Fuck! I’m not sleeping with her now. Not after I slept with April. That’s who I want. That’s why I’ve been avoiding Lucy.
“No, he’s here to hang out with us.” Trey saves me. “So get off his cock and go do some work.” He slides the mirror covered in cocaine, razor blade and hundred-dollar bill over to me.
“Trey …” She starts to whine.
“You heard him,” Tanner barks at her. “Go get to work, Lucy.”
She glares at him over my shoulder, and that right there is why she wants him to go back to prison—he’s making her work. Probably serving drinks or taking bets down in the pit for the fights.
“Fucking bastard,” she hisses, getting off my lap and shoving her skirt down her thighs. Trey laughs at her as she storms out.
APRIL
I wake up with a pounding headache. Rolling over onto my side, I bury my face into my pillow and groan.
“That rough, huh?”
I sit up with a scream at the sound of another’s voice.
“Whoa.” Jasmine holds up her hands with her back resting against my headboard.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, placing my hand to my pounding chest.
She tilts her head to the side and frowns. “Damn. You were really drunk last night.”
I fall back onto the bed.
“I called you, and Grave answered, asking me to come stay with you. Something about you were drunk. He had something to go do, and he didn’t want to leave you alone.”
“Grave asked you to come over?” I look up at her.
She nods, shoving a flaming hot Cheeto in her mouth. “He waited for me to get here before he left.”
I smile and pull the covers up to my neck before I roll over onto my side to face her.
“Oh God.” She laughs.
“What?” I ask.
“I know that look. You like him,” she states matter-of-factly.
“I …”
“Like really, really like him.” She wiggles her dark brows.
I pull the covers over my head so she can’t see my cheeks turn the color of her Cheetos.
She rips them off and smiles down at me. “He needs someone like you.”
“What does that mean?” I ask, sitting up and pulling the covers with me. I dig my hand into her bag and take a chip.
“Grave can be a good guy. He just needs someone who is willing to straighten him out.”
That didn’t help me understand one bit. “Either I’m still asleep or I’m too drunk to make sense of your words.”
She sighs. “Grave isn’t one of those guys who hides his feelings. He feels more than anyone I know, and when I got here last night, I could tell he cares about you.”
My heart starts to race at her words. “Why? What did he do?”
“The fact that he didn’t leave until I arrived tells me all I need to know.”
“How well do you know him?” I don’t get to spend time alone with Jasmine, but I remember Grave talking about knowing her really well.
“I’ve known him all my life.” She eats another Cheeto. “After his mom passed, he …”
“Wait.” I place my hand up. “His mom died? When?” That was how I met him. He ordered flowers for his mother’s birthday.
“Uh, let me think.” She holds up her right hand. “I think he was eighteen when she died. May have been seventeen. We were in high school.”
I tune her out as I look at my wall, trying to figure out why he ordered her flowers if she’s dead. I mean, I know that people place flowers on graves of loved ones they’ve lost, but he never once mentioned that. He made it sound like she was alive. He even told me she loved them. Why would he …?
I close my eyes. I had written on the card. He left it blank, and I thought it had been a mistake. I was wrong. Shit! “Fuck!” I growl.
“What?” she asks.
I open my eyes and scrunch up my face. “I think I did something bad.”
“Oh.” Her green eyes get big with excitement. “Tell me. Tell me. I’m awesome at keeping secrets.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
GRAVE
I KNOCK ON the hotel suite door at Kingdom.
“Coming.” I hear the woman’s voice. Seconds later it opens. “Grave, hi.”
“May I come in?” I ask her.
“Of course.” She steps to the side and I walk into the suite, looking around.
“Everything okay?” she asks from behind me.
I turn to face her. “Yeah, I just wanted to come and give you this.” I reach into my back pocket and pull out the envelope full of cash.
“Grave.” Natalie raises her hands, shaking her head. “I can’t take that …”
“I need you to hide here for a few more weeks.”
Her eyes widen. “Grave …”
“I’ve got it handled.” I promise her. “I just need you to promise me.”
She nods, biting her bottom lip.
“Has he tried to contact you?”
“Yeah.” She sighs. “I called my provider and had him blocked.”
“Good. That’s good.” I start to walk back toward the door. “I have to go, I just wanted to come by and let you know that everything is going to be okay.” I hand her the envelope again and this time she takes it.
Exiting her suite, I make my way down to the parking garage to get my car. Making my way to Roses.
_______________
“Thanks, man,” I tell Lance.
“No problem. Let me know if you need me again,” he says, exiting the front door of Roses.
I turn to a good friend of mine who owns Landing Construction. I sent him a message last night to meet me here first thing this morning. “How long do you think it’ll take?” I ask him.
He’s walking around, his cell in his hand, taking notes. “Honestly?” He sighs. “Maybe a week.” He shrugs. “But that’s once the parts come in.” He makes his way over to where the three glass doors once were. “I got the measurements for the glass and the shelves.” He looks over across the room where the vases sat. “Getting them installed won’t take much time, though. My crew could have it done within a couple of days.”
I nod. “Just let me know what I owe you.”
He locks his phone and places it in his back pocket. “I’ll have it ordered by lunch and will let you know.”
I look up when the bell rings and see April enter. She has a white baseball hat on with her hair up in a ponytail that’s popping out through the back. She wears a black T-shirt with cutoff denim shorts and a pair of black Superstars. A coffee in her right hand and sunglasses shielding her eyes.
I slap him on the back, dismissing him. “Sounds good.”
“Miss.” He nods to her as he exits Roses.
“Who was that?” she asks, coming over to me.
“That was the man who is going to make this place look like new,” I answer, letting my eyes run over her bare legs. My cock reminds me that I turned her down last night. My mind reminds me it was the right thing to do. “How do you feel?” I clear my throat and try to think of anything but me and her naked in her bed.