What Happens In Vegas... Doesn't Always Stay There (14 page)

Grabbing a stepladder, she made her way over to the left wall with a half-dozen scarves.

Climbing the ladder, she stretched to reach the top peg.

“God damn,” she growled through clenched teeth, missing the peg on her first few tries.

Going to have to lower that peg
. It was something she told herself every time she added

inventory to it, but she never, ever got around to it. The door chimed, but she didn’t pay any

mind to the customer as she struggled to hook the scarves.

“I’ll be right with you,” she called out, not deterring from the task at hand. She heard

footsteps coming up behind her so she made a small jump, attempting to hook them once and for

all so she could attend to her customer.

A smile of triumph emerged on her lips as the hangers hooked onto the hook, but her smile

quickly faded and a scream emerged from her lips as she lost her footing and she went toppling

off of the stepladder. She closed her eyes, expecting to feel the hard impact of her body hitting the floor, but instead found herself being caught, with a strong arm under her legs and one under her back, and being pulled tight to her rescuer’s chest.

A recognizable scent drifted to her nose even before her rescuer opened his mouth. She

wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed tighter to him.

“Graham?” She opened her eyes and caught the gaze of Dane.

“Wrong brother, baby.” Despite her error, he grinned, keeping her in his arms and tight to

him.

“Oh, Dane.” She ranked a hand through her hair, brushing a stray lock of hair that had slid

over her eyes out of her face. “What are you doing here?”

He slowly released her and set her back onto her feet. “I’m here to take you to lunch.”

She searched her brain, wondering if she’d agreed to have lunch with him the previous night;

she couldn’t recall such a conversation.

“I was in the area and thought you might want to grab a sandwich at the deli down the street,”

he further explained.

“I see.” She took a couple of steps back from him and sighed. While originally she was

supposed to tell Dane, Graham had decided that he would speak to Dane about the new status of

their relationship, but looking up into Dane’s eyes she realized that hadn’t happened yet.

“Have you seen Graham today?”

He shook his head. “Nah. He’s busy at a crime scene.”

Her green eyes widened. “What kind of crime scene?”

“Double murder suicide. In Brooklyn, I think.” He blew out a puff of air. “I’m sure he’ll call

when he’s done. There’s always lots of press and nosy people who’ll hang around a crime scene

in hopes of getting a glimpse of the corpse and get the juicy details of the crime. People can be such morbid nosy fuckers.”

She cringed. “I can’t imagine wanting to see something like that.”

“Yeah, well. It’s part of the job.” He clapped his hands, his eyes scanning the store. “So

what’s the verdict? Will you do one of New York’s finest the honor of having lunch with him?”

God, this is hard
. She sighed. She supposed lunch wouldn’t hurt and she could tell him about her and Graham at the same time. She’d felt it should be her to tell him anyhow – she was the

one to create the mess by seeing both brothers, she felt it was her job to make it right – but

Graham had insisted on taking care of it.

Graham isn’t here and Dane is so might as well get it over with
, she mused.

~ Dane ~

“How is it?” Dane asked, as she took a big mouthful of her ham and cheese deli sub.

She nodded, giving him a thumbs up while chewing. She swallowed. “Wonderful.”

They ate in silence. It was uncomfortable.

Something about Genevieve’s demeanour wasn’t sitting right with him. She was tense; she

hadn’t been tense around him since they’d had the talk at her place. It made him wonder if it had been seeing Graham last night that had her worked up. The moment Graham stepped foot into

his house her mood had changed and suddenly she had an appointment. He hadn’t believed it for

a second.

“So what’s going on, Ginny?”
Might as well stop beating around the bush and get down to it.

“We need to talk.” She kept her eyes downcast, staring at her hands, fingers laced together in

front of her.

He laughed. “You breaking up with me before we even become a couple?” he teased.

She lifted her green eyes and he saw he’d hit a nerve with her.

“I’ve been spending time with Graham.”

His jaw clenched, but he fought to keep a smile on his lips. “And what does that mean

exactly
?” Her eyes lowered again, but he refused to let her look away. Leaning across the small two-person table, he hooked his index finger under her chin, forcing her eyes to meet his.

“What are you saying? You’re with my brother?” He attempted to keep himself calm. He was

the one who had made the stupid decision to share her in the first place.

But, that was before I got to really know her. She was supposed to be a one-night stand. I

didn’t realize I’d want her like this.

“Yes,” her answer came out as barely more than a whisper. “I’m sorry.”

“Motherfucker.” He hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but seeing her jerk away from him and

sit back in her seat made him realize he’d voiced his displeasure.

He groaned inwardly. It wasn’t her fault.

“I’m sorry, Ginny. It’s complicated. I’m not upset with you. Disappointed, very disappointed.

But not upset.”

His mind went racing back to Emma. She’d been
his
and she’d also chosen Graham in the

end. And Graham had let it happen. He’d taken Emma and now Genevieve. Anger boiled up

within him. After all the bullshit they’d been through to get back to a good place with each other after Emma, to be brothers again, he’d pulled this shit… again! His brother needed to learn to

find his own fucking women!

“I gotta go,” he announced, bundling up the remainder of his sandwich and stuffing it into the

paper bag it came in.

She followed suit, gathering up her garbage and standing with him, depositing her garbage in

the can by the door.

His mood softened as he looked down at her unsure expression. He doubted she knew much

about Emma and his rocky past with his brother. She didn’t deserve to be pulled into his family

feud.

“I’m serious, Ginny, I’m fine. We’re fine.” He hesitated, but gently pulled her into his

embrace. He knew he should just be happy for his brother and Ginny. He hadn’t staked a claim

on her, or told Graham he was interested. Maybe being happy for them would be the brotherly

thing to do, but maybe he wasn’t that great of a brother, because he wasn’t happy. All he felt

towards Graham at that moment was anger. She was the first woman he’d seriously considered

settling down with. He genuinely felt she could have been it for him. Maybe when they’d gotten

to know each other better he’d have discovered she wasn’t, but dammit, because of Graham he’d

never know.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered, holding tight to him. “I do care for you…”

“Please don’t, Ginny.” He didn’t want to hear anymore. He did, however, have a lot to

discuss with his brother.

~*~*~*~*~*~

~ Graham ~

Graham sighed as he removed his bulletproof vest and hung it up in his locker at the precinct.

It had been one bugger of a day and he was glad it was finally over and he could get to more

pleasant things – like his date with Genevieve.

He began mentally running through a checklist of things to do before he picked her up;

florist, box office…

“You motherfucker!”

Graham frowned, turning toward his brother’s voice. He didn’t have a chance to reply as

Dane’s fist connected with his jaw, sending him back against his locker. He rubbed his jaw,

glaring at his brother, aware that several other officers in the locker room around him had

stopped what they were doing to watch and see if the conflict worsened.

“I’ll give you that one Dane, but you won’t get another.”

Dane smirked. “Have you considered getting your own women for a change?”

“You spoke with Ginny.”

“Yeah. You fucking knew I was into her.”

Graham huffed. “You’re into all women, she’s just the piece of ass for the week to you.”

“She was still mine.” His anger flared up in his eyes and Graham braced himself for things to

become physical. Dane was a fists first, talk later type of guy.

“She deserves someone who will give her a real relationship. I didn’t steal a fucking thing. I

didn’t steal Emma and I sure as hell didn’t steal Genevieve. She made the choice. They both did,

because you can’t fucking commit to anyone. You’re more interested in how many women’s

pussies you can shove your dick into than realizing you already have the perfect woman.”

Dane stepped up to him, less than a foot separating the two men. Graham was vaguely aware

of the other officers preparing to pull them apart.

“That’s none of your business. It doesn’t change the fact they were mine and you stole them

like some slimy piece of shit.”

Despite his attempt to keep his cool, Graham’s anger boiled up. He was so tired of Dane

passing the buck. He’d swallowed his pride and taken responsibility for Emma even though he’d

never believed he was in the wrong with her, just to reconcile with Dane. Dane had been done

with her, she went to him and he gave her what she
thought
she wanted. In the end he was the one that lost out, not Dane.

“I didn’t steal a fucking thing from you. I did you a fucking favour with Emma, otherwise it

would be you with a divorce after finding her fucking the delivery man.” He was losing his grasp

on the last bit of restraint he had. He could hear the murmurs around them of the other officers, but ignored them. They needed to have it out once and for all.

“Serves you right. I didn’t give Emma up and you knew I was into Ginny. I didn’t give up a

thing.”

“You gave her up when you decided to share her,” Graham growled through clenched teeth.

A low feral growl emerged from Dane as he lunged, a fist pulled back and intent on colliding

against Graham’s jaw. Graham moved just in time; Dane’s fist slammed into the metal locker

beside his head, leaving an imprint. Hunkering down, Graham lunged at his brother, colliding

with his midsection and the two went toppling backward, over the bench situated between the

strings of lockers. As they fell, Graham took a shot and slammed his fist into Dane’s abdomen

and was rewarded with a low-winded grunt.

But his victory was short-lived as Dane managed to buck and flip Graham onto his back,

slamming his fist into his face a second time. His ears began to ring, but he shook his head,

clearing his mind and blocking with his forearm another blow headed toward his face.

Dane’s fist pulled back again, but before he could make the punch he was pulled off and

away from Graham by a couple of officers. Anger, resentment and adrenaline raced through

Graham as he leapt to his feet and charged Dane, slamming a fist into his stomach and then a

second to his jaw. His third punch was interrupted by several officers pulling him away from his

opponent.

“This isn’t over, brother,” Dane snarled, wiping his bleeding jaw with the back of his hand.

A metallic taste filled his mouth and Graham became aware of a throbbing pain in his mouth.

He swept his tongue along his lower gum line and discovered a tooth had been dislodged and a

hole was present in the lower left side, halfway between the front tooth and the molars.

“You punched out my tooth, asshole!”

Dane grinned, satisfaction flashing in his eyes. “Good.”

Chapter 12

~ Dane ~

“I don’t know what the fuck is going on between you two and I don’t give a rat’s ass, quite

frankly.” Their captain looked from Dane to Graham and back again. “I’ve been told you started

it.”

Dane jerked his head in the direction of Graham. “That asshole started it. I was just finishing

it.”

The older gentleman sighed and sat back in his leather chair on the opposite side of his desk

and gave his head a shake. “I can’t have you two fighting in the locker rooms, or anywhere else

in my precinct for that matter. You can pound the living shit out of each other when you’re off

duty, but when you’re in my house I expect you two to behave like officers of the law, not a

couple of testosterone-filled teenagers.”

Dane rubbed his jaw and then smirked. He may have a sore jaw, but Graham was short a

tooth; bastard deserved it.

“What the fuck are you smiling at Dane? Are you hoping for a suspension without pay?

Because I can happily do that for you.”

“No Sir.”

“It has come to my attention as well that it was over some chick,” his captain stated, his

expression remaining bleak.

Dane glared at Graham. “My brother doesn’t know how to get his own women, he needs to

go after my sloppy seconds.”

“Funny, for someone who feels that way, you seem to get pissed off enough about it,”

Graham growled.

“Because it isn’t cool, man. You don’t go after your brother’s women.”

“Ginny was never really yours, Dane.”

“I found her first. I only did you a courtesy by letting you fuck her.”

“Didn’t realize that finders keepers also applied to women you’re not even committed to.

Grow up Dane!”