The Deal Dilemma

Much to my surprise, we never left the apartment after returning in search of Memphis. I thought Crew would be far too paranoid to be here considering, but he insisted, and I think it’s because he knew I needed the comfort of my own space to try and deal with all the things happening around us. The problem is… I have no idea what is actually happening around us.

Everyone remained silent, nothing but long sideways stares and pacing. Two days of it.

How Drew, who hasn’t left the apartment for a single minute since arriving—likely why Crew is comfortable staying here—hasn’t worn out the soles of his shoes, I don’t know.

He seems the most on edge, and I wonder if it’s because he came back into his brother’s life amid his last struggle, and now worries how Crew will get through a second one.

Or maybe he thinks someone’s going to bust through the door at any second and he doesn’t want to be caught off guard.

The moment I think it, there’s a knock on the other side, and Drew’s head jolts up, brows furrowing as he charges to it without thought. He’s kind of scary when he’s mad, a side of him I’ve never quite noticed before, as if his silly and playful side is nothing but a mirror meant to bounce back on you, hiding the darkness beneath it. The pain.

He’s struggling to keep it together, and I don’t know how to console him.

“It’s all right, Drew.” Crew appears from the bedroom, having stepped inside to change out of his sweats.

Drew’s expression is tense as he waits for his brother to pass him and becomes the shadow at his back.

“Thanks for coming,” Crew says, slowly opening the door all the way and stepping back.

Jess stands in the doorway, his expression slightly guarded as he nods. “Yeah, of course.”

He finds me curled up on the new-to-me couch Willie surprised me with yesterday and a small smile pulls at his lips. “Hey.”

“Hey…” I push up, my gaze sliding to Crew in question.

I don’t like this.

Why is Crew taking so long to look at me?

“Jess is here for pizza night,” he says as Drew peeks out the door before locking it behind our visitor.

Panic builds in my chest, my heart pounding as I wait for Crew to tell me he’s leaving, that he has an “errand” to run while pretending Jess isn’t here to distract me from God knows what he’ll be off doing.

But then Jess moves into the kitchen as Crew settles beside me on the couch, then takes the remote and starts searching for something to put on the TV.

My mind eases the slightest bit as I rise to my feet, joining Jess.

I go to turn on the oven, but he shakes his head, a small, slightly forced smile on his lips.

“Figured we earned the good shit this time around, so I ordered about a half hour ago. It’ll be here anytime.”

“Pineapples?”

“What do I look like, an amateur?”

His tease comes easy, and we both laugh a little.

“Thank you for the other night. I know it was a lot to walk into.”

Jess nods, not denying he was out of his element, but adds, “I’m just glad I was home when he called me.”

My brows furrow, and Jess tips his head slightly. “You didn’t know he called?” He cuts a quick glance toward Crew, who is likely pretending he isn’t listening to our conversation.

“I guess I didn’t think about it. How did you get by those guys?”

“The door was unlocked, I just let myself in. One guy shouted something, but stumbled, so I kept walking, and I didn’t see the others until they came out of one of the rooms, but I already had you with me by then. I wasn’t sure which one was your brother so I did my best to ignore them all.”

I nod. “Well, I appreciate it and you not calling the police.”

He eyes me a moment, a forced smile following.

He wants to ask who they were and what they wanted, how I’m involved, but I don’t think he knew my brother was here, so I’m sure he already assumes Crew brought the trouble here. He helped regardless, and he’s here now, so it doesn’t really matter. He’s moving back home anyway, so there’s no reason to go into too much detail.

The doorbell rings and Jess claps his hands, happy to end the awkward conversation and busy our mouths with food.

Crew’s phone rings and I look at him as he picks it up, Drew heading for the door, but before he can open it, Crew’s head snaps that way. Drew freezes instantly.

Crew looks to me, concern in his gaze. “Lock yourself in your room.”

When I don’t move, he barks, “Now, Davis.”

“Pizza’s here!” Someone chuckles from outside. “Hurry up before it gets cold!”

My muscles lock, and Crew’s glare doubles.

He charges me, grips my face firmly, his voice stiff and harsh, his eyes soft and begging. “Go. Now. And do not come out. DO you understand me?”

Tears prick my eyes, and I nod, heading for my room.

“Go with her.”

I don’t look to see who he’s talking about, but I know it’s not Drew, because the person actually listens.

Jess and I lock ourselves inside my room, tears stinging my eyes.

There’s some shouting followed by a loud thud, and I jolt, dashing for the door, but Jess throws himself in front of it, shaking his head.

“Jess, you don’t understand, I—”

“Maybe not, but I can’t let you go out there. He said stay, that means he thinks you’re safer in here. So stay, Davis.” He frowns, quickly adding, “Please.”

A small growl leaves me, and I drop my head back, trying to keep my tears at bay.

“Fuck you!” Drew’s shout booms from the living room, something crashing to the wall with a hard crash. “Tell your boss my brother is off-limits!”

Another crash, one that rattles the door on its frame.

I meet Jess’s eyes, and his tighten, his hand wrapping around the door, conflicted.

“Touch him again, you’re dead.” Crew’s voice is loud yet somehow low. It makes no sense but hearing him has my lungs expanding. He’s okay.

A third crash, too many shouts to count, and then, “You shut the fuck up! You back the fuck up before I stick this fucking pipe up your ass!”

Willie. Willie’s here.

I nod to myself. This is good.

Maybe.

“Tell this Kaleb, he can suck my fucking dick. We’re not interested in what he has to say.”

My ears perk.

Kaleb…

Dashing to my side of the bed, I dig my pants from beneath it, tearing into the back pocket, where I saved a single card left outside the bar and read the service listed.

Kaleb’s Car Service.

It was him.

My head snaps up, my eye meeting Jess’s, his narrowing as I fish my phone from where I left it on the nightstand.

I dial the number, heart pounding as I bring it to my ear.

“Davis…” Jess studies me. “What are you doing?”

It rings twice before it’s answered.

“Kaleb’s Car Service.” The humor in the man’s voice makes my stomach turn. “What can I do for you… Sweets?”

My gasp is unavoidable, and the chuckle that fills my ear coils my insides, but I steady my quivering jaw, backing away from Jess as he steps closer.

“Is it you?” I try to keep my tone steady. “The bar, my brother, the men—”

“Inside your house? I take it you ruined my not-so-subtle hints?”

“I picked up the cards, yes.”

I swallow, and silence follows for a long moment, my body shaking.

I’m about to check to see if he hung up when his voice reaches me again.

“If you didn’t call to tell me good news, hang up now, princess. Let men handle men things.”

“You’re a bastard.”

“You have no idea. And you don’t have twenty-five racks.”

Looking to the card once more, it’s as if all my tangled thoughts tie together, my promise to stay out of things evaporating with my next breath. My shoulders seem to square, and I meet Jess’s gaze. “No, but I have a Classic worth twice as much.”

Crew

My muscles strain, my ligaments threatening to snap, they’re so tense, so tight.

As pathetic as it might be, I had to consider the bullshit with Memphis had nothing to do with the bullshit happening to me, but now I know for sure it does.

The men who paid off a pizza driver to step up to our door are connected to the ones I beat the shit out of, and the man who fucked up, bringing this shit down on us, is my old best friend.

The piece of shit who bailed without a parting word, his problems, once again, falling right into my lap.

“You’re not fucking going! Fuck that!” Drew gets in my face. “They got a call and left. Must not be that big of a deal if they didn’t come in here with guns and shit, dragging you out.”

I look to Willie, who glares at me.

He’s pissed I didn’t confide in him the second shit started to stir around me—I’d sworn I always would, after he witnessed the shit I went through the first time. But Layla’s pregnant, he’s about to be a dad, and his wife needs him. I didn’t feel right having him out or up all night, stressing about me and my problems, and we haven’t had the time to sit back and talk this shit out yet.

“I don’t have a choice here.”

“Yes, you fucking do, Crew! Yes, you do!” Drew frowns, rushes out the front door and looks around, only to come right back to glare at me some more.

“I have to meet him, see what he has to say.”

“We know what he’s going to say. He wants the money Memphis owes him. You can’t afford that shit!”

“I’m not going to stand here and allow this.”

“You don’t have a say.”

“I won’t let them ruin your life. What are you going to do if they just keep coming? What happens if they show up when Davis is here alone, because eventually, she will be!”

“I won’t let anyone near her!”

“Fuck with these guys and you might not be around to protect her!”

“Then I will die trying!”

“It’s done!”

All eyes snap to the end of the hall, where Davis slowly steps from the room, a stiff, frowning Jess at her back.

My pulse beats out of control, my breaths deep and shallow, but I attempt to calm myself as she approaches.

Wait…

“What’s done?”

She looks to Jess, who drops his eyes to the floor, slipping past her and positioning himself near Drew. Closer to me.

My eyes narrow. “Sweets…”

“I paid them off,” Davis says in a rush.

My muscles lock, everyone’s attention is honed on her.

In what feels like slow motion, I turn so my body is facing hers.

“You… what?”

Davis wrings her hands in front of her, her gaze flicking to Jess, who’s glaring at the floor.

“What the fuck is going on?”

Jess looks to me, clears his throat, and nods toward her, forcing her to say it.

Davis flicks her gaze over the four of us, wetting her lips before speaking. “They left cards at the bar, in the gutter, and I… picked one up. I didn’t really know why or what to do with it, but I heard you say Kaleb and that was the name on the front. I called, and he answered. I… the men from the house came around the back. I passed the keys through the gaps of the privacy walls.”

“Keys, what…” My brows snap together, realization dawning.

No…

She nods.

“Davis.”

“It’s done.”

An angry growl tears from me and pushes toward her. “You went behind my back when you promised not to touch this? Called the people who fucked up our livelihood? Brought the people who hurt you to you?”

“Crew—”

“Everyone out.”

“Crew, man—” Jess begins.

“I said OUT!” I scream, and seconds later, Willie’s shoving them all out the door.

The door echoes with a loud thud as it closes, and then it’s just Davis and me.

“You could have been—”

“I wasn’t.” She’s quick to cut me off, an anxiousness in her tone, but she doesn’t cower away from me.

She knows she has no reason to. I’d never hurt her, but I’ve got this sudden desire to punish her a bit, to consume her, to feel her, overpowering every other thing attempting to fry my brain. As if sensing the charge in the air, Davis’s lips part, her palms planting on her thighs.

We come together in a clash of teeth, hers scratching along the cut of my mouth and making me growl, which she takes full advantage of, thrusting her tongue inside my mouth. I’ve got her dress hiked up and her body against the wall in seconds, my chest slamming into her back as I flick open my jeans. She whimpers, dropping her head back, ass poking my way for attention.

My cock is free and pushing inside her in the next breath.

She cries out, and I pump into her, closing my eyes and getting lost in her tight heat.

I need this.

Her.

Us.

Just for a fucking minute, before the world buries me beneath the dirt, when I just shoveled the final scoop from the last time I was fucked over.

I thrust into her again, her body jutting with mine, her palm slapping onto the wall beside us, rattling the photos on the wall.

She whimpers, seeking my lips, but I tip her head, attacking her neck with my mouth instead, and sucking hard enough to burn.

“God, yes,” she pants.

“This how you imagined it?” I lick up her throat. “Yeah, it is, isn’t it? Your pussy’s clamping over me, baby. This is exactly what I did to you when you thought of being pinned to the wall.”

Her response is a heady moan, one that sizzles down my spine, raising the hairs on the back of my neck.

I pull back, gripping her hips, and she folds her arms in front of her, leaning her head on her clenched fists.

I drive into her with swift motions, tugging her back to meet my every move, and she cries around my cock, walls quivering. She’s about to come, but she’s going to have to wait.

Pushing in again, I hold still when I’m as deep as the position allows, and she gasps from the stretch of her walls.

“Crew, please.”

“No.” I hold still, clenching my ass and smacking hers, all to squeeze it a second later.

She whimpers, and I groan, dipping forward to nip at her jaw. “Don’t ever put yourself in danger like that again, you hear me?”

She nods frantically, pushing into me, but I hold her still.

“Promise?”

“Y-yes.”

Tipping her head to mine, her wild, half-closed eyes find mine.

I slam my mouth to hers, pressing in farther, and she cries between my lips.

“I believe you, Sweets.” My tongue traces her lips. “You can come now.”

I pull back, swiftly bucking forward once more, and she explodes, every part of her trembling until she’s nothing but loose limbs in my arms.

Lowering us onto the couch, I fold her into my arms, closing my eyes, so I can get lost in her a little longer, but as the minutes pass, the sex haze clears, and everything else grows foggier, for both her and me.

“It’s okay now, right?” she whispers hopefully, looking up at me, but that hope doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “I fixed it. Paid him. The truck is worth twice what Memphis owes.”

Tucking her hair behind her ear, I offer a small smile. “It’s too late for that, baby.”

Confusion and unease create creases along her eyes, and I wish I could wipe the worry away. “I don’t understand. Why?”

“These people didn’t come to my bar and destroy it to collect a measly twenty-five K. That’s chump change to them.”

“Then why?”

I stare at her a moment. “He did what he did to make five times that.”

It only takes her a moment to understand, fear, shock, and hurt flicking across her face all at once. “He wants you to fight for him.”

I don’t have to nod, and neither of us has to say what we’re both thinking.

It’s the only fucking answer there is.

This motherfucker saw what I was willing to do for her, what I am capable of, period, and plans to use it to his advantage, but that’s not the worst of it.

It’s the simple fact that the only way the man could possibly know about any of this—her, me, my past—is if someone told him.

Her brother, my foster brother, my best fucking friend, turned enemy, sold me out to save his own ass.

Again.