Negligee Behavior (17 page)

“Well,” she said carefully. “I guess you need to decide how much you’re willing to put up with.”

“Yeah.” Elena looked away.

“You ladies ready to head out?” Marco strode over.

“Did Sebastian show up?” Brandy asked, sliding out of the booth.

Marco winced and nodded. “Yeah. He’s in the back.” He cleared his throat. “So do you have your car here, Elena? I just have my bike and Brandy and I rode in on that.”

Brandy made a mental note to ask Marco later what was going on with Sebastian.

“Yeah, I have my car.” Elena stood up from the booth and placed her hands on her hips, lifting an eyebrow in challenge at her brother. “Are you both game to ride with me and take me around town?”

Brandy exchanged a quick glance with Marco. He gave a small nod.

“Let’s do it.” He rested his hand on Elena’s shoulder. “That way it’ll give us time to talk.”

“So are you mad?” Brandy turned over and fluffed her pillow.

“No, I’m not mad,” he said quietly after a moment. “I know I told her not to come, but of course she didn’t listen. Elena’s a stubborn young woman.”

“Kind of like her brother.”

“Hmm…Maybe.”

“You’re glad to see her.” It was a statement rather than a question.

“Yes.”

Seeing his sister again had knocked the wind from him, thrown his balance off-kilter. It had hurt, but it had also been so incredibly wonderful. Two years had gone by since he’d seen her, but in that time she’d grown up so much. Too much. The pain that swept through him settled in his gut.

“Would it be too personal for me to ask why you haven’t seen her in over a year?”

The tension in his body increased.
Yes.

“I had a falling out with my dad a couple of years ago,” he replied, which covered about only a quarter of the story.

But what could he say without spilling all the sordid details of the past few years? Truth be told, he just tried to ignore it. Never think about it. Because when he did it just ripped the bandage off a wound that would ever heal.

“What happened between you and your dad?” She caught his chin and gently turned his head toward her. “Will you share with me?”

She asked too much. He didn’t share it with anyone. Only Sebastian knew. “Brandy…”

“Please, Marco.”

His chest rose from the deep breath he drew in. How much could he tell her without baring it all?

“We had a falling out…over my career choice. He pretty much told me to get lost and stay away from Elena.” He gave a grim smile. “Thought I was a bad influence.”

“Oh my gosh. That’s terrible. Why would he do that? Just because he didn’t like the idea of you opening a bar?”

“For the most part.” His expression once again turned grim.

But then he couldn’t really blame his dad for reacting the way he did. His son had given up a job as one of the best damn defense attorneys in the state of Nevada to open a bar instead.

How would Brandy react if he’d said those words aloud to her? If he’d filled in the blanks. She’d probably keel over in shock. He knew when they’d met she’d written him off as a kind of a bad boy who lived to have fun—little did she know he was the man who used to defend those guys.

The thought of his former career sent a shiver of unease through him. He rarely thought about it. Preferred to stuff that part of his life back in the emotional closet where it belonged.

She didn’t need to know about his past. It had nothing to do with where he was today. Besides, right now when she looked at him there always seemed to be a bit of respect there and maybe even some hero worship. He’d hate for that to be replaced with disgust, with accusation when she found out what had happened.

“Marco…I’m so sorry.” She dropped a kiss on his chest. “Some people just…” She shook her head. “In any case, I’m glad Elena ignored you when you told her not to come.”

“Me too.” He tightened his arms around her. She snuggled deeper into the curve on his body.

He stroked her back, pushing all thoughts of who he used to be out of his mind and focusing on the woman in his arms. “Elena really likes you, you know.”

“Does she?”

“Yes. It’s kind of shocking. She’s generally pretty bitchy and wary of women.” He hesitated. “Has been since mom took off with a neighbor when Elena was only twelve.”

“Ouch.” Brandy lifted her head to look at him. “That must have been horrible for you both.”

He shrugged, the years of anger and pain had long since faded to a dull ache. One he rarely bothered to acknowledge.

“She would never have won any mother of the year awards. Spent more time drunk than sober.” He closed his eyes to hide the possible bitterness reflected there. “We were probably better off without her. And Dad did a great job raising Elena and me”

Brandy didn’t respond, but showed her compassion by dropping another kiss on his chest as her arm tightened around him.

“Hey. So what was going on with Sebastian tonight?”

Marco drew in a deep breath, grateful for the change of subject.

“Bitter divorce stuff. It’s really fucking with his head.” He hesitated. “And then last night he took home another ditzy blonde from the bar. I think he regretted it.”

“Does he do that a lot? Take women home?”

“Not a crazy ass amount, but I’d say there’s been at least a handful since his wife filed for divorce.”

She sighed. “Poor Sebastian. He’s always so funny, but sometimes…I just sense this sadness in him.”

“Yeah, I have too.” He grunted. “But the Band Battle tomorrow will be a good distraction for him.”

“Yes, it sure will. Speaking of, your sister is really excited about the competition.”

“Yeah. I gathered from our conversation at dinner.” He paused. “You don’t think it’s a conflict of interests? Letting her band compete when she’s my sister?”

“It would be if you were judging, but the audience judges. And no one actually knows you’re her brother.”

“True. Do you think they’ll suck?”

“Marco!” She swatted his shoulder and giggled. “I have no idea. Let’s hope not. Because I’ll be honest with you, I’m a tough critic.”

“I’ll bet you are Ms. Choir Teacher.” He chuckled. “Now get some sleep. We’re pretty much pulling a double tomorrow.”

She yawned. “It’ll be worth it. Dante’s Place is going to be the most popular bar in town after tomorrow night.”

“Yeah, well hopefully we get some responses to the want ad then.”

Earlier today he’d brought up the fact that she would eventually stop waitressing for them. It was a foregone conclusion. He’d tossed it out as a feeler, almost hoping she’d declare that she had no intention of quitting. Instead, she’d completely evaded the topic.

He sighed and stroked his hand down her back. The last thing he wanted to think about was Brandy leaving him.

Hmm. She’d gone awfully quiet now. Had she fallen asleep?

“Good night,” he said quietly on the off chance she still lay awake.

There was no response for a moment, then she whispered, “Good night.”

The flare from the match briefly lit the motel room. Gordon held the flame to the tip of his cigarette and then waved it out.

He scowled and sat down on the edge of the bed with a shudder, biting back a groan. Who knew what kind of body fluids had been left behind on the bedspread from the previous guests?

He took a long drag and closed his eyes.

For the last year he’d tried to hide his vices while dating Brandy. Never having more than an occasional smoke or drink at a party. He’d tried to keep his image squeaky-clean to convince her he was husband material. But none of it mattered now. Brandy was keeping a low profile—didn’t want to be found. And he was hiding out in some cheap hotel he was forced to pay for in cash—because he was a dead man if that fucking bookie found him.

Gordon sneered. God, that bitch Brandy deserved to be smacked into the next zip code when he got his hands on her. But that could wait until after he got her down that aisle.

He took another drag and closed his eyes.

And it appeared he was getting closer. The source he’d sent out to track her had provided some fairly interesting information.

Just as he’d known all along, she wasn’t in the goddamn Mediterranean. She was still in the Vegas area. And she’d been shopping—a lot. But the kicker was she didn’t appear to be staying in a hotel. Unless she was paying cash like he was.

No. Otherwise she would’ve been careful not to use her card in other places. The possibility that Brandy had found a friend to stay with just didn’t add up.

“Hmm.” He pursed his lips and shook his head.

Brandy didn’t have many friends that he knew of, and she’d never mentioned any in the Vegas area.

Which left one odd and puzzling possibility. The man whose bike she’d jumped on when she’d fled the chapel. The one he’d seen running from their hotel room.

But why? His mouth curled in dismay. Brandy had about as much energy as a sack of flour during sex. Surely she hadn’t made her way into another man’s bed.

He stood up and crushed the cigarette out on the chipped wooden side table. Striding into the bathroom, he hit the light switch. The lighting cracked and whined, before the light reluctantly flickered on.

He leaned in toward the mirror and stared briefly at his once perfect smile. Already the smoking habit had stained his veneers.

With a snarl he flicked off the light again and went back to sit on the bed. It didn’t matter. Any of it. He’d find out where she was. Even if he had to go from door to fucking door to find her.

Chewing on a fingernail, he paced through the room and took a moment to admit the seed of doubt that had begun to take root.

He needed to consider the possibility that she may not be easily persuaded to marry him. That the chances of getting her to say ‘I do’ were growing slimmer each day.

His soft laugh held no humor and was swallowed up in the tiny room.

Which was fine. If he could avoid being married to her, it would be a relief. It just meant he’d need to come up with a different plan.

He reached for another cigarette with unsteady hands and shook his head. In either case, she’d give him the money one way or another.

The wall of sound inside the bar had reached its peak about a half hour ago. Marco looked around the room and let out a whistle that got sucked up into the mass of noise.

He spotted Brandy walking by and grabbed her arm. “Can you believe this? This place is packed.”

“I told you it would be.” She grinned and pushed a strand of hair out of her face. “You see that one guy with that totally awesome green spiked hair?”

“Totally. Wondered if he was one of Val’s friends. It’s crazy in here.”

“It is. It’s wonderful.” She tugged away. “I’ve got a ton of drink orders to fill. I’ll talk with you later when the insanity dies down.”

Yes, she had warned him. But there was a part of him that could have never predicted this. This was…amazing.

Over a hundred people crowded the building. The sound of instruments, chatter and laughter filled the air. People of every variety had shown up to support their family and friends.

Val and Brandy had been going nonstop all night. Sebastian was a mad fool behind the bar, mixing up drinks at an insane pace. Fortunately they’d called in another friend who bartended to help out as well.

Marco lingered at the door, checking IDs as people came into the bar. They were nearing capacity, but fortunately the performances would start soon.

He sensed movement at the doorway and turned to see two men entering the bar with camera bags and other photo gear.

“Hey there.” One of the men stuck out his hand. “I’m Fred with the
Vegas Times
and am here to do a piece on this event.”

Reporters?
Uneasy Brandy’d freak out if she realized there were reporters in the bar.

Why hadn’t he realized media coverage was a possibility?

What could he do, though? It’d only arouse suspicion if he refused them entry. And hell, it would be great to get Dante’s Place a write-up in the local paper.

He forced a smile and shook the man’s hand. “Thanks for coming by. I’m Marco Vargas, one of the owners of Dante’s. Grab a seat if you can find one and enjoy yourselves.”

“Thanks, Marco. Nice little joint you got here.” The photographer nodded, before following the reporter into the crowd of people.

Marco found Brandy dropping off an order at one of the booths in the back.

“I need to talk with you for a second,” he yelled above the noise.

“What, now? We’re slammed—”

“Brandy.”

She gave a quick nod, set down the last drink and then walked past him, straight into the back of the bar.

She turned around once they’d reached the office, uncertainty in her eyes. “All right. What’s going on?”

He caught her hand and gave it a small squeeze. “I just wanted to warn you that there’s a reporter here with a photographer.”

Brandy flinched, grabbing onto the desk and then looking away.

“They’re here for the bands, princess.” He cupped the back of her head, stroking his thumbs over the nape of her neck.

“Of course.” Her tongue ran across her lips. “It’s just…what if they recognize me—”

“They won’t. You look nothing like you did a couple weeks ago.” He hesitated. “Just don’t make eye contact with them, and try and stay under the radar.”

“I’m one of two waitresses working. It’s going to be kind of hard to stay under the radar—tonight, especially.”

“I know.” He lowered his head and touched his nose against hers, trying to ease some of her tension. “Just don’t think about it.”

“Easier said than done. Hey, point them out to me when we go back out there and I’ll have Val wait on them.”

He angled his head to brush his mouth across hers and she trembled against him. “Sexy girl.”

She rolled her eyes and murmured a husky, “Oh please.”

“Beg me later, sweetheart. Right now you need to get back to work.” He looked her over from head to toes. “By the way I like that black leather dress thingy you’ve got going on.”

“Do you?” She pulled away and did a little wiggle, making all her female curves bounce in the most provocative way.

Christ, she was a freaking bombshell. He bit back a groan, his body responding in all kinds of ways it had no right to at this point in the evening. “You know I do. Now go.”

She stuck her tongue out and stepped past him. He couldn’t resist giving a light swat on her leather-clad bottom when he followed after her.

Brandy yelped and turned around to glare. “Nice. We’ll see who’s begging later.”

“Touché.” He grinned and moved after her out into the main bar area. “Remember, no eye contact.”

“Got it.”

“Okay.” He pointed to the stage. “They’re the two guys standing on the left side of the stage area. One is wearing a Raiders T-shirt.”

She remained quiet for a moment and then gave a sight nod. “I see them. Thanks, Marco.”

“You’re welcome.” He noticed more people entering the bar. “And now I’m back to door duty. Good luck. We start in about five minutes.”

“Good deal.” She didn’t hesitate, just charged off into the mass of people.

Marco headed toward the entrance to let in the customers lingering there. The clock confirmed it was time to get the performances rolling.

He shut the door to the bar and headed up to the makeshift stage. Picking up the microphone, he stared out at the sea of faces. Shit. He should’ve convinced Sebastian to MC the competition. He would’ve been so much better at this kind of thing.

After clearing his throat, he called out, “How’s everyone doing tonight?”

The bar roared in response and clapped wildly.

“I know everyone’s excited, so we’ll go ahead and get this contest started. Each band will perform one song.” He fumbled in his pocket for the slip of paper that had the line up of bands on it. “All right first up performing will be…ugh…Spanking Monkeys.”

Seriously? Marco shook his head and stepped off the stage as fans of the band erupted into screams.

The band moved into position on the stage and counted off, before a wall of heavy metal music erupted in the building.

Marco glanced back at the sound tech they’d hired, making sure he would be able to handle everything okay. The man gave a thumbs-up and went back to twisting all kinds of knobs and levers.

Marco breathed a sigh of relief. Things started off without a hitch. He went to stand behind the bar, by Sebastian.

“So what do you think?” he yelled.

Sebastian turned to him. His eyes almost glassy, fatigue drawing lines around his mouth.

“I think, mate, we’re going to have to speed up the hiring process.” He shook his head and grinned. “I’m absolutely beat—and I love it.”

“Me too.” Marco gave a slight nod. “Can you handle it for a minute? I’m going to run into the back and run some numbers on how much we’ve made so far tonight.”

“I got it.”

Marco slapped Sebastian on the shoulder and then headed into the back.

Brandy dropped off three bottles of beer at a table of rowdy men who kept a running tab, and then hurried away before they could waylay her with more flirting.

Some of the bands were better than others. Like the one now? Pretty much sucked. She turned to the stage and immediately regretted it. The girls on stage wore bikini tops and tiny shorts. They sang out of key, while dancing provocatively. And the guy who was strumming the guitar behind them had probably never had a lesson in his life.

“Oomph.” She slammed into someone and stumbled backwards.

“Sorry about that, ma’am.”

Brandy turned to look at the man who’d spoken and then quickly looked back down.

“No problem.” She moved past him, her pulse quickening.

Shoot.
Nice job trying to stay inconspicuous
. She’d run right into the reporter Marco had warned her about.

“Brandy?”

She froze. Oh no, he’d recognized her. Wait, no. That had definitely been a woman’s voice calling her name. She turned around to find Elena weaving through the crowd toward her.

“Elena?”

“Hey,” Elena came to a stop in front of her and folded her arms across her chest.

“You guys did great tonight,” Brandy raved. Elena’s band had blown her socks off, and the younger woman had some seriously talented pipes.

“Thanks.” Elena tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and cleared her throat. “Do you have a second?”

Brandy looked back at the crowded floor, hesitant to leave Val by herself again.

“If not, don’t sweat it,” Elena went on in a rush. “It’s nothing really. I just…”

The crack in the younger woman’s voice clearly indicated that it was indeed something.

Brandy gave a quick nod and softened her expression. “Sure. Come into the back with me.” The kitchen had closed two hours ago and so she knew it would be a pretty private place to talk.

She tucked the drink tray against her side and turned back toward the kitchen. Pushing through the doors, she set the tray down on the counter and waited for Elena to follow her inside.

The moment the door swung shut behind Elena, the girl’s face crumpled and she let out a ragged sob.
Holy crap!
For a moment Brandy was too stunned to move, seeing the strong and tough young woman she’d just met turn into a vulnerable sobbing mess right before her eyes.

“Come here, honey.” She opened her arms to Elena and pulled the girl into a hug. “What’s wrong?”

“Everything. You know how I…” She sniffled between sobs. “how I said Bill was a big flirt?”

“Yes?” Please don’t let this being going where she thought it was going.

“Well…” Elena gasped in a breath and her eyes squeezed tighter closed.

“Go on.” Brandy saw movement out of the corner of her eye and lifted her head. Or maybe they weren’t alone.

Marco stood in the doorway to the office, watching them. He lifted an eyebrow in question.

Brandy shook her head, hoping he’d go back into the office and give them a moment. He didn’t, just continued to watch from across the room.

Elena drew in a ragged breath. “Like I said, Bill is a big flirt. And today I went shopping, and when I came back to the room…”

“When you came back to the room…” she prodded, though she knew pretty much without a doubt what the other girl would say.

Elena groaned and then said on a rush, “Bill was in bed with another woman.”

Bingo.

“Oh, Elena…” Brandy rubbed her hand up and down Elena’s back and tried to comfort her. “I’m so sorry.”

And she could completely understand what it felt like. She’d just gone through the same thing with Gordon. Only she hadn’t been nearly as devastated as Elena appeared to be.

Elena began to sob twice as hard. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be t-this upset.”

“Of course you should
.” Why wasn’t I this upset with the man I was supposed to marry?
“You have every right to be—”

“It’s just that I really thought he loved me.” She choked in a gasp. “I waited twenty-one years to give up my virginity, and for what? A bad kisser with a little dick?”

A door slammed.