
“Are you gonna tell me about your deal with Garrison?”
“He gave me a line of credit. He gets residency at my nightclubs in lieu of interest.”
“How does Katie and Chelle fit into your plans?”
“They don’t.” My words were polite, but firm. If Darius had ever made a mistake in business, he’d buried it years ago. If I couldn’t fix my current mistake, the world would be reading about the carnage.
“Okay, then how does Katie and Chelle fit into Garrison’s plans?”
“Bastard.” Not exactly an answer, but it got my point across.
“You’ve got it under control, or avoiding the issue?”
“Like I said, leave it alone.”
“Okay, I’ll try it again. You and Katie—a thing or a fling?”
All it would take to get rid of Darius was a flick of paint to ruin that perfect suit, but since the question had been keeping me awake at night amidst spreadsheets and cost projections, Darius might be the only man to help.
“This thing with you and Tara, when did you know?”
“Seriously? If you think the two of you are heading that way, your brain is only trying to catch up with your heart, and dick.”
“I’m not thinking with my dick.” I’d stopped thinking months ago.
“Tell that to any man who’s looked at Katie in her little black uniform. Mate, every man is thinking with his dick when it comes to Katie.”
“Don’t fucking talk about Katie as if she’s another random,” I snapped before realizing Darius had been baiting me into exactly that reaction. She wasn’t a random. She wasn’t a figment of my dick’s fantasy.
Katie was, my Katie.
“Ibrahim Mercia, settling down to be a one-woman guy. Let me be the first to congratulate you. One woman can be as intoxicating as a dozen, infuriating as twins and set your life on fire.”
“Answer the question, Tara worked for you. How soon did you know?”
“Probably from the first time I stopped wanting other women and found joy in doing the things that made her smile. Mate, I was gutted when we were going through our rough patch.”
“Then baby made three.”
“Nothing like endless sleepless nights to make you realize what’s important. Sexy broads will come and go, but if she makes you laugh and believes in you when others don’t.”
“But Katie made a play for you first.”
“Nah,” Darius laughed and potted his empty bottle in the trash like a basketball hero. “Katie was only trying to make you jealous. She only every had eyes for you.”
“What the fuck am I gonna do?”
“How about introduce her to your mother, she’ll set you right. Either Katie gets Mrs. Mercia’s stamp of approval, or you’d better let her go. I’m sure Garrison will
take her on the rebound.”
“Don’t even joke about that asshole. Mama will love her.”
“Ibrahim, I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow!”
With an uncomfortable grace, Garrison waved his arm, clearing a seat at the table for me to join him. The same fucking table at the same restaurant I’d stormed in, lost my shit and slunk away from.
His turf.
“I come bearing money.”
“You could have sweetened the deal and asked that young blonde to deliver it on your behalf. I’d even knock off a couple of thousand dollars if she’d leave her panties behind.”
First Darius and now Garrison.
The whole world wanted to bait me.
“Such a tasty little morsel, I’m surprised you haven’t had a taste of her by now. Perhaps I can offer her to you as a parting gift?”
It took all my non-existent self-control to keep my fists hidden from sight at Garrison’s second taunt. “Unfortunately, none of my hostesses would agree to the sort of entertainment you are suggesting. I have names of women who would be happy to oblige.”
“Ibrahim, I know what I want, and it is to be sandwiched between young Katie and Chelle. Unfortunately, neither of them were at The Club when I visited last night.”
“The manager gave them time off. The whole abduction situation was quite distressing, as you would expect. The girls weren’t able to put aside their concerns and be the hostesses we expect.”
“You fired them?”
“Not at all, they work hard and deserve some time off.”
“And you don’t know where they are?”
“Do you keep tabs on your employees when they take leave?”
“Ibrahim,” Garrison leaned in as if to share a secret. “I’m concerned that you feel it necessary to stash my security away from me. We had a deal, and those two wonderful women will be working for me the day after you renege on any payment.”
“Which I haven’t, so the point is mute.”
“How are the renovations coming along?” Now the asshole sat back, switching between subjects, to catch me off guard? Not gonna happen.
“Fine. I won’t be needing to draw down as much as I expected.”
“And the situation with your biker friends, did they come to any arrangement?”
“Nothing to concern yourself over. Cash flow is churning and from what I understand, your crew are well entrenched with their side business.”
“I hope that our friendship won’t end with your final payment,” Garrison lowered himself to pour a generous three fingers of whiskey from his private bottle.
“Nothing to drink for me, I’ve still got a full day ahead.”
“And our arrangement?”
“I’m not looking to extend past this current deal.”
Nights of no sleep, tossing around options, the only option I could live with had no Garrison involved in any part of my life or business. Garrison would protest, we’d come to a negotiated solution, but I needed to start strong.
“That’s a shame. Perhaps you’ll reconsider.”
I waited for him to expand, but when seconds threatened to become more than a minute, I stood to leave. That’s when the bastard dropped all pretense at civility. “Ibrahim, sit. We have much to discuss.”
“No, we don’t,” I said with equal force, noting how Garrison’s vowels had become less polished under stress. Lightly resting my hands on the back of a chair, I allowed my relaxed stance to become my own threat. Today hadn’t been the day I wanted to have this conversation, but it had to happen eventually.
“I feel uncomfortable with our subterfuge.”
Not even clicking my neck could stop the veins from throbbing. What fucking subterfuge? Darius knew about the deal; Lachlan had set it up. My nightclub managers knew about Garrison, Kingsmen and Redbacks. My fuckup had become public knowledge.
“Perhaps it would be better for all concerned if we were honest with our friends, and our employees.” Garrison swirled around his drink, not bothering to take a sip.
Still, I waited. Nothing could come from pleading or threatening the man who felt he held all the cards. Be smart. Be smarter.
“Nothing to say?” Garrison broke our deadlock, but I wasn’t under any false illusion of having won. “How about I do all the talking. Starting with Mr. Patera, explain the arrangement I have with your nightclubs and suggest the same with The Club?”
I didn’t flinch. Darius knew enough and had his own connections to keep The Club safe.
“I could invite the Redbacks and Kingsmen to bid for the opportunity to be employed as my personal security detail. Not only within your clubs, but out on the street. After all, you don’t look happy and I feel you may do me harm.”
One careful blink was all I allowed. My shoulders and arms ached to flex and rip the asshole from limb to limb, but I drew on lessons from the octagon. Pace myself. Let my opponent show his strengths. Watch closely and my opponent would offer up his weakness. I stayed silent, holding my nerve and ground.
“Do you know what pains me the most?” Garrison didn’t wait for an answer, “That you would put up your treasured employees as security for your debts. Were you so arrogant to think they would never be in play, or do you treat all women like a piece of meat?”
Fuck this, my head screamed. No longer caring about the rest of Garrison’s conversational threats, I spun and was halfway towards the street, phone already in hand. Ready to dial Lachlan and fast track the contingency funding when Garrison bellowed.
“Ibrahim!” Silence is going to cost you!”
Turning, I spat, “We had a deal. In your business, your word is your bond. If you’re going to betray my trust over a couple of girls, who else are you gonna betray? Whose gonna trust you or your word.”
“I want to make a new deal, my silence for an ongoing relationship.”
“Our deal finishes with my final payment.”
The same eyes that had served me well in hundreds of business deals, the eyes that had opened doors and legs, the eyes that shun respect from those who didn’t deserve it, held firm with Garrison’s blank stare.
Thirty seconds. One minute. Legs shoulder width apart, and arms comfortable, I waited for the imaginary octagon siren to sound and the fight to start. Confident that I could take out at least three of Garrison’s five goons before I either got to him, or they silenced me.
“Then you better not be a minute late.”
By the end of the day, my Gold Coast nightclub had been closed down by health inspectors looking for a non-existent cockroach infestation.
Adelaide’s liquor license was being questioned with the nightclub closed until the situation could be sorted.
And one of the subcontractors at The Venue had poured concrete down the drain. “Ibby, I’m sorry. We had to bring in a new subbie to hit the opening dates,” Ricardo had rung me at four am, wasting no time to let me know and apologize.
“How bad?”
“I’ve got plumbers coming in, it will cost you but hopefully we won’t lose more than a couple of days, a week tops.”
“It’s only money. Pay whatever it takes.”
There was no reason to keep Katie away. Garrison’s net was closing fast. If the bastard put his security out to tender, the Redbacks would hold all the cards if they had the girls.
Two phone calls and Chelle was about to get a job offer too good to refuse.
Another call and Katie was on her way home, to me.
Craving More
Ibby
I could remember my last morning not fueled by caffeine; the day before Garrison fucked up my life. Since then, insomnia ruled, insanity ruled, and a double shot heart starter coffee had replaced my gym-junkie fix of fresh pressed fruit and vegetable juice.
My phone said eight fifty-five am. Five minutes early to one of the few city coffee shops that didn’t know my order by name. Five minutes to the meeting set up with swallowed pride and destroyed ego.
“After you.
” I’d been hesitating before opening the door, but when two office workers approached, manners overtook common sense. Opening the door for strangers had to get me some good karma. Didn’t it?
Hell, I could be back in bed, waking beside my beautiful girlfriend. I could be checking the night’s takings from any of my clubs. I could even be boosting morale by shouting breakfast for The Club’s nightshift.
Even six vials of blood tests, a rectal exam or a one-armed fight in the octagon would be preferable to what awaited inside this coffee shop.
The best-case scenario would be a shit load of I told you so pity, empathy or any other piss-in-your-pocket attitude from a guy who made a sweet fortune from mugs like me. People who got in over their head and needed a real businessman to negotiate their way out of financial quagmire.
Walking in was admitting failure.
The worst-case scenario was if Lachlan didn’t have the answers.
Up for grabs, I was about to put it all on the line. My nightclubs, ownership in The Club. The Venue and visions for the next concept for inner-city hospitality and entertainment.
Not that I had a choice.
Backed into a corner, I’d come out fighting only to be king hit by Garrison’s relentless pursuit. This one coffee conversation was my last hope and I refused to lose.
I couldn’t lose.
Not when waking up with Katie by my side was the real prize.
Katie: I woke to an empty bed?
Standing in the doorway, I nodded to the waitress while sending Katie a quick text.
Ibby: Go back to sleep so I can wake you with kisses.
Katie: Wake me with kisses and see what you’ll get.
Ibby: Woman, you are something else.
Katie: Hurry home.
Truthfully, I didn’t even mind her calling it home, because for the four days she’d been gone, it felt like an empty shell of bricks and mortar. The moment Katie’s laugh filled the rooms, her perfume infused within my sheets and her lactose free milk graced the fridge, the shell of a house took on the same warmth from my childhood home.
“Ibrahim, I started to think you weren’t going to show.”
Hard Bargain: a Billionaire Suspense Romance (City Sinners Book 3) Page 15
