Risk It All (Risqué #2) (26 page)

‘You know that this makes sense,’ Mattie said, coming closer. ‘I can make this go away, isn’t that tempting?’

‘Yeah,’ Blaser said, taking his hands onto his lap. ‘It’s damn tempting, but I’m not sure I want to pay the price.’

‘I’m not threatening you with jail time and that’s the only other offer that you have on the table.’

‘I don’t know that, not yet. I have to exhaust my other options before I just decide to give up on everything I’ve built. If I go into business with you then there’s the chance I could lose everything, I could lose the club and the garage, I could lose my girl—‘

‘Think of what you could gain,’ Mattie said, crouching beside him. ‘You’d never have to worry about money. You could spend time with your girl instead of working every hour of the day. This is a great offer and it will solve all of your problems. On my crew you’ll be protected, I’m offering you family within the family. You’ve always been made for the big leagues.’

Mattie was good at the sales pitch, Blaser had to give him that. Mattie didn’t blink, his confidence was unwavering. ‘It sounds like a great offer—‘

‘What’s going on?’

Both he and Mattie turned around to see Bri standing just inside his apartment, the door handle still in her grasp.

‘Thank fuck you’re back,’ Blaser said. Leaving the couch, he rounded Mattie to get to her. ‘Where have you been?’

‘What is going on here?’ she asked with a frown etched into her features. ‘What are you two talking about at this time of night?’

Though it was actually closer to morning than it was to the night now. ‘Mattie heard about the search. He came to offer his help,’ Blaser said.

‘I won’t disturb you guys anymore,’ Mattie said, moving to the door where he locked eyes with Blaser. ‘Think about my offer.’

Blaser wasn’t going to say any more about it now. Mattie nodded at Bri then slipped out, but Bri didn’t close the door so Blaser took it from her hand and did it for her.

‘Thank god you’re here,’ he said and took her face, but she spoke before he could kiss her.

‘What’s his offer?’

‘Can we talk about it in the morning? I’m beat,’ Blaser said.

‘No, I want to know what you were talking about. What is Mattie offering you?’

‘What does it matter?’ he asked. ‘Mattie came over to talk, he said what he had to and then he left, nothing has changed.’

‘Maybe it has,’ she said. ‘I want to know what you’re getting involved in.’

‘I’m not involved in anything.’ The scowl hadn’t left her face and so releasing a breath he confessed all, determined to remain honest. ‘He wants to use Risqué again, on a regular basis, to hold more fight nights.’

‘He what?’ she said, grabbing his wrists to pull his hands from her face. ‘And you agreed with that?’

‘I didn’t agree to anything. He put it to me before and now that the cops are going to pin murder on me, Mattie thought he’d try it again.’

‘The cops?’

‘Mattie said that Gary did it,’ he said, hooking his fingers through hers. ‘I’m sorry, babe, but Marshall has been feeding Mattie information. He says they’re going on the run tomorrow.’

‘They’re not,’ she said.

‘That’s not what Mattie says, and once Gary is gone, the cops will pin Rafe’s murder on me. They have witnesses and the murder weapon, I have a criminal record so I’m not the most credible person to begin with. They’re never going to listen—‘

‘Blaser,’ she said, taking his other hand so both of them were joined, she brought her body to his. ‘I need you to promise me that you will never do anything illegal again. I need to know, one hundred percent, that all of that is behind you. I don’t care how you try to rationalise it, I want you to know that I have a zero tolerance policy. If I find out that you’ve so much as used your cell phone while driving, I’ll leave you.’

She seemed so sure, her expression was so clear and her wide eyes were determined. How she managed it while he was so messed up, he couldn’t decipher. ‘Why would you want to—‘

‘Blase, please, promise me that you won’t join Mattie.’

‘If it’s going to keep me out of jail then I have to consider it. He has the money to get great lawyers and enough pull with the cops that—‘

‘No!’ Thrusting his hands away out of hers, she marched past him toward the hallway then whipped around. The determination tinged with anger and that intensity of emotion made her lift her finger to point as she chastised him. ‘I had to make a choice and it’s a choice I should’ve made fifteen years ago, but tonight, I made that choice. For the first time ever I am taking control. I’m taking control of my life and of yours… and of Gary’s too.’

‘What are you—‘

‘You and Gary just messed everything up when you tried to be in control, so I’m taking over the reins now. The first part of that is done and there’s nothing I can do to retract it now. I will not let you mess up my life and our future. I want us to be together, I want to get married and I want to bear your children, but I have to take care of me and mine as well.’

‘Oh, yeah? Mattie told me that you were running off with your brother. Is that what this is about? You’re giving up on us to run away with Gary?’

‘You would really begrudge me that?’ she asked. ‘Think about your own brothers and what you would do for them.’

‘Neither of them has killed anyone!’

‘Don’t be too sure about that,’ she mumbled.

His instinct was to argue his brothers’ innocence, but he couldn’t do that. Ruger was supposed to be on his way here and a part of Blaser still wanted to think that this was some big misunderstanding. Except what Bri had gone through was no delusion, she’d felt every second of the torture while being held captive by the monsters who wanted to sell her. Just thinking about that truth diverted his attention from this fiasco onto Bri’s past and if she needed to get away from here, away from what she’d been through then he should accept that… except he couldn’t give her up.

‘Gary didn’t have to do what he did.’

‘And Ruger did?’ she asked. ‘I know that what happened to me wasn’t his fault, but let’s not pretend that we live in a black and white world. Gary thought he was doing something right, he was trying to protect me.’

‘And coming over here, waving the gun at me, what was that? I’m going to go down for this, Bri. I’m going back to that goddamn place and all because… because…’

‘Because what? Because my brother left his gun here?’

‘No, because I’m keeping my mouth shut to protect him, again! I shouldn’t have ceased up when the cops found that gun here, I should’ve told them exactly who it belonged to and how it ended up here. I should’ve told them about Gary shooting me the first time! I should’ve made Colt take me to the emergency room instead of making him risk his relationship by asking Lyssa to patch me up! But I didn’t do that! I kept my mouth shut to protect Gary and not because he’s some great hero or friend, but because I love you!’

‘You don’t sound happy about that.’

‘I’m happy that I love you. I’m happy that I have you back, but… I’m not happy that I’m going to lose you again. When we broke up, when I asked you to come to visiting, I saw how you tried not to cry, I was so tired of making you cry, I really hated myself. I promised I would never do it again.’

She began to walk toward him. ‘Then promise me now, that you will never break the law again.’

‘If I go to prison—‘

‘You’re not going to prison,’ she said. ‘You have to trust me. Don’t make a deal with Mattie, don’t risk everything because you think it’s the only way to insulate me.’

‘If going to prison is what it takes to—‘

‘You’re not going to prison,’ she insisted, her body wilted and she stopped. ‘Please, Love, promise me.’

‘You can’t be sure that—‘

‘I can.’

‘No, you can’t,’ he said. ‘How could you possibly—‘

‘Because I made a deal with Hoburn,’ she said and immediately sealed her lips. The flare of her nostrils and the wobble of her chin betrayed to him the conflict of guilt she held now. Just like before, with Mattie, he almost couldn’t process what she’d said.

‘You made a deal with the cops? When?’

Creeping toward him, she slumped against him and he happily held her in his arms. ‘I went to see Gary and you’re right, he did do it. He told me that he wanted me to go away with him and I agreed. Then I left and went to the police station. I told Hoburn what I knew about it all and about the gun, then I told him about Gary’s escape plan.’

‘They’ll arrest him.’

‘Yes.’

‘He’ll go to jail.’

‘Yes,’ she whispered, pressing her face to his chest. ‘He’s using drugs. If he runs, he’ll never be able to come back.’

‘You could’ve gone with him.’

‘I don’t want that life, you know that,’ she said, tipping her head back. ‘I want you. I want us to be together without any drama. I want the normal, boring life you promised me, and I want it with you. I can’t watch you doing more time and losing everything because of something my brother did. Gary has to face up to his actions.’

‘He’ll be pissed when he finds out you set him up.’

‘He’ll be in prison,’ she said. ‘I hope that he takes the time to get clean in there, but… at least he’ll be safe and won’t be on the run. It will take a long time, but I hope he’ll accept that I was trying to help him.’

Holding her, he was awed by what she had done. Choosing him over Gary was something she’d always claimed that she wouldn’t be able to do, but now, push had come to shove and she’d done it; she’d chosen him. Tightening his embrace, he closed his eyes. She had told the truth, Gary may never forgive her, but she did what was right, thus saving Blaser in the process.

‘I should go upstairs to bed,’ she said. ‘It’s been a long night for both of us and you’ll be up early in the morning, so—‘

‘Stay the night with me,’ he said. She eased out of his arms and he didn’t take that as a promising indication of her response.

‘I handed my only brother to the cops tonight,’ she said. ‘You had them tearing your apartment to pieces trying to find evidence that you murdered a man.’

Seizing her hand, he pressed it to his chest. ‘I spent all night thinking that this could be the last night that we had together, don’t ask me to give it up.’

‘I truly believe that making Gary face what he’s done is the right thing. I think that getting him away from his friends and the easy to find street drugs will be what’s best for him. He spent years making decisions based on what he thought was best for me, now I’m returning the favour… But a selfish part of me was at work too, I want a future with you and I knew you were innocent, I wasn’t going to watch you…’

‘You did the right thing, I support you,’ he said. ‘I’m grateful.’

Leaning down he joined their mouths, but she withdrew. ‘Was I selfish?’

‘Rafe was a crook and a sleaze, but he didn’t deserve to die. Gary got out of jail, got high and went on a rampage, how would you live with yourself if he did that again? You did the right thing.’

Her shoulders slackened and her lips raised in a tired, appreciative smile. ‘Thank you.’

When she came back into his arms, he held her for a moment then began to move toward the bedroom, but she pulled away again. ‘Are you staying?’

‘No,’ she said. ‘I’m tired and…’

With a finger, he pressured her chin upward. ‘You never have to give me a reason. From now on I take your orders and make no decisions for myself.’

Exhaling a laugh, she kissed him. ‘Just run things by me before you do anything drastic,’ she said. ‘We’ll make decisions together.’

‘Ok,’ he said. ‘I can live with that. Now let me walk you upstairs to your apartment. We both need some rest.’

‘We could go out for dinner, tomorrow night. After that we could come back here,’ she said, hope and exhaustion warred in her gaze. ‘Unless you have to be at Risqué?’

‘The club can wait a day,’ he said, sliding an arm around her and directing her to the door. ‘Let’s get you tucked up in bed.’

Bri had barely slept, tossing and turning, she dreaded the new day coming. Talking to Hoburn had seemed like the right thing to do at the time. But during the night while staring at the ceiling she thought through a dozen different scenarios. One thing that kept her going was the knowledge that Blaser wouldn’t pay for Gary’s crime.

Her apartment was spotless and she’d been ready for almost an hour when there was a knock on her door. Hurrying over, she opened the door and beckoned in Hoburn and the two men with him. Taking the time to scan the parking lot, she then closed the door.

Leaning back on the door, she watched Hoburn’s cohorts move around her apartment checking surfaces and vents.

‘Did you have to come as a trio?’ she asked. ‘I don’t need three cops coming to my door in daylight.’

‘I’d have been coming to talk to you today either way,’ Hoburn said, sitting on the couch while pointing at the armchair opposite, but she had no interest in sitting down to have a cosy chat with him. ‘Relax, Miss Wilcox, you’ve done the right thing and I am not going to jeopardise what we’ve started. I am on your side.’

‘Don’t,’ she said, moving to the seat he’d pointed at. ‘Please don’t start that police talk, that “we’re all in this together” bullshit. You have to set up your equipment? Fine, do it, then get the hell out of here… I told you that I wasn’t comfortable with this. I don’t like plotting against him. He’s my brother!’

‘I believe what you’ve told me,’ Hoburn said. ‘So does the judge that gave us the arrest warrant this morning, but we need that confession to guarantee a prosecution.’

‘I came to you because I believe my brother has started down a dark path and I don’t want him to hurt anyone else. And I don’t want Blaser to be punished for something he didn’t do either.’

‘He won’t be,’ Hoburn said. ‘I’m going to look out for you today. My guys are putting the listening devices in and we’ll park just around the corner. We can be inside this apartment within four minutes, so if you feel threatened and need help—‘

‘This is my brother, Gary would never hurt me.’

‘A few days ago you would have promised me that Gary would never kill,’ Hoburn said.

‘A few days ago he was in jail and I don’t care how messed up he is, he loves me and would never hurt me. If he wanted that he could’ve done it last night while I was at his place and he didn’t.’

‘Because he believes that you’re going with him.’

‘And he’ll keep believing that. I’ve packed a bag, so as far as he knows, I’m ready to leave.’

Talking about betraying her only family was nauseating. It was bad enough that it was her plan to set her brother up, she despised this conniving.

‘How long until he gets here?’ Hoburn asked, glancing at his watch.

‘About an hour.’

‘Good, that gives us the chance to get everything ready.’

Hoburn rose and the tech guys went to the door with their kit, indicating that they were done. Bri followed him to the exit.

‘I never thought I’d be in this position, doing something like this.’

‘Look at Blaser, bet he never thought he’d be the respectable business owner that he is now. Things change and eventually we all have to grow up.’

‘Thanks,’ she said. Hoburn might be trying to make her feel better, but she still struggled to contain her stomach acid.

‘In a few hours this will all be done.’

‘And Gary will be back in jail.’

‘Where he’ll have a chance to get clean and won’t be able to hurt anyone else.’

That kind of optimism kept her moving forward, kept her believing that this was right. Gary would thank her for this one day, she just had to keep believing that.

His alarm hadn’t gone off, so the first Blaser knew of the new day was the pounding on his door. Exhaling his exhaustion, he groaned and coughed as he sat up to stretch.

‘Blase!’

His twin’s voice rattled his skull and his hand went to the vacant side of his bed, Bri wasn’t there, he hadn’t woken up beside her for years, yet his subconscious still sought her out. He was ready to get on with their future together, he just had to pace himself, to not be overeager, because Bri still had issues. The only thing he could be sure of was that he’d be right by her side to work through them all.

Stretching again, he turned to plant his feet on the floor and with another yawn he fumbled for the clock on his bedside. Keys rattled in his front door, prompting him to forget about checking the time. He got to his feet to head for the sound.

He got to the living room to witness Colt closing his front door, to his left was another man, his six foot five little brother. Just the sight of Ruger was enough to shake all remnants of sleep from Blaser. Storming past the couch, he grabbed his brother’s shirt and thrust him against the wall, nudging the TV in the process and sending it wobbling, not that he cared about that now.

Ruger’s open hands came up in surrender and Colt was on Blaser’s back, pulling on his shoulders.

‘No, Blase, come on!’ Colt said.

‘I’m sorry,’ Ruger called out as Colt hauled Blaser away.

‘I told him everything we know,’ Colt said, putting himself in front of Blaser.

‘I’m sorry,’ Ruger said again. The usually smiling, joking man was solemn now. He was actually pale and contrite.

‘It’s true?’ Blaser asked. Any doubt he had was gone now, not that he’d ever doubted Bri, but he didn’t think it was beyond those who held her captive to lie, adding psychological torture to the physical ordeal she went through.

‘I told him everything you told me and what Lyssa filled me in on. I know that you’re pissed, but like I fucking told you, you’re going to hear him out just like I heard you. If after that you still want to kick the shit out of him you can go ahead.’

Blaser pinned Ruger under his glare and had difficulty accepting what Colt was saying. Somehow the anger and hate he wanted to focus on Bri’s attacker rippled through him. Despite only being in a pair of boxer shorts, he was ready to fight like those men in the ring he’d witnessed on fight night.

Respect for Colt made him back away until he sat on the couch. ‘You want to talk? Then talk,’ Blaser said. ‘You explain to me how the woman I love was stolen from the street because of shit you were mixed up in.’

‘I don’t know,’ Ruger said, sinking into the chair near the front window. He leaned forward, and with an elbow on his knee Ruger rasped his fingers over his stubble.

‘Not good enough,’ Blaser snapped.

Colt held up a hand. ‘Give him a minute.’

‘I know Victor and I know the fucks who he was working with,’ Ruger said, wrapping his fingers around the opposite knuckles. ‘What Bri said about me… about what I do…’

‘All these years you let me believe that I was the fuck up. Colt would lecture and—‘

‘I should’ve done more to stick up for you, I’m sorry, but… it’s been irrelevant since you got out of the joint. You’ve done good and… I thought that if you found out I was mixed up in illegal business that it might give you the excuse to get mixed up in crime again yourself,’ Ruger said. ‘I didn’t want that to happen.’

‘You were protecting me?’ Blaser said, unable to feel gratitude. ‘You think that ‘cause you fucked up that I might want to fuck up too?’

‘I’m sorry. I was worried when I heard you were kicking around with Bri again, but I did tell Colt to keep his nose out of your business… I had no idea about… that anything unseemly had happened to her in Jersey.’

‘We were meeting up to go out on a date,’ Blaser explained. ‘I didn’t tell any of you guys that we were getting together, I knew you’d judge me and I wanted to be sure that… that Bri and I were going to be together for real… You guys weren’t a big part of my life before prison because you didn’t agree with my lifestyle… Least that’s what I thought,’ Blaser threw his words at Ruger.

‘I know and I’m sorry. The jobs started out small, I started in college. I realised I could make a fortune, I worked with my roommate back then, he got me into it, now I work alone. After college it sorta snowballed, people called me when they wanted things or had things that they wanted rid of. I kept it away from here, from family, because I didn’t want anyone hurt.’

‘Too late,’ Blaser said. Though he blinked as little as possible and kept focus on Ruger. Ruger scrutinised Colt, who wouldn’t look at their youngest brother.

‘I’m sorry,’ Ruger said. ‘I promise you, I’ll find out what happened.’

‘What happened is my girlfriend came out onto the street to call me when I was late to the restaurant and your pals grabbed her and held her hostage for a week, during which time some dirty ass motherfucker knocked her out and raped her!’

‘Why were you late?’ Colt asked. ‘You didn’t tell me why you were late to the restaurant.’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ Blaser said. ‘It’s stupid, I…’ Just to move things along he thought it best to confess. ‘I was at the florist picking up a dumb corsage thing I got her, it was the same as the one I got her for prom… The guy fucked up the order and I had to wait around while he fixed it.’

‘What did you do when you got to the restaurant and she was gone?’ Ruger asked.

‘Waited. She left her coat so I figured she’d be back, when she wasn’t I tried to call her. I thought she was just angry and had forgotten her coat by accident… I called her and called her for two days straight. When I called the cops, they pretty much said that she was a grown-up who was allowed to duck my calls and disappear if she wanted to. I really just thought she was angry, so I kept calling. Two weeks later she answered and told me to go to hell… about a month later I got an email… she told me what had happened.’

‘When I found out what Victor and his benefactor were doing I left,’ Ruger said. ‘I told them they were sick fucks and there was no chance of me working with them. I split.’

‘Which I suppose is when they hatched the plan to take Bri,’ Colt said.

‘Yeah,’ Ruger agreed. ‘I didn’t hear about it again until a guy I met on that job got in touch about something else. I tried to tell him where to get off and that’s when I found out Victor and his crew were dead, that was… months later.’

‘Rushe?’ Colt asked and Ruger nodded.

Blaser was deflated. He couldn’t be angry because Ruger had done the right thing, as Bri had said. His younger brother hadn’t intended for Bri to be sucked into the sick bastard’s game.

‘How is she?’ Ruger asked, glancing in the direction of Blaser’s bedroom.

‘She slept upstairs, she’s still working through things.’

‘Oh, Colt said that you were—‘

‘We are and we’re together, but something else happened last night and—‘

‘The cops tore your place apart,’ Ruger said. ‘That’s a battle that—‘

‘Bri took care of it,’ Blaser said and both of his brothers wore taken aback frowns. ‘It doesn’t matter, it’s done. What I give a shit about is how our holy saint little brother is actually a criminal deviant.’

‘It’s not like that,’ Ruger said. ‘I don’t steal and I don’t hurt anyone, I’m just the fence, the middleman. I’m a guy who knows how to get stuff.’

‘What kind of stuff?’ Blaser asked. ‘People? Weapons?’

‘I’ve hooked people up with guns before,’ Ruger said. ‘It’s something we were all raised to know well. Mostly it’s tech, security or surveillance stuff, how do you think I know a guy like Pinch so well? Sometimes it’s boring stuff like furniture, premises, antiques, or vehicles.’

‘What did Victor want?’

‘At first it was men, thugs for hire, you know? He needed vehicles and an indoor water pool… then he needed cuffs and other restraints so I started to ask questions… When I got the answers, I bailed, I thought that was it.’

Everyone who had harmed Bri was dead so he couldn’t get his hands on them. But one person remained alive who Blaser needed to talk to. ‘The cop who got her out, do you know him?’

‘Jansen,’ Ruger nodded. ‘Knew him on the job. But Rushe filled me in after about his real identity. He was an undercover cop. When Victor found out who Jansen was, he took Jansen’s girl, forced him to lie to his colleagues, it really fucked him up.’

‘I know how he feels,’ Blaser said.

‘How could you have lied to us about this, Ruge?’ Colt asked. ‘I thought you had a sales gig, I knew you got hard to find items, but I had no idea it was crooked.’

‘I’ve never been involved in anything as shady as Victor’s deal, I try to work on the side of the good guys, like Rushe.’

Rushe didn’t look like he was on the good side of anyone at first glance. But he’d proved himself to the Warners by how he had saved Lyssa from her stalker.

‘It’s still illegal,’ Colt said.

‘Yeah, and I knew you’d give me shit for that. I’m sorry, really, ok? Blase was getting himself straightened out, it didn’t seem relevant after that.’

‘And me going to prison didn’t scare you into straightening out?’ Blaser asked.

‘I don’t actually do anything illegal myself, it’s the people who I acquire from and sell to that are breaking the law.’

‘Dealing in stolen or illegal merchandise is against the law, genius,’ Colt said.