Slay (Storm MC #4) (7 page)

“Yes, you can work here while you stay with me.”

“I don’t know anything about working in a bar.”  Panicked features stared back at me.

I ignored her worry.  “It’ll be fine.  I’ll show you everything you need to know.  Promise.”

She relaxed a little.  Whenever I promised something, I always came through, and she knew that.  “Okay, Layla.”

I waited until she’d gone upstairs before shaking my head and expelling a frustrated breath. 

Lord help us
.

“Layla.”

I turned to see Jess watching me.  “She okay?  We can cope down here without you if you want to go up and sit with her.”

I shook my head.  “Thanks, but I think she’ll be alright by herself.”

Jess’s attention shifted to something behind me, and I looked around to find her looking at Donovan. 
Blade
.  I liked his given name better. 

His gaze pierced me, stirring my lust.  “Oh, shit,” I muttered as the lust unfurled through me.

“What?” Jess asked.

“I was supposed to keep his drinks coming.” 

She grinned.  “Well, you better get onto that then.”

I groaned at her subtlety.  “I should send you over.”

“Nope, can’t do it.  I’ve already got too much to do.  You’ll have to take care of Mr Arm Porn.”  She kept grinning as she brushed past me to get back to work. 

“I’ll remember this,” I muttered as I poured his scotch.

When I placed it in front of him a couple of moments later, he asked, “Who’s the redhead?”

Momentarily confused, I frowned.  “Who?”

He jerked his chin toward the bar.  “The little redhead you were just talking to.”

Annie
.

“She’s my cousin.”  I narrowed my eyes at him.  “Why?”

He shrugged.  “I like to know who all the players are.”

“Who all the players are?  What the fuck?”

“Layla, you’re in some serious shit here.  I’m keeping an eye on everyone involved, so when I see a new face, I like to know who we’re dealing with.”

Seriously
?

I pulled the spare seat back and sat down, glaring at him.  “I’ll tell you who the fuck we’re dealing with, Donovan.  Her name’s Annie and she’s my cousin.  I’ve just moved her in with me to get her away from her deadbeat asshole of a boyfriend.  Annie is the sweetest girl, but she struggles in life due to the shit her father dealt her growing up.  She has absolutely nothing to do with Mario so you can stop wondering about her.  Annie wouldn’t hurt a fly.”  My pulse sped up, racing through my body while my heart pounded in my chest.  I wouldn’t have Annie involved in this shit. 

He shifted forward in his seat and dipped his head a little to bring his gaze closer to mine.  “I didn’t think she would.  I’m more concerned about Mario sniffing her out if he comes back here.  That he’d use her against you.  Anyone can see the girl is vulnerable.”

Shit
.

I slumped in the chair, my body returning to its normal state. 
Some days it just felt like all the shit was piling up and I had no way out from under it.
  “Does life ever get to you?” I asked.  He seemed so in control all the time.

He stared at me.  I couldn’t read him, though. Couldn’t figure out what thoughts were running through his mind.  Finally, he admitted, “Some days, yes.”  And down came his guard a little.  The hard lines of his face softened, and as he scrubbed a hand over his face, I noticed his exhaustion.

“Only some days?”

His lips curved into a small smile.  “Perhaps more often than that.”

“I don’t know, Donovan...It just seems like every time I think life is going well, shit happens and screws it up.  The two steps forward turn into three steps back some days.” 

“Diamonds are made under pressure,” he murmured, eyes glued to mine, and I held my breath for a moment as I processed what he’d said.  No one had ever given me a compliment like that, and I didn’t know what to make of it.

As I scrambled for what to say, he continued, “No one calls me Donovan anymore.  I like it on your lips.”  He drank some more of his scotch, eyes still on me. 

God, he was something else.  I’d never met a man like him.  One who had the ability to make me want him even when I wanted nothing to do with him at the same time. One who threatened to set my panties on fire with words alone.

“I prefer it to Blade.  How’d you get that name?” I asked.

He finished his drink, and carefully placed the glass back on the table before looking at me.  “Probably best if I don’t share that story with you.”  The intense way he looked at me sent shivers through my body.

I really wanted to know that story
.

“Try me,” I challenged.

His eyes searched mine, looking for what, I wasn’t sure. 

“Not much surprises me anymore, Donovan,” I added.

“Yeah?  You’d be surprised at what surprises me.”

“Like what?”

“Like discovering I’ve been drinking at a bar for a year or so now, and never knew that the woman serving me drinks would turn out to be the most fascinating woman I’ve met in eight years.”

I couldn’t see them, but I was sure my eyes must have bulged out of my head.  I didn’t say a word.  Mostly because my mouth felt glued shut, but also because I had no idea what to say to that.

His lips twitched, not quite forming into a full smile, but it gave me a glimpse of what he’d look like if he actually did smile.  I had no doubt that when Donovan Brookes smiled, it would open his face up into the most beautiful face I’d ever seen on a man.

“Surprised?” he asked, and he surprised me again with the playfulness I heard in his tone.  Only slight, but I caught it.

“Twice.  Don’t do it again or I might fall off my chair,” I joked.  It’d be interesting to see if he played along.  I wasn’t sure he had it in him.

His small smile spread across his face, and I was right.  Donovan
was
the most beautiful man I’d ever met.  My core agreed and desire shot through me. 

Oh god, where was this leading
?

“Duly noted,” he murmured.

I returned his smile.  “Good.”  I pushed my chair back and stood.  “I should get back to work,” I said, even though it was the last thing I wanted to do. 

He grabbed my wrist to stop me.  His firm grasp sent more shivers through me as I imagined his hands on me, holding me.  “You want me to have a word with Annie’s boyfriend?  Sort him out so he doesn’t give her anymore grief?”

I knew what he was asking, and while I kind of liked the idea of that asshole getting
sorted out
by Donovan, I wanted to be there, too, because I had some words to say to him first.  “As long as I can tag along.”

He was silent for a moment, and I could just imagine all the thinking going on in his head.  I doubted his thoughts ever gave him a moment’s peace.  “Okay, but you do what I say if shit goes south.”

He had a lot to get to know about me
.

I ignored that and asked, “When?”

“Tomorrow.  I’ll drop by about three and pick you up if that works for you?”

“Sure.”

Bring it on.
  I wasn’t sure if my excitement stemmed more from telling Annie’s boyfriend off or spending time with Donovan.

Chapter Six

Blade

I gripped the bathroom vanity and stared in the mirror.  Fucking three am, and I was awake again because of another fucking dream.  And, once again, sweat covered me.

Fuck
.

I turned the shower on and stepped in.  If only I could cleanse the bad memories from my mind as easily as the sweat from my body. 
Why the hell didn’t killing Bullet give me fucking peace
?  ‘Cause it sure as fuck hadn’t. 

The night gave way to day as I dealt with my emails, phone calls, and meetings with Merrick and my boys.  There was nothing out of the ordinary today.  Three o’clock rolled around, and exhaustion called my name. But as I stepped through the front door of Layla’s bar, I felt pumped.  The dual thoughts of seeing her and kicking someone’s ass if they needed it fuelled my newfound energy.

Thursday afternoon seemed to be a quiet time.  There were only ten customers by my count.  I slowed my approach as I made my way to where Layla stood at the bar.  Her ass was on full display while she bent over picking something up from the floor. 
Fuck, her curves were sexy.
  My gaze stayed glued to them until she retrieved whatever she was after and straightened.  She spun around on the spot and caught me staring at her.

“Fuck, do you always creep up on people like that?” she asked, her hand going to her chest and her eyes wide.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to frighten you,” I apologised.

She calmed herself down and waved my apology away.  “No, it’s all good, I was in my own little world and then heard you. You didn’t frighten me, just made me jump a little.”

I followed her to the end of the bar where she had her bag.  “You ready?”  I watched her rummage through it like a madwoman.  What the hell women kept in their bags was beyond me.

“Yeah, just gotta tell the girls I’m going out.  I’ll be right back.”  She slung her bag over her shoulder and ducked out of sight through a doorway.

Within a couple of minutes she was back, and I followed her outside.  She came to a stop and I realised she needed to know which car belonged to me.

“The black Jag,” I said, pointing towards it.

She dropped her head slightly and raised her brows at me.  “I probably could have worked out which car it was without the colour.”

I scanned the street.  She had a point; there were no other Jags to be seen.  I ignored her statement, though, and opened the door for her.  This earned me another eyebrow raise.  “What?” I asked.

She slid into the seat before looking up at me.  “It’s not often a man opens the door for a woman anymore.”

“There should be more of it,” I said.

“I agree.”

Once she had her seatbelt on, I closed her door and walked around to my side.  I had no idea where we were going today, but I hoped it wasn’t close by.  The more time alone with her, the better, as far as I was concerned.

A couple of minutes later, I pulled away from the kerb, and we were silent until she said, “I always wondered why people would spend so much on a car.  Still don’t really get it, but this is pretty damn comfortable.”

I found her honesty refreshing.  Glancing at her, I asked, “Did you grow up with money?”

“Yes.”

“But they didn’t spend it on cars?”

“They did.  They had so much money and bought anything and everything they wanted or thought I wanted.”  She paused before adding softly, “We were the most miserable people you could ever meet.  Money did that to us.”

“And that’s why you wonder why people spend so much on cars.”

“Bingo.  If my parents had spent their time like they spent their money, happy would have been my middle name.”  She shifted in her seat, and I glanced across to see her looking at me.  “How about you, Donovan?  Did you have money growing up?”

“No.  My mother worked her ass off just to give me the basics, let alone anything else.”

“So, it was just you and your mother?”

“Yeah.” 

“And your Dad?  Where was he?”

Usually, I hated being pushed to talk about Marcus, so it stunned the hell out of me when I found myself answering her question.  “Marcus was married to another woman and had another family.  He visited us when it suited him and hardly gave my mother any money.”

She sat silently next to me.  When she still hadn’t said anything a couple of moments later, I turned to look at her.  She was staring at me with a look I couldn’t place.  I frowned.  “What?”

“No offence to you, because you strike me as one of the good guys, but fuck, men can be assholes sometimes.”

I nodded and murmured, “Yeah.” 

If only she knew the half of it
. 

We retreated from each other, lost in our own minds for the remainder of the trip.  It was an easy silence.  Hell, although Layla could be stubborn and argumentative, being with her
was
easy.  The half-hour drive passed quickly, and when she directed me to the rundown house in a shitty suburb I knew well, I cursed under my breath.

The past always came back to bite you in the ass
.

I cut the engine and looked at Layla.  “Why don’t you wait here while I go in and deal with this?”

“Like hell.  I told you I wanted to be here for this.  I’ve got shit I want to say to him, too.”

I squeezed my fingers around the steering wheel.  Why did she have to choose now to dig her heels in?  “Layla, I told you, if shit went south you had to do as I said.”

“Shit hasn’t gone south yet.”

“Yeah, well, it’s about to.”

She narrowed her eyes on me.  “Why?  What are you about to do?”

I shook my head.  “It’s not what I’m about to do.  It’s what Gary’s about to do.”  Gary was a loose cannon.  Fuck knew how he’d handle me showing up here.

I watched as she processed my words and saw the moment she realised exactly what I was saying in not so many words.  “Shit!  You know Gary.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, so do I, and he’s a fucking asshole I need to have words with, so until shit
really
goes south, I’m coming in,” she declared and exited the car.

Fuck
.

I got out as well and hurried to catch up to her.  She was nearly at the front door and I had to stop her before she barged in and caused no end of fucking problems.  I caught her by the wrist and pulled her back.  “Layla,” I hissed, “I’m not kidding when I say you need to let me handle this.”

She scowled at me and yanked her wrist out of my grip.  “And I’m not kidding when I say I have something to tell him.” 

We stood glaring at each other, neither backing down.  And then Gary ripped the door open and stepped outside.

“Blade?  What the fuck?”  Confusion plastered his face as he looked between Layla and me.  To her, he said, “I’m done with you and that bitch cousin of yours so you can fuck off.”

That did it for Layla.  She shoved past me and got in his face.  “Don’t come anywhere near Annie ever again.  You’ve spent the last year shredding what little self-esteem she had to pieces.  You’re a fucking asshole, and I hope the next woman you fuck with squeezes the shit out of your balls and screws you over.”