by Jamie Begley
“They aren’t going to hear shit. They’re out there fucking their brains out!”
“Shut up. Don’t say that!”
“Well, they are,” he huffed, settling his back against the wall.
“I know, but you don’t have to remind me. We are so dead if we get caught,” she moaned, curling her knees to her chest. “Can you take him?”
“What do you mean can I take him?”
“I mean, I don’t want to die!” she whispered plaintively. “Can you take him if he goes over the rails and finds out we watched.”
“You’re being ridiculous. He won’t kill us.”
That Ice didn’t seem as sure as he sounded didn’t inspire confidence in his abilities.
She whimpered. “We’re going to die.”
“We’re not going to die.”
At least Ice sounded more sure of that.
“He’ll beat the fuck out of me, but you should be good.”
“It’s all your fault we’re in this situation! You should have let me open the door!”
Ice rolled his eyes. “Yeah, that would have been so much better.”
“I could have run. Now, if Lily comes to the bathroom, we’re trapped.” She was appalled at the thought of Lily entering the bathroom. “What if she comes in here naked?”
“God, I can only hope,” Ice muttered.
Grace punched him on his arm.
“Fuck, I was only joking. Quit fucking hitting me!”
“You weren’t joking. Don’t think I didn’t see you looking at her boobs.”
“Are you fucking serious? If I hadn’t looked, that should be a trigger for you. There is no red-blooded man that wouldn’t get turned on by her.”
Hurt, she dropped her eyes from his.
“Don’t give me that hurt look! I wasn’t the one twisting on my chair when you got a good look at Shade’s body. For a second I thought you were going to knock Lily off the bar and hurl yourself up there.”
She looked at him in confusion. Had she?
She gave a haughty sniff out loud. She couldn’t remember.
“Please.” Ice snorted. “You were looking at him like he was a snow cone and you were in a heat wave.”
“Don’t be crass.”
“I’m not being crass. I’m horny as fuck!”
“Well, you’re not getting any in here,” she snapped.
“What’s new?” he snapped back.
“Are you trying to act like you don’t get any?”
“I’m not acting. I’m saying it like it is.”
Grace cupped her palms over her knees. “We have sex all the time.”
“When’s the last time you let me fuck you then?”
“Uh… the other day.”
“More like three weeks ago.”
“That’s not true. It’s just been a couple of days.”
“It’s been three weeks, Grace.”
“Really?” Surely, he couldn’t be right. She racked her mind, trying to remember.
“Really.”
CHAPTER 6
“You haven’t let me touch you since the day we received the letter that Winston’s hearing was rescheduled.”
Numbly, she stared at the sink, focusing on a drop of water at the edge of the faucet, like it was hanging on for dear life. The way she had when she was kidnapped, her life hanging on the balance every time Leon walked down those wooden steps.
“I didn’t think it had been so long.”
“Well, it has.”
Feeling like a complete failure as a wife, she continued to look at the stupid droplet of water, waiting for it to fall. “I keep hearing him coming down those steps. During the day, when I’m at work. At night, even when I know you’re there and Winston’s in the psychiatric hospital. How am I supposed to make myself stop hearing them when he really gets out?”
Ice laid a comforting arm around her shoulders, shifting closer to her. “He can’t walk anymore. Maybe you should go back to therapy.”
“I did two months ago. It’s not helping, I still hear those footsteps.” She brought her hand to her hair, her forehead resting on her knees. “I’m never going to stop hearing them.”
“You will. He’ll never get near you again.”
“I know you think that you can protect me against him, but you can’t. Sooner or later, he will get out. His doctors keep writing those letters for him that he’s not a physical threat. His body might not be able to move, but there’s nothing wrong with his mind. He’s skilled at finding people’s weaknesses and takes advantage any way he can.”
“They won’t let him out. They’ll move him to a prison cell.”
“Somehow, someway, he’ll get out. His doctors like him. They’re underestimating him. He’s pretending he’s sorry. He will eventually get out, and when he does, he’ll manipulate someone into finding me. He said he would never let me go, and he meant it.”
“The sick fucker will not get within breathing distance of you. I swear, Grace, I swear on my grave that he won’t get near you.”
Grace raised her head to stare at him. “I’m afraid of that, too. When he finds out we’re together, he’ll kill you. How can you protect me if you’re not here?”
“Fuck. Is that why you’ve been on my case about working for Desmond?”
She hadn’t seen the correlation before, but Ice could be right.
“I think so. I don’t like you working for him. But yes, part of it is because I need you alive, Ice. I don’t need you buried six feet under because of a shady deal that Desmond needs you there for. What if something goes wrong?”
“Something could go wrong anytime I ride my bike or step out in traffic.”
“That’s true. But you don’t have to be a target for anyone wanting to take Desmond out either.”
He held her tighter to his side. “Even if I quit, stayed home, and lived in a bubble to make you happy, I could drop dead of a heart attack from boredom. I can’t live my life afraid of shit that could happen, any more than you can live in fear that Winston will have hurt or kill someone to get back at you.”
“I know. What are we going to do?”
“I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. We’re going to live our lives like Winston doesn’t exist, that none of the deals will go down wrong, and I won’t crash and burn on my bike. You don’t think I’m just as afraid for you? Your mother was dying of heart failure when they found the breast cancer. You think that shit doesn’t ride on my shoulders for you? You think I want to raise a kid on my own if something happens to you? Fuck no! But we’re not going to live in fear that one of your checkups will come back anything but negative.”
She nodded. “I’m trying.”
“Fuck trying. You’ve been trying to forget Winston since he was arrested. Maybe that’s the problem. You’ve gone to those hearings and talked about what he did to you and your friends. Fucking tell him everything you’ve been holding back, get it off your chest, and let it go when you walk out, because my dick’s not getting any younger. I don’t know if I can get it up anymore.”
She jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow, knowing he was ready to change the subject from Winston. “You didn’t have a problem getting a hard-on when you saw Lily dancing.” She gave him a reproachful glance, letting him know she was aware of the bulge under his jeans when he tugged her into the restroom. It wasn’t like she could have missed that huge bulge pressed against her ass as she sidled inside the bathroom.
He gave her a rueful smile in acknowledgment. “She would have gotten a rise from a dead man with the way she went up and down that pole. You should ask her where she took lessons.”
She jabbed him again. “Shut up while you’re ahead.”
“No need to be jealous. She can’t hold a candle to you. I prefer my women blonde….”
She arched a brow at him. “Women?”
“I prefer my woman to be blonde,” he corrected himself. “She has too much junk in her trunk for my taste….”
; “You’re lying to make me feel better.”
“Is it working?”
“Yes.”
“Then it’s all good. But seriously, you need to learn how to do that pole dancing. It’s sexy as fuck.”
“You go in a strip club almost every day in Queen City; it’s not like pole dancing is a foreign concept to you.”
“Those strippers are tired of twitching tails. Henry needs to hire some new ones. Besides, it’s different seeing a good girl being bad. Gets my libido stirring, you know?”
“I can’t say I do. I wonder if it works the same with men? Several very sweet men are clients of Zoey’s. Maybe one of them has a bad boy side. I’ll have to ask for her opinion.”
Ice looked like he didn’t appreciate the comparison.
She laid a hand on his thigh, and he laid one on top of hers.
“You trying to play nice after trying to get me jealous?”
She started to argue with him, then stopped herself, realizing the pattern she’d let fester.
“I guess I was just seeing if I could still make you jealous.”
He gave her a crooked smile as if he was thinking about a joke only he could understand.
“What?”
“You don’t have to make me jealous to find out if I feel the same way about you. You want to know something funny as fuck? I never expected our relationship to last.”
She didn’t find his confession funny.
Hurt, she tried to pull her hand back, but Ice forestalled her, linking his fingers with hers.
“I expected you to get tired of my ass a long time ago. You could have any man you want, someone smarter, has a decent job, or a decent family you wouldn’t be ashamed to be a part of. I only married you because, once I put that ring on your finger and you swore on our marriage vows, that if I fucked up, you wouldn’t walk away. When you say something, you fucking mean it. You’re everything I’m not. I counted on you loving me despite me not being able to hide the fact I’m not the best man you could have chosen to be with.”
“I don’t want to change you.”
“You do, but I can’t. That’s why I married you. I’ve been banking on that fact, when you realized it, you wouldn’t leave me. How could I blame you when I couldn’t cash in the promises you expected me to?”
“This whole time you’ve thought that the only reason I’ve stayed with you is because of a ring and a piece of paper?”
“Yes.”
“If we had a marriage license or not, I wouldn’t stay if I didn’t love you. That’s what divorce is for.”
“Since I’m putting all my cards on the table, there will never be a divorce. I’ll never let you go.”
She squeezed the hand in hers. “I don’t want you to. I think both of us have been so afraid of losing each other that we’ve been pushing each other away. We have to start fighting for what we have, and I have been more to blame than you. I’m sorry.
“If you want to keep working for Desmond, then go ahead. I won’t interfere again. I have to trust that you’ll do what’s best for our marriage, even when I’m not there. And since we’re laying our cards on the table, don’t think that crap you just spilled about you not being smart, having a regular job, or a decent family was an effort to pull on my heartstrings. You’re smart enough to know how to do that, and you know I don’t give a damn about the other two.”
Laying her head down on his shoulder, she relaxed against him for the first time in what felt like forever. “How much longer do you think we have to stay in here?”
“Want me to sneak out and see if they’re finished?”
“No, I don’t need you getting any more ideas.”
“Too late. It’s Valentine’s Day, and I know what I want.”
“Does it involve a pole?” she teased.
“No, it involves that jacket, those boots you’re wearing, and a lap dance.”
She was about to tell him that wasn’t going to happen when they both jumped at the bathroom door being swung open.
The bar owner stood there, staring down at them grimly. “You were supposed to leave.”
Ice stood, helping her to her feet. “We tried, but we didn’t want to set the alarm off.”
“That fucking alarm hasn’t worked in ten years.”
“That would have been good to know an hour ago.” Grace blew a tuft of blue fur from the corner of her mouth.
“It’s been over three hours since you went to the bathroom.”
“It didn’t seem that long, did it?” she asked her husband, seeing the man’s skeptical look as he stared them down like they were peeping toms.
That he didn’t agree with her had her jabbing him in the ribs.
“Yeah, sure,” he finally conceded, even though he clearly didn’t.
“How’d you know we were still in here?”
“Other than your rental car is still out front?” Sarcasm rolled of his tongue. “Shade gave me your cell phones that you left sitting on the bar to return to you.”
Grace’s throat went dry. She gave Ice a killing glance because he didn’t seem as embarrassed as her.
“What did he say?” Ice asked, taking the phone from him.
“Happy Valentine’s Day.”
CHAPTER 7
“I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life! Shade knew we were watching them!”
Ice took his eyes off the road to see Grace’s face planted in her hands. “It didn’t seem to bother him,” he teased, trying to lighten her anxiety.
She raised her head to look at him. “Do you think Lily knows?”
“No.”
“You don’t think he told her?”
“If he had, he wouldn’t have told us Happy Valentine’s Day. He would have kicked my ass.”
“I’m glad we’re flying back in the morning. I’ll never be able to face Lily again if she knows we saw them.”
“You’re being a little overdramatic, aren’t you?”
“That’s easy for you to say. With women, it’s different. We get embarrassed about stuff like that. Especially Lily. She’s very shy.”
“She wasn’t shy tonight,” he said then cautioned, “Don’t hit me. I’m driving.”
Grace huffily gave him an angry glare but kept her elbow to herself. “Keep it up and it’ll be four weeks until we have sex again.”
“Don’t hit a man when he’s down.”
“I truly didn’t know it had been so long.”
“Grace, I could have said something. I didn’t. I know Winston’s hearing is coming up, then your dad getting remarried. The last thing you needed was me hounding you for sex.”
“I don’t know whether to thank you or be worried that you didn’t.”
Ice put the blinker on to turn down the street of Dalton’s home. “There’s nothing to be worried about.”
He felt her eyes on him in the darkness as they pulled into the driveway.
“You haven’t asked me to come to the clubhouse lately.”
He tilted his head to the side, trying to study her expression in the shadows.
“You’ve been working late, and the mood you’ve been in, I didn’t think you would want to.”
“Me being a witch is over, Ice. I mean it.”
“I know you do.”
Getting out of the car, he took her hand when she held hers out to him as they walked up the sidewalk to the house.
“I’ll be glad to be home tomorrow. I miss our dogs.”
“Stump will be ready to give them back, and Zoey will try to keep them.”
“It won’t do her any good. I’m selfish when something is mine.”
Ice gave her a quick glance as he inserted the key in the door. He had heard a subtle hint of possessiveness in her tone but thought she was overreacting.
Zoey would give the dogs back. To tell the truth, he probably would put up as much of a fight where the little shits were concerned.
Turning the lights on, he deactivated the alarm system that Dalton had show
n him. The house was wired like Fort Knox.
“Looks like the caterers cleaned before they left.” He expected to come back and have to spend the rest of the night helping Grace clean.
“They did. I told Willa and Ginny that we would, but they wouldn’t let me lift a finger. I even wanted to pay them, but they wouldn’t let me.”
“I’m sure Dalton took care of it.” Removing his jacket, he was going to take Grace’s from her to hang it up, but she skirted from his touch. “Don’t you want to take it off?”
“No, I won’t be wearing it in the morning. I’m going to pack it in my suitcase before I forget it. I’m dreading packing. Our room is a mess.”
Locking the door and resetting the outside alarms, he went to her side. “Come on, I’ll help you pack.”
“Don’t you want me to make you something to eat?”
“We’ll find something when the packing is done. I’m sure there’re plenty of leftovers. You look exhausted.”
“I am tired,” she confessed.
Concerned filled him for his wife. She had been through so much emotional turmoil lately that she was like a violin string wound too tightly.
“Come on; get what you need for tonight and the morning, and I’ll do the packing. While I do the packing, you take a shower.”
“That’s okay. I can.”
They walked through the foyer then through the kitchen, toward the bedroom. He flicked the light switch on as they rounded the corner, both stopping when they saw what was sitting on the counter, waiting for them.
Moving forward, Grace laughed when she read the card left in plain sight.
“It’s from T.A. and Dad. It’s their Valentine’s Day present to us. She said there’re steaks and potatoes in the oven.”
Ice took the champagne out of the ice bucket.
“Damn, I like T.A.” Tearing the foil off the top, he reached for the wine opener sitting beside the bucket.
“I do, too.” She picked up the glass he filled first for her before pouring his own. “I thought I’d resent anyone Dad would marry. Mom and I talked before she passed away, and she made me promise that whomever Dad picked that I show her as much as love and respect as I gave her.”
Ice choked on the drink he had just taken.
