Risk It All (Risqué #2) (7 page)

‘We should go back to renting only to men,’ Gus said. ‘Less drama.’

‘Bri won’t bring drama,’ Blaser said though he couldn’t be sure of that. Whatever drama that Bri had following her had already gotten her flung out of one apartment.

‘It’s just Suzette and Ivy around here now and Ruge will kick Suzie out when he gets back into town. Bri alright about being one of two? Ivy has Dax mind, all the other guys know to keep their hands off, Bri will be the only single girl.’

‘She’ll be safe here.’

‘Yeah, we know that, but she might not be so sure. We didn’t have to worry about anyone being safe when we had the guy only rule.’

‘That was never a rule, it just worked out that way. Gender was never a factor in our tenancy decisions.’

‘If you say so,’ Gus said, yawning and scrubbing his hands through his hair. ‘But you know the guys can get rowdy. Most women would have trouble shacking up with so many ex-cons.’

‘Not every guy here is a felon,’ Blaser said, Gus only had misdemeanours on his rap sheet.

‘Don’t know about Dax, but with Colt gone… Ruger and I are the only two who have never seen the inside of a prison cell,’ Gus grumbled and slugged his coffee. ‘You’re hardly Mr Squeaky Clean over there.’

Squeaky clean was a joke, Blaser wasn’t even just mildly mucky, he’d waded in up to his neck and got himself good and filthy. But he was trying to clean up his act now and since leaving prison five years ago he’d been completely legit.

Before they could talk further, there was a knock on the door and because he was right next to it, Blaser swung it open without delay. The guest wasn’t expecting such a hasty response because she did a double take when he filled the frame.

‘Oh,’ she smiled. Man, in the light of day she looked like the sweetest thing though he knew it was an optical illusion: he’d seen her fight.

‘Bri,’ he said. ‘We were just talking about you.’

‘Were you?’

Swinging the door further open, he swept his arm to gesture her inside but she stayed outside and just looked at Gus. Smart girl, she didn’t enter an apartment and block herself inside with two men, especially when for all she knew there were more of them. As soon as Gus was done checking her out, he was off his feet and at the door by Blaser’s side. So there was no need for Bri to come inside at all.

‘Gus’ she said. ‘What happened to the army?’

‘Navy,’ he said. ‘Gave it up. Got discharged.’

‘Oh yeah, why was that?’ she asked, looking the tall, lean form of his cousin up and down. ‘You look good to me.’

‘Thanks, it’s your eyes that are doing that to me, honey.’

‘Right,’ Blaser said. Brianna flirting with anyone would get his back up. But doing it with family was more than his sanity could handle. 'It was mental reasons, the dude is a loose cannon. The military finally realised what we already knew.'

Gus laughed and sloped back to retrieve his coffee from the table. ‘They say that all geniuses end up insane.’

‘They say the same of fools,’ Blaser said, giving his cousin the evil eye.

‘I wanted to return this,’ Brianna said, thrusting his jacket at him and changing the subject – as she was good at.

‘Thanks.’

‘I tried your apartment, but you weren’t in. I thought Gus might know where you were… I’m glad I found you. I wanted to say thanks for last night.’

‘No problem,’ he said. ‘Did you sleep ok?’

Curling a finger under her chin, he turned her face toward the light to see that her cheek was discoloured, but she’d covered it with makeup. This close to her he couldn’t help thinking that she looked as great in jeans and a scoop neck tank as she had in last night’s skimpy outfit.

‘Yeah. The bedroom window wouldn’t open but other than that it was great.’

‘You want me to come and look at it?’ he said aware that his hands were filthy.

‘Oh, no, I’m heading out just now.’

‘Where are you going?’

‘To meet a friend,’ she said. ‘He’s going to help me—‘

‘He?’ Blaser asked. She had said that she got on fine without sex, but that didn’t mean that men weren’t sniffing around for it.

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Don’t get jealous, Love. The colour doesn’t suit you.’

Her teasing reminded him that his cousin was watching, so Blaser cleared his throat and used her tactic of changing the subject. ‘The briefing is at nine thirty tonight, which is switch over time when the girls are in,’ he said. ‘I could come over before, open up the bedroom window, and then give you a ride to the club.’

‘You would do that?’

‘Sure,’ he said. ‘I’ll text you when I’m on my way.’

‘Great,’ she smiled. ‘I’ve switched my SIM, so if you want the number… Do you have a pen?’

They both looked at Gus who took a while to remember that they were in his place meaning that it was him who needed to retrieve the stationary. When Gus got back to them with the pen, Bri grabbed Blaser’s elbow and lifted it so she could write her phone number on the inside of his forearm, beneath the folded up sleeve of his overalls.

‘Thanks,’ she said and handed Gus his pen.

‘No worries,’ Gus said, Bri bestowed on him a smile then she spun around and disappeared.

Blaser closed the door and only then noticed the grin on his cousin’s face. ‘What?’

‘You would do that?’ Gus mimicked Bri. ‘Damn, she looks good. Maybe I’ll fix her window and chase her down for the paperwork.’

‘I dare you to think about it,’ Blaser threatened, giving his cousin a shove. Violence wasn’t usually his first instinct, but the smile on Gus’ face was driving him toward it. ‘She’s been screwed around enough without adding you and your shit to the mix.’

‘Where the fuck did you find her at three in the morning?’

Knowing that it would come out eventually, Blaser gave his cousin a rundown of events with regards to Rafe. As he went on with the story, all mischief left Gus and he became serious business, folding his arms as he listened intently.

‘So she’s under your protection, that’s what you’re telling me?’

‘Yeah,’ Blaser said, having not thought of it that way until now. ‘Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying.’

‘Which means that she’s under all of our protection. Any woman claimed by a Warner gets full family and affiliate protection, so you better be damn sure she’s worth it before we wade into god knows what. It means we’re all willing to go to jail or die to protect this woman if that’s what it takes.’

He doubted, hoped, it would never come to that. ‘If that’s what it takes then that’s what I’ll do,’ Blaser said.

‘Then she’s under Warner protection. It would take a lunatic to approach her now, especially here or at the club, but I’ll put the word out.

‘She doesn’t have to know about this, does she?’ Blaser asked and Gus’ mischief returned.

‘Do you think half our women know what we do full stop? Let alone what we do to protect them and keep other men away?’ The question was rhetorical, not even their mothers and sisters knew half the stuff that Warner men did. Respect and protect was the number one rule when it came to women, that’s what they’d all always been taught.

‘She’s one of us again, cuz,’ Gus said, slapping a hand on his shoulder then returning to his coffee. ‘You’ve done well for yourself.’

And just like that Bri somehow became his woman again. Gus was already heading to the coffee machine for a refill like what he’d said was no big deal, but Blaser was stuck. After so long apart Bri shouldn’t still feel like his woman, yet she did.

Warners were tough and fair, they gave their steadfast focus to whatever they dedicated themselves to. He knew that whatever Bri was mixed up in he wanted to take care of it, he just hadn’t realised that his actions would involve asking the family to take care of it as well.

Going to Risqué shouldn’t make her apprehensive, but it did. A sharp tapping on her apartment door beckoned her, but when she opened it there was no one there. Stepping out onto the balcony to seek out the source of the knocking, she saw that Blaser was already at the top of the stairs.

‘Come on,’ he said, sliding both hands down the metal railings on either side of the stairs. ‘Chop, chop.’

Reaching into the apartment, she snagged her purse then locked the door as quickly as she could. ‘So much for fixing the window,’ she said, running down the stairs behind him towards the idling truck that still had its lights on. Bringing a vehicle highlighted just how desperate he was to be quick in returning to the club.

‘I’ll do it another time,’ Blaser said. ‘I don’t like to be away from the club.’

‘I can tell,’ she said. Hopping into the truck she pulled on her seatbelt, but Blaser was already rocketing out of the parking lot. ‘Have you had a chance to think about my request?’

‘Your request?’ he asked, flashing her a frown.

‘To dance. I can make more money—‘

He was already shaking his head. ‘Every girl starts by waiting tables.’

‘It’s not like I need an audition, you’ve seen me dance.’

‘In private,’ he said. ‘That wasn’t a public show. Dancing in a club is different.’

‘I’ve done it before.’

‘When you were seventeen,’ he said. ‘There’s no point in fighting with me. I stick to the rules. Just like we always said we would do.’

‘Yeah, but…’

‘But the rules don’t apply to you?’ he asked. ‘They apply tenfold, Doll. I won’t take advantage of you.’

‘It’s not taking advantage if I ask.’

‘Argue all you want,’ he said. ‘But I’m the boss and my rules are law in Risqué.’

She knew Blaser too well to believe him when he was so obviously lying. ‘The rules aren’t why you’re saying no to me. Do you remember when you used to love me?’ she asked, twisting in the passenger seat to rest a hand on the centre console.

‘What do you want now?’ he asked.

‘No, I’m just saying, our relationship went for more than a decade. I know when you’re bullshitting me, Warner.’

‘I’m not bullshitting you, it’s true, you can ask Lyssa.’

‘Lyssa is in the club?’ she asked.

He pulled into the parking spot at the back of the club and turned off the engine. ‘Yeah, why?’

‘Why would a woman want to hang around at a strip club?’

‘Lyssa,’ he said and a smile decorated his face. ‘I can’t get the damn woman out of the place. She loves it here, Suzette’s in all the time too. But she only comes in to see Lyssa.’

‘And why does Lyssa like it so much? She’s weird; she smiles too much and has no shame when it comes to sex.’

‘She’s a sex therapist,’ he said. ‘You should hear some of the things she’s said to Ruge.’ He frowned. ‘How would you know what Lyssa’s like?’

‘I went to her place yesterday and I saw her this morning before I went out, she didn’t tell you?’

He shook his head. ‘Lyssa’s a secrets woman. She prefers to be the one asking for information. She doesn’t offer much unless you ask directly.’ Meeting her eye, he made no attempt to get out of the truck. ‘You went to see her? Twice?’

‘I went to her office yesterday and yes, we… I guess you could say that we had a session.’ Relief flooded his expression before he smiled.

‘Babe, that’s… I’m proud of you.’

Just hearing those words directed at her made a nip form in her sinuses and any doubts she had about returning to Doctor Cutler disappeared. Going to Lyssa and talking about her trauma meant so much to Blaser because he cared about her and she wouldn’t let him down.

‘Thanks,’ Bri said, unclicking her seatbelt and reaching for the door handle.

Blaser got out and around the hood to open her door for her, she automatically linked her fingers through his as they walked toward the rear entrance of Risqué. It was only when he shoved the door and held it open for her that she realised holding his hand wasn’t natural… rather, it wasn’t appropriate.

'Any girls I should look out for?' Bri asked, trying to be discreet about slipping her hand out of his.

Being subtle didn’t work, he glanced down when her hand disappeared from his and he too must have had the same thought about how inappropriate it was because he seemed to ignore his urge to grab hold of her again. He cleared his throat but said nothing about what had just happened.

‘If you're looking for the inside scoop on the locker room, you'd have to talk to Crystal,’ he said.

‘Crystal doesn't like me,' Bri said, walking at his side down the corridor of the backstage area, passed a flight of stairs. ‘Which probably isn't the best start for me.’

‘You went to school with Crystal. You guys used to be friendly.’ His tone suggested that he wanted further explanation about that, but he wasn’t going to get it from her.

‘Those days are gone,' she said, passing him to move down the corridor.

He snagged her arm and she swung back to him. Wondering why he’d pulled her back, Bri prepared herself in expectation of a kiss. Instead, he nodded toward a door and she guessed they’d reached their destination.

Blaser hadn't opened this club until after he was out of jail. It was strange to be such an integral part of something you knew nothing about. She had pored over every detail of this place with him while it was still a dream and being here now that he had done it made her sorry that she hadn't been a part of this journey.

Before they went through the door, Blaser actually knocked on it. He didn’t wait for a response, he just went in, but he’d alerted the occupants to his pending entry. Coming in after him she took in the lockers and strewn clothes, this was the women’s changing area. Women were all around the place in various stages of undress, but he didn't blink at the flesh on show. She guessed that he was used to seeing every inch of these women.

He passed the lockers perpendicular to the entrance and with a hand on the small of her back he guided her around to sit on a couch, which shared the door wall.

‘Everyone together,’ he called but all of the women were already gravitating toward him anyway.

He had that kind of force in every room. Either men wanted to hit him or women wanted to mount him, Blaser evoked extreme emotion wherever he went.

‘Where's Crystal?’ a tiny little woman asked, propping herself on the high arm of another red leather couch.

‘Keeping things moving out front,’ Blaser said.

‘I thought that Lyssa and Colt were out there,’ the little woman said.

‘They are,’ Blaser said, eager to move on. ‘Suzette just came in, so the women are chattering about something and—‘The women laughed. ‘Yes, Colt is up to his eyeballs and if I leave him out there on his own too long, he’ll kill me.’

‘Bet you miss Ruger,’ the same little woman as before said. ‘He called me.’

‘Good, I'm glad to hear it,’ Blaser said. ‘That’s just made my day, Destiny. Now you want to quit your yapping so I can get done what needs to be done?’

To the outside eye, he was a guy who just wanted to keep things moving. But Bri sensed his displeasure at this woman bringing up his brother in such a public forum. The Warners believed that family business should be kept inside the family. But maybe this girl was part of the family. Blaser wouldn't want his female cousins getting naked in his club, where he could see them. But if Ruger wasn't in a relationship with Suzette, maybe he was with this woman instead.

‘This is Jade.’

Bri's attention flew up to Blaser, but he didn't look back. Jade was the name they'd come up with as her cover name for when she worked in the place that they were going to start together. It had been her idea for them to use cover names because although they planned to have a respectable joint, she knew from first-hand experience that it was easier to have a character to disappear into. And no girl would want a customer to be able to track her down either.

Trying to shrug off her surprise, she turned away from him, but still couldn't quite bring herself to look at the other girls. Being here among so many beautiful and confident women was intimidating. Everyone here knew each other and had a history together.

The only person present who she had a history with had seen her very naked, very often; he’d been inside her body.  That in itself might not be so bad, except he'd also seen every other woman in the room naked too, although they’d been on stage. Putting her thoughts together, Bri speculated about just how close he was to these women and, other than Crystal, if he had any favourites.

Realising that she hadn’t been paying attention Bri quickly listened in. But other than her introduction there was nothing specifically about her. He talked about a pricing change and said something about an issue with the air conditioning in room C. All of it seemed routine until he opened it up for questions.

‘Crystal should really be here,’ Destiny said, squirming while the others seemed to be goading her on.

‘What’s the problem?’ Blaser asked.

‘Did Lyssa talk to Colt?’ Destiny asked and Bri smiled because she knew this roundabout questioning was leading to something and it would be driving Blaser crazy that Destiny wasn’t getting to the point.

‘She’s fucking him, so yeah, I imagine they talk. What is this about?’

‘I wish Ruger was here,’ Destiny mumbled.

Suddenly Blaser being riled wasn’t funny, these women were genuinely nervous to bring this issue to him, so either this was a very serious issue or Blaser was a hardass boss. ‘You should be more afraid of Colt than of him,’ Brianna said before she’d realised she was going to say anything. ‘Blaser’s bark is much worse than his bite. The hard man thing is all an act.’

‘Who asked you?’ he snapped at her and that was enough to bring her to her feet.

‘You did not just shout at me in front of these women Blaser Warner,’ she said, raising her eyebrows and waiting for an apology.

‘They’re not afraid of me. They just—‘

‘What?’ she asked Blaser. ‘They would rather talk to Crystal, Lyssa, or Colt about their problem? Who the hell would rather talk to Colt than talk to you? Colt is a prick about everything, he’s a superior sonofabitch.’

‘Colt is a prick to you,’ Blaser said.

‘Because I ruined your life.’

‘Oh ho,’ Blaser laughed and shook his head. ‘It never takes you long to get to that fight does it, Dollface.’

‘Who is fighting?’ she asked, glancing at the women who were watching the unfolding show. ‘No one should worry about saying anything to Blaser in front of this many witnesses… he has too many priors.’ Sinking back onto the couch, Bri let her focus slide downward.

‘It’s the alley,’ Destiny said, Bri could feel a whole lot of eyes burning into her now. Anyone who wasn’t intrigued by the arrival of this stranger before would be now.

Blaser puffed up when he inhaled. ‘The camera stays,’ he said. ‘I know that none of you want it there. I’m not that crazy about it myself, but it’s there for your protection.’

‘That’s what Crystal said,’ Destiny said. ‘It just feels weird to know that we’re always being watched.’

‘When you go out someone should be watching you,’ Blaser said. ‘You agree with me Destiny, so don’t start rabble-rousing just because you’ve got an audience.’

A few of the women started arguing. ‘They know that I agree it should stay,’ Destiny shouted above the others and they began to quiet.

‘Her opinion doesn’t count,’ another girl said and Bri wanted to jump to Destiny’s defence though knew of no reason why she should or why Destiny had a different opinion than the others.

‘Ok, we’re going to finish this conversation later,’ Blaser said and got up. ‘Everyone get back to work.’

The women started chatting and he took hold of her shoulder to pull her out of the room. ‘What was that about?’ Bri asked. Blaser had ended that meeting abruptly and she had a feeling it was for her benefit. ‘If there’s something I should know about…’

‘The offices are upstairs,’ he said, pointing at the stairs but taking her further along the corridor.

Bri was going to ask more questions, but the music got louder and he opened a door then boom, they were on the main floor. The stage to their right was lit up and a woman was dancing topless with more than a few patrons panting on and waiting to put dollar bills in her g-string.

Blaser didn’t even glance at the dancer, he kept hold of Bri’s shoulder, angling her left and right to lead her through tables to a bar, which was next to the main entrance hallway. At the same time they got behind the bar, he let go of her shoulder.

Her hair had gotten in her face during their rush across the room, so she shifted it aside now and the first thing she saw was Colt Warner at the back corner of the bar locked in a clinch with what had to be the good doctor, Lyssa Cutler.

‘They’re always like that.’

Brianna turned toward the voice and a woman on the other side of the bar was gazing at the lip-locked couple too. She took a swig of her drink then looked at Bri. ‘Excuse me?’ Bri asked.