Playing Dirty: Windy City Kink, Book 3 (23 page)

“Kneed him in the nuts, huh?” he said. “Atta girl.”

That got a smile out of her. “I did. And gave him a palm strike in the nose.”

Palm strike. Apparently she knew a few self-defense moves. This was good, but also troubling.

“I did it,” she mumbled. “I stood up to him.”

His heart squeezed. “Yeah, baby, you totally did. Too bad he ran away before the cops came. Coward.” He stroked her hair. “Proud of you, Paige. Don’t apologize. Be proud of yourself.”

“I am,” she murmured. “But I’m ashamed too.”

“Fuck,” he muttered. “What the fuck are you ashamed of?”

Chapter Twenty-Three

“Talk to me, Paige.”

She sighed and snuggled in against him. “The last time he did this, I didn’t do anything about it.”

His body went hard and the air in the room changed to vibrating anger. “The last time,” he repeated, voice carefully controlled. “Wanna tell me about that?”

“It was back in October last year. He showed up at my apartment—before I was living with Kevin—wanting to talk. I didn’t want to talk, but I made the mistake of letting him in. When I kept telling him things were over, that I’d moved on, blah blah blah, he got physical. Violent.”

“Jesus Christ.”

“I was okay. He left some bruises. Mallory tried to convince me to call the police, but I just wanted it to all go away. I was sure he’d give up. I really didn’t understand why he still wanted me, when it seemed like he was always angry at me about something. But I should have called the police. If I had, this would be so much more serious.”

“So that was the last time you saw him? October?”

“No. He did come back in December, just before Christmas.”

“Fuck.”

“I never talked to him that time. He came to the warehouse but I wouldn’t answer the door. I’d moved and he didn’t know where I was living. Finally he gave up and went away, and I haven’t heard from him since.”

Raff made a sound like a low growl. “Is that why you’re always careful about locking the door?”

“Yes.”

“Why’d you let him in tonight?”

“I…thought it was you.” She peeked up at the hard lines of his face. “I know I was careless. I guess I had a false sense of security because I haven’t heard a word from him for so long, and I was happy that you were there, so I ran to the door and opened it without looking.”

Waves of anger and frustration poured off him, but he said nothing.

“Believe me, I’m kicking myself.”

His hand rubbed her back. “Don’t kick yourself too hard, baby. Mistakes happen.” He heaved a big sigh. “Just glad you’re okay.”

“I am.”

“He’s never gonna touch you again.”

Now it was her turn to sigh. “I wish you could guarantee that. I don’t ever want to see him again.”

“Consider it guaranteed.”

She huffed out a laugh. “Okay.” As if he could guarantee that. “Raff.”

“Yeah, baby?”

She kept her head bowed. “Del said some things. Asking me if you were supporting my business. Making insinuations…because you’re rich.”

“He knows about me?”

“He said he’d been watching. He saw your car. I don’t think he knows exactly who you are.”

“Motherfucker,” he ground out. “That
was
him.”

“What?”

“I saw someone sitting in a parked car outside your warehouse one night. When I went in, he took off.”

“Oh.” This made her insides clench unpleasantly. She did not enjoy the idea that Delmer had been following her and watching her.

“You’re staying here from now on,” Raff said. “If he’s been watching you, he probably knows where you live now.”

“I can’t stay here.”

“Oh yeah, you can. You will. Tomorrow we’ll go get some of your things.”

“I’m not moving in with you!”

“Yep.”

She struggled with this. She wanted to maintain her independence, but the truth was…she was scared. Delmer had been watching her. And he’d found a time when he knew she was alone inside and had been about to get physical. Again. Her skin crawled and her insides heaved at the thought of what he’d done to her before and how close he’d come to raping her. And Raff made her feel so safe. So she gave up that battle.

“Fine.” She sighed. Raff’s lips twitched. “But, Raff…when he said those things, implied those things…they’re kind of true. And I really hated that. I
hated
that he thought I couldn’t succeed on my own. He always thought that, and I was determined to do it. But you’ve done so much for me…” She bent her head again. “He made me feel like maybe I
can’t
do it on my own.”

“Fuck fuck fuck,” Raff muttered. He lifted her chin and made her look him in the eyes. “Don’t even say that. Whatever I’ve done, Paige, is nothing compared to what you’ve done. You’re the one who built the business to the point you need to expand. Don’t let him take that away from you.”

She held his gaze. “I was thinking that maybe…we should take a step back.”

His eyebrows jerked together. “What does that mean?”

“I’m not even sure myself. Maybe we should rethink me renting space in one of your buildings.”

He was silent for a moment. “It’s too late,” he finally said. “You’ve given up your lease. You have nowhere else to go. Also, we’ve already developed that space specifically for you.”

He was right. It was too late. She had to have somewhere for her business to operate out of. “Then…maybe we should renegotiate the lease. I should be paying you a fair-market rent for that space.”

His eyes narrowed. “You are.”

“I’m not! You gave me an unbelievable deal.”

“I thought we’d dealt with all this.” His voice hardened. “Do we have to do this again?”

She sighed and brushed her bangs aside. “No. I just hate feeling this way. I guess he touched a nerve. You know I’ve always been uncomfortable about what you’ve done for me. I’m pretty sure hiring an interior designer isn’t part of what you usually do for renters.”

“Sometimes it is.” His jaw tightened. “We make decisions about what we need to do for potential clients all the time—negotiate services, negotiate prices. I make my decisions after considering all the facts. And I did that in your case too.”

“But—”

“Don’t let him take that away from you,” he repeated, still holding her gaze, his hands now cupping her face with gentle strength. “You made your best business decision too. Don’t start questioning yourself after the fact. Focus on moving forward.”

He was right. She knew he was right. But she also knew he had an ulterior motive for wanting her to be tied to him. It was that control thing all over again. After seeing Del, it was scaring her into thinking that she was being pulled into something with Raff that was going to tie her up and take away her control and power, and it was going to be even harder to extricate herself than it had been with Del.

Raff kept his rage under control. He focused on Paige. Focused on making sure she was okay. Making sure that asshole not only hadn’t hurt a hair on her pretty blonde head but hadn’t messed with her mind either.

When she finally fell asleep in his bed, he slipped out and walked into his gym, where he changed into shorts, put on a pair of gloves and punched the shit out of the bag hanging there, driving his fists into it over and over again until sweat ran in his eyes. Then he sat on the floor against a wall, and he made a plan.

The next morning, after driving Paige to work, a series of phone calls got things started. He needed help with this one and he knew whom he could count on. A call to Mike Collins, the private investigator he’d often used to get background information on potential business partners. A call to Finn. And a call to Dutch.

When he’d made his calls, he sat back and closed his eyes. What he was going to do carried big risk. The biggest risk of all was that it could cost him Paige. But he wanted her safe.

He met Finn late that afternoon at his strip club, Xanadu. Walking in—past the brick façade, brass nameplate, and into a small lounge with leather wingback chairs and shelves full of books—Raff felt like he’d entered an old-world gentleman’s club. Beyond that was the main-floor bar where dancers performed topless on the big stage at the far end of the room.

He and Finn sat at a table in a dim back corner. Raff picked up the beer he’d been served and looked around. The tables on the floor were nearly all full, all the patrons possessing an upscale, affluent air, the atmosphere in the club one of old-style class. Finn openly catered to the upper middle class and rich, and took good care of his best customers. He also attracted steady business from tourists, the entire place an experience many enjoyed.

Raff knew the lounge upstairs was even more elegant, with plush couches and tables arranged around a smaller stage that featured a single dancer at a time. There, more women patrons joined the men in the relaxed but classy ambience. Finn’s dancers didn’t take tips for dancing; in fact, they got fired if they did. Lap dances occurred in separate VIP rooms that were paid for by the hour. Paid
a lot
for.

Raff had been invited to Xanadu by clients numerous times. He’d go there, but he’d never issue the invitation. Not that he was a prude—hardly. He could appreciate the allure of a sexy woman doing a slow, sensual striptease. But because it was Finn and because he knew some of Finn’s other business, he kept his visits there short and infrequent.

“Looks like business is good,” he said to Finn.

Finn leaned back in his chair and smiled. “Business is good, yeah. So what’s up, bro?”

Raff told him what was up. “Can you help me out?”

Finn nodded slowly, holding his own glass of Diet Coke. “Yeah. I can help you out.”

“Think you can find this guy?”

“Oh yeah. You sure you wanna owe me?”

“I already owe you.” Their eyes met.

Finn shook his head. “We operate in two different worlds, man. You don’t wanna be associating with me.”

“I trust you. This’ll all be on the down-low.”

“Goes without saying. But shit happens. You’re here now.”

Raff shrugged. “I come here once in a while. Got a nice place here. Classiest strippers in town.”

“You just turn a blind eye to everything else.”

Raff shrugged and again met Finn’s eyes. “What else is there?” he asked blandly.

Finn grinned. “Okay. I’ll be in touch. Give me a few days.”

“Thanks, man. You know I got your back too, you ever need it.”

“I know.” Finn paused. “She must be special.”

Raff nodded. “Yeah.” He lifted his chin. “She’s it, man.”

Their eyes met. “Wish I could meet her.” Finn’s simple words, along with the look in his eyes, spoke volumes about how he wished things could be different for them. Hell, they both wished that. They’d each made their choices in life, and with a long-standing brotherly love for each other, they respected those choices, even though their lives had diverged so far apart. But that didn’t stop them from wishing it could be otherwise.

“You will.”

From Xanadu, Raff went to the rec center and leaned up against a wall in the basement, watching Dutch spar with a teenage kid. Wayan. Good. Dutch had told him that Wayan had come back. Good to know the kid had followed through.

When they left the ring, sweaty and smiling, they both spotted Raff and came toward him. “Wayan,” Raff said with a chin lift. “Good to see you here, man.”

“Thanks.”

“How’s it going?”

Wayan knew what he meant. “Okay. I’ve been hanging out here a lot.”

They shot the shit for a few minutes, then Wayan headed to the change room.

Raff looked at Dutch, who was wiping sweat from his face with a towel.

“What was that cryptic phone call earlier about?” Dutch asked.

“I’m gonna do something illegal and I want you to know about it first.”

Dutch froze with the towel in his hands. His eyebrows flew up. “You sure you want me to know?”

“Yeah.” Raff searched Dutch’s face. “I might need your help.”

The retired cop held his gaze. Dutch may have been a cop, but he knew the world wasn’t black-and-white. Years ago, Raff had made a promise to him that he’d always kept. His business activities had always been legal. Sometimes rules got bent. Sometimes negotiations took different forms. But he’d always been scrupulously careful that no laws got broken.

“Let’s go get a beer at Mike’s Place,” Dutch finally said.

They walked to the nearby pub, and Raff ordered his second beer of the day.

“Paige has an asshole ex-husband,” he told Dutch. “Abusive.”

Dutch’s eyes narrowed. Raff had known this was something that would get Dutch. “He lay hands on her?”

“Yeah. He’s into kinky stuff, but he’s not honorable.” Dutch knew some of Raff’s own kinks, didn’t judge him—hell, Raff suspected Dutch had his own because he’d sure as hell made sure Raff knew the meaning of
safe
,
sane
and
consensual
. “He hurt her and she left him. Apparently he came back last year, tried to patch things up. She turned him down and he got physical. She didn’t call the cops, but now she wishes she had.”

He told Dutch about Delmer’s visit yesterday. “I gotta take care of it,” he finished, meeting Dutch’s eyes. “I gotta take care of her.”

Dutch’s face was grim but he nodded. “Yeah.”

“Here’s what I need from you.” Raff outlined the minimum information Dutch needed to know.

Dutch’s lips tightened but he nodded.

“Thanks, man.” Raff spoke quietly but with heartfelt emotion. “Means a lot to me.”

“That girl is something,” Dutch said, also quietly. “Maria was impressed with her. Me too.”

Raff nodded.

“Maria especially liked it when you told Paige you’d buy her a car and she told you to go screw yourself.”

Raff threw back his head and laughed. “She never said that.”

“Okay not in those words. It was good to see that she can stand up to you, though, and not take any macho bullshit.”

“Says the macho bullshit master,” Raff muttered.

“Yeah, and Maria’s the one who can call me on it. I like seeing that in Paige. But…most of all, we like seeing you so happy. She makes you…different.”

Raff frowned at first. But then his expression eased. Paige made him
feel
different. No surprise that Dutch and Maria had noticed it. “She makes me better,” he said. “She needs what I can give her. What I need to give. I can be who I really am with her.”

Dutch nodded, his eyes softening. “Happy for you, Raff.”

“Thanks.” Raff paused. “There’s something else I need you to do.”

Dutch lifted his eyebrows. “Jesus. More favors?”

“This is a good one. There’s a kid who needs help.” Raff passed him a piece of paper with a name and address on it.

“There are lots of kids who need help. They don’t always want it.”