Addiction (42 page)

She snaps her head around to look over her other shoulder to give me the death glare. “I didn’t know that since dickhead fired me. I haven’t been to the club. You didn’t even call me.” She looks back down at Brecken and pushes out her bottom lip. “I had to hear it from a friend.”

I look away from her and frown. Who had fired her? I hadn’t heard about that, but I’ll ask later. Now’s not the time and place.

“I’m fine,” he says pushing her away even more. She has no choice but to get off his hospital bed.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Case growls as he leans his back against the window that overlooks Chicago.

She looks him up and down with a look of disgust on her face, and I wonder what is going on between them. Things have been so crazy since our fight over her; we haven’t had the chance to talk about where they stand now.

“You look like shit!” she spits as she places her hands on her hips. She pushes out her hip, and it makes her short skirt rise up and shows off her ass. “Not get enough sleep last night?” She arches a dark eyebrow.

“No. I didn’t actually. So you would be smart to leave before I have you thrown out.” Case gets a cruel smile on his face. “Or go ahead and stay. You’ve never really been one to do what’s smart.”

She snorts. “Obviously. I did you, didn’t I?”

This is the most awkward position I have ever been in. I go to turn to leave the room when she turns to face me. “He’s a cop,” she announces.

I refrain from smiling. “You don’t say?”

Miller chuckles and covers it with a cough. I look over at Case and a smile tugs his lips. It’s the first real one since the fire yesterday. “He …”

“Save it.” I hold up my hand. “I know everything, Rachel.” And I do mean everything.

She huffs and spins around to face Brecken. “When are you being released?” She changes the subject.

“Tomorrow.” He hopes.

“Do you want me to come and get you? I can take you back to my place,” she offers, and I pray he says no. I feel like Rachel wouldn’t have much sympathy. Or that she would be the type to try and poison your coffee.

“Thanks, but Case and Miller have offered to help me out,” he tells her and I smile. Good for him.

She walks over to his bed and leans over it to give him a kiss. “I’ll come over tomorrow night and check on you.” She leans but he pulls away from her last minute.

I have to give her credit. She doesn’t let things affect her. Or if they do, she just hides it well. She turns toward me and throws me a fuck you smile as she walks back out the door.

Brecken bows his head and sighs. “You guys don’t have to be up here.” He looks at Miller and then Case. “Go ahead and go to my house. Get some rest. Case, I’m sure you have places to call and things to deal with,” he adds softly.

He nods his head, and I hate that everything he owns is now nothing but ashes. But Brecken is right; Case does need to take care of some stuff. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He walks over to Brecken’s bed, and they do the manly one-arm hug and handshake. He then walks over to me and drapes an arm over my shoulders. I say a good-bye and wave to the guys as he leads me out of the hospital room.

“Who fired Rachel?” I ask as we get into my car. We didn’t need anyone to come and get us from Case’s house yesterday ‘cause along with the fire trucks, two ambulances also arrived. As the fire trucks put out the fire, the paramedics gave us oxygen then made us ride with them to the hospital last night to be checked out. Miller had then driven us all back to my house, and we took showers and then went back up to the hospital to see Brecken while Savannah and Blane stayed back at our house.

“I fired her,” he answers as he drives my car onto the highway.

“When?”

“The night she caused the fight. Pretending to be a hooker.”

My eyes widen at that. “She was pretending to be a hooker?” I frown. “Maybe I didn’t know everything,” I mumble to myself.

He chuckles at that. Reaching over, he grabs my hand and places them both on the center console. “She had it coming,” he growls. “She was always pulling shit Brecken and I had to clean up.”

I nod my head in understanding but don’t press the subject. He fired her and that’s that.

**

I sit on my bed with my back against my headboard when Case comes walking in with a towel wrapped around his hips. His hard body still wet. I lick my lips wanting him. My heart picks up and I clench my thighs. It’s been about a week since we’ve had sex. And I hate the fact I don’t even think he wants it. He’s got so much going on that sex is probably the last thing on his mind.

“Stop looking at me like that.”

I lift my eyes up to meet his, and my face heats up with embarrassment. “Sorry,” I say softly and lower them to my comforter.

“Taylor?”

I slowly look up at him through my lashes. “What are you sorry for?”

I bite my lip nervously. “I know you have a lot going on, and I don’t mean to get in the way of that.”

He crawls onto the bed and makes his way up to me. He lies down beside me, and I can’t help but watch how his abs flex as he gets situated. “You never get in the way,” he says pulling his brows together. “Why would you think that?”

“Because you told me to quit looking at you like that …”

He sighs. “I told you that because you were making me hard and I didn’t think you were ready for sex.”

I still think back to the meeting I had with my dad a week ago and it still makes me mad, but I don’t talk about it. Neither does Blane. It’s as if he’s just been forgotten. My mother is still a sore subject as well, but I can’t change it. All I can do is remember the good times I shared with her. Even if she did do drugs, she never let me down. That doesn’t make it any better, but it also didn’t make her a horrible mother.

Case has been great in giving me space, but I’m tired of it. I feel like every time we turn around, something new is happening that is threatening our lives. My body and my mind want him right now.

I place my hand on his hard chest and my pussy throbs at how much I want him. “I want you, Case. I have wanted you …”

His lips are on mine the next instance. Quieting whatever I was gonna say. I kiss him deeper as I push on his chest. He rolls over onto his back as his hands reach down and grip my hips. He pulls me on top of him, and I grind my hips against his. He growls into my mouth, and his fingers dig deeper into my hips.

“Case.” I gasp as I pull away from his mouth. “Fuck me,” I say breathlessly.

“I’m going to,” he growls shoving me off him. I fall onto the bed beside him. I lift up quickly to remove my t-shirt, and he pulls his towel from his waist. I smile when I see how hard he already is for me.

I reach down to grab the sides of my thong when he grabs my hands and holds them above my head. He places both wrists in one of his hands, and I arch my back as his fingers tighten around me. He lowers his body on top of mine. “I wanna do that,” he whispers roughly as his now free hand runs down my side to my hip. I feel the sting of the fabric against my hip, followed by a ripping sound as he pulls them free of my hips.

“Case …” I pant and then beg him for more.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

TAYLOR

I sit on my couch while Case sits next to me talking to Brecken on the phone. Miller just picked him up from the hospital and took him home. Case promises to go and see him tomorrow. He hangs up and tosses his phone down on his lap.

“Going over to Brecken’s tomorrow?” I ask.

“Yeah. We have to figure out what is going on and who is responsible before someone else gets hurt.” He pulls me deeper to his side.

“You don’t have any ideas who it could be?” I wonder.

He shakes his head. His phone rings again, and I take a quick look at the number, but it’s not saved in his phone. “This is Case,” his deep voice declares. After a few seconds, he pulls away from me and stands from the couch.

I pick my legs up and sit Indian style on the couch as I watch him start to pace.

“You’re sure?” he asks, before running a hand through his hair. “But I …” He’s cut off.

I watch him pick up his speed and his face hardens. “Yes, I understand. Yes.” He nods his head to himself. “Thank you.” He pulls his phone away from his ear and throws it down to the floor.

“What’s wrong?” I ask worriedly.

“Acetone.” I frown not knowing what he’s talking about. “Acetone was used to accelerate the fire.”

“Like acetone that us girls use to remove our fingernail polish?” I ask confused.

“It’s also used as a washing agent that makes cocaine pure,” he growls.

I fall back onto the couch and run a hand through my hair. “Could it have been those guys who attacked Blane the other night?”

He shakes his head. “There’s no way they knew where I lived. I’ve never had Blane over there until after I had to close down the club.”

“Maybe someone followed us,” I offer, but he doesn’t pay much

attention.

He’s too busy pacing back and forth again. “I bought that house five years ago.” He begins to speak to himself.

“Have you ever had a girl over there before?” I ask softly. He just shakes his head. And I smile to myself. Well, one win for me. About time I win at something. “Get dressed,” he orders all of a sudden.

I look down at my white cotton shorts and black tank top. “I am dressed.”

He snaps his fingers as he starts to walk to my front door. “Let’s go. We’re leaving.”

I jump up off the couch, run to my room, and grab my cell and my purse as I slide on a pair of flip-flops. I don’t even bother to ask where we’re going as I run out the front door behind him.

He didn’t speak to me again while he drove down the road. He was on his phone the entire time with some guy he called Jones. I remember that name from the guy who was standing in his office when I came barreling into it the evening I got attacked. I also remember him telling someone that Jones had made that tape disappear from the night we went to see Rox. All I know is that Jones must be a good guy.

Even as he pulls up to a house, he continues to speak into his phone. I get out of his car and follow him. He just opens the door and lets himself in. I follow him a little slower as I take in the two-story house.

It looks as if a woman decorated it. The walls are a light brown, and the modern kitchen has shades of yellows. If I didn't know Brecken, I would think he was secretly married; I may not know him all that well, but I do know he’s not married.

I walk past the kitchen and into the living room. Miller, Brecken, and Case all sit deep in conversation. Case is no longer on his phone. I just stand here like an idiot listening to them.

“Acetone?” Brecken asks. “That can be purchased pretty much anywhere,” he adds.

Miller leans forward placing his elbows on his knees. “Do you have any idea how much acetone they would need to start a fire that size? I mean, they would need gallons.”

Case nods in agreement. “But if they use it on a daily basis for their cocaine…” He shrugs. “Then it wouldn’t be a problem. They would already have it on hand.”

“True.” Brecken agrees.

“So who do you know that prefers to snort cocaine over any other drug?” All heads turn to look up at me, and I shrink back in embarrassment. Why am I trying to help? I don’t really even know what they’re talking about.

“What did you say?” Brecken asks.

“I, uh …” I lick my lips nervously. “Well, Case once told me that everyone has a drug of choice.” I look at him, and he stares at me with an unreadable expression. It makes me even more nervous. I should have kept my mouth shut. “If they would have had to have that much acetone already on hand … Who do you know would want to hurt Case and their drug of choice is cocaine?” I finish on a shaky breath.

Case finally smiles at me. “That’s a good way to look at it,” Miller says. “But we deal with people who sell it, not just use it. So you think it could be someone who prefers that drug when it could be someone who just sells a shit ton of it to their addicts.” Two sentences. It only took two sentences for him to crush my idea.

“I see,” I say softly. “Sorry. Thought I had it figured out.”

Case pats the seat next to him on the couch. “You did great, baby. Come sit down.”

Three hours later, I find myself nodding off. They haven’t stopped going through names and ways for someone to get to Case’s house unseen, and I can’t seem to keep my eyes open. I place my hand over my mouth as I yawn once again.

“I have a spare room,” Brecken offers.

I look over at him. I look at Case, and he’s staring at me as well. “Huh?” I ask looking back to Brecken.

“I have a spare room.” He nods his head down his hallway. “You can go to sleep in there if you want.”

“Oh, no.” I shake my head. “Thanks, though.” I look back at Case, and he sighs heavily. I frown.

“Go ahead and go lie down, babe. We’re gonna be here a while. Neither of us is safe until we figure this out.”

I let out a sigh of my own and then stand. “Okay. Thank you.” I look at Brecken, and he nods to say you’re welcome.

They start up their conversation right where I had interrupted it, and I take the hint. Walking down the hallway, Brecken calls out, “Second door on the left.”

“Thanks.” I open the second door on the left and don’t even bother to turn on the light. I can make out the bed from the light from the hallway. I close the door behind me to drown out their voices and take the four steps that separate me from the bed. I fall down onto the bed and close my eyes as I try to forget the fact someone out there is trying to kill us.

CASE

“What if we are looking at this the wrong way?” Brecken announces as we hear the spare bedroom door shut.

“Which is?” Miller asks.

“Maybe all this revolves around Taylor.”

“Why would it revolve around Taylor?” That thought makes me fist my hands.

“Her house was broken into before anything else happened.”

I shake my head. “She walked in on the suspect. He had seen her. If he wanted to hurt her, that would have been his best chance. Why wait a month later to go after her again?”

“It just doesn’t make sense,” Brecken says sounding confused. “They had to have been looking for something. The way they destroyed everything. They were on a mission. Just what was it?”

The morning after Blane had informed me about their house getting robbed, Brecken and I went over there while both Savannah and Taylor were away at work. We had delivered furniture and looked the place over. After that, I went up to her work to see her. That was when I gave her my card and offered her a job at Seven Deadly Sins. It’s crazy that was just a month ago. It’s crazy how fast your life can change “Maybe that had to do with Blane,” I offer. “Maybe his dad ran his mouth in jail that Blane was slinging drugs for him and someone tried to take advantage of that. Thought they could find his stash.”

“Do you think that their dad would really rat Blane out?” Miller asks sounding surprised by that thought.

“Absolutely!” I answer. “He is one sorry son of a bitch,” I hiss.

Brecken closes his eyes and inhales deeply. “Are you okay?” I ask him. He looks good for a man who was just shot ten days ago, but his dark eyes are heavy.

“It’s just been a long couple of weeks,” he responds.

I know he didn’t get much sleep in the hospital. And I know there is no place like being back at your own house.

I stand. “Go to bed. I’ll go get Taylor and we’ll go home. Get some rest. We can get back at it tomorrow.” I shouldn’t have come over here in the first place. I was just so pissed when I found out that it had been set with acetone. I had to tell them what I knew, and I thought if we were all in the same room, we could get it figured out. But we have been here for over three hours and we’re no closer than I was yesterday.

“Do you have a detail on her house?” Miller asks as he stands as well.

I nod. “Yes. And they will stay there around the clock until this is settled.” I turn around and start to walk down the hallway to the spare bedroom to wake up Taylor …

“Case?”

“Yes?” I turn to face them.

“Stay here.” Brecken points to the door in front of me. “I’m sure she’s already asleep. We’ll get a fresh start on it first thing in the morning.”

“I don’t think …”

“Stay!” he interrupts me. “Just get some rest. Tomorrow, we will go up to see Jones at the station and see if they were able to get any prints from your house.”

It stings that someone took everything I had. I never did spend much time at that house, but it was still mine. It was the first thing I bought when I moved here, and now it’s gone.

I nod my head. “Thank you.” Opening the door to the room, step in and find that he was right. Taylor is already dead asleep. And I’m tired as shit. I close the door and make my way in the dark over to the right side of the bed. I undo the belt on my jeans as I kick off my shoes. When my jeans fall to my ankles, I step out of them not bothering to even pick them up. I pull my shirt up and over my head and fall down onto the bed. I wrap my arm around her stomach and pull her to me. I smile to myself when I feel that she didn’t even take her clothes off. She was more tired than I thought. 

I close my eyes as I let out a long breath. Not knowing what is going on is terrifying me. I feel like she and I finally have a chance, but some psycho out there is trying to take it away from us. And I refuse to let that happen.

TAYLOR

I wake up and sit straight up in an unfamiliar bed. I look around at the darkness as I take a deep breath.

“I know who did it,” I announce. I had a dream. I know, that sounds crazy, but somehow it all came together in my dream.

I look next to me and see that Case is asleep. What time is it? Grabbing my phone, I see it’s four in the morning and I reach over and shove him. “Case. I know who did it.”

He doesn’t even budge. “Case …” I pause. How am I going to get them to believe me? I mean, I could be wrong. I’m pretty sure I’m not, but there’s a possibility.

I take a deep breath as I push my hair away from my face. Just calm down, Taylor. Think …

I get out of the bed and walk over to the side Case lies on. I use my phone as a light looking on the nightstand to see if his is there. I stomp my foot when I don’t see what I’m looking for.

I spin around shining my phone on the floor. I pick up his jeans I find over by the bed. I smile when I reach into his back pocket and find his iPhone. “Bingo,” I whisper. I then dig into his front pocket for the keys to my car. Without taking another look at him, I walk out of the room and out the front door of Brecken’s house while I come up with a plan.