House Rules (12 page)

“You think that matters to them?” He didn’t wait for me to reply. “All that matters is that Ray gives two shits about you."

My breath came in pants, my heart racing like someone had just taken a whip to my ribcage. I swallowed, mentally running through the contents of my bank account, all the while knowing that if I didn’t have the money to move again, I certainly didn’t have the money to outrun these guys. If a player like Miller had heard of Marcello, he must be significant. 

“Either way, I’ll get you set up in a new apartment.”

He reached into his pocket to pull out his phone again. His fingers flew over the screen at the same time I covered the hand holding the phone with mine own.

“I don’t need you to get me a place. I’m not a fan of handouts, or charity.” Growing up in a family where you were only given something with an expectation that something would be given in return, taking favors from anyone was one of my hard limits. Back then it was gifts from my stepfather in exchange for my silence, and even though I sincerely doubted that Miller would have even the slightest thing in common with that piece of shit, I wasn’t about to throw caution to the wind. Even if the thought of Ray’s business catching up with me made me want to vomit.”

“I just need the job.”

He glared at me and for a moment, I worried he would kick me out of his office with nothing. My stomach fluttered watching him, waiting for a decision.

“Fine. you can keep the job,” he said begrudgingly.

A knock sounded on the door.

“Come in,” Miller snapped

Jason popped his head in the door. “Miller?”

Miller looked at me, his face all hard lines. A boulder settled in the pit of my stomach. Then he sighed. “Make sure Tess has the maximum number of shifts at peak times.”

“What about—”

“Jason, maximum shifts.” Miller’s tone brokered no argument.

“You got it. I’ll go redo the schedule right now.”

“And no one touches her. I mean no one.”

Jason nodded once. “I’ll make sure everyone keeps their hands to themselves.”

I should have kept my mouth shut. He hadn’t fired me, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t. But I couldn’t stay quiet. “What does that matter? Everyone here gets their ass smacked or grabbed at least a few times a night.”

“Jason, leave us.” Miller’s cold gaze stayed focused on me. Jason hustled out the door and I was half tempted to follow him.

“I will not repeat myself again. No one touches you but me.”

“I’m not some dog that you can command, Miller.” Brazen asshole that he was.

“No, but if you want to keep this job, hands off . . . except me.”

Why in the hell was I arguing? Jason was going to keep the guys from grabbing me every time I walked by. I would have to be crazy to fight against this. Still, even though he was doing me a favor, I wasn’t a fan of him telling me what to do.

“Oh no. Deal breaker. Hands off—including you. You sound like a jealous boyfriend.”

He scoffed. “I don’t do relationships.”

“Exactly why the only person who decides who’s touching me is
me
.”

His nostrils flared. “Fine. No one touches you then.”

“Great. Can I get back to work now? Without tips I don’t make anything.”

Almost to the door and he called my name once more. When I turned, his features had softened. Here was the man who caught my attention every time I saw him. The man who could be sweet. The man who had caressed every inch of my body with those warm hands. The enigma I wanted to solve.

“Yeah?”

“Does Ray know where you are?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Good. Hopefully no one else knows where you moved to either, you should be safe there. I’ll see what I can find out about Ray’s debt with Marcello.”

The mood swings on him made a woman with PMS seem sane. I was grateful for his help. I didn’t know anything about Nathan Marcello, but the rage in Miller’s eyes and his words, made me fear that I didn’t want to. “Thanks, Miller.”

I walked out the door, knowing that Miller was watching my ass. The same feeling from the first night we met stirred in my blood. Without the distractions of our conversation, I knew my attraction to him had only grown in the days since I’d seen him last. What I found appealing had to be his looks. Dark hair, dark eyes. Yeah, it had to be the looks because his personality left something to be desired.

Whatever it was, I needed to stop thinking about Miller Hawes. It would seem I had bigger problems to worry about.

CHAPTER 11

Miller

Un-fucking-believable.

Walking into the bar and seeing Tess’s ass on display for all to see sent me right to the edge. Then the shit in the booth had to go and grab it, bringing her closer to him. My blood burned, every limb stiffening, every muscle clenched to keep myself from slaughtering the asshole right there in the middle of the bar.

Her ass called to me, putting all the others in the room to shame. As much as I hated to admit it, Tess had the perfect body for the uniform. It would have been perfect, provided I was the only one to see it.

And therein lay my problem.

Why the fuck was I so obsessed? I’d never had a problem resisting women before. They were good for sex, nothing more.

Whatever caused it, I needed to get over it quickly. Too much was riding on me being in control of my life for me to get involved with someone. That didn’t mean I would leave her fate to Nathan Marcello. That bastard didn’t care who he hurt in the process of getting his money. Dad had been trying for years to convince people to stop going to him. Obviously, it hadn’t worked. And now Tess was in his sights.

I pulled my phone from my pocket and took a seat behind my desk. If anyone could find out about Ray’s debts, it was Ashton. He answered after a few rings.

“Miller.”

“I need a favor.”

“Shit,” Ashton groaned. “Please tell me you’re not in trouble.”

What the fuck?

“Why does everyone always think I’m in trouble?”

“Because every time you ask for a favor, that’s usually the problem.”

I sighed. “Someone’s in trouble, but it’s not me.”

“Stop beating around the damn bush and tell me already.” I could hear papers being shuffled in the background.

When I first opened the club and the bar I thought Ashton had it easy; that he just exaggerated how much hassle running the restaurant was. I always laughed when he whined about it. I mean, it wasn’t like he was cooking every night. Then I opened these two places and realized that the paperwork is never-ending. No matter how much I got done, there were still a million more piles.

“Remember the woman I brought to La Tratoria a few weeks ago?”

He laughed. “Yeah. I was actually hoping to see her with you again. It would get Elena and Mom off your back.”

“I just found out she took a job at Rock Bottom
.
”

He laughed, which made me suck in a deep breath. “How the fuck do you not know she’s working for you?”

“It’s not like I’ve spent a shit-ton of time here lately. Between the dealership and the club, I haven’t had time to get over here. That’s not why I called.”

“Why are you letting her work there?”

“She needs the job—”

“And you can’t get her one somewhere else? I’ve seen the sleazy as shit outfits the girls wear. You can’t for one moment tell me you want other men—”

“Ashton, would you shut the fuck up for five seconds and listen to me.” Damn he was pissing me off. I had bigger things to worry about than Tess’s ass hanging out, especially if Marcello thought she was bait for Ray Wasden.

“Fine. But I’m not letting this one go. I watched you with her that night.”

I slumped in my chair.

“Marcello’s men broke into her apartment the other night.”

“Why the fuck would Marcello give two shits about a woman you’re dating? It’s not like we’ve bothered with his business, even though he’s a slimy bastard. Besides, he’d be more likely to come after me for that shit.”

It was time for the truth to come out about how I met Tess in the first place. I started with the poker game, all the way up to finding her in my bar a little bit ago.

“Jesus Christ. You
won
her?”

“Ashton. Focus.”

“I’m trying, but damn Dad was pissed when I first told him about Elena. He’s going to flip his shit over this.”

I ran a hand through my hair. This conversation was almost as frustrating as the one with Tess a few minutes ago.

“He already knows. Trust me it wasn’t pretty. Right now I have to worry about that asshole Marcello and what he wants with Tess.”

“Fuck.”

“Goddamn it, Ashton. Fine, fuck you. Forget I called. I’ll figure it out myself.”

“Don’t be an asshole. You can’t drop this much shit in my lap all at once and expect me to solve your problem instantly. Give me a minute.”

He had a point.

“All right. What do you know about Nathan Marcello?”

“Only what a few clients have told me, after they’ve borrowed money from him. The bastard is relentless and has no problems hurting someone’s family or friends to get it.”

“Shit. That’s what I thought.” For a moment I wanted to hurl my phone across the room, but that would only end up pissing me off more when I had to get a new one.

“Not that I want to see anyone hurt, but why do you even care? You’re normally the love ’em and leave ’em type.”

That was the one question I’d been asking myself since I walked in and saw that bastard grabbing her ass earlier. She wasn’t mine to worry about, but I couldn’t stop myself from doing it, and the simple thought of Marcello or his men anywhere near her trying to hurt her for Ray’s debt made blood pound through my ears.

“I can’t explain.”

The asshole burst out laughing.

“What the hell is so funny?”

“You. You’re confused and tongue-tied over a woman. For years I’ve been watching women behave that way in front of you. Damn if the tables haven’t turned.”

“That’s ridiculous. I only want to help her out of a bad situation.”

He scoffed. “And when was the last time you wanted to help anyone out of a bad situation?”

“Why is that so surprising?” I snapped. “You did it for Elena.”

“Yeah, but I’m not you or Dad. Admit it, the two of you can be absolutely ruthless when it comes to getting your own way. The only time you worry about someone else is if they’re family.”

“Bullshit.”

“No, truth. Unless you consider them family, you don’t give two shits. You like pretty things on your arm, not messy relationships that get in the way. You’re more like Dad then you want to admit. Keep in mind how he and Mom met.”

I slammed my fist against the desk. “Enough.”

Every word he spoke was closer to the truth than I wanted to admit. I
was
like my dad, but that didn’t give Ashton the right to question my motives. Maybe it pissed me off that he was right, or maybe I was less tolerant because I was so fucking busy I couldn’t see which way was up. Either way, I wasn’t listening to it anymore. My shoulders tensed beneath the fabric of my suit jacket, the desire to hit something overwhelming.

“Holy fuck. The why doesn’t matter. I’m going to see what I can find out about Wasden’s debt.”

“You’ll figure it out, eventually. Until then, I’ll drop it. I’ll see if I can dig anything else up.”

His offer to help went a little way to cool my temper. My muscles began to loosen.

“Let me know what you find out.”

“I will. And when you calm down, think about what I said.”

I already had and wasn’t interested. I’d deal with it later. Right then, I needed his help to keep Tess safe, especially since she was being stubborn as shit about me getting her a place. I decided to ignore his statement.

“Thanks, Ashton.”

My brother had always been there for me. We might see things differently, but that didn’t change the fact I was grateful for any help he could give me.

“You’re welcome.”

We hung up and I looked at the massive stack of paperwork on my desk, all of it forgotten with the revelations of the last hour.

Tess.

What was I going to do about her?

I remembered the look on her face when she challenged me; when she thought Marcello might get her. Then I thought about our night together. Thought about my hands on her, her body under mine. Then I thought about her being out there with every dickhead customer staring at her ass . . .

I grabbed the glass off my desk and hurled it across the room. The sound of it shattering was soothing. Never in my life had I been so twisted up over a woman. And according to her, I had no say in her life or how to keep her safe. She was right, I didn’t want a relationship. All I wanted was to help her out of the mess she was in.

Forgoing the paperwork, I picked up my phone.

Me: Meet me at Rock Bottom.

Dean: Give me 15 minutes.

My first instinct was to text back that he had five minutes, but that was ridiculous considering I had no idea where he was. I forced myself to focus on the work I’d come down to get done but had a hard time concentrating, thoughts of Tess’s sexy ass and all of the ways I wanted to use it keeping me distracted. Not too long after my text there was a knock on the door.

“Come in.” I was aggravated with myself for letting a little pussy distract me from what I needed to get done so my tone was harsher than necessary.

Dean poked his head in the door. “Everything all right?”

“I have something I need you to do.”

As the door shut behind him, he threw a thumb over his shoulder and asked, “The brunette shaking her ass behind the bar. Isn’t that the one you won off Ray Wasden a few weeks ago?”

I jumped up and moved around the desk in a blur. Dean might be bigger than me, but we both knew who was tougher. “Enough. Count yourself lucky I think enough of you to answer your asinine question and not shove those words back down your throat. Yes, it’s her, but I don’t want to hear another word. Is that clear?”