Duke (16 page)

Abbott was the Master Vampire of the southeastern United States, and conflict with him could cause all kind of problems for the RTMC, but Duke almost didn’t care.

“
I take it you’re the reason she needed to drink herself unconscious tonight?” Abbott asked as he stepped out of his car.

Duke took a breath and nodded. Abbott motioned towards his passenger door. “She’s asleep. She’s also of the opinion she’s only capable of dating assholes. Whatever you’ve done, it’s going to take some work to fix it.”

Duke shook his head and went to the passenger door. He got her purse and shoes, opened her front door, keyed in her alarm code, and then went back to retrieve her. Abbott watched as he lifted her out and walked up the steps. Knowing he needed to say something, Duke turned and said, “Thanks for getting her home safe. I can take it from here.”

“
If Isaac knew I left her with you like this, he’d be ticked. I happen to know what happened between you, and I could see in her eyes she’s in love with you and deeply hurt. Find a way to fix it, Duke. It isn’t often you find someone who fits you like a puzzle piece. Don’t screw it up.”

Duke’s brows drew together. “She told you what happened?”

“
No, she told me she’s only capable of dating assholes, but I have eyes and ears everywhere, Duke. Nothing happens in the supernatural world that I don’t know about. You’d do well to remember this, should you decide to reenter the sex trade business.”

“
You’ll stand in our way?”

“
I will not. However, there are rules in my territory about owning others, and about girls not being held as slaves, whether for sex or blood. If they come of their own free will, we won’t have a problem. You coerce them or use drug addiction to hold them down? We will.”

Duke shook his head. “I’m sure you know how it works in Atlanta. Should we go that route, we’ll follow the same business model.”

Abbott nodded and stepped towards his door, saying, “Then we should have no problems,” as he slid into his car.

Duke carried Gen upstairs, came back down to lock the door and arm the security system. He undressed Gen and put his shirt on her. Abbott had touched her, hugged her, and she had his smell on her. Duke needed her to smell like him.

She was semi-conscious, and helped him a little, but he doubted she’d remember much tomorrow. Her breath smelled of rum, and he hoped to god she’d been right about not getting sick from dark liquor.

* * * *

Gen awoke nauseated, ran to the bathroom, and puked into the toilet.

What had possessed her to drink so much last night?

Oh yeah.
Duke
.

“
Stupid asshole bastard,” she mumbled into the toilet. “No one’s worth this crap. He gets no more tears, no more drinking binges. My life is
mine
. I decide when to be happy and when to be sad. Not him. Not
anyone
. No more men. I’ll buy my own darned motorcycle. Take up skydiving to try to replace the sex.”

Another wave of nausea hit and she puked some more, and then rested her face on the cool toilet seat when she finished, thankful she had a housekeeper who kept her house spotless.

“
The opposite of love is not hate. It’s indifference.” She reminded herself, and then analyzed her feelings. “Darn it. I hate him. Gonna take a while to get to indifference. I went almost straight there with Mike, why does Duke have to be so darned
difficult
?”

She knew she needed to brush her teeth and go back to bed, but couldn’t find it in her to move. She took her head off the toilet and curled up on her bathroom rug, thinking she’d just stay close to the toilet in case she needed to puke again.

* * * *

Duke stood outside her bathroom door and listened, but couldn’t figure out how to go to her once she’d started. He didn’t want to intrude, but her words broke his heart. He gave her a few minutes and went downstairs to get her some ice water. He wet a washcloth with cool water, and sat on the floor with her, wiping her face as he sat her up, and offered her the water.

She scrunched her face and said, “Need to brush my teeth.” Her gaze went to the vanity and he helped her stand, then stayed close while she brushed her teeth and drank some water.

“
Why are you here?” she asked.

“
Abbott handed you off to me. I was waiting on your porch when he brought you home.”

She shook her head and then looked like she might need to run back to the toilet, but she held his gaze as she said, “You need to leave, Duke. You aren’t welcome.”

“
I gave you time and space, and this is the shape you got yourself in. I’m not leaving you like this.”

Gen looked at him a while, considering, and said, “Cam introduced me to ginger tea. Would you mind making me some? It’s in the cupboard over the coffee station. Bring the water to a boil with my electric kettle, and put it in a coffee mug with a teabag.”

He nodded and she waited for him to leave, listened for the cabinet in the kitchen to close, and then made her way to her end table, grabbed her gun, and opened the wall into her safe room.

The room was designed so — once she was in and barricaded — no one could get in unless she opened the door from the inside. The alarm company would be notified when she went in, so she’d have to let them know to kill the alert to the police. She could stay in there for days if she needed. It was stocked with plenty of food and water, and even ginger to make ginger tea. There was a small bed, and a toilet. She’d be good.

The sound of the door snicking closed behind her sounded nice, and she picked up the phone inside and hit the speed dial to the alarm company.

“
I’m just checking stock, no need to alert anyone.” She gave her pin number and the operator verified the police wouldn’t be called.

Gen decided she was still sleepy, so she made some ginger tea, drank it, and crawled back into bed.

When she awoke several hours later she felt much better. No headache, no nausea, and she was starving.

There was a way to check to be sure the coast was clear, but she wasn’t interested in firing up the computer and seeing what the cameras showed. She’d have to deal with Duke eventually. If he was still here she could handle him much easier today — sober and not sick — than she could’ve last night.

She ate a bowl of oatmeal, drank some coffee, brushed her teeth, cleaned up after herself since Amy didn’t know about this room, and stepped out of the safe room with another cup of coffee in her hand and her gun tucked under her arm.

“
Nice.” Duke said, sitting on her sofa with the TV remote in his hand. He flicked the television off, stood, and walked to her. “How are you feeling?”

“
I’m fine.” She closed the safe room door behind her, looked to be sure the bookcase locked in place so it wasn’t visible, and then eyed Duke in his sexy jeans and no shirt. She ignored how her body felt about his large chest and cut abs disappearing into his jeans.

“
I’m going to take a shower,” she told him as she settled her gun on her nightstand. “I’ll toss your shirt out the bathroom door. You can let yourself out.”

He took a step closer to her and said, “Beautiful, I—”

Gen held her hand up and interrupted him. “No, Duke. No nicknames, no sweet talking, no kisses, no touching. I give you your shirt; you leave. If you stay, that makes you a bully — here because you’re bigger and stronger than me and think I have no way to make you leave. I won’t call the cops on you, but there are other people I can call who
will
make you leave. If you keep pushing, I can easily afford to pay Aaron Drake for a bodyguard who’ll keep you away.”

“
I want you in my life, Gen.”

“
I thought I wanted you in mine, too, but I’ve remembered why that’s a bad idea. Trusting people only brings pain. Lesson learned. Fourth time’s the charm.”

She turned and went into the bathroom, pulled his shirt off, tossed it out, and locked herself in.

* * * *

Duke considered her words, and deliberated whether she’d really go to those extremes to keep him out of her life. Looking around at her house, the life she’d built herself, he had no doubt she’d follow through.

He found a notepad in her office and sat down with a pen.

Beautiful Gen,

I messed up, and it kills me to know I hurt you. I’m not giving up, but I’ll give you a little more space and hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.

Since you don’t want to talk to me, Brain will be calling you later today about finding us another retail space. Not another bar or bike shop, he’ll explain when he calls.

D

Gen rolled her cellphone calls to her assistant and instructed him to get the information from Brain when he called, telling Thomas to say she wasn’t available but he could get started on a search and let Gen know what the MC needed when she became available.

She should have expected Brain to show up at her office to see her personally, when he couldn’t get through.

She hadn’t expected him to have Gonzo with him, since it seemed to have been Gonzo’s fault Duke had been put in the middle — Gonzo who’d made it so Duke felt he had no choice but to betray Gen’s trust.

Gen glanced at her laptop when they stepped into her office, and told them, “I have about twenty minutes before I need to pick up some clients. Make it fast.”

Gonzo closed the door and said, “My brothers won’t tell my story, and I’m not going to tell the whole thing, but you need to understand why Duke needed to make me feel our home was safe.”

He showed her a picture, and Gen saw a younger version of Gonzo, cleaned up and happy, almost like he had a twin out there somewhere, one who’d been raised good and clean. He was with a woman and two kids — a beautiful boy and girl, probably seven and four in the picture.

Gen looked up, not sure she wanted to hear the story, but not prepared to send him away, either.

“
This picture was taken a week before my wife was diagnosed with cancer. Five months later, I buried her. A year and a half after she died, I thought I’d found the second love of my life. She was perfect for me, and great with my kids. I was a skip tracer, so I had guns around. She’d never been taught to handle them, so I took her to the range, showed her how. I kept them locked up so the kids wouldn’t have access to them, but thought she needed to know how to handle them, and how to use them if there was a problem and I wasn’t home.”

He shook his head. “Her family didn’t tell me about her mental problems. I knew nothing of them until I came home to find both of my kids dead, and barely got out alive myself.” He took his shirt off and Gen gasped at the scars on his chest and stomach.

“
So please don’t hold it against Duke. The guys voted on my side because I freaked at the mere
idea
you’d be in the compound with a gun. It’s supposed to be my sanctuary, the one place on the planet I can feel safe.” He put his shirt back on. “He needed to make me feel safe, it’s what he does for us.”

Brain spoke up. “The club needed to know you weren’t armed without him talking to you. If he’d stopped you at your car, explained it to you, it wouldn’t have proven anything to the men.”

Gen looked at both of them a few minutes before asking, “You need another retail spot?”

“
Yes,” Brain said. “I’m going to apply for an FFL, and we need to have the address before I can apply. They have up to sixty days to approve my license, or not, so we’ll be paying rent well before we can open up shop.”

“
FFL?” Gen asked.

“
Federal Firearms License. It’s what I need to open a gun store.”

Gen smiled. “Might have been easier to just say you need retail space for a gun store, and then tell me the part of town you’re looking at.”

Brain tilted his head, smiled, and said, “We’re thinking it might be nice to be close to a few of the big box stores that sell guns, so people shopping for them can hit us at the same time they go the other places. We’d prefer the Hamilton Place area over the Hixson area, but we don’t want to pay an arm and a leg in rent.”

They spent a few minutes talking about square footage needs, budget, and timing, and Gen stood to walk them out. “I’ll do some research tonight, make some phone calls tomorrow, and if I have properties to show you, I’ll give you a call. I have your number from before.”

Gen stood and walked to Gonzo, unsure of how he’d react, but she put her arms around him and hugged him. “Thanks for telling me, and I know there’s nothing I can say to make it better, but I wish there was.”

He tentatively returned her hug, and she squeezed him tighter and then let go as she stepped back.

“
You needed to know,” Gonzo told her. “I’m sorry you were hurt, and I apologize for my part in it. I’m glad I got to see you under pressure and pissed, though. It reminded me all chicks ain’t crazy. We’ll get out of your hair, now. I know you’re busy.”

Brain followed him out, but stopped at the door and said, “I’ve never seen Duke like this, like he is with you. He’s fallen hard, Gen. Please give him another chance.”

Gen worked with her clients and gave them the attention they needed, but when she stepped away to let them talk in privacy, her mind went back to Duke. By the time she returned them to their home, she knew what she had to do.

She called her assistant and asked him to phone a large to-go order into Sticky Fingers, and drove that direction to pick it up.

She pulled into the compound and looked toward the bikes, but couldn’t tell if Duke’s was there or not. It was obvious a couple weren’t, but several looked a lot like his.

She tucked her concealed carry license, a credit card, and one hundred dollars in cash into the pocket of her dress pants. Her car key went into another pocket, and she tucked her purse up under the dash so it wouldn’t be easily seen. It was probably safer in the compound than any other place in the city, but she figured better safe than sorry.