Cash Money (Bad Money #4) (6 page)

Chapter 10

Kate

The bed was empty beside her when she rolled over, but the smell of Marcus's skin lingered all around, his cologne having stained the sheets. Kate pressed her face to the pillow beside her and breathed in deeply. Did a future exist where he wasn't part of it?

"No." She pulled the covers up around her and let out a long groan. Stretching her hands up toward the headboard, she enjoyed the soreness of a long night beneath her best friend.

Her phone buzzed on the kitchen counter, which forced her to get up. Grumbling on the way over, she snatched it up and answered it without pausing to check who it might be.

"What?" she barked into the phone as she crawled back into bed.

"There's the peach who stole my heart in her infancy." Billy.

"Try again. What do you want?" She tugged the covers up around her neck and rolled onto her side.

"To take my favorite girl in the world to lunch. I figure I owe you a thank you." He chuckled.

A shudder ran through her at the remembrance of Billy's ability to maintain a tight hold on her when she was a girl. There was nothing she wouldn't have done for him when they first met.

Sick.

"You're welcome, but it wasn't for you. I should make it rather clear that you remember a scared girl, but I'm not at all that same person now. Victor decided to strap a collar around my throat, and for that, he's not breathing. Keep that in mind." She forced her voice to deepen, her mood to darken.

"Oh, I realize that quite clearly. Somehow that just makes you all the more attractive to me." He cleared his throat, which didn't help much. He still sounded as if he had eaten broken glass for breakfast. "Lunch. We have business to discuss."

"No, we don't. I'm hanging up." She rolled onto her back and pulled the phone from her ear.

"I wouldn't do that, Katie. You know me better than that." His voice hadn't risen at all, and yet it was clear as a bell ringing throughout her room.

"Lunch. Fine. Then you fuck off. I have enough drama in my life, and it's namely due to you." She sat up and let the sheet fall off of her. "Don't expect a goddamn thing from me either, because you're getting nothing."

He laughed. "Oh, how I've missed you. The Cafe Dumont down the street from your lovely establishment. Be there in two hours on the dot."

She started to respond, but the line was dead. "Idiot. Who hangs up on someone to prove a point?"

A delinquent, childish moron, that's who.

Too bad the moron was also a delusional serial killer with a bent toward moral depravity. The thought of calling Jon and asking him to go with her rolled through her, but the last thing she wanted to do was introduce Billy to a cop. It would be an open invitation for Jon to be placed on the hit list, near the top.

Marcus had left in a hurry earlier that morning, mumbling something about a trip for Billy, which was a little surprising. Having just joined back up with his old boss, it seemed suspicious that Billy would trust Marcus enough to send him anywhere.

After a quick shower, Kate braided her hair, dressed in jeans, a light gray sweater and boots. She headed down to the club, trying to avoid the smell of piss and vomit that seemed ever-present on the street just outside the club.

Jeffery's car was outside on the street, which meant things with the club were right on track. It was almost eleven, and the city streets were just starting to fill up.

Kate punched in the code on the wall and walked in to the smell of Vanilla and beer. Surprisingly enough, it was pleasant.

"Hey. It's me. You here?" She closed the door, locked it, and walked to the bar as she scanned the darkened room.

"In the back," Jeffery called out.

The door at the back of the club was propped open as she walked toward it. There would come a time soon that she would need to hire a few more people to help support the establishment, but first thing was first. She needed to clean it up, and get rid of the drugs that had found their way into the middle of it.

Jeffery was surrounded by various boxes filled with their latest liquor supply. He glanced up and pulled his long blond hair from his face as he smiled.

"You look good." He wagged his eyebrows.

"Hush." She walked in and picked up the clipboard. "I have to go to lunch today, but I should be here tonight to help out. I'm sorry I've been absent."

"It's good. I love this place. It'd be a dream to one day own a club of my own. I don't mind, really." He stood to his full height. "You doing okay? The dark circles under your eyes say you're not sleeping."

"I'm good." She set the clipboard down and glanced around, feeling for the first time ever that maybe it was time to move on. The club was a dream of hers when she was younger, but now it seemed to hold far too much taint to it. "Marcus is on a trip, but he'll be back soon too. I'll whoop his ass to get him more active back in here as well."

"Yeah, he's going to Chicago. I'm a little surprised you let him go." Jeffery chuckled and picked up a large box.

"What? Why? I don't have any hold over Marcus." She moved behind him as they walked back to the bar, a little confused by his comment.

"He's your partner here at the club, right?" Jeffery set the box down on the bar top and glanced back at her.

"Yeah, of course." She moved up and helped him start to unpack the contents.

"And you're good with him interviewing for something new in Chicago?" He smirked.

Interviewing?
Sickness rolled through her stomach. Was Marcus leaving? Is that why he was being so odd, so unraveled? Would he really pick up and leave her without giving her a say in his dealings?

"He's his own man." Kate pulled the last few bottles from the box and kept her facade locked into place. "All right. I'm out. Text me if you need me."

"You bet, boss."

She turned and walked through the back to her office, stopping by to grab her pistol and check on things. A sadness that she wasn't going to easily shake rested on her shoulders, and crawling back into bed and staying under her covers sounded like a better choice than facing the future.

"So you're leaving me?" She picked up a picture of her and Marcus off her desk and let her eyes move across it. They were cutting a big red ribbon at the front of Expulsion on opening day, both of them smiling and half wrapped around one another. Tears filled her eyes as the pain of possibly losing him twisted her insides. "Were you going to tell me, Marcus? When?"

The sound of Jeffery messing around in the storeroom next door brought her to her senses. She set the picture down and wiped at her eyes before pulling herself together and walked down the dark hall to the back door. Maybe everything wasn't as great as it seemed.

Time would force the truth into the light, but some part of her prayed that Marcus loved her enough to give her an option, or at least a voice in the matter.

*

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" Billy glanced up as Kate moved to take the chair in front of him. The large patio was filled with people, which was a relief of sorts. It was relaxing and inviting, but the man in front of her made her want to turn and run as fast as she could. Monster wouldn't begin to describe him.

"Billy." She sat down and pulled her sunglasses from her face. "Make this quick. I have a club to run, and thanks to being dragged back into the world of narcotics, I've not been very present in my establishment lately."

"So many big words." He leaned forward, his brown hair longer than she remembered, but clean and pulled back into a ponytail.

"How are you out here in public without a concern for the police? They're looking everywhere for you.” Kate ordered a bottle of water from the waitress.

"Is this one not okay?" The young girl picked up the glass already sitting in front of Kate.

"Nope. I'd rather have a closed bottle." Kate glanced up at her. A glass of water sitting on the table with Billy across from it would most likely have something swirling within it. He couldn't be trusted in the slightest, and she wasn't going to play the fool. It would leave her strapped to a bed, or missing a hand.

"People see what they want to see, Kate. The obvious is almost always missed." He stretched his arms out wide and leaned back. He looked like he was sixty instead of thirty. It was disturbing, chilling. "Take you, for instance."

"Yes. Please do." She reached up and took the water bottle before turning her attention back to Billy.

"You could have easily gotten out of your situation when you were a girl. The obvious choice would have been to call the authorities and file a claim, but you didn't. You waited for someone to save you." He lifted his eyebrow.

"Yes, well, sometimes children are ignorant to the idea of staying with the evil you know rather than the one lurking in the darkest corners of the street." She leaned back and studied him, wondering how the fuck he had the nerve to sit in the middle of New Orleans after his face had been pasted all over the TV only days before.

"Now, now... I wasn't evil back then. Losing too many times over my life has left me a bit calloused. Can you blame me?" He lifted his wine glass to his lips and studied her.

"This is fun, reminiscing and all, but what do you want? I honestly have no desire to sit around and shoot the shit with you."

"Right. A businesswoman. I'd almost forgotten while I was fucking you in my head." He licked at his lips and never took his eyes off of her. "I want your position, which is rightly mine. I thought perhaps implicating you in a few murders would help, but you know old habits die hard. Me and my damn need to take a charm from my victims. It's probably more than obvious that the murders at your place were my doing, but I believe the cops are at least curious of your involvement with me."

"My innocence is easy enough to prove. I wasn't in town for most of the murders." She shrugged, still a little taken back by the fact that she was sitting across the table from Billy Turner having a calm discussion.

"Right, but all the cops need is a few too many times of someone on the radar and they start to believe that they're missing something. I promise." He smirked. "I want your position and your help."

"Help with what?" She waved off the server. She wasn't eating with Billy. Her time was running out to sit still for much longer.

"There is a guy in New York who works closely with a Zandra supplier in Russia. I want his name. Go up there and get it for me." He licked at his lips as his eyes darkened.

"No." Kate picked up her glasses and gave him a shit-eating grin. "Best of luck with everything. You're ballsy. I'll give you that."

"Kate. I'm not a man to play games, you know this, baby."

A hand clamped down on the back of her shoulder, and she glanced up to see Reni standing behind her with a scowl on his face.

"Reni. What a pleasant surprise." She patted his hand and glanced back to Billy. "Your time is limited and you know it. Move on from here or they're going to get you."

Billy wasn't the only one with nerves of steel, and though she was playing a dangerous game, she couldn't help it. The fucker across the table had almost ruined her for life. Victor was dead, and if there was a way to get close enough to Billy without losing her soul over it, he would be dead too.

"You're going to New York for me." Billy leaned forward as Reni's hand tightened on her shoulder.

"No, I'm not." She jerked away from Reni and turned, punching him in the nuts and pushing her chair back, which smacked into him and knocked him to the ground. "You have nothing on me."

"I have Marcus, Kate. You think he hasn't sacrificed enough for you? He has. It's your turn, pretty girl."

"Fuck you," she muttered, put her sunglasses on and walked out of the restaurant as the sun broke through the clouds and warmed her cold skin.

Billy would get his way somehow. He always did.

It was just nice to pretend that she was immune to him.

Too bad she wasn't. No one was.

Chapter 11

Jon

He hadn't slept at all the night before. Mike left just before six, and the rest of the night had been spent pacing the floor, trying to figure out why Kate having killed Benton was such a big deal deep down inside of him. He'd come to the conclusion that it wasn't. He was overreacting simply because of the idea of Kate pulling the trigger and taking a life. It was hypocritical as shit, and yet he couldn't help it.

Killing changed the core of a person.

"Is she even who I think she is?" Jon ran his hands through his hair and walked to the door as the sound of someone knocking pulled him from the endless looping conversation in his head.

He opened it to find Kate looking more like a model that belonged on Cosmo and less like the cold-hearted bitch he was working to turn her into.

"Hi, baby." He reached for her, taking her hand and pulling her into the house. "Why didn't you come back last night?"

She wrapped her arms around his waist and lifted to her toes, kissing him a few times before pulling away. "I figured Mike wanted time with you. Why else would he stab at me? He doesn't even know me."

"Yeah, he actually does." Jon snorted and followed her into the kitchen. "He knows you better than I do. I guess he got to read your file before it magically disappeared from the archives."

She turned and pressed her hands to her hips. "And what exactly does he think he knows?"

Jon dropped down in the closest chair to him and chuckled. "That you're a good woman in a bad situation."

"I don't need saving, Jon. We've gone over this a million times." She sat down a few chairs away from him, and he couldn't help but notice a sadness tugging at her.

"What's going on? Something is up. Tell me." He moved to the chair beside her and pulled her hand into his, cupping it softly and rubbing her knuckles as he studied her.

"Nothing. Everything." She closed her eyes and let out a slow breath.

"What can I do to help?" He scooted closer and brushed his fingers down the side of her neck. "I'm here, you know."

"Are you?" She opened her eyes, and some of the light he was used to seeing was dimmed... gone.

"Hell yes, I am. Let's not start this again. I'm one hundred percent in, Kate. You know that." He moved in and cupped her face. "What happened?"

"I want to see what's in the safe you kept for Adam."

Her words slammed into him. She didn't trust him. She'd talked herself into believing that he was something he wasn't. Not that he wasn’t doing the same thing to her in his head half the night.

"Of course. Let me throw on some clothes, and we'll get there before the bank closes." He kissed her once before getting up and walking to the bedroom. There was far more going on with her, but he would peel her back layer by layer. He wasn't willing to deny her if it meant alleviating some of her concerns. He glanced up as she stopped at the entrance to the bedroom and leaned against the door.

"I want to see the safe, grab something to make for dinner and spend the night here. That okay?" She crossed her arms over her chest, drawing his eyes to the thick swell of her breasts.

"Yeah. Anything you want." He pulled his shirt over his head and walked to her, sliding his hands over her hips and leaning down to kiss her deeply, fully. "Ask away, Kate. Anything you want to know. I don't want anything between us. No secrets, no lies, no untapped spaces."

"Okay," she whispered softly as her fingers dug into his back.

"What happened today? Tell me." He brushed his nose by hers and kissed her once more before moving back and getting his shoes on.

"Billy wants me to go to New York for him, and Marcus is in Chicago interviewing for a position with another syndicate, or so I assume. He lied about it, so I have no clue what he's really up to." She pressed her fingers to her eyes. "The Billy stuff is silly and not something I'm concerned with, though maybe I should be."

"The thing with Marcus is tearing you up?" Jon moved back to hold her, hating that Marcus or any other man had so much power over her. She was his, and only he should be able to have such an emotional hold on her.

"Yes." She pushed back and turned, walking into the living room. "I keep trying to figure out how this is going to work out, Jon. I love you both. I need you both, but that's selfish and it’ll never work."

"I agree." He grabbed his jacket and his keys before offering her his hand. "But, for now, neither of us is asking you to choose. One day we will, but that's not today."

She nodded, not responding, but he was almost grateful for her silence. The last time he'd questioned her on who she would run to, it was Marcus.

Hopefully things were changing, but something told him that he was living in a dream that would soon beckon him to wake up.

And when he did? She would be gone.

*

"Where did you get all of this money?" Kate turned and looked over her shoulder as she stepped away from the large safety deposit box.

"I stole it from Benton. Once I made the decision to get out of the syndicate, I knew I would need backup, and the best plan for a man on the run is usually cash." Jon chuckled and rubbed his fingers over his chin. "I owe Billy a debt of gratitude for taking out the old bastard. He would have killed me if given the chance."

"Billy or Benton?" Kate closed the box and turned to face him.

"Benton." Jon tilted his head to the side, testing the beautiful woman before him. She'd killed Benton, not Billy. Now was the time to see if she were willing to open up a little and start letting him in.

Her teeth pressed into her bottom lip as she studied his face. "I killed him. He's the only person I killed before Victor, and I regret it every day."

"Really? Plot twist?" He smirked and walked toward her. "Mike already told me."

She popped his chest. "Why the fuck did you just act like you thought it was Billy?"

"Because, Kate, you're reserved around me. I know you and Marcus go way the hell back, but I don’t know hardly anything about you. I trust you as far as I can throw you, which obviously is how you feel about me too." He motioned toward the safety deposit box. "What were you expecting to find?"

"Evidence that you're pulling the strings behind all of this." She pressed her hands to his chest. "Are you?"

"No. I'm a cop looking for a future, a family and someone to love." He touched her cheek. "I want you to be that woman so fucking bad, but I'm not sure that's what you want at all."

She nodded. "I'm not sure what I want either. It's not as easy as you think to turn away from everything you know and walk away, Jon."

"I actually do know that path quite well." He pressed himself against her, trapping her between his thick frame and the table behind her. "It's hard as hell, but it helps to have someone walking beside you who knows the way out. That's me, baby."

"Let's go." She lifted to her toes and kissed him softly, ignoring his comment.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" He kissed her once more before stepping back and taking her hand.

"Yes. Thank you for letting me snoop." They walked out and Kate moved to the door, crossing her arms over her chest as Jon wrapped things up with the bank manager who was assisting them.

"Let's grab something for dinner. You want to cook at my place or go out?" He wrapped his arm around the back of her shoulders, feeling like they'd gotten over some odd, unseen hurdle.

"Your place." She got on the back of his bike and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

Jon started the bike and took off to the closest grocery store, trying to work through how to tell Kate that letting Marcus go was going to be much easier than watching him go of his own decision. The big guy seemed to have made up his mind on moving out of New Orleans, and trying to start another life elsewhere.

Surely he wouldn't expect Kate to go with him, or be a part of it.

Surely he wasn't that fucking selfish.