Defensive Zone (The Dartmouth Cobras #2) (50 page)

"Bite me, okay?" Carter scowled. "You're
still pretty."

"Hey, a black eye won't improve your looks.
I'm not fucking pretty."

"People don't take one look at you and look
away fast, like they don't want to offend you." Carter's hand shook
as he brought it up to his lips. "You know the last puck bunny that
came on to me was afraid to kiss me? She offered to suck my cock,
but she cringed whenever my lips came anywhere near hers. That's
just messed up."

"They get over it." Callahan strode towards
them, his lips curled in a sneer. "You're a hot shot and you're
worth some decent cash already. They still come after me, and look
at my face."

"You're the captain. And you're worth ten
times what I am." Carter stared down at his worn sneakers.
"Besides, you've got Oriana. If I had a woman like that." His lips
twisted. "Or like Silver, I wouldn't be . . . ."

"Kid, you've got to stop fucking puck bunnies
and strippers." Callahan slapped Carter's shoulder. "Find a woman
at the club. Richter has some quality subs, and all they want is a
good man to top them. Demyan's been bragging about the two he had
this weekend."

"Demyan knows shit about being a Dom and he
can still top a sub." Carter glanced up at Landon, then made a
face. "I . . . well you know what happened. The subs are fucking
scared of me."

"Of you?" Callahan eyed Landon. "What
happened?"

Landon shook his head. "That's for him to
tell you."

Carter let out a sharp laugh and dropped his
head back. "I'm surprised you don't know. I slapped Silver. She
asked me to, but it doesn't matter. I let her top me. I went back
once and . . . shit, I had to leave. Everyone knows."

"Come with me on Friday." Sloan rolled his
shoulder and grinned. "I'll find you someone."

"Thanks, Captain, but I'm good." Carter
glared at the door. "What the fuck is Demyan doing anyway? Is it
going to take this long for all of us?"

Sloan snorted and reached out to pound on the
door. "Make it quick, Miss Patterson, or you'll be three players
short. I need to get my men back on the ice where they belong."

Seconds later, Demyan emerged, zipping his
pants and grinning like a fool. He smirked at Landon. "Your turn.
Enjoy."

Landon left the men in the hall and stepped
into the office. Scarlet spun around to face him, holding a tissue
to her lips.

"I need you to take your clothes off." She
moved towards him, her gaze eating over his body like she could
chew his clothes off with that alone.

He pulled off his shirt and tossed it aside.
"That's all you're getting, Miss Patterson. Tell me where you want
me."

"Honestly." She licked her lips and smoothed
her hands over her breasts. Her shirt was undone and her bra was on
the desk behind her. "Right here is good."

Sleazy and pathetic. Even if he didn't have a
woman like Silver, he wouldn't be interested.

"Pick up your damn camera."

He went to the faux stone wall, faced her,
and put his hands on his hips.

She scurried to grab her camera and blinded
him with the flash.

A colorful sight greeted Silver as she
stepped into her office. Candy rosebuds in red, pink, and yellow,
rock candy lilacs, jujube tulips, and her very favorite, cake pops
covered in chocolate sprinkles. The huge, tasty bouquet sat in the
center of her desk, brightening the whole room which otherwise
seemed grey and gloomy as the weather outside. She spotted a man in
a well tailored suit standing by the window and her face broke into
a huge smile.

"Dean, this is . . . ."
Not like you at
all.
So far he hadn't been big on gifts, and whatever he got
for her, he gave her in person. Actually, that man wasn't big
enough to be Dean. "Who are you and what are you doing in my
office?"

The man's shoulders hunched forward slightly,
but he didn't answer.

"You have five second to give me a fucking
name before I call security."

He turned slowly, his handsome face shadowed
and lined with exhaustion. "So if I give you a name, does that mean
you won't kick me out?"

"Asher." She slammed her fist on the edge of
her desk and tried not to wince as pain ricocheted up her arm. "You
need to leave. Right now."

"Silver, please just hear me out." He nodded
towards the bouquet. "That's got to get me at least a few minutes
of your time."

Her hand convulsed as she fought the urge to
throw the damn thing at him. But she wouldn't waste good candy. She
sneered as she stalked across the room. "A few minutes? You mean
like the amount of time it would have taken you to tell me you and
Cedric were getting married? To break up with me like I wasn't just
an inconvenience you had to get rid of?"

Asher cringed and nodded. "I admit, I could
have handled that better."

"Ya think?"

"You weren't happy with us. And Cedric was
miserable." He hung his head and raked his fingers through his
hair. "I had no business getting involved with you, but I liked the
glamorous lifestyle. I never made any secret of that. I thought we
were both getting what we wanted. You, a man who'd never ask you to
commit, and me, connections I never could have gotten on my own. I
got in the habit of treating it like a business and that was just
messed up. I did—I
do
—care about you. Just not half as much
as you deserve. And I'm sorry."

"Why are you telling me this now?" Silver
hugged herself, hating that she wanted to believe he'd actually
cared. Looking back made her feel sick. All the times he'd fucked
her had been like a payment for what she'd given him. It made her
feel like a worn rag a man used to jerk off in. "You've moved on
and so have I. This might have meant something the next day, but
it's too late for me to give a shit about how sorry you are."

He shook his head and reached down to pick up
the briefcase sitting by his feet. "Sorry wouldn't have meant
anything no matter when I said it. I wanted to call you, or see
you, but I had to have something to offer to earn your
forgiveness."

"The candy?" She laughed bitterly. "If you
think
that
makes up for anything—"

"No, the candy was just to . . . break the
ice, I guess. I thought that would be enough for you to at least
listen. I've worked my ass off getting what I really thought would
make a difference." He approached the desk, keeping a wide berth
from her, and opened the briefcase. "I know it probably doesn't
mean much, but I've been looking out for you. I found out that the
investors that paid to rig games tried to approach you once, but
they haven't come back and I figured they wouldn't just give up. So
I thought, maybe, if I could dig into it a little, and get you
something you could use to protect yourself against them, you'd
consider
forgiving me."

Her brow shot up. "And you did this pro bono?
Asher, I know you better than that. Someone else must be paying you
or you wouldn't bother."

"I swear on my life, I got this just for you.
I've been working shit jobs just to cover the rent over the past
few weeks. Cedric's been doing the same. We're barely managing." He
made a face. "You didn't notice I'm wearing a last season suit? I'm
handling divorce cases for god's sakes! And not even big ones. My
last three cases didn't make me enough to buy new shoes!"

Ah, so that's it.
Maybe Asher did want
her forgiveness, but as always, he had another agenda. "You're
looking for a job."

"Well . . . ." He had the grace to look away.
"I wouldn't turn one down."

He hadn't changed. But then again, this was
the man she'd . . . kinda loved because he was exactly what
everyone thought she was. And he'd never judged her. When she'd met
him, she really needed that. For old time's sakes, she'd hear him
out.

"I'm not making any promises." She jerked her
chin at his briefcase. "But show me what you've got."

He pulled out a file, flipped it open, and
picked up an envelope. Withdrawing several pictures, he laid them
out on the desk.

Her eyes went wide. Jami, Dean's daughter,
was in all of them. With her boyfriend . . . Ford, yes, that was
his name. They were kissing, smoking joints, drinking. But Silver
had done all of that at Jami's age. These weren't candid shots of
nefarious activities, they were pictures of a fairly normal
eighteen year old girl.

"Why are you showing me this?" She gathered
the photos and stuffed them in the envelope. She felt like she was
spying on the kid, and no matter how nasty the girl had been last
time she'd seen her, she'd respect her privacy. "I'm not going to
rat her out to her dad if that's what you're thinking."

"Do you recognize the man in the photo?"
Asher took the envelope and pulled out one photo. "Ford
Kingsley."

"I met him once."

"
Kingsley
, Silver! Please tell me
you've read up on those dirty investors that screwed the team last
year!"

She shrugged. The fat representative had gone
away. She hadn't really thought much more about it. "They
approached me once, but Dean scared them off."

"I doubt that. Kingsley Enterprises has their
hands in just about everything. Ford is the only heir." He groaned
when Silver gave him a blank look. "Think about it! It's no
coincidence that he's dating the daughter of the Dartmouth Cobra's
GM. You wouldn't cooperate, so he's going to use her. I bet even
Mr. Richter would forget the integrity of the game to keep his
daughter safe. Do you know she's been practically living with Ford?
She's a kid in lust and he'll fuck with her to get what he wants.
Which is games his family can make money from."

"That fucking piece of shit." Silver pictured
Jami, so much like her at that age, defying Daddy to get her
freedom. Only Dean wasn't trying to keep her in a gilded cage to
protect his image. As hard as it was on him, he let her live her
own life and did his best to support her. And in return, she'd put
him in a position that jeopardized everything he'd worked for. But
she wasn't to blame. "Where is this bar Ford works at? I guess his
Daddy owns it?"

"He does. And I know exactly where it is.
He's there now." Asher took in a noisy breath. "I figured you'd
want to go talk to him, but you've got to be smart about this. Get
something you can use on him. Get him to spell out what he wants
you to do."

"And I'm assuming this conversation will be
recorded? So we can use it against him in court?"

"Sexy and smart." Asher grinned. "If you
weren't a chick, I've had told Cedric to suck it up. I seriously
love that you've got brains in that blond head of yours."

"Quit rimming my ass, you idiot. This is
good. Enough for me to consider putting you on my payroll." Silver
punched his shoulder. "And I
might
forgive you for using me
if we can get Ford to back off Jami. Just tell me what you need me
to do."

"It shouldn't be hard. Just be your charming
self." Lips twisted into an evil smile, Asher leaned close to her.
"From what I hear, Ford is as much of a dog as our stud
Demyan."

Silver cocked her head. "Our stud?"

"You wouldn't have him if it wasn't for me.
And if you
do
hire me as the team's new lawyer—and you need
one, by the way, since the last one worked for Kingsley . . . ."
Asher's licked his lips. "Let's just say me and Cedric have
fantasized about Scott a few times, and he'd be fun to play with,
if he's willing."

Silver thought on how Scott had flirted with
Scarlet. "I'm starting to think that man will fuck anything with a
hole. So go for it. But for now, how to we trap Ford?"

"He won't be shy about telling you what he
wants from you. The whole family is arrogant as hell." Asher
grabbed her purse and dumped the contents on her desk. He eyed her
as he opened the zipper pocket and pulled out the vial. "How have
you been doing with this, anyway? Sweet stuff still takes the edge
off?"

"You know it does. Now put that shit away and
stop going through my stuff, we're not together anymore and you
know I don't lend out my lip gloss." She plucked a rose from the
bouquet, stripped off the plastic, and stuck it in her mouth.
Mmm. Strawberry.
"I'm handling it. You were saying?"

Asher picked up her phone. "Call me just
before you go into the bar. I'll record the conversation. We can
use it against them. Much as they want to make money off the team,
they won't risk their reputation."

"So should I tell them I've got them when I'm
done? Or should I save it for when they come at me again?"

"Tell them. If they know killing you won't
keep them clean, you'll be safe."

"So going there isn't safe?"

"No, but neither is sniffing coke. You've
never played it safe, Silver. Don't start now."

Yeah, heaven forbid.
She rolled her
eyes and sucked hard on the lollipop. "I'll give you one thing,
Asher. You know me."

"So you'll do it?"

"Yeah, I'll do it." She picked up the picture
of Ford and Jami and frowned. Jami looked so happy. Finding out she
was nothing but a pawn would hurt her so bad. But it had to be
done. "I guess we keep this between us?"

"Your dad doesn't know I got you shot, does
he?" Asher rubbed his fingers over his eyes. "Fuck it, Dean is a
better father than yours ever was. Do you really think he needs to
know about the trouble his daughter's gotten herself in? If you do,
then tell him, but I think this will get a lot more complicated
than it needs to be."

"Dean would freak. He wouldn't let me do
this." Hopefully
he'd
forgive her if he ever found out.
"Let's save the kid, and me, a big headache and get this over
with."

"That's exactly what I hope you'd say. The
bar should be pretty empty now."