Velvet Fire: Ashby Crime Family Romance Page 2

  Bonnie rolled her eyes. “So you keep telling me but I’m beginning to wonder if those are just tall tales.”

  I sucked in a breath, truly offended. “Why would you say that?”

  “Scott Pepper,” she held up one finger.

  “Okay I was nineteen, and he was hot and really smooth.” Scott was like if Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise had a kid who was my age instead of a thousand years old. “And I wasn’t in love with him.”

  “You didn’t know that at the time,” she insisted. “Marcus Landry.”

  I smiled at the memory. “Marcus was a damn good time.” He was six weeks of a damn good time, in fact.

  “But you were sad when it was over.”

  I nodded. “That’s true, but Marcus was nice and the sex was incredible.” I wanted to like him, to be his girlfriend but something was missing so I moved on.

  “He wanted you,” she insisted.

  “And you can’t always get what you want.” I raised my brow at her and dared her to say a word about my quote stealing.

  “Maybe not,” she insisted looking around the room innocently, taking in the freaky dancing on the dance floor, the blatant grinding and face swallowing that was going on in the dark corners of Bullets & Beer, and who knew what that chick on the other side of the bar was up to. “But he could’ve been just what you needed. If you gave him a chance.”

  “A chance for what? I was nineteen!”

  “I’m just saying that even Maisie Nilsson, the wisest woman in Glitz, gets it wrong sometimes. That for all your supposed street smarts, you get it wrong, too. What hope do I have that there will be someone better if I leave Wyatt?”

  “Hope is not your problem, Bonnie. Confidence is. You’re hot, gorgeous and you have that whole innocent schoolgirl thing going on for you. Big time. Wyatt knows that and that’s why he’s such a dick.” Bonnie rolled her eyes and I just smiled. “You just need to look like you won’t pass out from the vapors when a man approaches you, and he’ll do the rest.”

  She wanted to argue but as the suit stood and made his way over to us, Bonnie took two steps back until I was the barrier between her and the potential suitor. “That’s not true,” she hissed in my ear. “Do something!”

  I took the shot from Colby, the totally hot bartender, with a wink and a smile and knocked it back before heading out onto the dance floor, leaving Bonnie to deal with the approaching hottie in a suit. It was my birthday, my official grown up birthday, which meant I was a free woman.

  It was time to celebrate and as the music played, shifting from a sexy Latin beat to a bass heavy hip hop song that had become one of my favorites, I let go and let the music move through my body. I didn’t pay attention to all the wannabes who stepped up to me, too timid to ask me to dance but not skilled enough to just join me. So I danced. I twirled and spun, twerked, and whipped my hair because it was my day, my night, my life. And I planned to enjoy it.

  Soon enough the real world would creep in and I’d have to decide if I wanted to stay in Nevada or go back to Texas. Or maybe I’d go somewhere else altogether. Those were decisions meant for another night.

  “I can’t believe you left me with that guy!” Bonnie’s appearance at my side broke through my reverie and I smiled, taking her hands in mine, and forcing her body to sway to the beat.

  “What’s wrong with him?”

  “Nothing,” she admitted reluctantly over the music. “He’s cute. Thirty. Baptist.”

  “Oh, the horror!” I teased. Bonnie was determined to find a good Catholic man because that was what her mom and dad told her to do, but I was determined for her to find the right man, religious affiliation be damned. No pun, or whatever. “Did you give him your number?”

  “I did. What if he doesn’t call? What if Wyatt finds out?”

  I snorted at her second question because it would be mean to tell her that Wyatt didn’t give a shit about her, just her family connections.

  “If he doesn’t call by the end of the weekend, I’ll make your favorite Texas cornbread chili. If you think you’ll still need it.” I glanced down at her tits and Bonnie burst out laughing, wrapping an arm around me as we danced to the electronic beat.

  “I think I owe all of my cleavage to that chili. You might get a kid named after you for that alone.”

  I barked out a laugh but my attention was caught—literally caught—in the gaze of a gorgeous man with thick chocolate hair, making him appear much more approachable than the scowl marring his beautiful features. He was all man, tall and lean with a purposeful stride that reminded me a lot of two of my uncles, Golden Boy and Wheeler. He had that kind of powerful air about him and I couldn’t look away.

  “Oh boy, here we go again.” Bonnie’s tone pulled my attention but my gaze followed the man around the VIP section. He could be meeting someone, possibly a female someone, but the way his gaze kept shifting to mine and then away, said otherwise.

  “We’re not going anywhere, except to the bar for another drink and then back to the dance floor.”

  “I’ve seen that look you get when you’ve lasered in on a target. That guy doesn’t stand a chance.”

  I tossed my head back and laughed. “While I appreciate the vote of confidence, there’s a good chance that hottie is looking for someone of the not me variety.” It really was too bad because he was sex on a stick. Muscles that looked as lethal as that thousand-yard stare and I could see hints of ink under his gray Henley, another thing that made him stand out in a club filled with twenty-something men who were more stylish than the women who’d gone all out to stand out.

  “Looks more like the exactly you variety,” she grumbled and tugged me off the dance floor. “Another drink?”

  “Yes, please. Your Bahama Mama looked good. I’ll have one of those but no virgin drink for me, just the slutty kind,” I told her and made my way to the bathroom to freshen up. Nothing was more relaxing than shaking my ass to a sweet beat, but damn, it highlighted how much I needed to add some cardio to my life. Just thinking of cardio turned my thoughts back to sex, which I’d been without for far too long, and that got me thinking about the hottie in the Henley. Again.

  He was the kind of hot that made a girl do stupid things without thinking twice about it. He was the kind of dangerous and delicious combination that usually ended in a true crime documentary, but damn, what a way to go! Okay, that sounded kind of crazy and desperate and I was neither of those things. But growing up around burly bikers made it hard to find college boys anything but playthings.

  But that guy, he was all man.

  And likely taken, so I ignored the couple making out in the corner other than to notice we had on similar blue tops and stepped into the bathroom to freshen up. I could really use a shower and a change of clothes after all this dancing, but I made do with a quick face rinse and a makeup touchup and hoped for the best.

  “Men are such dicks!” The brunette stomped in and I realized she was the one going at it hard with Man Bun in the corner.

  “Tell me about it sister. When will they get those sexy male robots for us? Then we wouldn’t need the real thing.” I laughed.

  She flashed a grin that made her blue eyes pop and I noticed we looked alike. A lot alike. “Maybe that’s what I should invest my money in instead of wasting my time on guys who think a kiss means a free fuck.”

  Man did I sympathize with her, and that was another problem I had with the youngish dudes. They had absolutely no chill and couldn’t take rejection for shit. “Should we promise him a threesome and beat his ass in the alley?”

  That pulled a genuine laugh from the woman and she shook her head. “No, but thanks for the offer.”

  I slicked some color across my lips and blotted them with a smile. “Girl power and all that. I hope your night improves,” I told her and followed a group of women out of the bathroom. They chatted and giggled about their night, and I felt a pair of eyes on me so I stopped, waiting for someone to pass.

  Nothing.

  I
kept walking but then felt the heat of someone behind me and got ready to turn and tell whatever dirtbag that thought he could press all up on me, to get his ass lost. But before I could, there was a sharp pain in my neck and everything went black.

  Chapter Three

  Virgil

  The wrong fucking girl. I grabbed the wrong fucking girl like it was my first day on the job, green and eager to prove myself. What. The. Fuck? And now I stood before my boss, my mother, trying to figure out how to explain what had happened. “’That’s not Savannah Rhymer.”

  “No shit.” Sadie sat upright behind the massive glass and steel desk in what she called her salon, because offices were for crooks, and she was a businesswoman. “She might be a dead ringer for the bitch but that’s not her. Care to explain?”

  Anything I said would only make me look worse so I shrugged. “Not really. They were wearing the same outfit and when that girl came out of the bathroom, I thought it was Rhymer.”

  “All right.” She nodded slowly and I waited for the explosion I knew was coming. I’d seen it enough over the years to fear the wrath. “I’ve got her settled in one of the guest rooms for now.”

  I had to clench my jaws to keep from frowning in confusion. She didn’t seem mad, not even the lowkey kind of mad that exploded out of nowhere. She was almost calm. Scary calm. “I’ll call to see if Savannah’s still at the club.”

  “Don’t bother, I’ve got men on it already.” I shouldn’t have been surprised that she’d handled it in the five minutes it had taken me to park the car and explain everything. But I was surprised that she wasn’t pissed.

  “I’m sorry, Ma.”

  “I know.” She held up a hand to stop my apology because she hated them, probably because our father, may he burn in hell, would fly into a rage if dinner wasn’t to his high standards and toss the food on the floor. He would grab Ma by the neck like a fucking dog and scream and hit her until she apologized for wrecking his dinner. “I know, and all that matters is that we handle this.”

  I knew that was bullshit, but I let it go for now, unwilling to risk pissing her off anymore.

  “Hey, Ma. Virgil. What’s up?” My baby brother Calvin strolled into the room looking like he just got back from a weekend in the woods in his ball cap, green and black plaid button up, jeans and work boots. He was the youngest of the bunch, soft spoken and too smart for his role in the family.

  “Calvin, I have a job for you that has nothing to do with computers. Think you can handle it?”

  He heard the challenge in Sadie’s voice and stood a little taller. “I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

  “She’s upstairs in the green room. Make sure she stays in that room, and I want to be the first person to know when she wakes up.” Ma was using what we called her Sadie Rose tone which meant she wouldn’t forgive a mistake easily.

  “I can watch her, Ma.” It didn’t make sense to rope Calvin into this situation and further my humiliation. I would never let on that I’d been eye fucking that chick all night, but there was another reason I wanted to do it, and we both knew it. “It should be me.”

  She gave one sharp nod to indicate she heard me. “Calvin will do it. You need to find out who she is,” she said and nodded toward the sparkly little box purse with the chain strap.

  “Right.” It was such a damn small purse, I wondered how in the hell a woman could get to anything when she needed it. I could barely fit three fingers in the damn thing, dropping a lip balm and a tube of lipstick three times before I turned the damn thing upside down and emptied the contents. She had three bills, all twenties tucked into a zippered area and on the sofa that wasn’t much. “A driver’s license. Maisie Nilsson. Opey Texas. Fuck.”

  “Fuck is right,” Ma sighed and motioned for Calvin to leave. “You kidnapped a fucking tourist. What a headache.” I could see the wheels spinning in Ma’s head, and I didn’t like what that could mean for the girl. Maisie.

  Twenty one year old Maisie with the deep blue eyes. “Today is her twenty first birthday. Maybe she’s staying here in Glitz, or Vegas or Mayhem. Should be easy to find out.” All the nice hotels in the area would keep an eye out for guests like her because no one wanted their place to be where a pretty, young, female tourist was last seen alive.

  “Give Calvin the license,” she sighed. “He’ll find out where she belongs and then you can take her there. Good enough?” I nodded and Ma did the same before motioning for me to take a seat. “I’m not happy with this Crusaders situation, Virgil.”

  No shit. “Neither am I, Ma. Those fuckers have balls, thinking they can do business here without handing over a piece to the Ashbys.” It pissed me off to no end and now after the Savannah Rhymer fiasco, I felt the need to kick someone’s ass. Soon. “It ain’t right.”

  “Calm down, Virgil. You can’t make the right decision under a cloud of emotion, son. Keep your head clear.” Her green eyes were clear and sober. Strong and fierce in a way they had never been when my old man was alive. Under his abusive hands, she learned a skill that had served her well in her rise to the top, she was a master at concealing her emotions.

  “Do you have anything useful to add?”

  “Yeah. It’s time to make better use of Calvin and his work on those damn gadgets and electronics.”

  Ma was so damn stubborn, unable to see how useful his skills could be beyond her own disdain.

  She laughed. “He’s not cut out for the streets. I let him to go out once in a while to toughen him up. This isn’t sibling rivalry, is it?”

  The way she looked as though that was the funniest fucking thing in the world got under my skin and she knew it.

  “No, it’s not. I’m just thinking that Cal and one of his gadgets could hack her phone or her house or whatever and get all the information we need to fuck them for good.”

  A brow arched perfectly and she put her hands together, fingertip to fingertip, in that deliberate way she did that was meant to intimidate. It worked on other people but it was hard to take it seriously when I’d been watching it for thirty years.

  “I’ve never known you to shy away from a fight Virgil. What’s going on?”

  I frowned, insulted at the implication. “I’ll never run from a fight and you know that, Ma. What I’m saying is, we already know when it inevitably comes to war, we will prevail. Why not have a little fun by ruining them brick by brick first?”

  “Finally, something Virgil and I agree on.”

  The loud obnoxious voice belonged to my older brother and unofficial head of the Ashby family, Jasper. Sadie was the decision-maker, but Jasper was her closest advisor, and she usually did what he advised. Though, when it came to the Emerald Isle Hotel & Casino, Kat was the woman in charge.

  “Think about it, Ma, we take their money and ruin their businesses. Leave them with just enough to make ’em think they might win. Then we do something that forces war.”

  “Like kidnap the Rhymer Princess?” Even thinking about it now, made me cringe at my stupid fucking mistake.

  “Exactly,” Jasper said with a proud smile. “Exactly. It’s the smarter play, Sadie. And it’s a chance for you to see what Calvin can actually do.” Jasper and Ma stared at each other for a long time, both of them so damn similar and unable to back down from any challenge. Any fight.

  Stormy eyes met stormy eyes, so much energy swirling between them until finally, Ma relented. “I’ll think about it.”

  Jasper smiled and rounded the desk to wrap his big arms around Ma’s petite frame. “Was that so hard?”

  “Harder than you know, son.” She patted his face affectionately once and then once more a little harder.

  “Get gone, both of you. You have your orders.” She stood and waved her arms in a shooing motion that didn’t stop until Jasper and I were both on the other side of her salon doors. “And I expect to see you both for Sunday dinner.” Her trusted assistant, Thomas appeared out of nowhere to shut the door firmly in our faces.

  “Thanks for
having my back in there,” I told my brother honestly. I didn’t always agree with Jasper, and sometimes I resented his role as head of the family, but he was smart as fuck and it was good to know even a broken clock could be right once in a while.

  Jasper flashed his pretty boy smile and clapped me on the back. “Don’t even think about it. I’ve been telling Sadie for a while now that we should kneecap The Crusaders before we put a bullet between their eyes. Maybe now that I’ve got backup, she’ll listen.”

  I barked out a bitter laugh as we made our way down the long hall, bypassing the elevator in favor of the wide marble staircase. “You might not want me to be your backup,” I told him.

  “Because you got the wrong chick? Don’t worry about it, little bro, Savannah was gone by the time Terry and I got there. Looks like we’re all in the shit house with Sadie right now. But we’ll take care of it. Like we always do.”

  Chapter Four

  Maisie

  Damn. How much did I drink last night? I don’t even remember whipping out the credit card that was shoved in my left cowgirl boot, which means I either got wasted off eighty bucks’ worth of rooftop bar, or I looked so smoking hot that some guy—or guys—bought me a shit ton of booze last night.

  Fuck. What happened to Bonnie?

  My head pounded like there was a six-inch drummer sitting right on top of it with two oak sticks, and two more using cymbals right behind my eyes. And I didn’t even want to think about what those freaky little drummers had done to make my mouth feel like a used cat box.

  Mostly, my head just fucking hurt like hell. I popped one eye open and looked up at the ceiling. A really white ceiling with weird popcorn style paint. The bed under me was a different deal altogether, firm but very plush. I was sure it had molded to my body. Someone had even tossed a soft cashmere blanket on top of me, which I appreciated.