Betting the Bad Boy (10 page)

She got up to walk away from him, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him. He didn’t say anything, just looked up at her with his jaw tight and his eyes filled with hurt and anger.

It nearly killed her to see him like that. If she could go back in time, she would have changed things. And while this whole sordid situation wasn’t entirely her fault, most of it was and she regretted it. She regretted that the two people she loved the most in life were suffering because of decisions she’d made. But there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it now. It would be easy to give in to him, let him do whatever he wanted to make him happy, but she was a mother first. Ryder’s well-being would always come first.

His cell phone rang and he reached over to the counter with his long arm and answered it without letting her go. He just slid his hand to the small of her back to keep her standing there.

“What’s up, Levi?”

Grace couldn’t hear what Levi was saying, but she felt Duke’s body snap to attention.

“What? I’ll meet you there.” He tossed his phone on the table and then grabbed Grace by the hips, pulled her closer and buried his head into her stomach.

“What’s the matter, Duke?” She ran her fingers through his dark hair.

“They’ve arrested Colt.”

“Colt?” She remembered Colt being the quiet, almost emotionless King brother. “What happened?”

“He went after Perry Andersen.” Perry, the brother of Patrick, the man Duke went to jail for fighting.

“Why?”

“Because he mistreated a woman.”

Grace’s stomach sank. This couldn’t be happening again.

Chapter 9

Duke pulled into the parking lot of the police station, dread creeping up inside him and threatening to choke him. He vividly remembered the last time he was there. His fists had been throbbing and the father of the guy he’d beaten bloody was his jailer.

You just made the biggest damn mistake of your life, boy.

Was it a mistake? Nah. He didn’t regret it. He would do it again, even knowing what he knew now.

But he had never thought he’d be back here again. Only this time it was with Colt and another member of the family that made it so that he had spent the last thirteen years not knowing his son. He stepped out of the car and spotted Levi with his arm around Zanna’s shoulder.

She looked near tears, but was still outrageously gorgeous. She was such a contrast with Grace, who was beautiful in a quiet, unassuming way. Who even in her ugly pink robe had managed to appeal to him that morning.

“I brought cash. Do we know how long it’s going to be until we can bail him out?” Duke asked as he walked up to them.

“I don’t think they are going to charge him, since I grabbed him before he could do any real damage,” Levi said. “Allen Smith is the officer. He’s a good guy.”

Duke nodded. Allen was one of the few friends he’d had in school. He felt better already.

“He’ll be all right, Zanna,” Levi said softly to her as he rubbed her arm. “We won’t let anything happen to him.”

“I’ve never seen someone so mad in my life,” she said absently. “I thought he really was going to kill him.”

“You should have seen him, Duke,” Levi added. “Colty always keeps his cool, but it took two of us to stop him from killing Perry. I’m not sure what would have happened if no one else was around.”

“Perry wouldn’t have said anything. He’s not man enough to,” Zanna said hotly. “He provoked Colt, because he knew there were people around to save his sorry ass.”

“What happened exactly?” Duke asked him.

“Perry called Zanna a slut and then the rest of us trash. Colt went ballistic.”

Duke nodded. Their father had been a piece of shit, but he did love their mother. He respected her when he couldn’t even respect himself, and he taught his boys to respect women, too. “Let’s go see if we can take him home.”

They walked into the station. Allen pointed them to the holding cell Colt was in. He was on his phone, looking mussed and mad as hell. Very un-Colt-like, and that made Duke grin.

But then he saw Colt’s eyes travel to Zanna and he could feel the heat sizzle between the two of them even though they were yards away from each other. And he knew right then and there that Colt had it bad for Lolly’s tenant. Colt never had it bad for any woman ever. They were disposable to him. But not this time. Zanna had done a number on his brother.

“I wasn’t sure you had it in you, Colt,” Duke said, feeling surprisingly good in that moment. “I knew you could be a ruthless son of a bitch in the office, but I wasn’t sure you had it in you to tear off somebody’s head. I think I’m proud of you.”

“Your pride in me touches my heart,” he said dryly.

“Is that your cell phone?” Levi asked, stepping closer. “They let you have your cell phone in here?”

“Yeah, and he’s been on it the whole time he’s been in there,” Allen said, getting up from his desk. “Colt’s not actually under arrest. He’s just in there till we can be sure he won’t go kill Perry. Personally I would have liked for you to have given him a good ass kicking, but there was a crowd and the new chief is still friends with the old chief and you know how that is.”

“Can you let him out?” Zanna asked, stepping forward. She looked completely miserable.

“I’m not supposed to until the chief comes back. He went to talk to Perry. He’s been getting too big for his britches lately.”

“Can you let me in there then?”

Allen shrugged as he reached for his keys. “Why not?”

Duke watched as his brother and Zanna exchanged quiet words. Zanna ran her fingers through Colt’s hair in a way that was intimate and surprising. Nobody just touched Colt. Nobody was ever affectionate toward him. Most folks found him too scary.

“He’s crazy about this girl,” Levi said to him. “I think he’s finally met his match.”

And then Zanna reached down to kiss Colt, right there in the jail cell, right in front of all of them, and it wasn’t one of those simple quick kisses. It was one of those kisses that most men would kill to be on the receiving end of.

“Well, holy shit,” Duke said. It looked like Colt had found somebody to love him.

Zanna rolled her eyes and turned away from Colt. “Grow up, Duke. Levi, you want to take me to the grocery store so I can pick up something for dinner? Duke can stay here with Colt.”

“I’ll take you, but you’ve got to promise to kiss me like that.”

She glanced back at Colt, giving him a smile that was shy and luscious and just for him. “Only if you get thrown in jail for me.”

“I’ll pick a fight in the produce section,” Levi said with a knowing grin on his face as Zanna linked her arm through his. “Then I can live up to the King legacy and get locked up over a girl.”

Duke was left alone with Colt then. Allen had wandered back to his desk, not seeming to care that Colt’s cell was wide open.

“You want to tell me what’s going on with that woman?” Duke asked him as he stepped into his cell.

“You want to tell me what’s going on with Grace? I know you moved in with her.”

He thought about Grace and about Ryder. He didn’t know what the hell was going on with them. He didn’t know how to go about being a father, but he knew that just because he’d created a child didn’t automatically make him one. And then there was Grace, who didn’t back down to him, who made it clear that she loved their boy. He could see it in the way she looked at him. That undeniable love that Duke wasn’t sure he could ever be capable of. “There’s nothing to tell.” He had to figure out what the hell he was going to do about this drastic life change first.

“I thought so. I wanted you here because I have an idea.” Colt looked at him, his anger seeming to return instantly. “What would you say if I told you I wanted to buy up this town?”

“You want to buy Destiny?”

“Not all of it. Just the parts that have to do with the Andersens. They still think they run shit. Perry said our name and status don’t mean anything here. He still thinks we’re trash. I’m wondering how they are going to feel when the King name is on their bank statements, and our logo is all over this town. They won’t be able to spit without hitting something that we own.”

It was kind of evil. But it was also brilliant. Duke had done a little research of his own. There was money to be made in the town that wanted nothing to do with them. “I’m in.”

He was looking for a way to fulfill Lolly’s wish, and Colt had just handed it to him.

*   *   *

It was late when Duke returned that night. Grace had tried not to think about him, but with each hour that passed she became more and more worried. Even Ryder seemed concerned. He had asked where he was when they ate dinner without him. She had to lie and tell him that she didn’t know. He didn’t yet know his father had been in prison. She didn’t want him to worry about an uncle he had never met ending up there, too.

But Duke returned home just before eleven that night. Long after she had sent Ryder to bed and checked on him to see if he was still there. Grace felt herself relax a little when she heard his heavy footsteps pass her bedroom and head down the hall to the basement. She had forced herself to stay in her room, to take a hot shower instead of meeting him in the hall and questioning him about what had happened with Colt that day.

She wasn’t sure if it was any of her business. If he would want her to know what was going on with him when she had kept silent about her life for so long. But curiosity got the better of her just after midnight and she went down to the basement to find him lying on his bed with his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling in nothing but a pair of boxers.

“Can I come in?”

He looked over at her, and if he was surprised to see her there he didn’t let on. He just nodded and she walked closer, debating if she should sit on his bed or not. She was feeling that pull again, the same pull that drew her near him when she was younger, the same pull that made her compare every other man on the planet with him.

“How is Colt?” She tentatively sat on the edge of the bed, ready for him to tell her to leave.

“He’s pissed off. But he’s out. They aren’t going to press charges.”

“I’m relieved. I don’t want to see another King boy go to prison.” She inched closer to him.

“No?”

“You know I never meant for that to happen.”

“For a long time I wondered what the hell would have happened if I’d never gone outside. If I had never decided to park my car in the alley. Or what if I saw you with him and just decided to walk away.”

“I don’t know what would have happened. I would like to think that I could have handled myself. The feminist inside me wants to, but I was so happy to see you that night. I just had no idea that was the last time I was going to see you.” She shook her head and lay down on the bed next to him. It was weird for them to be on a bed together. They had never shared one before. Their meetings had been clandestine. Whenever they could sneak away. Wherever they could sneak away to. Most of the time they made love in the back of his car, or sometimes Duke would borrow his friend’s pickup truck and they would love each other in the back, beneath the stars and some blankets. They had made Ryder that way. They had made him on her nineteenth birthday. “That was the worst day of my life.”

“Why did you go out with Patrick that night?”

She hesitated for a moment, not wanting to think about how her bad choice had changed the course of his life. “You broke my heart. You called me foolish. You said I had no idea what I wanted out my life and to find someone like me. You treated me like my father did, and I wanted to show you how it would be if I was with a guy who you deemed to be appropriate for me. I never thought he would put his hands on me.”

“I went to that bar across the street from the bowling alley to try to forget about you. I sure as hell didn’t plan on being sentenced to ten years in prison for going to get a drink.”

She placed her hand on his hard chest. Right over his beating heart. “What does one say in this situation? Sorry is not enough. Is thank you the right thing? Should I bake you a cake?”

“It’s a start,” Duke said and it caused her to laugh.

“He was drunk. I smelled the whiskey on his breath when he tried to kiss me.”

“Do you think he would have tried to force you?”

“He put his hand up my skirt and grabbed me. That’s when I slapped him.”

“That’s when I saw him slap you back.” He shook his head. “They were right to charge me with attempted murder, because I did try to kill him.” He shut his eyes. “I kept seeing that red handprint on your face and the blood on your lip. I wanted him dead for that.”

“And my father thought I should have married him.”

He stiffened. “I don’t believe that.”

“He knew about us. He said I should be grateful that anyone would have me after I was with you. He thought the Andersens were the only family in town as good as we were.”

“I should have tried to kill your father, too.”

“He isn’t worth it.” She pressed her lips to the side of his face and kissed him. She knew Duke was a man who liked to be kissed. Who liked to be touched. And she couldn’t help but wonder who was the last person who got to touch him. Was it the lovely woman who was the subject of his tattoo, or was it someone else? Had there been a lot of someone elses since he had gotten out of prison? She tried not to think about it. She didn’t know how things were going to work out or if she would see much of him after the month was up, but he was here now with her and she was going to make the best of the time they had.

She sat up, pulling her nightgown over her head to reveal that she was naked beneath it. Duke looked at her, his eyes hot and hungry as he took in her body. It was true she had put on weight since they were last together. There was no longer a gap between her thighs. Her behind was bigger, her breasts were fuller, her stomach not as flat, her body far from the perfect figure she’d had when she was a teenager. But he didn’t seem to mind her woman’s body. He just continued to look at her with such need in his eyes that it made her tremble.

“What are you doing, Grace?” He glanced toward the door.