Risk It All (Risqué #2) (14 page)

‘It’s the only way I can make enough money to pay Rafe,’ Bri said. ‘You must be able to see that.’

Except he couldn’t see that because he wasn’t following what she was saying, he was too busy thinking about Dax and his offer. They were in his office at the club, eating the picnic that Bri had put together for them at short notice.

‘Sorry, Doll, I was somewhere else,’ he said, not ready to admit that he’d been considering a brief return to his old ways.

‘Dancing,’ she said. ‘If you let me dance in here I can make more money. I mean, I doubt I’ll make ten grand in a week, but it’s worth a shot… There’s no other way I can get close to giving him what he wants and I have nothing worth selling.’

‘I could sell the truck,’ he said, there were plenty on the scrap yard that he could fix up enough to get running if he could ever find the time to do it.

‘Is it worth ten thousand?’ she asked with a tinge of hope, but his wince made her sigh. ‘Then there’s no point in you getting rid of your only mode of transportation.’

She could be so vibrant when she laughed, he thought, watching her scrape her plastic fork through her wilted salad. Except right now she had nothing to laugh about. This whole situation made him feel pathetic, he wanted to take care of her, but he’d never earned big bucks.

He earned more now than he ever had and that still wasn’t enough to be able to hand her what she needed. Back when they were teenagers he had promised her that she would never need to go back to that and he’d always take care of her; that wasn’t a promise he planned to break now.

‘But I’ll be safe dancing in Risqué,’ she said. ‘You have great security and you can keep an eye on me, no one will step out of line. I haven’t heard of there being any problems with patrons around here, everyone seems decent.’

Every man was decent until the surge or arousal met that of anger and he could never tell her which customer was the type to let those urges take hold of him.

She carried on. ‘You’ve been taking me home every night, so no one will approach me after my shift either. I’ll be completely safe… I know that you might think I’m not capable, what with what happened to me, but dancing is different to sex. I’ll go out there on stage, do my thing, and go home. Just another day at the office, that’s all it will be.’

The fact that she was even mentioning all of these negatives betrayed to him that she had over-analysed the idea of getting naked in front of a group of strange men. Her trauma made her edgy and taking off her clothes would only make her feel more vulnerable. It didn’t matter how much she tried to convince him otherwise, Blaser knew her better than that.

Putting aside his own personal aversion to her revealing the body that he craved to other men. He knew that the minute she got onto that stage and the music was pumping she would freeze. The flash of lights would daze her and her inability to properly see what was beyond the dazzle would make her uneasy. As the owner of the club, as her boss, he didn’t care if she didn’t complete her act. But Bri would take that embarrassment and magnify it in her own mind until she couldn’t show her face at the club again and that didn’t work for him.

Now that he had Bri back and he’d admitted that he wanted to be with her, he was determined to keep her. Dealing with Gary, and his objections, would have to wait. Dealing with Rafe was the number one priority. He could try to track Erika and the boyfriend down, but even if he did he wasn’t the type to kidnap them and drag them back to Rafe and let the sadist do with them whatever he wanted.

Rafe had made this Bri’s problem and Blaser didn’t want Bri to do what the others had done and bolt. So this whole mess was his problem. He wouldn’t let Bri dance to try and raise the money, but he didn’t have that amount of dough lying around. Mattie might have the capital, but if he went to his cousin for a handout, Blaser would have to be prepared to owe Mattie for life. Mattie would own him and he wasn’t the type to let go easily.

‘What do you think?’ she asked.

Once again he’d been drifting in his own thoughts, so he couldn’t remember what she’d last said. ‘I think that I can take care of this,’ he said. ‘I can get the money that we need and get this guy off our backs for good.’

‘How do you plan to do that?’ she asked with a suspicious edge to her tone. Though she kept her eyes on him, she turned her face away, examining his expression for some sort of tell. ‘You better not be planning to get into a fight, Blase. I don’t care how much trouble we get into. I won’t have you getting yourself hurt.’

Taking her hand, he tossed her fork aside and got closer so they were almost nose to nose. ‘You’re going to trust me to take care of this, Bri. Once I do, we’re going to put all of this behind us and promise to hide from trouble if it ever tries to seek us out again. We’re going to live normal, boring, toiling away at the hard graft lives until we’re old, grey, and done with life. How does that sound?’

‘Like quite a feat,’ she said, but he was pleased to see her smile again. ‘Can you pull it off?’

‘You trust me, don’t you, Doll?’ he asked and her pleased expression bolstered him, she did trust him, and she was relieved that he could fix this mess. One tiny indiscretion on an otherwise spotless record couldn’t be held against him. Blaser had been whiter than white since he left prison, and no one ever needed to know about this once it was over.

He hadn’t wrestled with the decision for long. Dax had given him the option and pointed out that Blaser was the one who needed money, so if he said no then Dax could find his fight elsewhere. But the way Blaser saw it was he was faced with two choices, have the fight and pay off Rafe, or… Dax’s other suggestion and Blaser had never been a killer. He didn’t like to fight, he’d never been the angry sort, but had been a stupid punk kid who got himself into too many jams.

Of all the things that he could get himself mixed up in, he figured that providing premises for Dax to fight in was one of the safest because it would take place on his property and other than unlocking the doors he didn’t technically need to take any more to do with it.

Now that he was certain, he took off from the club as soon as the shift change was done. He left Crystal in charge, promised her he’d be back soon, and then rushed back to the apartments because he wasn’t going to act alone in what he needed to do next.

‘I’m in,’ he said to Dax when he opened his front door wearing only a pair of jeans.

‘Great,’ Dax said. ‘I’ll call my guy and set it up. We’ll talk tomorrow.’

Dax tried to close the door so Blaser slapped a hand onto it to prevent it from shutting in his face. ‘I need to do something first, and I need back up.’

‘Knock on the next door,’ Dax said. ‘I don’t enforce anymore.’

‘Anymore?’ Blaser asked. ‘I’m not asking you to enforce, I’m asking you to watch my back.’

‘Already did that for your girl today,’ Dax said. ‘Don’t you have brothers?’

‘Colt is of the moral persuasion and Ruger isn’t around. I just need back up.’

Dax’s form loosened and his brow came down. ‘What are you planning, Warner?’

‘Dax!’ Ivy called from within the apartment.

‘In a minute, Minx,’ he called back and came out onto the walkway, pulling the door closed at his back. ‘If you’re going to crack this guy’s skull then why set up the fight?’

‘I want a figure,’ Blaser said. ‘I’ll let him know that we plan to pay him because it’s fair, money is owed and he’s going to get it.’

‘Brianna didn’t borrow the money,’ Dax said.

‘How do you know so much about it?’ Blaser asked with creeping suspicion.

‘Ivy told me, they talked about it this afternoon. I know what’s going on.’

‘I could go over there and tell the guy to back off, but this is Bri’s safety we’re talking about. I don’t want that bastard thinking he can harass her any time that I’m not around. He’ll get his money. We’re not going to be bull-headed, I’m going to be the bigger man.’

‘Why? I’d go in there and kick the—‘

‘Because that’s what I did when we were kids,’ Blaser interrupted. His hand went through his hair and he turned his back on Dax to exhale. ‘I was an idiot growing up, anytime anyone disrespected me or my girl I went for them, I started a war, and what that meant was neither of our asses were safe. I was immature and didn’t want anyone to call me a coward, so I fought. They slashed my tires, so I broke their windows. Their tags appeared on my walls, so I returned the favour. It’s bullshit, childish games. I want to move on with my life.’

‘You did time inside,’ Dax said and materialised beside him, he leaned back on the railing and folded his arms. ‘For what?’

‘Criminal damage and auto theft,’ Blaser said. ‘I had a couple of priors.’

‘Felony?’ Blaser nodded. ‘You did two years?’

‘Almost. I didn’t do myself any favours inside. I got into it with a guard after Bri and I split.’

‘Not smart.’

‘No,’ Blaser said, curling his fingers around the bannister, then flicking some flecks of cracked paint out the way with his thumbs. ‘You didn’t get that from Bri talking to Ivy this afternoon.’

‘No, I didn’t. I like to know who my wife is spending time with. None of your guys have priors against women.’

‘No,’ Blaser said. ‘I’m not interested in helping out scumbags, but I know it’s tough to get a fair shake after you’ve been inside. I give guys a chance, but I wouldn’t risk it on a guy who didn’t respect women and kids. I took Ivy’s word that you’ve never been violent.’

Catching a sideways glance, Blaser watched a small smile form on Dax’s face, but he lowered his attention to the concrete floor as though he was trying to hide it. ‘Not against women or kids,’ he said.

‘I’m beginning to figure that out,’ Blaser said. ‘Tell me how you know so much about the underground fighting circuit.’

‘I’ve been a part of it since I was a kid,’ Dax said. ‘It’s a good way to earn decent money.’

‘Yet, you live here and both of you work for me?’

‘Yeah, well Ivy doesn’t like me getting in too deep. We’re in a bit of a transitional phase at the moment.’

‘Transitioning to what?’ he asked.

‘More like from what,’ Dax said. ‘I’m not quite sure where we’re going to end up, but I know for sure that we’re not going back.’

That would be a story for another day because Blaser needed to get back to the club, and he still hadn’t done what he needed to. ‘So are you with me?’

‘We go over there, scare the guy, and come away with a figure, and after you pay up he’s meant to leave you alone?’

‘I don’t care about me, but Bri, yeah.’

‘And if he doesn’t?’

‘Then we’ll look into your option number two.’

Their eyes met and from the serious energy emanating from him Dax knew just what Blaser meant. ‘You’d kill for her? Die for her?’

‘Dying for her would be easy,’ Blaser said. ‘Killing for her is harder, but yeah, I’d do it. If it was the only option left.’

‘Ok,’ Dax said, pushing away from his leaning perch. ‘Let me go untie my wife and put on a tee-shirt.’

‘Untie her?’ Blaser asked as Dax headed for the door.

He paused in the doorway and glanced back over his shoulder. ‘She’s still in training; it takes time to get them into shape.’

‘I heard that!’ Ivy called and Dax sniggered as he went back into the apartment, but stayed in his doorway.

‘It’s naughty to listen into conversations that don’t involve you,’ he said into the apartment. ‘You know what that means.’

Blaser didn’t want to ask what that meant. ‘I didn’t realise I was interrupting,’ Blaser said to Dax.

‘It’s ok, she’ll keep,’ Dax said. ‘Give me a minute.’

He went inside and closed the door, leaving Blaser on the front walkway waiting for his backup to arrive. It had taken him some time to figure out where Rafe was located, but after a couple of phone calls, his old buddies had eventually come up with the goods. He hadn’t told Bri or Colt where he was going because they would have tried to talk him out of it. Either that or they’d have wanted to come with him and Blaser didn’t need the distraction of looking after someone who couldn’t handle themselves. Dax exuded capable efficiency, Blaser wouldn’t need to watch his back.

Making the decision not to involve Colt was deliberate. He didn’t want his brother connected to anything illegal. The guy was getting his life together with a fiancée who adored him, they had a nice house and were trying for a kid. No, Blaser wasn’t going to drag Colt into this mess and make his brother endanger all that he was working for and all that he had achieved.

If, or rather when, Colt found out what had happened, Blaser knew that his twin would ream him out for it. But Blaser would take the riot act over watching his brother lose even the tiniest piece of his happiness. He knew that Colt believed he was irresponsible and always one step away from screwing up monumentally, and maybe that was true. But one thing that wasn’t true was Colt’s belief of his motivation.

Colt thought that Blaser screwed up on purpose, because he liked to play the hard man, or because he wanted to piss people off; none of that was true. Blaser didn’t want to screw up, in fact, he often envied how together Colt was and how moral his life had been. Colt was a good guy, such a good guy that he could be relied upon and really deserved to find happiness.

Blaser didn’t know if the same was true of himself, he wanted Bri and he wanted them to be happy, but he couldn’t see how he could ever deliver the white picket fence for her. Here he was at thirty-five and he was still creeping around in circles with criminals, threatening those who threatened his kin, and undertaking illegal activities.

Dax came out of the apartment and closed the door, now fully dressed and wearing a scowl, his demeanour was different. The jet black hair and piercing blue eyes coupled with the solid form of Dax’s body made him come across as formidable and Blaser was glad that this guy was on his side.

‘Was she pissed?’ Blaser asked as they made their way downstairs.

‘She’s always pissed,’ Dax said, waiting for Blaser to unlock the truck and grant them both entry.

‘She is?’ Blaser asked. Ivy had always been the picture of polite and hard-working throughout the short time that he’d known her. He couldn’t remember her ever complaining or ever hearing anyone complain about her.

‘Nah, that’s not fair,’ Dax said. Blaser started the truck and got them on the road. ‘She just likes to push my buttons and I let her.’

Dax had said this to him before about arguing being foreplay and it made Blaser smile. They were both dynamic characters, it would be quite a show to see them interact with each other. While both Dax and Ivy had jobs with him, he’d rarely seen them together. They didn’t advertise their relationship, but he didn’t know if it was their intention to conceal it.

‘Bri says your story is pretty amazing.’

‘My story?’ Dax asked. ‘What does she know about it?’

‘Ivy told her, how you guys met.’

‘We met in Vegas,’ Dax said as if that was explanation enough.

‘Married the same night?’ Blaser asked, wondering if this was a story of a drunken mistake turned good.

‘Not even close,’ Dax said.

He didn’t expand on the story and so Blaser let it dissolve into the air. It might be a good story, but now wasn’t the time to hear it. All he wanted to do was let Rafe know that they were going to do right by him, get him his money, but then they expected him to back off.

Blaser doubted that Rafe really wanted to start a war over this. It would be too complicated for a punk kid like him to get involved with a family like the Warners. If nothing else, Mattie’s name held a lot of notoriety and if it came to it then Blaser wouldn’t hesitate to get his cousin involved. Mattie would argue that he’d outgrown this kind of disagreement, but he liked to be the saviour. It would make him feel big and clever to show how quickly he could dispense with Rafe.

Bri would hate that Blaser was getting himself involved and that he was involving Dax as well. Once she found out she would probably have a go at him and point out how she didn’t like to owe anyone anything. But he didn’t mind highlighting to her that as long as they were together they shared the burden of everything, and so fixing this problem with Rafe was just his way of ensuring that they got to be together without anyone being able to come between them.

Bri wasn’t supposed to be working tonight, but she couldn’t stand being alone in the apartment any longer. Going to see Blaser seemed a little too needy and she didn’t want to hang off the bar waiting for him to look her way. The other girls would probably judge her and assume that she was only there to supervise her boyfriend, ensuring that his eye didn’t wander.

Instead of sitting around over thinking it, she went to Ivy’s door and asked if she wanted to join her for a drink. As it turned out, Dax wasn’t working but he also wasn’t home, so she agreed. They shared a glass of wine while Ivy got gussied up, then they made their way to the club together.

Neither of them paid to get in, maybe because half of them worked here, or because both of their men worked here, but Bri wasn’t complaining. Except when they got inside Blaser wasn’t behind the bar. And as much as she wasn’t here for him, to see him, she was still surprised to note his absence.

Another of the security men was working the bar and Crystal seemed to be running things. Colt and Lyssa weren’t here, which was something of a reprieve at least. It might have been too intense to see her doctor socially after the session they’d had. And Bri really wasn’t in the mood to have another fight with Colt.

‘I should’ve told you that he wasn’t here,’ Ivy said, leaning in close to shout because Destiny had just taken to the stage and the music was loud.

‘Who?’ Bri said, trying to play it cool.

‘Blaser. He came over to our place a half hour before you showed up.’

‘I didn’t realise that he and Dax were close buddies.’

‘They weren’t,’ Ivy said, sipping her cocktail. ‘At least not until today.’

Blaser’s friendships were usually superficial, at least they had been while they lived together. He always told her that you could never really trust anyone unless they were family or they’d proved themselves. Dax must have proved himself today.

‘Did he say where they were going?’

‘No,’ Ivy said. ‘But Dax said that they wouldn’t be long and Blaser won’t stay away from the club for longer than he has to. So I wouldn’t worry too much.’