Keep It Sexy (KIS Series Book 3) (22 page)

The smoke quickly filled the room. I gasped for a breath, choking on the blackening air. My eyes burned from the ash. Dropping to my knees, I doubled over while my throat felt like it was on fire. Suddenly, there was a crash, and glass scattered along the side of the bathroom where a small window had been broken. The glow of the streetlights were spilling in.

“Christian!” It was Talon. I crawled toward the sound of his voice. “Grab on to my hand!”

I swung my arm around until I felt contact. The smoke was so thick by now I couldn’t breathe or see. I felt the squeeze of his fingers around my wrist, then the tightness of his other hand around my arm. Talon hauled me through the small window, and I felt the sharp, broken glass cut my stomach and my back. But I was alive. When Talon let go of me, my hands landed on the asphalt of the street. I coughed out the smoke, trying to inhale clean air. I rose to my feet, trying to see if everyone was all right, but when I stood, I fell, feeling lightheaded.

“Whoa, man, take it easy,” Talon urged. I wheezed, coughing as I opened my burning eyes and only saw a sea of blurriness before me.

“Jade?” I gasped. Talon guided me to sit against the brick wall and patted me on my shoulder while he yelled for help.

“She’s fine. Everyone’s fine, man.” He kneaded my shoulder once again before speaking to someone. “He’s suffered major smoke inhalation. His name is Christian Rodriguez, he’s twenty-two with no known health related issues,” Talon explained.

The paramedics hastily got me onto the stretcher and to the hospital. The entire way there, they tried forcing an oxygen mask on my face, but I kept pulling it down. I needed to call Billie. The paramedics assured me she would be notified, but I didn’t believe them. I fought them until I couldn’t anymore. My throat, chest, and eyes were killing me. The paramedic told me to give into the sleep and that I would be all right. I tried to fight it, but in the end, I couldn’t.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Billie

I was lying on my bed finishing up
The Wealth of Nations
when my phone pinged, alerting me of a message. The number was unknown, like always, so I knew it was either my father or Connor. When I swiped, the message opened to reveal a video clip. “Eternal Flame” from the Bangles began to play while the camera zoomed in to the window of a building. Slowly, as the camera panned out, the building became visible. It was Blush.

People were screaming, frantically running out the doors, and there were loud popping noises and glass breaking. That’s when I saw the fire and smoke. I felt as if I’d been immersed in an ice bath. I watched as screams became cries and people shouted to call 911. My lungs weren’t filling with air; I’d forgotten how to breathe out of utter fear.

This couldn’t be happening right now. This wasn’t live. Neither Jade nor Christian had called, and my fear turned into the deepest dread I’ve ever felt. The thought that something could’ve happened to either of them made me throw up on my bedroom floor. I broke out into a sob while trembling, slipping off the bed. My phone rang in my clutched hand, and when I looked to see who it was, my heart nearly combusted with joy.

“Jade!” I sobbed.

“Billie, oh my God, Bil!” She cried, gasping for air while I matched her reaction. “Billie, Christian, he’s in the hospital!”

Now that I knew Jade was fine, my main priority was to get to Christian.

“Billie, Talon, he’s going for you, he should be there soon. He’s taking you to the hospital. I’m still at the bar, getting seen by the paramedics. Pete’s on his way to get me.” Jade managed to explain it all, knowing I would ask those questions.

“Jade…” My voice cracked.

“I know, honey. Go to your man, I’m fine.”

I hung up, then raced down the stairs with shaky legs when the doorbell rang. I drew the door open, rushing out. Talon stood aside, giving me space, and we both ran to his car without speaking a word. When I had composed myself enough to breathe at a steady rate, I spoke.

“Thank you.”

Talon nodded, not breaking his concentration on the road. “You’re welcome.”

I took in a deep breath before asking the next question.

“What happened?”

Talon did the same, inhaling then releasing a breath slowly.

“I’m not sure, it all happened so fast. There was a crash and then we smelled smoke. First, we all thought it was Jaime burning something, but then when the flames rose on the opposite side we knew it wasn’t the kitchen.”

Talon rubbed his face with his hand, and that’s when I noticed the blackness on his fingers and suddenly the smell of the smoke filled my nose. “Jaime and I managed to get everyone out. Once we were all outside, Jade started shouting for Christian. That’s when we noticed he wasn’t outside. He’d gone into the bathroom to fix a clogged toilet before the fire started and never got out. Jaime said there was a window to the bathroom. We smashed it open, but by then the smoke was so thick we couldn’t see if he was in there or not. When I called his name, he responded, and I managed to drag him out the window. Someone was looking out for him tonight, Billie, because a few minutes more and he wouldn’t have made it.”

I bit down on my trembling lips, holding back a sob while tears rolled down my cheeks. Two things I realized right then and there. One, I would always be grateful to Jaime and Talon, and two—Connor was done for.

***

I wasn’t allowed to see Christian because I wasn’t family. Luckily, I had called Angel on the way to the hospital to let Christian’s mom know what happened. So, when we arrived, it wasn’t long before Juanita and Roman showed up. Juanita was led inside first. Minutes later, I was summoned to his room.

I entered, fearful of what I might encounter. He was hooked up to machines with an oxygen mask on his handsome face. As soon as he saw me, his eyes lit up. His let go of his mother’s hand and reached for me. I rushed to him, gripping his hands while tears streamed down my face. I kissed his ashy, blackened hand, then his face. He laughed and coughed and I stopped instantly.

“I’m fine.” His voice was fragile and raspy. I hated it. I hated myself for it. He was here because of me. “Hey,” he said, lifting my chin. “Don’t.” He knew exactly what I was thinking. I wiped my tears away and gripped his hand again, kissing it.

“You love my son,” Juanita said, seeming in shock. I looked at her with all the sincerity I could muster.

“Very much.” I hiccupped. She nodded, then kissed her son’s forehead.

“
Bueno
.”

That was enough for me. I stayed as long as I was able to before the hospital staff kicked me out. Talon had come in before that to see Christian. I took the opportunity to go to the bathroom. At least, that’s what I told Christian. Instead, I walked to the end of the hospital hallway and into an empty flight of stairs. Pressing the call button on my phone, I waited until he picked up.

“Everything going accordingly?” he asked.

“No. I want a meeting with them,” I countered.

Don huffed, then grunted. “Absolutely not. We have a plan, Billie. Stick to it.”

“Da, he burned down his bar. He almost die—” I had to stop for a minute to compose my cracking voice. “I’m taking him down. I’m not waiting anymore. Christian’s life is in danger. He thinks he’s able to get information on his own without involving me. That’s never going to happen and you know that.”

“Yeah, I know, wee girl. He’s a good man, after all.” Don sighed. “All right, I’ll pass on the message to the agents, and they’ll call you with a time and place.”

“Better make it sooner rather than later, Da.” My voice was harsh, but I didn’t care. It was time to lay all this to rest and put that son of a bitch away, the right way.
I waited long enough
, I thought, as I hung up the phone.

We should have done something the same night Christian confessed what he’d agreed to do in his drunken state. I sat on the marble step and leaned my head against the pale green color of the hospital wall, remembering his confession clearly. Christian had rambled on about something, still holding me against his chest.

“I’m sorry,” he’d said. “I did it for my mom, Billie.” He’d tossed back and forth in his sleep while his arms tightened around me. “But I can’t do it, c
hiquita
. I love you. I can’t put your dad in jail.”

My body had gone still. I pieced together the small amount of knowledge I had. He was being forced to get information from me in order to give the police evidence to put my family in jail. I waited until Christian stilled before calling Don, because my gut feeling told me he needed to know, and until this day, my gut had never been wrong, except with Connor and what a psychopath he’d turn into.

Don’s words were a surprise to me. “I need to tell you something, and you’re not going to like it,” he said. “Actually, you’re going to hate it.” He’d paused before continuing. “John told me that he explained to you why Connor was shipped here years ago.”

I cleared my throat. “Yeah, he did.”

“Billie, you have to understand, after your mom died, I went a little crazy. I had two wee boys and a baby girl to take care of. I stopped my criminal ways for your mom, until she passed, and then I resorted back to what I knew. My intentions were never to involve you three, but when an opportunity opened up for the McAllisters and the Cassidys, I thought it was a win-win for everyone,” he explained. “You would never have to work or be afraid of getting caught. But I never foresaw what kind of a man Connor would turn out to be.

“When you expressed that you wanted to go to college, I thought that was a great idea. I thought maybe Connor would find someone else and this would all get cleared up, but he became obsessed with you. At times, I’d convince you to come home so I could make sure you didn’t want to come back, so you would be reminded why you left in the first place. Then Connor and Donnie started making deals behind my back and stealing my contacts. They thought they were smart enough that I wouldn’t find out. Fucking idiots.

“I got a whiff of some detectives looking into taking me down because of some dirt I had on them, but like you know, your da never leaves a trail. Those two knuckleheads found out you worked for Christian. Christian, as you know, has a brother in jail. Well, they managed to get him out on good behavior a year early, and how they managed it, I’m not sure. My insider says they used that as leverage for Christian. Help them take me down through you, or his brother goes back to jail. Thing is, them fucks don’t know they’re getting looked into by the Feds, the same Feds I worked out a deal with.

“I know I’ve always said we never rat, but…Billie, the one they want is Connor. He’s tangled himself in some very dangerous shit and involved Donnie in it too. Lincoln has nothing to do with it, but he still tags along to get me more info. I made a deal with the Feds. I’d help them out as long as you and Lincoln are protected. I can’t do anything about Donnie. It’s too late to save him.”

My mind was reeling. Christian was working with a couple of crooked cops who didn’t have a real case against my father. And Don had known this all along, because he’d made a deal with the FBI to take down Connor and those same corrupt detectives. Talk about the luck of the Irish.

I jerked up, snapping out of the memory as my phone buzzed inside my back pocket. My lips tugged upward as her name flashed on my screen.

“Hey, hon, how are you?” I said in lieu of a greeting. Jade let out a shaky breath.

“I’m glad to be alive.” Her voice was small, and it pained me. “How’s our boy?”

“They ran some tests. He’s going to be okay. They’re keeping him overnight just to be one hundred percent sure. How are you, really?”

“I’m better now that I’m home. Do you need me to come over there?” I opened the door to the inside of the hallway, walking back to Christian’s room.

“No, sweetheart, you get some rest. I’ll stop by tomorrow to check up on you, okay?”

Talon emerged, waiting for me to finish my conversation.

“Come here, now,” Jade was saying. “I don’t want you alone in your apartment.”

“You think I’m leaving here without Christian? Not a chance.”

Jade chuckled, and that made me feel a little better. “All right. See you tomorrow?”

“Without a doubt.”

“Okay, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Christian

I’d been awake since the early morning nurse came in to check on me. My mom and Roman had gone home hours ago, but Billie stayed. She was asleep in an awkward position on a blue leather chair across from me, one leg over the armrest while the other stretched across the floor. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her head rested against an uncomfortable looking hospital pillow.

She
and
my mother—surprisingly—had fought the staff to let her stay the night. If Billie never lost, neither did my mother. Those two were a deadly combination. Last night had been surreal. Talon had already warned me that the police were looking into it, but I knew who’d started the fire. Connor.

I knew what I had to do. This had gone far enough. As soon as they released me, I would call Marquis and give him the green light on Connor. I could care less what it would cost me. He’d endangered my employees and customers. It wasn’t about empty threats or pictures anymore. He was putting everyone I cared about in peril. The only thing that gave me solace was that Billie hadn’t been working last night. Just the thought of her being in the fire refueled my bloodlust for Connor. Billie stirred awake, and when she looked at me, the smile on her face brightened up my insides.

“Hey, baby,” she said, groggy as she sat up. She groaned when she stretched, loosening her muscles from the way she’d been sleeping. The doctor had recently cleared me of the oxygen mask, so I was able to speak clearly without the plastic getting in my way.

“Come lay with me.” I didn’t have to tell her twice. She jumped off the chair and basically threw herself on me.

“I don’t know what I would have done if something happened to you.” Billie nuzzled her head between my neck and shoulder. I circled my arms around her and held her close. I was finding it difficult to speak. I didn’t know what I would have done if things were the other way around. I drew her closer and she sighed, almost like she knew what I was thinking. Then she opened her lovely mouth and sang in a near-whisper. Her tone was throaty. She’d never sang to me like this before.

The song could’ve been interpreted as the difficulty in a long distance relationship, but in a sense, we had similar issues. We were the same. Our lives, family, and beliefs were very different. But also the same. This song was her asking me if I still wanted this, even though we appeared to be doomed from the start.

Were we cursed? Were we setting ourselves up for a failure? Even though we started with complete honesty, there was now a big secret between us, one that
I
had created. The song, “Waiting Game” by Banks, was hauntingly beautiful and Billie was the perfect person to sing it. When she finished, I gripped her chin, bringing her attention to me.

“When this is over, and it will be over, I will ask you to me mine forever. And I will never regret meeting you or going through all this bullshit to make that happen. You understand me? There could be a million Connors trying to get between us, and I would still want you.”

Her bottom lip trembled, and even though it meant she was sad, it was becoming my favorite expression because I got to kiss her and make her feel happy again. Knowing I was the only man able to do that made me want her even more.

“You’re everything I didn’t know I needed,” I told her, “and everything I always knew I wanted.”

***

After going home and showering, I dropped Billie off at Jade’s, but not without having Jade force feed me some food and hug and kiss me, relieved to have me alive. Billie just sat back and watched as I was getting the momma Jade treatment, a content smile on her face. Afterward, I went to the police station to speak to the cops and fill out the report they needed. An investigation was already in process, and it would determine how the insurance company would file the fire and whether or not it was covered under my policy. I overheard a cop say two metal doorstops had been used to keep me inside of the bathroom. Before I could get back into Big Bertha, though, Roman called.

“Hello?”

“How are you feeling?” he asked. I swallowed my anger because I wasn’t sure if he was calling for his interest or out of actual concern. I sat inside the car and closed the door.

“Better.”

“Good, I’m glad to hear it.”

“Rome…” I stopped clenching my jaw muscles. “What do you want?”

“I’m just calling to check on you. Damn, Chris, what the fuck?”

I tightened the hold on my steering wheel until my knuckles turned white, my breathing raspy and shallow.

“What do you want from me, Roman? You have put me in a compromising position once again. Three years ago, you betrayed me. You have no idea the shit I had to do to make sure Mom was safe, and now you guarantee these detectives that I will get them information against my girlfriend’s family so you can get out of jail early? The way you played me that day was fucked up, Rome. I can’t go back to being brothers. We will never be the same.”

“You’re not going to find information for them, are you?” By the tone in his voice, it was clear he already knew my answer. I leaned my head against the back of my seat.

“I don’t know.” The truth? I was going to kill Connor, the detective’s case would fall through, and Rome would be sent back to jail. And at this point, I didn’t care. Mom would have to get over it.

“I deserve that.” He spoke with sincere remorse.

I hung up, not wanting to listen to him anymore. He had made his bed, and now I would make my own. I drove to Aurora and stopped across from the infamous crack house. Marquis had two new guards at the door. I didn’t know them.

“You got an appointment?” the bigger one of the two asked.

“Nah, man. I don’t need one.” I adjusted my shades and smirked.

“Oh, you think this is funny?” the smaller one said, cocking his gun. Suddenly, the front door flew open and a long tattooed arm shot out, holding a pistol. It was pressed against the temple of the man who pointed the gun at me.

“Did I not give you a picture of this man’s face?” Marquis snarled. The two of them looked at me with wide eyes. I watched as recognition filled them. “You’re too busy trying to puff up your chest, acting like this is your house, like you got something to prove. Motherfuckers, this is
my
house, you’re
my
bitches, and the next time I have to do
your
job, I will shoot your ass dead, right here in the front of my steps and not even bother to clean up your blood. Then, the next motherfucker knows to do their motherfucking job the right motherfucking way! Got that?”

“Yes, sir.” The two swallowed slowly, but spoke sternly. Marquis lowered the gun then threw his arms open.

“What’s up, man?” he said cheerfully, and it reminded me of what a psychopath Marquis was. He moved aside, ushering me in. The house hadn’t changed much since I was last here. It still reeked of weed, sex, and dirty money.

“I’m here on business.”

“In that case, let’s go to my office.”

I followed him to the basement which was essentially a strong room with an equally impressive door, one you might find at a bank basement securing the vault. I sat across from him in the poorly lit gray room, while he sat behind his desk.

“So?” he said, leaning back.

“I’m green-lighting someone.”

“Let me guess, Connor Cassidy?” He pulled a cigar out from his desk drawer, and slid it against his nose, smelling it. When I nodded, he said, “I’m not sure if I’m willing to help you with that, Chris. He has ties to crews in Ireland and some in L.A. and Boston. If I went ahead and got rid of him for you that could potentially start a war.”

I hadn’t thought of that. I said nothing.

“He burned down your bar, didn’t he?”

Inhaling sharply, I bowed my head in agreement.

“Over the McAllister girl?”

I nodded again.

“Well, fuck.” We stayed silent for a couple of minutes before he spoke again. “I can do this for you. I can have one of my guys follow him around for a few days, track his movements, his patterns. That will give you more information on how to take him down. Maybe you can even make it look like a rival crew did him in.”

That sounded like the best idea. I was so caught up on revenge I wasn’t thinking about this rationally. This wasn’t like me.

“How much will I owe you?” I asked. Marquis cut the end of the cigar before lighting it and puffing the heavy smoke to the side.

“Don’t worry about it, Travieso. I owe you more favors than I’d like to admit.”

I grunted, surprised he’d said it. I stood, reaching for his hand to shake.

“We’ll speak in two days?” He mirrored my movements, wrapping his fingers around my hand firmly.

“Yes.”

“Stay safe until then,” he told me, and I left.