Intensity (13 page)

“Linc, I need on the schedule for tonight,” Jax said with a serious face, and my body stiffened at the implication.

He hadn’t moved an inch, but his face went from ferocious to volcanic. “No.”

Final answer. You’d think that would be enough, but no such luck.

“What the hell?” Jax spit out.

Linc marched forward and tossed Jax’s hand from me, pulling me along with him. He looked back and barked, “She’s off limits,” and shoved me out the door.

I glanced back. Jax followed, but not too close. Linc pushed me forward the entire time. “Get back to work, Serena.”

I stopped and glared at him. He looked pissed, no doubt about it, but I hadn’t done a damn thing wrong. I was
doing
my “work” when I got interrupted. His knuckles ground into my lower back, urging me forward.

Great, just freaking great. “I’m
going
…” I said snidely, just as pissed, pointing behind us, inches from his nose. “You’re gonna have to go back there and get what we need. We’re low on vodka and whiskey.” There, take that.

We stood there for endless minutes. When an intense man like Linc stared, it felt like an eternity. He leaned over, pushing his mouth so hard against my ear, his teeth scraped it as he demanded, loud enough to be heard over the music. “Final warning. Stay-away-from-Jax.”

I did the same, but shriller than him. “My pleasure!”
I stormed off and got my ass back to work—boss’s orders.

Linc nowhere to be found when I finished work, I crashed in my apartment. Sometime in the middle of the night I felt a strong pressure on my back, and arms wrapped underneath me. Grogginess didn’t disguise a thing. The contour of his body and his scent infused in every pore, he’d been branded on my brain for quite a while. So much so, that even in my sleepy state I
knew
Linc.

He whispered the same phrase three times, “I’m sorry, Serena,” at my temple, in my ear, and when he tucked me against his chest, linking our hands together, he repeated the last one against my fingers.

I fell back asleep with a tiny smile and happier heart.

Three additional clients joined the ranks today. Once again they had a typical response, mentioning a friend of a friend recommended me. Numbers were my thing, and I gained a lot of experience at Gram’s side, but in all the years we worked together, acquiring new clients in a steady stream wasn’t typical. It could be luck or a fluke, I hadn’t given it much thought before, but now, perhaps
someone
wasn’t telling me something. There’d be only one way to find out. He should be in his office this time of day.

An empty lounge felt weird without loud tunes and gyrating bodies. A sense of déjà vu hit me as I approached a semi-open door. Instead of going in, I turned to leave, coming to a stop when I heard my name, said as if someone talked
about
me, not
to
me. I should’ve left but my curiosity wouldn’t let me. Tucked along the wall, I listened.

Please forgive me for being so nosy.

“I’ll triple the rate. In fact, I want a long-term arrangement with Serena.”

Hell, it’s Jax again.

“I told you she’s off limits. She’s exclusive already.”

You tell him, Linc.
I pumped my
fist at my side.

“With who?”

“Me.”

Yes, put him in his place—outta here, sucker!

“What are you doing, man? That’s not like you.”

Crap. Tell him, Linc. Tell him I’m yours and only yours
.

“She needed a job, and I gave her one. It’s temporary until she gets her finances together. It is what it is.”

Bile tainted my tongue and a thundering brigade charged across my chest. I should’ve left, but I couldn’t. It was like the people who witnessed a catastrophe and stood there—watching—doing nothing.

“So what’s the big deal then? I’m a paying client.”

Every bone in my body shattered and shriveled to the ground at the thought he’d turn me over to Jax.

“Don’t. We’re not going there. Not with her.”

“Linc, I know you don’t want to hear this, but I’ll say it anyway because we’re friends. We’ve been through hell together, so listen up. Think long and hard about what you’re doing, and what it means. I’m guessing you haven’t known her long. You have a lot going on and just as much on the line. Have you told her anything?”

“No.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“You done, Jax?”

“For now…hey, I’m just watching out for your back.”

“Yeah…yeah, I know.”

I unglued my fractured body. Tears came in gusts and didn’t stop for a long time.

My saving grace came in the form of a long walk to the mini-mart after the catastrophic eavesdropping. I bought three types of ice cream: Chunky Monkey, Cherry Garcia, and the pièce de résistance: Chocolate Therapy. Ben & Jerry’s must have a psychologist on their payroll, because I could relate each of their flavors to an event and reason to eat them. Today’s selections definitely related.

Arms full, I jabbed the elevator button. When it opened, I hurried in and imagined splendid and gigantic combinations. My goal: get to my apartment and eat until comatose.

One floor up the elevator came to an abrupt stop, the doors opened, and in walked B.B. Yikes! Slumped in the corner from the emotionally draining morning, I imagined my position sent an ill-intended message. Her squinty eyes and crooked smirk spoke volumes. I shifted my stance and kept my mouth shut, staring at the air vent above my head. Negative vibes wafted off her in waves. I couldn’t deal with another mental slap. Not now anyway. My shitty mood rubbing against hers would be worse than grinding a million sticks of TNT together.

Weapons of mass destruction—total disaster and complete devastation.

“I heard you got my message.” Of course she would speak first—the instigator.

Not sure what she was talking about, I ran through my memory banks for any instance but drew a complete blank. “What’s that?”

Her belly laugh blasted my eardrums in the confined space. Since I had no clue, I remained quiet. She calmed herself pretty quick, realizing she hadn’t gotten a rise out of me. “I heard you had a little problem with your car.”

You got to be freaking kidding me!
That bitch.

I eased up from my propped stance and stood to my full five eleven. In two huge steps, I stared her down with Wicked Witch of the West perfection. Fists firmed at my sides, I snapped, “I owe you one then.”

“Oh, you owe me alright. Except, I think I’ll take it with you on your knees…licking my shoes.”

Gross.
“You must not be too bright if you missed
my
message.”

She snorted, her sing-song voice mocking, “What’s that,
Saaadrena
?”

“It had something to do with…
a bloody face
. Since you didn’t understand the first time, it looks like I’ll have to make it harder and louder.” Just as I leaned forward to grab her, the elevator doors opened. We both looked and there stood Jax.

Could this day get any worse? Yes! I needed to check my horoscope. The universe had to be in retrograde or spinning upside down, because this wackiness couldn’t be explained by anything else.

His well-defined, veined hand held the door open. A
what the heck is going on?
expression and quirked brow pointed right at me, like I was the troublemaker.

Yeah, like I’d tell him anything. He needed to keep his own damn mouth shut.

I turned to B.B. and shot her a death-ray glare, communicating my silent and final warning. Snatching my bag, I stormed past Jax, leaving them behind to wallow in their demonic states together.

I hoped they speared each other with their pitchforks, annihilating one another in the process.

More than fuming and intent on expelling some of the negative energy, I hit up the best source of information—Mylaynee. Bowls filled to the brim with three types of icy goodness, we propped our feet up on wicker chairs, soaking up the afternoon rays out on the balcony.

“All right, I can tell something’s buggin’ you. What’s up? You bought enough junk food to last a year.”

I swirled the spoon through each scoop, mixing the flavors and spitting out the first of many questions. “What’s the deal with Jax?”

She smiled wide and said with excitement, “Oh, did you get a chance to meet him?”

My pinched lips must have clued her in to the fact that I didn’t share her enthusiasm. Her mouth turned down, and her disappointed tone said his bad boy side had been up to no good—again. “What he do?”

I burst out in laughter and at the same time tears rolled down my cheeks, almost as if a split-personality took over, and my psyche didn’t know which persona to present first. Lost in my crazed thoughts, I paced back and forth and attempted to pull together the complaints I wanted to lodge.

“Hey.” She stepped in front of me, grabbing my shoulders and halting my frantic movements. “Do you need me to beat the shit out of him for ya?”

That did it. My face dried and hysterical giggling won out, both of us unable to contain it. I wrapped my arms around her, calmed my ass down, and sat back in my seat. Ready to do what I intended when I came here—gather intel. I needed all the ammunition I could get, so I’d be better prepared to deal with Jax in the future.

“How do you know him?”

Again she smiled, tender rather than enthusiastic. “When I came here, I had a lot of bad stuff going on. He kinda adopted me.” I lifted a brow at that statement. “Not that way, girl. I’m not his type. He’s like a brother to me.” My mouth dropped open; I could not believe it. She read my thoughts well and continued to protest. “Seriously, we aren’t like that. We’re good friends.” She smacked me in the arm. “Get your mind outta the gutter. His company’s in charge of security here. When his dad retired he took over the business. The guys he hires are all top-notch. You’ve seen them around, right?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t know he had anything to do with it.”

She nodded. “You met Sal, he’s head honcho and manages them, but Jax is the boss. Linc contracts them. In fact, I work for Jax too.”

“What?” I couldn’t contain how loud it came out, and my previous shocked expression came back full force.

“Every once in a while, he asks for my help on cases. Linc doesn’t mind, so I pitch in when I can. I like it.” She shrugged and sat back down, taking a bite of ice cream. Hungrier than before, I picked up my bowl and dug in, even though it had turned mushy. “So you gonna tell me what he did to piss you off?”