It was a new day, a new dawn, a new era.
Just kidding.
I was back at another New York Stallions hockey game, but things had changed. I wasn’t only here with Kelly. Justin was also with us. I’d evolved where the hockey stairway guy was now my secret boyfriend, and Kelly’s not-secret boyfriend was attending the game with us. Evolution. Right? I didn’t think that could be applied in this situation, but I was past caring about that too.
Also, I was going to be thirty next week. I liked thinking of Trace as my boyfriend. Made me feel young and fresh. Hip. That’s the word.
I was happy. And I shouldn’t be, but I gave in. Trace and me were Trace and me. I wouldn’t be going home to my apartment alone tonight. Who knew? I had all sorts of opportunities. Trace might meet me there, or snap, I might even go to his place. Because that was also an option.
I had a life. Well, I had a life before . . . actually, I had a pretty active life. Lots of friends, though half of that group was our bowling friends, but I had Leo. Val.
I didn’t know why I was going on about what I was going on about. “You seem good.”
There. That was it.
Kelly just went for beer, and Justin moved over to sit in her seat.
He was grinning at me, so I grinned back. “Thanks. I am good. You, too, by the way. You and Kelly seem happy.”
His grin deepened. “We are. There was some drama with my family, but we got through it.”
“The night she showed up at my place.”
“Yeah. That night.” He gave a tentative smile. “Thanks for, uh, not engaging.”
“Engaging?”
“Some friends like to jump on the bandwagon of ‘Oh, what’d he do? What an asshole.’ That sort of thing. You didn’t do that. Thank you.”
I shrugged. “Sure, but that’d be stupid. Thanks for not telling her about the car ride I took with Trace.”
“Don’t know anything about that or why you would refer to your boss as Trace.”
Right.
“Okay!” Kelly was back, falling into Justin’s emptied seat. “Guess who I ran into at the concessions? Molly. Can you believe it? She came for the game.”
“What?”
“Yeah!” Her smile was so wide. She was beaming. “She’s sitting on the other side, but Molly’s cousin is filling in at Easter Lanes for her.”
“Who’s she with?”
“She came alone. Said she got the ticket as a gift last minute and couldn’t miss this. Molly never gets out, so I was thinking we could go dancing after. Maybe at Octavia? Right, Jess?”
Dancing at Octavia? I was in. That sounded like fun.
Octavia was one of the “in” nightclubs to go to, but it was in a shitty neighborhood. I was pretty sure we’d gone past two groups of guys trying to jack cars when we parked, and as we had to walk past them to get to the nightclub, I took out my badge and made sure it was in plain view.
Two of the guys started toward us, saw my badge, and backtracked. They were gone from sight by the time we walked past, and once we got to the club, I called to see if a squad could swing through here.
“Okay. That was kinda cool.” Justin had a sheepish look on his face, his head ducking a little.
I tucked my badge back under my shirt once we were going past the bouncers. They gave us both a nod. One said, “Worthing.”
Justin started at that, his eyes narrowing, before he touched my back and urged me ahead of him.
What was that about?
But then we were inside, into the same darkness as always, and he showed me his phone’s screen.
Molly: Grabbed a booth table in the far east corner.
I nodded back. The music was louder than normal. The place was jam packed. Justin maneuvered us through the crowd. A few times a hand tried to grab both of us, but he either blocked them or I did.
When we neared the booth, he stopped dead in his tracks.
I hit into him, but he didn’t notice. His back was completely rigid, and moving around him, I saw that Kelly and Molly weren’t alone. Two other guys were with them.
I moved closer to get a better look.
Kelly was talking to them, her hands in the air, big bright smiles. She was acting like she’d known them forever. Molly had edged away from both, giving them space. The one guy was tuned in to Kelly while the second one was listening but giving Molly some looks.
They were good looking. Built. Big. Wide shoulders. All muscles. Tight white shirts, so they were really standing out when the neon lights flashed around the dance floor. Square jawlines. They were either personal trainers or criminals. As I moved ahead, the main guy spotted me, and his eyes narrowed.
His gaze was pinned to me, and I reached up, touching the chain where my badge was hanging from. A hardened look flashed in his gaze.
I didn’t know his name, but he was a criminal.
Justin moved around me, and I looked up, catching a glimpse of his face. His face was in stone. I’d never seen such fury on Justin’s face. I caught his arm. “Who are those guys?”
He spotted my chain and grabbed it, then tucked it under my shirt before realizing he’d touched me. “Sorry. Just—I need a favor from you tonight?”
“What is it?”
“I kept quiet about you and Tristian West. I need you to do the same about your bosses and about what you do for a living.”
So my gut was right. “Who are those guys to you?”
“Family, and not the family I want you to meet.”
He started to go forward, but I stepped in front once more. “Who are they in connection to Kelly?”
“She met them at that party you left. They came later, and since she moved in, they’ve come around a few times. They’re . . . she doesn’t know they’re not good guys, okay? I haven’t gotten around to telling her everything.”
“You need to.”
His eyes flashed. “Right. As soon as you do.”
I didn’t answer.
He scoffed, moving around me. “That’s what I thought. Listen, it’s not permanent. Okay? Either Kelly and I are going to move or . . . I don’t know. I haven’t figured it out yet.”
I felt my phone buzzing and pulled it out. The screen was lit up.
Trace calling.
I hit the button to send a text in response.
Me: At Octavia with friends. I can’t hear you if I answered
Trace: Get somewhere you can hear me. Now. I mean it, Jess.
I frowned, but seeing that no one was looking my way, I slipped out until I found a back hallway. The music was a little more muted; then I found an unlocked door, and even better. It was a maintenance closet, but I’d be able to hear him.
I called him back.
“Why are you at Octavia?”
I frowned. “It’s a thing called ‘night out with friends.’ You ever heard of it?”
He growled from across the phone, “Who are you there with?”
“Kelly. Justin. A friend from bowling.” I kept frowning because I’d been to Octavia before. Trace knew this, and as far as I knew, there was no beef between him and the owner. “What’s going on? Why are you being like this?”
“I’m getting reports that you’re there with others.”
Wait. “Reports? What are you talking about?”
He bit out another growl. “Listen to me, where are you right now?”
“I’m in a closet so I could talk to you.”
“Stay there. Ashton’s closer than me. He’s on his way to you.”
“Ashton? What is going on?”
“It’s too much to explain. I’ve been trying to keep you out of it because of your job, but you’re in danger.”
“I am?” I reached for the door. “If I am, then Kelly is. My other friends.”
“No. They aren’t. You are.”
“That makes no sense. I’m going.” I was already out the door and hanging up.
“Wait! Je—” I heard that much and paused, but if Kelly or Molly or Justin were in danger, I had to go. It was who I was, what I did.
I was shoving back through the crowd when I spotted them at the booth.
Molly was in a far corner, half hiding behind Kelly.
Justin was standing in front of Kelly, but his stance was different. Half protecting, half shielding, but trying not to appear he was doing any of that at the same time. It was confusing, and the two guys were standing side by side. Hands in their pockets. One guy was all in, talking to Justin. Laughing, but his eyes kept darting to Kelly behind him.
The other guy was standing there, but his attention was fully on Molly. A suggestive sneer was in place, and she was trying to pretend she wasn’t noticing, but she was noticing.
I started forward until I felt a hand on my arm. “Wha—” I started to swing on whoever was restraining me, but saw it was Ashton and pulled my arm free at the last second. “Do not ever grab me like that again.”
He didn’t care. He had turned his back to the booth, and was in front of me, herding me backward. “You need to listen to me. You are officially past the ‘messing around’ phase. If you’re with Trace, you have to decide, because those two guys back there are not friendly with us. They find out about you, they won’t hesitate to kill. They’ll do anything to hurt us. Do you hear me?”
“Wait.” I’d let him move me back, farther out of eyesight, but put on the brakes. I noticed three other guys going around us, both descending on the booth. I went to try and watch, but Ashton went with me, blocking me. I shoved away from him. “I have a gun on me. Don’t think I won’t use it if I’m feeling in danger.”
“I’m aware,” he lashed back, his eyes blazing. “You’ve been cleared to enter here with your weapon.”
“Cleared? By who?”
“By us. We’re on friendly terms with Cole Mauricio. This is his club, and his staff is very aware of who you are. They’re the ones who alerted us about who else is here with you.”
“Wait.” Jesus. I couldn’t keep up. “Who are you talking about?”
“The Mauricio family.”
“I know who Cole Mauricio is. His family is not active here. They’re active in Chicago.”
“No, they’re not, but they still have business here, and this is our area. We’ve had an understanding with them for a very long time, but they do not have an understanding with the Worthing family.”
Worthing.
I moved back another full step.
Justin Worthing.
“What are you talking about?”
“This,” he ground out. “This is why you and Trace need to stop messing around. You’re either with him or you’re not. None of this in-between bullshit. If you’re not, you need to get the fuck out of our lives. Your friend back there is related to the family that’s trying to move in on our territory. The gunshots that article talked about? It was from them.”
“Wait a minute.” What did this all mean? Panic was rising in me. Kelly. Justin. “Justin’s involved?”
“No. We vetted Justin before we hired him. Or I did. Trace approved. Justin is innocent, caught between family members he’s related to. That’s all. We didn’t realize the Worthing family would move into our city.”
“What side of his family is Mafia? I thought he had a wealthy side and a blue side?”
“There are members of the wealthy side that are in the business.”
“The side you’re friends with?”
“No, but yes. They have distant cousins in the business. I wasn’t fully aware of how powerful they’d grown until the party. They showed up when I was there, and it didn’t go well. Trace was already gone, or it would’ve been bad. Very bad.”
“Justin’s brother is a detective.”
“We’re aware.”
“Is he involved?”
Ashton didn’t answer that, and that was an answer by itself.
“I thought you had cops on your payroll.”
“We do, and the longer you stand here talking to me, the higher the probability that your name will get on a list that you do not want it to be on. So.” His eyes flashed again, and he leaned in. “To further save everyone’s energy and potential lives, you need to choose. Either be with Trace—and I mean it, let it be known—or leave him the fuck alone. You got me?”
I understood, but I was concerned about other matters right now. I moved to the side, looking for our booth and finding everyone’s attention right on us. Guess we hadn’t moved far enough out of their eyesight.
Kelly’s eyebrows were pulled in, the ends of her mouth turned down.
Molly’s eyes were big, bulging out, and she looked ready to start walking our way. Justin had a hand on her arm, his other arm blocking Kelly too.
Muttering a curse, Ashton let out a savage growl and was heading right for them.
I was right behind him.
The two guys moved forward, looking like they were going to meet Ashton, but seeing me next to him, they eased back a step.
Ashton let out a small laugh before turning his gaze to Justin, then to his hand on Molly’s arm. “Hands off. Now.”
Justin released her, his eyebrows shooting up.
Molly jerked to the side a few steps, her other hand coming up to rub where Justin had been holding her, but she didn’t look in pain. Her own eyebrows were bunched together, her gaze jumping from Ashton, to Justin, to Ashton, to me, and back to Ashton. One of the guys I’d noticed moving in with Ashton earlier stepped up to her, touching her other arm lightly. He bent down, saying something to her, and with a small nod and another look toward Ashton, who was watching the whole thing, she headed off with the guy.
What the hell was that?
But Kelly had moved forward. “What’s going on? Jess, where’d you go?”
“She—” Ashton started, but a hand was on my arm, from the other side, but this time, I recognized that hand.
I glanced up, seeing Trace’s gaze skim over me. He had the same hard look on his face that Ashton did, and he eased me back behind him. “Go with my men.”
“But—”
“Please.” He indicated the same guy who had pulled Molly from the group. She was handed off to a different guy, and this guy was coming back for me.
Suit guy. I pegged him as security, noting the bulge on his side from the holstered gun.
I made my choice. I moved forward. “No, Trace.”
“Jess.” His jaw clenched.
“No. Not while Kelly is here.”
He touched my arm, pulling me back away again. Kelly’s head stretched at an angle, trying to see us, but Ashton and the security guy stepped in, fully blocking her.
Trace’s hand moved to my waist, and he stepped in, the front of his body grazing mine. “Please. So I don’t worry about you.”
“I’m armed.”
“I’m aware, but I am trying to save you from making a decision you might not want to make.”
Ashton’s warning. I had to choose. It registered then what Trace was doing. He was still trying to hide me from the other guys, but he didn’t understand. The decision was done.
I touched his chest. “She’s my best friend. She’s my only sister. I’m not leaving.”
His eyes were a whole storm, and he clipped his head. “Fine, but you’re mine. I won’t pretend otherwise.”
I nodded, my whole body suddenly feeling heavy. “I get it. I do.”
I was choosing him. Be damned or not, I couldn’t hide anymore.
Let the cards fall where they fall.
