Stingray Billionaire: The Complete Series (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) (29 page)

CHAPTER
NINE

Dax

I
looked down and saw Beck
and his date grinding on the dance floor. He had a drink in one hand and the
brunette's ass in the other. I shook my head and looked back at the computer on
my desk as I heard the sound of a new message hitting my inbox.

I glanced at it,
quickly hit delete, and then turned back to the club. Running this club had
been a headache at first, but once I found Kesha Jackson to be the manager, the
pressure had eased up and I'd been able to focus on the business that supported
the club and all the other businesses I ran in the city.

Kesha had been a
corner girl in the dealing business, but there was something about her that
elevated her above the crowds that ran my corners. Maybe it was because while
she ran her corner, she also finished high school. Maybe it was because I never
had to worry about violence breaking out on her corner. Maybe it was simply
because she was smarter and more resourceful than ninety percent of the people
who worked for me. And, maybe it was because she reminded me of Riza.

Kesha hustled
harder than any other corner kid, but the thing that made her really stand out
was her ability to calm even the most strung out crack head. We called her the
Dope Whisperer because no one ever fought her; in fact, they usually ended up
doing whatever she told them to do. And, she always told the truth. I promoted
her to Apex's manager knowing that she understood how to deal people, and she'd
be able to sell the product without drawing attention.

The only problem I
had was that Kesha had a crush on me. It was a delicate balance being honest
about the fact that I didn't have any romantic inclinations toward her and not
completely crushing her. She was a lithe woman who often wore her hair in a
multi-colored Mohawk. She had the unique ability to both stand out from the
crowd and completely disappear into it. I'd never seen a true chameleon in
action before, and I appreciated the fact that this helped her fit in
everywhere and nowhere.

I watched her
hustle across the dance floor and intervene as Beck began to lift his date's
skirt just a little high. I knew that this might lead to trouble, so I watched
closely as Kesha smiled and tried to explain the rules to Beck, who knew them
all too well. He flashed a lazy smile at her and then turned back to his date
for a moment before he wound up and took a swing at the manager.

"Oh
fuck," I muttered as I shot out of my chair and took the stairs down to
the dance floor two at a time.

"You fucking
cunt!" Beck yelled as Kesha held his hands behind his back and twisted one
arm up toward his shoulder. "You stupid bitch! You can't tell me what to
do! My brother owns this club and you answer to him!"

"That might
be true, but I'm the manager of this club and it's my job to keep things on the
up and up," she yelled over the loud electronic music that pulsed throughout
the club. The dance floor crowd had pulled back and formed a circle around the
scene, but true to form had also kept dancing as they waited to see what would
happen.

"What the
fuck are you doing, Beck?" I yelled over the music. "Have you lost
your damn mind?"

"The
fuck?" he shouted. "Get your fucking pit bull off of me, Dax!"

I looked at Kesha
and nodded slightly and she let go of Beck's arms. He swung around, fists
balled and ready to strike, but I grabbed his arm and pushed him toward the
stairs to my office. "C'mon, you need to chill, man," I said before
turning and looking his date. "You, too, come with me."

She followed
dutifully as I practically dragged Beck up the stairs to my office. I shoved
him inside before following and ushering the woman in behind my brother.

"I don't know
what the fuck you think you're doing, but you are not going to do that shit in
my club, little brother," I began.

"That stupid
dyke running the bar is trouble," Beck muttered under his breath. Before
he could say anything more, I grabbed him by the arm and slammed him face down
on my desk.

"Her name is
Kesha and she is a loyal and trusted employee," I growled in his ear.
"You'll treat her as such or I will nail your ass to the wall, got
it?"

"Fuck you,
Dax," he yelled as I pressed his face against my desk. "You think
you're such hot shit, but you're just a small time dealer who can't play in the
big leagues."

"What the
hell is wrong with you, Beck?" I asked then stopped and looked at him
carefully. "Where did you get the stuff?"

"What
stuff?" he said.

"Don't play
stupid with me, Beck," I warned. "Where did you get the dope?"

Beck was an addict
and as hard as I tried to keep the stuff away from him and keep him clean, he
was like all addicts and found a way to feed the beast. I thought he'd been
clean since the last trip to rehab, but was realizing now that he'd found a
source and had blown his sobriety. I turned and looked at the girl.

"You have any
idea where he got the stuff?" I asked.

"Huh, man?
What stuff?" she said with a glassy-eyed stare that let me know she was
high, too.

"Goddamn it,
Beck!" I swore. "You were sober for three months! Why did you blow
it?"

"Fuck sober,
it's highly overrated," he grumbled. "Let me up, man, you're fucking
hurting me!"

I let go of his
arm and smacked the top of his head with my hand. I was furious at him and
worried that he was going to wind up dead in an alley somewhere. I couldn't
save him if he wouldn't let me.

"You do
realize that it's kind of hypocritical to be dealing the kind of junk you are
and then busting me for using, don't you?" Beck asked as he rubbed the
spot on his head where I'd smacked him. "My head hurts. Dammit, Dax!"

"Gram would
be heartbroken," I said as I looked at him.

"Yeah, yeah,
yeah, you've used that one before," he replied waving me off. "Don't
you have a better emotional blackmail tool in your belt?"

"Dammit,
Beck," I said as I threw up my hands and walked around the desk where I
sunk into my chair. "I'm trying to help you. You can't behave that way in
my club or I'm going to ban you from it. "

"Well, then
you're gonna have to try harder, I guess," he grinned as he pulled the
girl up off the couch in the corner and slipped a hand down the front of her
dress. "'Cause I'm not buying what you're selling here unless it's gonna
give me the high of my life. And, if you ban me, I'll just find another place
to dance. I mean it's not like this place is special or anything. It's LA,
after all. Dime a dozen."

I watched as Beck
pulled open the door and guided the girl out into the hallway. He repeated his
dime a dozen remark again and was rewarded with the girl's empty laugh.

Once they were
gone, I rested my elbows on the desk, held my head in my hands, and tried to
bring my heart rate back down to normal.

CHAPTER
TEN

Brooke

I
yanked open the
door of Dooley's and marched up to the bar where I barked, "Gimme a
whiskey and a beer back, now!"

Billy looked up
from where he was pouring a beer and smiled as he yelled, "Hey, sunshine,
what's got you so riled up?"

"Three
guesses," I said as I hoisted myself up on a stool and slammed my fist on
the bar. "But get me my drink first!"

"Whiskey shot
and beer back, coming up," Billy said as he quickly poured both and set
them down in front of me.

"Start a tab,
I'm drinking heavily tonight," I said as I quickly downed the whiskey shot
and then took a sip of the IPA that Billy had poured me. "Mmmm, that's
good."

"Okay, now
that you've had your shot, you gotta tell me what's going on," Billy said.

"I want
another shot," I said.

"Uh, you sure
you want to down another one that fast?" he asked. I'd been hanging out at
Dooley's for years and Billy knew me very well. He also knew I was a cheap
drunk.

"Yes, I'm
positive," I nodded as I sipped my beer. "Another."

"Okay, it's
your liver," he sighed as he grabbed the bottle and poured another shot. I
held it up then knocked it back before slamming the shot glass upside down on
the bar.

"Another,"
I said.

"I'm going to
have to put my foot down and say that you have to wait thirty minutes before I
give you another shot, sunshine," he smiled. "I know how you are, and
I'm not going to have you pass out on my watch."

"Dammit,
Billy," I protested. "I'm a paying customer and I can determine
what's best for me all by myself."

"No, no you
can't, sweetie," he said as he leaned across the bar and patted my head.
"You're an impulsive hot head and sometimes you need someone with sense
looking out for you. That's my job when you're at my bar. Thirty minutes."

"You're so
unfair," I grumbled.

"I know, but
why don't you pass the time by telling me what triggered this desire to binge
drink yourself into oblivion?" he suggested.

"Men – you
all suck," I said as I looked down into my beer glass.

"What awful
offense did a member of my gender commit now?" he laughed.

"Stop
laughing, it's not funny," I grumbled. "I just had an argument with
Jake at the fire house in front of a whole table of my brother's coworkers. It
was humiliating."

"Jake? The
boyfriend you caught cheating with your friend on the night you thought he was
going to propose?" Billy asked. "That Jake?"

"Don't be a
smart ass," I warned. "Of course, that Jake. Only, he claims that he
never cheated on me and I can't say anything about it because then I'll get in
trouble for what I was doing that night."

"And what
were you doing?" he asked.

"I could tell
you, but then I'd have to kill you," I said. Billy burst into laughter and
walked down to the other end of the bar to get drink orders from two new
customers. I sat sullen and brooding, staring at my drink as I thought about
how pissed I was at Jake and how grateful I was that I wasn't now married to
him. It was hard to be feeling hurt and relieved, but the alcohol in my system
was easing the path to calm.

"Anyone
sitting here?" came a deep voice from behind me.

"Huh? Oh, no,
go ahead," I replied without turning to see whom the voice belonged to. I
was pissed at Tommy for siding with Jake, but I knew that a large part of the
reason was that Tommy had to work with the guy. I took another swig of my beer
and decided right then and there that I would let it go. I blurted, "Okay,
letting it go. Bygones."

"What? I'm
sorry, did I miss something?" the man asked.

"No, just my
decision to-" I turned and found myself staring at the face of a man who
took my breath away. "Oh!"

"I'm sorry,
did I do something wrong?" he asked. His brow was wrinkled with obvious
concern, but I couldn't speak as I looked into the warmest brown eyes I'd ever
seen. From the careless espresso-colored curls on top of his head to the five
o'clock shadow that ran down the sides of his chiseled jaw, the man was
gorgeous. He was wearing a leather jacket over a black t-shirt that clung to
his well-muscled chest and was tucked into a pair of black jeans that revealed
as much as they covered. I looked down and saw that he wore Harley boots and
nearly swooned. Leather and boots – my kryptonite. And, he smelled like musk
and danger. I was intrigued.

"No,
I...just...I mean..." I stammered, trying to gather my thoughts and say
something coherent. I could feel the two shots kicking in hard as I opened my
mouth and asked, "Do you know you're incredibly handsome?"

"Um, well, no
it's not something I ever stopped and thought about," he laughed.
"But thanks, that's really nice of you."

"You're really
gorgeous," I continued. "I'll bet your parents are incredibly
beautiful, too."

 
"Well, they were a good-looking
couple," he nodded as he fidgeted in his chair and looked down the bar
trying to catch Billy's attention. It wasn't busy tonight, so Billy chatted
with everyone and took his time. When he saw the man, he headed back towards
us.

"What can I
get you?" Billy asked as he flipped a towel over his shoulder.

"Whiskey with
a beer back," the man said.

"Me
too!" I said a little too loudly.

"You are on
probation for another fifteen minutes, young lady," Billy scolded.
"Be right back, sir."

"That's not
fair!" I yelled as he grabbed the whiskey and pulled another IPA from the
tap.

"Life's not
fair, sunshine!" he called. "You of all people should know that."

"Why should
you know that?" the man asked.

"Because I'm
a legal...lawyer," I tripped over my words searching for the right ones. I
knew it wasn't just the alcohol at work here. This guy had set my pulse racing
and I was fighting to maintain control. "I'm a lawyer. I know it's hard to
believe at the moment, but I am."

"Brooke is
the best lawyer in Los Angeles," Billy said as he set the man's drinks
down in front of him. "She's smart and fearless when it comes to getting
the job done. If I were ever in trouble, she'd be my first call, that's for
sure!"

"Aww, Billy,
you're so sweet!" I laughed. "But you know that I don't do liquor
violations, only the serious stuff, so you'd have to start running drugs or
kill someone for me to be motivated to come bail you out!"

"I should be
so lucky," Billy laughed as he swung the towel off of his shoulder and
snapped it at me, stopping just short of my hands. "But still, you're a
great lawyer."

"Yeah, well,
we'll see about that," I said as I sipped my beer. "How are we doing
on time, Billy?"

"Ten more
minutes!" he called as he moved back down the bar and away from the
stranger and me.

"So, you're a
lawyer," he said before picking up his shot glass and tossing back the
drink.

"Yep, that's
me," I nodded. "A brilliant legal mind..." I giggled as I took
another big swig of my beer.

"Huh, that's
interesting," he said as he picked up his glass and drank deeply. I
couldn't keep my eyes off him. His mouth curved around the edge of the glass in
a sensual caress and my alcohol addled brain suddenly had a flash of what that
mouth could do on my skin. I shifted uncomfortably on my stool and as I did, I
knocked my glass over, spilling the amber IPA all over the bar.

"Hey, hey,
hey, sunshine!" Billy yelled as he raced down the bar and began mopping up
the mess with his ever-present towel. "You don't have to go full-on
rebellion! I'll bring you another drink."

"I wasn't
trying to make you bring me a drink!" I protested, then gave in and just
laughed.

"Nice
job," the man said in a stage whisper loud enough for Billy to hear.

"Oh, I get
it! You two are conspiring against me," he said as he set another whiskey
and a fresh IPA down in front of me. He added a second whiskey in front of the
man and then walked away.

"Here's to
conspiring against the bartender!" the man toasted as we clinked glasses
and downed the shots.

"Ahhh, such a
good burn!" I sighed as I flipped the glass over and slammed it on the
bar. I turned to the man and asked, "So, what's a nice guy like you doing
in a bar like this?"

"I had a
fight with my brother and I needed to get away from him," the man
admitted. I studied him as he sipped his beer and noticed that his jaw was
flexing even when he was trying to project resting mode.

"Must have
been quite a fight," I said.

"He's a fuck
up," the man said as he drank deeply. "But he's my brother, you
know?"

Tongue-tied by
this handsome stranger and unable to find the nerve to employ my legal training
to grill him, I simply nodded as we drank in silence.