“Tell me somethin’,” I say to her.
She smiles and licks her lips. “Tell you what?”
“Tell me that you’ll come to me. Whenever the road feels too hard to walk, whenever the storm is too hard to manage, you’ll come to me.” Her smiles slowly fades as reality sets in. This isn’t something we can combat overnight. I know addictions and I know how hard they can be on a person. I’ve lived through it, but I can’t lose Dez to it.
“I will come to you, Gauge,” she says softly.
I nod my head and reach for the hem of her shirt, tugging it over her head and tossing it to the floor. We both make short work of our clothes and when I have her standing in front of me naked, I smirk down at her.
“You’re the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen,” I whisper.
“She’s going to take me down with her, isn’t she?” The pain in her eyes tugs at my heart. I lift my hand to cup her cheek and shake my head.
“Not if I can find her first. I need to know who the hell this guy is she’s talkin’ about.”
Dez swallows hard before she says, “I can get to him. I know who it is but he won’t just talk to anyone.” Running my lips down her neck, she shivers as I listen.
“You aren’t goin’ anywhere near that shit again,” I whisper against her skin. Dez moans and tilts her head allowing me better access to her throat.
“It’s the only way to find her,” she moans once more.
“Bad idea, baby.” I bite into her shoulder as she cries out for me.
“Gauge, I just need you,” she cries as I suck her flesh into my mouth. Reaching for her, I grab her around the waist, pulling her naked body into mine. My cock aches to be inside of her but this is so much more.
“I know you do. I need you too,” I say as I lower myself down in front of her. Dez’s hands come to rest in my hair, tugging me closer to her. I can smell her arousal and it turns me on more than she could possibly know. I reach between her thighs and spread her legs apart before running my finger through her wetness. Dez moans, and just as I’m about to lean in and taste her, someone knocks on the door. I groan and lean back looking up at her.
“Someone better be dead or dyin’ right now!” I snap. Dez giggles, but when she hears her dad speak, she stops.
“Need to talk to you,” he calls through the door. Her face turns red but I can’t help but smile. I shove off the floor and stand in front of her, pressing a kiss to her soft lips.
“Get in that bed and wait for me.” Grabbing my clothes, I slide them back on before heading to the door. When I open it, Sly stands there not smiling or blinking.
“This ain’t good news, is it?” I ask. He shakes his head and motions for me to follow him. Taking one last look over my shoulder at Dez, I wink and close the door behind me. I follow Sly down the hallway feeling the tension in the air as we go. Once we’re in the office, I know shit’s off. All the guys are already settled in their seats as Sly and I me walk around and take ours. Running my hand through my hair, I take the glass of whiskey that Remy offers and down it in one gulp.
“We got a situation. Shelby has resurfaced. She’s workin’ alongside of the little pricks that’s after Dez. He’s basically a ghost unless you know him on a personal level. Shelby will be easy enough to grab, but this guy? We gotta find someone that’s in with him,” Sly says, making me cringe. That’s exactly what Dezzy told me too.
“So what do we do? Torture it out of the bitch?” Old Barnie asks. He’s pissed and with good reason.
“I have a feelin’ she won’t give it up. We need someone closer,” Sly adds.
“Dezzy,” I say shaking my head.
“I think she’s the best chance we have.”
“Did you forget that she’s recoverin’? We can’t send her into a fuckin’ drug house, Sly!” I snap. I lose all control at this point. It’s like sealing her casket by sending her in there.
“She’s been doin’ good, yeah?” Shaft asks. I just shake my head.
“Do any of you motherfuckers remember a few short months ago? When she was floatin’ in the goddamn pool?” I roar. The guys all watch me as I shove out of my chair, causing it to tumble to the floor. My hands are in my hair tugging. I can’t vote her into this mess.
“Why don’t we ask Dez?” Remy asks.
“Fuck you! Fuck all of you! I’m not sendin’ her back into that mess! What the hell is wrong with you?”
“I agree,” Sly says as I release a breath thinking he sided with me. “We ask Dez.”
“Fuck that, brother. No. Dez isn’t goin’ in. Find another way,” I tell him pointing my finger at him.
“I get why you want to protect her but this is the only way in. If Shelby gets her way that court date that Dez is facin’ will send her to prison. Is that what you want?”
God help me. I just got the girl and now I’m going to lose her all over again.
Twenty-Eight
Dezzy
All of them watch me intently. When Gauge came back to the room to get me, he looked a little off. His attitude was shit and now that I’m standing in the middle of the room I was never allowed in, I’m nervous.
“We have a situation that we need to discuss with you,” my dad says. Gauge moves to my side, grabbing me and pulling me back to his seat with him. When I’m settled in his lap, he nods to my dad to continue.
“What’s happening?” I ask when he doesn’t speak.
“We found your mom, but the guy she’s workin’ with…we can’t get him.”
“I told Gauge that. You won’t get to him. He has people and a lot of them,” I tell him. My dad nods his head before scrubbing his hand over his face.
“Yeah, that’s the problem. We need in. We need to handle them both before your court date. No asshole, no prison time, yeah?”
A chill races down my spine at his words. Gauge, who is so in tune to me, instinctively pulls me closer to him.
“You want to kill him?” I ask. Gauge’s hands move up and down my bare arms trying to soothe me the best he can but I can’t. My mind and my heart are running a million miles a minute.
“That’s the way out of this. It’s our way,” my dad confirms. I swallow hard and glance around the table at all the guys before looking back to my dad.
“What do you need from me?”
“That’s where it gets complicated. We need you to go in and let us know where to find him,” he says just as I shove out of Gauge’s grip. I stand in front of him, eyeing my dad with my mouth open in total disbelief of what he’s asking of me.
“Are you serious? I just got out of the hospital! Do you understand what you’re asking me to do?” Gauge’s warmth presses against my back, his lips near my ear.
“I already told them no, baby. You don’t have to do this,” he whispers.
“You go in, you radio us, we handle it. That’s all we need, Dezzy,” Dad says once more.
“You don’t get it, Dad. Mario, the guy’s street name, he doesn’t just let you in. You either dope up with him or you walk. You’re asking me to get high again to get in there.” Curses sound off around the table but it’s Gauge that loses his shit. He moves around me, slamming his fist into the wall as my dad watches it all unfold.