Chapter 11
Carter
Just when I’ve finally gotten Jonas to calm down a little, and he’s down to manageable, a knock on the door makes my blood start to boil.
I scowl as Jonas starts to splutter about not getting a moment's peace, and stalk to the door.
I yank it open to the bouncer, Kurt, holding a sorry looking loser dressed in a wrinkled suit by the scruff of his neck. “It’s my night off. But I thought Jonas would want this.”
He shoves the man into the room, making me sidestep him as he tumbles onto the carpet.
He’s lean, stubble covering his chin, and under the lighting, I can see the terror in his grey-blue eyes.
Kurt looks far too pleased with himself as he strolls towards Jonas. “Found him trying to sneak back into his apartment.”
Jonas’ lip curls as he rises from the sofa, drink still in hand as he approaches the cowering man. “I remember you. Nate, something.”
Fire rushes through me as I’m faced with the reason both Brooke and I are here.
Is he that stupid he’d risk coming back to an apartment Jonas probably owns? What kind of an idiot was Brooke seeing?
Nate starts to rise, but Jonas shakes his head. “Did I say you could move?”
Brooke’s ex starts to tremble, but he stays on his knees as Jonas laughs and he looks at me. “He fancies himself an entrepreneur. Dumb prick.”
A flickering of anxiety stirs as Nate nods limply. If he’d been here thirty minutes earlier, Brooke would have been here too. And that would be a million times worse for everyone right now.
I flinch inwardly and start praying for the first time in my life she’s already heading back to Rover’s Retreat.
But Nate is smoother than the usual loser Jonas traps into high-interest loans. “I can get you the money. I just need a little more time. I have access to some prime real estate. A nice view of the lake. I could probably get a deal if you like it. Make a nice summer house for you and Eloise.”
Eloise? He knows Jonas well enough to know Eloise too? That makes him a local schmuck. One I’ve not had the pleasure of meeting before.
“Why don’t I recognize you if you’re from around here?” I ask him.
His lips pinch together, and his face loses color. “We’ve met. You just don’t remember hitting me.”
Jonas barks a laugh. But there’s something about Nate that makes me nervous. It’s highly likely we’ve met before. I don’t exactly keep a running tally of all the other losers around here I smacked around as a teenager.
But early warnings are starting to trickle through my veins. Nate is Brooke’s ex. Which means we’re connected in more ways than just sharing the same zip code.
And Jonas loves to think of himself as affluent. A house in the country is something he’s been aspiring to.
Sure enough, Jonas jerks his head at the thug behind me. “Help him up. I want to hear more about this lake house.”
While Jonas retakes his seat, Nate plasters a fake smile on his face and tries but fails miserably for bravado as he dusts off his cheap suit. “My woman just needs a little shove in the right direction. She’ll sell, and you’ll get your money in full.”
Jonas growls like a hungry dog. “With interest, you little shit.”
The man nods, eyes seeking mine as he gulps again. “Brooke will cave. She always does.”
Anger is building, anger that makes me think of how much pleasure I’d take in breaking his perfectly straight nose and bashing in those too white teeth of his.
Kurt folds his arms across his chest and continues to look smug. “I can talk her into selling. Just show me her picture.”
My heart starts to thud against my rib cage. If Kurt goes, there’s no telling what he’ll do to Brooke. The words spill out of my mouth before I can stop them. “No.”
Both Jonas and Kurt stare at me as I fumble to find a reason for my protest.
My answer comes in the questioning look Jonas sends my way. He doubts me. And that’s not something that will help Brooke or me right now. “Enforcing is a skill you can’t learn as a bouncer. We don’t know if she has anyone in the house. We don’t know who her friends are, if she knows cops. I’ll go.”
Jonas raises an eyebrow. “Will you now?”
I crack my knuckles and step closer as I send Jonas a short nod. “I’ll leave right after I find out what Nate’s lying to you about.”
Nate steps to one side, eyes widening as Jonas starts to chuckle. “Glad to see you haven’t lost your touch.”
A dull ache starts to burn in my chest. He thinks he’s won. Maybe he has. But if it comes down to Kurt going back to Rover’s Retreat or me, I’m pretty sure I can live with breaking a few of Nate’s fingers.
Brooke doesn’t even need to know.
I don’t even get near him when he shakes his head, and his bottom lip starts to protrude.
He’s so cowardly I have no doubt he’d give Brooke up in a heartbeat if it saved his own skin.
Nate holds up a hand, warding me off as he pulls out his cell phone and begins an arduous miming sequence.
Jonas hisses a curse in my direction. “What are you waiting for?”
I take a step closer, ready to smack some sense into the yellow-bellied asshole.
Nate’s irritation and fear are almost palpable as he madly taps out something on his phone.
He gestures to it and mouths a word while tugging at his earlobe. Listening.
While panic starts to blaze through my body, he flips the phone around to show a now agitated Jonas.
When Jonas’ eyes bulge out of his head, and a vein starts to pop at his temple, I don’t even need to see what Nate said.
I snatch the phone from Nate’s sweaty hand and flinch at the message.
Eloise is working with a lady cop.
Jonas reacts before I can stop him and tell him to think. Like an impulsive toddler, he’s across the room and storming out of the door, a confused Kurt trailing in his wake.
I know he won’t be thinking about anything else apart from Eloise’s possible betrayal.
I can hear Jonas barking orders at my replacement to find Eloise, and another order for Nate to be brought to his house.
I have three seconds to decide whether to pummel Nate for something I’m not even sure is a bad thing or go after Jonas.
***
Brooke
If I was nervous before inside the double-locked clinic, leaving with Eloise and heading back into Jonas’ territory, is making my anxiety increase incrementally.
Outside, it’s even darker than before. Nightcrawlers seem to be on every corner, drugs are being sold in plain sight as we walk towards the parking garage I left my car in.
Given the revealing clothing Eloise is wearing and the fact we’re hardly a threat, it’s alarming Jonas is so feared that Eloise doesn’t seem perturbed walking alone with me.
Shadows lurk around every corner, but aside from a few leery looks, no one dares say anything to her.
When we reach the graffiti-ridden parking garage, Eloise stops and cocks her head at me. “Well, this has been a blast, but I need to go back and grovel.”
A knot forms in my stomach. “But what if he—”
She glares at me. “Don’t make me regret telling you. You being here has complicated everything already. I only told you so understand why it was so important you leave and don’t come back, ever.”
I chew my lip as we stare at each other in the gloomy light. “The Carter I’ve seen here, he…”
I don’t know how to finish, but Eloise seems to understand when she finishes my sentence. “Is not the man you met in Rover’s Retreat. That’s because Carter is good at pretending. Always has been. But I know him better than anyone around here. I know he’s a sweetheart under the swagger he puts on.”
I swallow, desperate to hear I’m not wrong to think Carter is more than the muscled thug I saw in action. Eloise pauses, and she looks back down the street. “He got in between Jonas and me on multiple counts. I think that’s why he stayed as long as he did. He was trying to protect me.”
She sniffs, and in the glow of the streetlight, I see moisture in her eyes. “His Mom worked for Jonas. She killed herself when he was a kid. He never had a father. Jonas told him that if he acted tough, put the fear of God into people; he’d never be a victim like his Mom was.”
Eloise smiles wryly. “He’s been gone almost a year now. He left because he couldn’t stomach enforcing anymore. Whatever he found with you, it was enough for him to risk coming back to help.”
I slowly release a shuddering breath. “There must be something I can do? What if I called the police?”
Eloise’s lips tug downward. “That’s not how things work around here. The cops don’t come here unless they’re picking up a dead body. It’s not like in your quaint little town where everyone knows each other. The rules you play by don’t apply here.”
My stomach backflips as she sighs. “Carter isn’t stupid. He’s been careful in the way he works. He started out a thug but wised up quick. He must have had a plan for dealing with Jonas. If I can talk to him tonight, I’ll let him know what’s going on.”
I flinch as her hand goes to the cheek Jonas struck. “Why did you stay?”
She looks pointedly at me. “Why’d you stay with your loser ex?”
A wry smile tugs at my lips. “Fair enough.”
She chuckles lightly. “You gotta remember I came from shit. Jonas gave me things I never dreamed of. And it was bearable when Carter was here.”
A tiny and misplaced spark of jealousy flares to life, Eloise knows Carter so well. “Are you and Carter? I mean, have you?”
Eloise gapes at me then starts to chuckle. “Oh shit no. Even if Jonas wasn’t crazy jealous, Carter’s never looked at me that way. Honestly, I seriously thought he was gay for a while there.”
I tilt my head at her, heat rushing to my face as I try to digest what she’s saying. “But he must have had relationships before?”
She chuckles again. “Well, he’s had, you know, a few flings. But nothing serious. Kind of hard to make a lasting connection with someone when Jonas is in your ear telling you all women are either bitches, whores, or liars.”
I swallow hard as she fluffs her hair and adjusts her top. “So, as much as I’d like to carry on this, I have to go smooth things over, or I’ll have no chance of letting Carter know what’s happening.”
I open my mouth to protest and say I want to help, but she silences me with a head shake. “I love that you want to help, you’re obviously a decent human being, and God knows I don’t see too many of them around here, but you’ll make things worse not better if you try to see him again.”
With a sigh, I open my purse, digging around for my keys. “It’s my fault he could be in trouble with the police, I have to do something,” I mumble.
Eloise is silent. I’m ready with a new protest when all the air seizes in my lungs.
A bulky figure is creeping closer to us. Given the wide berth we’ve gotten so far, that someone is so casually approaching can’t be a good sign.
Eloise goes rigid, her eyes find mine and in that split second I know I’m looking at a desperate woman with everything to lose.
I freeze as a muscled man wearing a smug smile stops beside us. “Going somewhere, Eloise?”
I have no idea if she’ll give me up in order to try to deflect attention and make it easier on herself, but she looks beyond terrified.
To confirm my thoughts, Eloise’s voice carries a wobble. “Hi, Kurt. I was just saying goodbye to Jenny.”
He eyes her. “Jonas is waiting for you at his place.”
My heart jumps to my throat as he jabs a finger in my direction. “You too.”
I have no time to think when the man grabs Eloise by the arm and starts dragging her away.
She curses at him and shakes him off. “You do not have permission to touch me.”
He smirks as he grabs Eloise again. “Yeah. I do. From Jonas himself.”
To emphasize how powerless she is, he grabs her hair and starts tugging her backward.
She screams, hands flying to her head as her face contorts in pain. I leap at him, unthinking and kick him hard in the kneecap as I try to wrench his arms away from her.
He mutters a curse and releases Eloise then he grabs my arm instead.
“You are dead, you stupid pig bitch,” he hisses at me. Eloise screams as he punches me in the stomach.
Pain tears through my body as I buckle in his grip. Eloise starts to sob for him to leave me alone, but he’s furious.
My knees slam onto the ground as he hits my cheek so hard my teeth rattle in my mouth. I taste blood and bile as black starts to edge in my vision.
I’m gasping for air; sure I’m going to faint when I hear harsh voices come from around me. I squint upward, but my eyes are too blurry to make out who’s joined us.
Scuffing sounds come from around me. Eloise’s pleading voice. Then my own whimper as rough hands grab me and haul me to my feet.
Blood and tears impede my vision; pain is shooting through me as I try to stand. When my legs won’t support me, I’m grabbed and thrown over someone’s shoulder to be carried away.
All the blood rushes to my head. I swipe my eyes so I can see what’s happening, but my hair prevents me from seeing beyond the sidewalk below me.
My plan to fight drains away as I hear Eloise sobbing and then the sound of someone slapping her.
I can hear my ears ringing, drowning out the voices, city sounds, and frenetic thrashing of my heart.
I groan as my head starts to spin, and my mouth starts to water. My voice comes out a pathetic croak. “I’m going to throw up.”
A chuckle comes from behind me, cruel and mocking, but the man hauling me like a sack of potatoes doesn’t even break stride.
My injured stomach starts to rebel. And despite my desire to not aggravate my attacker any further, I’m close to vomiting down his back.
“Please,” I choke out.
Eloise’s voice sounds like she’s underwater. “Let her walk into Jonas’ place. At least give her that.”
My attacker grunts a reply that is almost indecipherable. His arm squeezes tighter around my legs as if he’s issuing a warning not to fight.
When all I can hear is my frantic heart rate, my attackers ragged breathing and the distant sound of car horns and sirens; I start to struggle in a vain effort to get loose of the man who slugged me, the man who called me a bitch and said I was dead.
***
Carter
Adrenaline is surging through my body as I jostle Brooke on my shoulder. Kurt is up ahead, dragging Eloise towards Jonas’ apartment.
There’s no way I’m going inside with Brooke. She’s already bleeding because she’s gotten mixed up this. I’m not taking her to Jonas’ house too.
In the middle of Jonas’ ongoing rant about what a lying whore he thinks Eloise is, he’s got it into his thick skull Brooke is the policewoman Nate gave up.
Nate, who is also now waiting inside Jonas’ apartment.
It doesn’t matter what I say or do now. Brooke will be screwed if I can’t find a way to get her the hell out of here before Jonas connects the dots.
I don’t know why she was still here. All I know is that Kurt is going to pay dearly for hitting her.
It’s taking all my control not to put Brooke down, tell Eloise to run and to pulverize him.
We’re two steps away from the entrance to Jonas’ apartment when I make my move. I lighten my voice as I come alongside Kurt. “Tell Jonas I’ve been delayed.”
I smack Brooke’s ass hard enough for her to yelp. Kurt looks uncertain as he hovers by the doorway.
But I need to buy some time, so I send a look in Eloise’s direction and pray she understands what I’m trying to lay the groundwork for. “Why’d you have to tell this crazy bitch I was coming back? I was trying to shake her loose.”
Eloise, as scared as she is, is quick and understands my hidden meaning and once again comes to my aid. “Leave her alone, you bastard,” she spits at me.
Kurt cocks his head at me, but a cruel smile is playing at his lips. “You know her?”
Brooke starts to wriggle, fists pounding my back as I snarl in Eloise’s direction just as Kurt depresses the buzzer. “She’s not worth the grief but tell Jonas I’ll be up after I finish with her,” I growl.
Eloise looks suitably disgusted and Brooke’s fight seems to return as she starts to buck and kick.
With a final glare, I push past Kurt and enter the hallway. It takes all my energy to see her inside my old bedroom.
I kick the door shut, hit the light switch with my shoulder all while Brooke does her best to hurt me. She’s winded and panting when I flip her over on my bed.
She lands with a slight bounce, looking wild as she scrambles away from me. I wince at the mess she’s in. Her eyes are red, cheek split, and blood is trickling down her face.
I back away and twist the lock dragging a chair in front of it just in case Kurt gets any stupid ideas of invading my privacy.
She squints at me, body rigid as she sits sprawled on my king size bed. “Carter?” she croaks.
I run a hand over my face and try to explain as she stares at the room. I try to see it as she does. Everything inside this room is luxurious. From the fifty-inch TV on the wall to the silk sheets on the bed. Jonas made sure his enforcer had the best of everything.
Brooke’s eyes are flittering everywhere, but she’s not looking at me and right now, I’m not sure I blame her.
When she seems to have taken in her surroundings, she slowly eases off the bed towards me.
Instead of tears, she looks furious. “I can honestly say this is the worst day of my life. And considering I was near jilted at the damn alter, that’s saying something!”
I have nothing to say that can possibly undo the hell she’s been through since arriving here, so I pull her into my arms, expecting her to reject me.
But her body relaxes against mine as I hold her tight. “I’m sorry. This is what I was trying to stop you from seeing.”
Her voice is muffled against my chest. “Eloise told me there’s an undercover thing going on. You could get in trouble.”
I’m so stunned that she’s not only aware of what’s happening but that she’s actually worried about me that a laugh slips out.
She jerks back, eyes wide, and looking furious as she swipes at my chest. “You are laughing? There is nothing funny about this. Eloise is…”
Her eyes well, and she starts to shake. “We have to get her out of here.”
Any humor I felt that Brooke wants to protect me vanishes as I realize that by bringing Brooke down here, I’ve left Eloise all alone upstairs.
I lift her chin and examine the damage Kurt has done to her face. Damage I intend to pay back tenfold.
I take her hand and pull her towards the bathroom. “Come with me.”
Her grip is weak, but she lets me lead her so I can treat her cut.
Brooke’s eyes widen a little as she takes a seat on the edge of the enormous tub. It’s hard not to think about her in her own bath, the night I made her come a half dozen times.
I can feel her eyes on me as I open the cabinet and pull out a first aid kit. I’m ready for her question even before she asks it. “This is where you lived?”
I shrug as I balance on the edge of the tub alongside her. “Yeah. After my mom died anyway.”
I can almost see her mind ticking over, so I pre-empt her. “Jonas liked to keep me close by in case of trouble.”
I don’t add that the trouble was mostly containing Jonas’ own temper tantrums.
She blows out a soft sigh. “Why didn’t you just tell me the truth?”
I can’t look at her when I answer, so I pull out the antiseptic and the cotton swaps. “Because that wouldn’t have helped you in the long run. Jonas would have sent an enforcer to you. Maybe two. If I’d been there, I could have handled one, but then he’d have known where I was, and that I care about you. He’d take that as me choosing you over him.”
She goes still, her eyes filling as she swallows. “Why does he hate women so much?
I blow out a breath. “No idea. I just know that he wouldn’t have stopped until he recouped his loan. There was too much money at stake for him to even consider walking away.”
I take her chin in my hand, and gesture to the cut on her face. “This will sting.”
She holds still as I cleanse her cut, not speaking just watching me intently. “You’ve done this before.”
I nod as I finish by putting a thin strip of Band-Aid on her split skin. “I used to box.”
Her eyebrows rise. “Professionally?”
I shake my head and start to shove everything back into the kit. “I was an amateur. A brawler really. I learned mainly out of need. Not because I wanted to.”
I move to get up, but her fingers find mine. Her hand is delicate, and her skin is soft and fits snug inside my battered fingers.
My heart starts to thump too rapidly in my chest as she stares down at them. “What happens now?”
I release a sigh and press a kiss to her head. “We go upstairs, and I tell Jonas you’re not a cop.”
Brooke lifts her chin, so she’s staring into my eyes. If it were any other time, any other woman, I’d kiss her right now, but she’s not just any woman. I want her to be my woman.
“Who will you say I am?”
I lift my hand and run it through her tangled hair. “I’ll tell him some of the truth.”
Her eyes widen, and she inhales sharply, so I rush to reassure her. “I’ll tell him we hooked up and that you followed me here when I dumped you.”
A flickering of annoyance flashes over her face. “Wonderful. I’m a crazy porn star with herpes,” she mutters.
She’s pissed off, but right now that’s the least of my concerns. “Yeah, well, that’s pretty much what he expects, so just roll with it, okay?”
With any luck, Jonas will have a laugh at my expense, and it might take the heat off Eloise.
Brooke’s brow has knotted as she frowns at me. “Okay. We should get our stories straight before we see him. Eloise is in enough trouble as it is.”
I nod and take her hands so I can help her up. She groans, and her face twists in pain as her hand goes to her stomach as she tries to stand.
I’ve taken enough hits to the gut to recognize she might be sporting bruised ribs or worse. “Does it hurt when you inhale?”
Her face looks pinched and drawn when she answers. “A little.”
“Take your shirt off. I’ll take a look.”
She swallows hard but starts to lift her shirt over her head. When she groans again, I grab her hands and shake my head. “Leave it on then.”
Her hands relax at her sides, and she lets me tug her shirt up. There’s noticeable bruising and swelling already when I gently press the palm of my hand to her flat stomach.
She starts to tremble, her body rigid as I probe her abdomen, testing for any sign of cracked ribs. When I’m pretty sure Kurt is responsible for severely bruised ribs, but nothing worse, I pull her shirt down and huff out a breath.
“You’ll be sore for a while, but it could have been a lot worse. I’ll get you something for the pain.”
Brooke’s eyes are tearing up again, but she doesn’t start to cry, which surprises me. But then a lot about Brooke is surprising.
She sits back down on the edge of the tub as I rinse out a glass I left on the vanity and find a packet of high-grade pain relief for her.
“What do you weigh?”
Her shoulders jerk back as she sends me a frosty look. “None of your business!”
I don’t mean to, but she looks so annoyed, I smother a laugh as I gesture to the packet in my hand. “So I can work out the dosage. It goes on weight.”
Her face scrunches up, causing her to wince. “Oh. Sorry. I should have guessed. I don’t know, one thirty?”
I’m pretty sure she weighs a little more than that, but I’m not about to argue or add insult to injury, so I just pop the right amount of pills out and hand them over.
I hand her the water and wait until she’s swallowed them. “They’ll work fast. But don’t drink anything or you’ll black out.”
A wry smile twitches at the corner of her lips. “Are you speaking from experience?”
I smile back at her. “Always.”
I’m about to tell her I literally once woke up in a ditch after I ignored the warning on the label, but a knock at my bedroom door makes me freeze.
Brooke looks terrified, so I issue her with a command I hope she’ll listen to. “Stay here.”
Her lips pucker, but she stays sitting as I leave. I pull the door shut and stalk across my room as the banging continues.
“What?” I shout through the door.
It’s Kurt who answers. “Jonas wants to see you and the pig. Now.”
I growl through the door. “Tell Jonas she isn’t a cop. And we’ll be there in two minutes.”
If he replies, I don’t hear it. Just the faint footsteps as he heads back upstairs.
I release a breath and take a few more in the hopes it’ll convince my heart rate to slow down.
I need to stay in control. Losing it could get us both killed right now.
