Walk (Gentry Boys) (20 page)

Evie

Stone uttered three incredible words and instantly I was launched into the stratosphere to walk among the clouds.  

I couldn’t repeat them back to him to fast enough. 

Sometimes couples spend years trying to earn their way to what we’d already found.  Two months was not a long time on the calendar yet it was enough time to reshape the heart.  I understood now that I’d never been in love before him; every earlier infatuation seemed silly and insubstantial. 

“I love you,” I told him as we kissed goodbye before he left for work.

“Love you too, baby,” Stone said, looking down at me with those blue eyes that made me feel like he was the first person who ever saw me completely. 

He kissed my neck one more time and reluctantly headed out.  It was Saturday and he had a full schedule; first several moves and then he was setting up for some kind of athletic award ceremony at ASU.  I was elated that he’d gotten a better job offer with the moving company and that this was his last night working for Cappie’s Party Rentals. From now on the nights would belong to us. 

I found myself smiling as I folded up a shirt of Stone’s that had been tossed to the floor last night during the throes of passion.  We weren’t officially living together, although it was feeling more like it every day.  Most of the time we slept here, although now and then we crashed at Stone’s apartment.   He’d even filled the empty dresser drawer I’d offered him so he’d have more of his clothes on hand. 

Since I had some time to kill I cleaned out Teddy’s enclosure and gave him a little attention. 

“Forget what I said about boys last time,” I told my pet as he chewed absently on a stalk of celery.  “Boys are wonderful.” 

I’d just been planning on ordering some Chinese delivery and binge watching one of my Netflix addictions until Stone got home.  Things worked out a little differently though. 

When my phone rang and I saw it was Darcy I almost didn’t answer.  We hadn’t really hung out much since I got together with Stone.  I had the distinct impression she didn’t approve of him. 

“Hey, doll,” she greeted me brightly.  “What would it take to get you to come out with me tonight?”

I made a face on my end.  I didn’t really want to hang out with Darcy and I tried to make some limp excuse.  However, when she broke into whiny pleading I found myself softening.  After all, Stone wouldn’t be home until after midnight.  Plus I felt a little sorry for Darcy and figured it wouldn’t hurt my karma calculator to spend a few hours making a semi-friend happy. 

The new club Darcy wanted to go to was all the way in Scottsdale.  Clubs and drinks and all the personality that came with the combination were never really my thing but I could fake it for a few hours. 

“Pick me up at eight,” she said happily and then ended the call before I had a chance to argue otherwise. 

My club-worthy wardrobe was kind of limited so I ended up throwing on the bridesmaid dress I’d worn to Briana’s wedding.  It was short and utterly not gown-ish and it made me happy to have a reason to slip it on again because it reminded me of Stone. 

Darcy wasn’t ready when I got to her apartment.  I glanced down the hall at Bash and Stone’s door, but I knew Bash was working the university party with Stone so I didn’t bother knocking to say hello. 

As for Darcy, she kept me waiting for another half hour while she battled her hair and then emerged in a nostril-searing cloud of perfume.   She also kind of looked like a two dollar hooker in her red skirt and matching heels.  That was probably a rough observation though.  I knew Darcy well enough to understand that getup had likely cost her a week’s pay.  Maybe I was just out of the loop when it came to fashion. 

Darcy wrinkled her nose as she climbed into my pickup truck.  Old pickups weren’t her style.  Still, she managed to settle herself primly into the passenger seat without complaining, although she made up for it by talking a blue streak on the drive to Scottsdale.  Mostly she whined about her paralegal job and how all the female lawyers were uptight bitches who couldn’t draw their eyeliner correctly. 

Meanwhile, I was rapidly remembering why Darcy had never been my companion of choice. 

We had to park three blocks away from the club on a rather dark side street.  I wasn’t worried though because this was Scottsdale after all and if you had to be stuck on a dark side street anywhere in the valley you’d want it to be in Scottsdale. 

The club, called Rush, was new and stuffed wall to wall with pulsing music, strobe lights and hot bodies.  We pushed our way through the dense crowd until we reached an outdoor seating area which was remarkably less crowded and contained its own bar. 

Darcy paid for two Long Island Iced Teas and laughingly told me it meant I was on the hook for shots for the rest of the night.  I sipped my drink slowly while Darcy tried to eye fuck anything in a suit.  Finally a pair of clean-cut businessmen unabashedly wearing wedding rings sent over a few shots.  They watched us, lifting their own drinks in a mock toast, while Darcy giggled and downed both shots herself. 

“Take it easy,” I warned.  Back in our college days I’d held Darcy’s hair back over a toilet often enough to know that she had a habit overdoing it. 

“Come on, live a little, Evie.  You’re not going to keep those legs forever, you know.”

“I’m aware of the march of time, Dar, but I have a boyfriend.” 

She made a face.  “Oh yeah, that guy.”

“His name is Stone.” 

“I know his name.  Really, I can see why you’d use him for some fun but he’s not exactly relationship worthy.” 

“You don’t know what he is,” I snapped.  I could have explained that Stone Gentry was the most amazing man I’d ever been with but she would have only have rolled her eyes.  Actually, she did that anyway. 

“No offense,” she began
(why the hell did people always preface their most offensive comments like that?)
“but he’s practically a kid and he’s got a record.   I mean, really.  What could a guy like Stone possibly bring to the table?”

My hand closed around my glass as I struggled with my anger.  I considered tossing the bulk of my Long Island Iced Tea all over her slutty red skirt. 

Then I remembered that Darcy was just an idiot.  So I relaxed my grip on the glass and looked her in the eye. 

“Himself,” I informed her.  “That’s what he brings to the proverbial table.” 

Darcy shrugged and chose to drop it.  She started prattling on about the new Michael Kors handbag she wanted, grumbling that it was out of reach now that she was covering all the rent by herself since Briana had moved out. 

The more I listened to her talk the more tired I became.  I wished I’d stayed home.  Sitting on the couch and watching an entire back season of
Cupcake Wars
while waiting for Stone to get off work sounded so much more pleasant than being subjected to Darcy.  We’d only ever really been friends because of Briana.  Now that there were no buffers around to blunt the Darcy experience I was feeling less enchanted by the second. 

“Are you listening?”  Darcy poked me in the arm. 

“Yes.  We should probably leave soon.” 

Darcy pouted.  “Why?”

“I have a sore throat.” 

She edged away from me with distaste.  “Shit, do you think you’re contagious?”

“Probably.” 

Darcy insisted on damaging her liver for another hour before she agreed to wobble back to my pickup. 

“Waste of a night,” she sniffed but I ignored her and when her heel caught on a pothole I didn’t do a thing to keep her from tumbling to the asphalt. 

Earlier when I’d parked on a dark side street there wasn’t anything malevolent about the night.  Yet now I kept glancing over my shoulder because some spooked part of my brain insisted the shadows were following, reaching for me.  I had the eerie sense that somewhere in those shadows evil eyes were watching.  I shook off the idea. It was stupid. We were almost to my truck, we were in a safe neighborhood and I’d never had the slightest tendency towards premonitions.  

Not a moment later I stopped very abruptly, causing Darcy to crash right into me. 

“Evie,” she whined.  “How long until we get to your car? I’m getting blisters for fuck’s sake.” 

It was a valid question.  It was a question I had no answer for because I was positive that I’d parked my pickup right here.  On this street.  Beside the big red and white sign that said, “No parking between the hours of eight p.m. and eight a.m.  Tow away zone.” 

“God.
Damn
. It.”  I threw my purse down. 

“They got you too, eh?” 

The man who emerged from the darkness slurred his words and wore a suit that even I could tell was expensive.  The gold watch on his wrist was another hint that he wasn’t just some wandering vagrant.  Still, I took a step backwards because there was something about his pointy-chinned grin that told of terrible plans. 

“They come by every night about ten,” the man said as he casually leaned against the warning sign and lit a cigarette.  “Bad luck for you ladies.” 

“We’ll be fine,” I said, taking another step back.  I wasn’t the most worldly gal but I knew that devils didn’t always look the way you thought they would.  Sometimes they dressed in thousand dollar suits and wore gold watches. 

Darcy had no such reservations.  She sidled right up to Mr. Suit and gave him her most charming smile.  “Were you at Rush?  I thought I saw you.” 

The man blew a cloud of smoke and checked her out like he was the Big Bad Wolf about to devour Little Red.  “You did see me.  And I saw you.” 

Something about his smile made me want to scream.   I told myself I was being paranoid, ridiculous.  He hadn’t done anything threatening and we were on a public street. 

But one look around told me just how alone we were.  There were no cars passing, no voices laughing.  There was just us and the man in the suit. 

“If you’ll excuse us,” I said, pulling on Darcy’s elbow.  “We’re just going to call a car.” 

The man waved a hand.  I could practically see the muscles coiling beneath his clothes; he was much stronger than I’d thought at first.  “No need,” he said airily. “I live just up the street.  Why don’t you girls come along with me. I’ll fix you a drink and we can all decide what to do next.” 

His perfect white smile was awful. 

“No thank you.”  I tried to pull on Darcy again but she twisted away. 

“Why?” she scowled.  “Come on, Evie.  It’s so early and I don’t really want to hang around here in the dark for an hour waiting on a taxi.  Let’s just take Mr…I’m sorry, what was your name?”

“Smith,” the man said. 

Darcy paused.  “Is that your first name or your last name?”

He grinned wider and advanced another step with one hand in his pocket.  “Whatever you’d like.” 

“You’re drunk,” I hissed in Darcy’s ear.  “And we’re not going anywhere with him.” 

“I think you should reconsider,” Smith said, smooth as a snake’s hiss.  “Evie.” 

When he was two steps away he grabbed Darcy’s arm with one strong hand while the other hand found something in his jacket pocket and began to withdraw it.

Then a whole bunch of things happened in the space of about two point six seconds. 

Darcy yelped as she tried to twist out of his grip. 

I tried to kick Smith in the balls but I lost my balance and went sprawling. 

As I rolled to my back I saw something vague and shiny now gripped ominously in the hand of Smith. 

I realized we were in deep deep
deep
shit. 

Darcy opened her mouth to scream and threw up on Smith’s suit.

A phantom swooped in from the shadows and knocked Smith and his thousand dollar puke-spattered suit to the ground while the thing he’d been clutching in his hand clattered to the sidewalk beside him. The phantom kicked him viciously and seemed to be about to do worse when Smith scrambled to his feet and ran away like the demons of hell were in pursuit.   

“You okay?” said a voice as a familiar face loomed over me and somehow I was pulled to my feet.  Dimly I noticed that a syringe, the thing Smith had been carrying, which contained god only knew what kind of horrors, rolled innocently off the curb into the gutter. 

The face was still peering into mine and then nodded with satisfaction when I proved I was able to stand upright. 

“Holy shit,” I said under my breath because honestly I would have been less startled to be rescued by Teddy the Guinea Pig. 

For a split second I wondered if I was wrong.  After all, I’d only seen him once.  But the curt nod of recognition he gave me said it all.

“Hello to you too,” said Conway Gentry. 

Conway looked the same as he had the only other time I’d seen him, the day of the barbecue.  He resembled Stone enough so that it was clear they were brothers but Conway looked rough, dangerous. The scruffy three day beard growth was darker than his sandy hair and the faded t-shirt he wore couldn’t hide a physique nearly as imposing as his brother’s.  

I didn’t know whether to be afraid of him or not.  Darcy had misplaced her wild girl alter ego and cowered behind me, which was rather a futile thing to do since I was a good six inches shorter than her. Conway towered over both of us.