Las Vegas Sidewinders: Drake (Book 2) (17 page)

“I’m going to call
security,” Drake said in a deadly quiet voice.

“Fuck you and fuck
security!” Clay whirled to Erin. “You think you’re a badass Marine again and
you’re going off to save the world? You’re just a scarred, broken whore who
kills people for a living!” He threw himself at her but before anyone could
react, Erin calmly grabbed his arm and flipped him onto the floor, flat on his
back. Her training was instinctive and she wasn’t going to be afraid anymore.
Not of him anyway.

Hotel security arrived
at that moment and picked Clay up off the floor. “It’s time to go home, Mr.
Gentry,” the security guard spoke quietly but firmly. He turned to Drake and
Erin. “We apologize for the inconvenience. Mr. Gentry is a regular here, but
he’s had a bit too much to drink. He won’t be bothering you again.”

“Thank you.” Drake
nodded at the man and watched as they pulled a stunned and suddenly quiet Clay
from the room.

Erin felt herself
starting to shake, the same nerves and fear that had finally begun to quiet
came rushing back in an instant. Her hand flew to her mouth as she felt bile
rising.

“I’m sorry, I have to—”
She rushed out of the room towards the restrooms. Drake moved to follow her but
Suze touched his arm.

“Let us,” she said.
“Puking is a girl thing.”

She and Molly hurried
after Erin while Drake sank back into his seat.

“What. The. Fuck.” Dom
stared at him. “What was
that
?”

“Her ex.”

“And you’re wondering
why she’s a hot mess?” Cody shook his head. “How often has he done something
like this?”

“I don’t know. He made
a scene at the courthouse, babbling about how she left his brother over there.
I don’t understand—I know almost everything that happened that day, and I’ve
also met the people she was with when it happened. She was a victim—their
hummer hit the IED and she and Shay were both badly injured. She pulled herself
out of the vehicle and crawled over to where he’d been thrown, even though she
was on fire. They talked, and then she collapsed. His final words to Liv—her friend
on the unit, Olivia Mitchell—were to take her and go. He died very quickly
after that and one of the other guys put him in the back of the Hummer. Then
they got out of there and gave Erin CPR in the car. They got a pulse and by the
time they got back to base there was a helicopter waiting to take them to
Germany. I don’t know what Clay is talking about.”

“Is it possible she
lies?” Toli asked in his usual blunt manner.

“No!” Drake frowned. “I
mean, yes, about some things to do with her work, but not about that. I would
be willing to bet my life that she did not leave that man behind—no Marine
would, and she certainly wasn’t leaving the man she loved.”

“Didn’t his mother say
this guy was diagnosed with bipolar disorder?” Cody asked.

“Yeah.”

“So he could be off his
meds, drinking, and his mind is telling him whatever it is he wants to believe.
Whether it’s grief, or something else, his mind isn’t working right and all he
wants to do is hurt Erin.”

“Dammit.” Drake ran his
fingers through his hair. “What do I do? I can’t break up with her like this! I
can’t just abandon her now, especially with that psycho practically stalking
her! And I fucking
love her
. What am I supposed to do?!”

“That depends,” Cody
said slowly.

“Do you
really
love this woman?” Toli interrupted impatiently.

“I think I do,” he
admitted after a moment. “Hell, I know I do.”

“Then you must not
leave,” Toli said simply. “She needs you.”

“Crap.” Drake looked
around the table. “This isn’t how I was expecting tonight to go.”

“Women are famous for doing
that,” Dom said with a chuckle. “Once you find the right one, good or bad, your
life is never going to be the same.”

“Great.” Drake took a
long drink from his wine glass.

Erin emptied the
contents of her stomach into the toilet and flushed it. Leaning against the
side of the stall, she pulled out her phone and texted Kate.

If you’re still in
D.C.,
I
need you to come to the hotel. Clay was here and made a huge scene in front of
Drake and his friends. Please.

She slowly opened the
door and moved to the sinks just as Molly and Suze came in.

“Hey.” Suze looked at
her pale face. “Come on, rinse your mouth and come sit down.” There was a
lounge area just as you entered the ladies’ room, with plush chairs and a
table.

Molly grabbed a handful
of paper towels and wet them. They led Erin to the chairs and she sank down
gratefully as Molly sat beside her.

“Thank you,” she
whispered.

Molly put the damp
paper towels to her cheek. “Lift your hair and I’ll put this on the back of
your neck. It will help with the nausea.”

“Thanks.” Erin did as
she was told, closing her eyes.

“Have you thought about
a restraining order?” Suze asked her.

“He hasn’t really done
anything until tonight, and any judge who sees that on video will think that
he’s the one in danger!”

“That’s not true,”
Molly said quietly. “I got a restraining order against my ex-husband, even
though he’s a policeman and has a lot of contacts at the courthouse. If I could
get one, you certainly can.”

“I just don’t
understand what he’s babbling about,” Erin sighed. “I didn’t do any of the
things he’s accusing me of! Yes, I loved his brother and married the wrong man,
but I never cheated on him while we were married and nothing happened in
Afghanistan. I don’t understand—it’s like he knows something I don’t, but I
can’t figure out what it is because I was there!”

“Is it possible his
brother told him there was something going on between the two of you?”

Erin wrinkled her nose.
“I guess anything is possible, but he wouldn’t tell a lie like that. That
doesn’t sound like Shay. He wasn’t perfect, but he wasn’t an asshole. And he
would never have done something to make me look bad, like telling my husband I
was cheating on him. That just wasn’t who he was.”

“Maybe you can talk to
your mother-in-law,” Suze suggested. “Drake said you are still close to her.”

Erin sighed and put her
fingers on the bridge of her nose. “I guess I can ask her. I can understand him
hating me for loving his brother—but we didn’t act on it. I really don’t
understand.”

They sat in silence for
a while as Erin took slow, deep breaths.

“Are you going to be
okay?” Molly asked finally. “I’m sure Drake is worrying about you.”

“Yeah.” Erin stood up
and took a breath. “I’ll be okay.”

“I’d like to learn how
you flipped him like that,” Suze grinned. “That was pretty sexy. I bet Drake
was totally turned on!”

Erin chuckled. “I can
teach you the move—it’s a pretty basic maneuver, but very effective. Especially
on someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing. Not sure it would be quite as
easy with guys as big and strong as ours, but on a wimp like Clay? No problem.”

They walked back
towards the dining room and Drake stood as soon as he saw her. He met her in
the lobby and thanked Molly and Suze for looking out for her. They went back to
the table, giving Drake and Erin a moment alone.

“I’m so sorry,” she
whispered against his chest. “I can’t seem to get away from him.”

“I’m sorry he upset
you,” he stroked her hair. “Are you okay?”

“I’m humiliated! I
don’t understand why he keeps saying those things! I never cheated on him when
we were married, and nothing happened in Afghanistan! I know he has some mental
health issues, but somewhere in his insanity is something real. I don’t know
what it is because I know what happened when Shay died, but
something
is
making him believe a lie.”

“Couldn’t he just be a
jerk?”

“Yes, and he is, but
this is too specific. He keeps harping on my leaving Shay behind and it’s
weird. He could think we slept together, he could think a million other
things—but why that? They brought his body back and buried it.”

Drake shook his head.
“I don’t know, babe. He seems like he’s losing it, but you’re right—it does
seem very specific. Are you sure they told you the truth about everything that
happened out there?”

“What do you mean?”
This time she looked up at him in surprise.

“Well, you had
third-degree burns over 40% of your body and had already died once. The man you
loved was dead and you were abandoned by your husband. Maybe some stuff
happened out there that your unit, your
friends
, decided you didn’t need
to know. Maybe they made an executive decision to protect you from anymore
heartache.”

“You mean, like, they
left his body behind and never went back for it?”

“I don’t know.” He held
up his hands. “I’m not military, but Clay seems to have a lot of ugly things to
say about you in general, and when it comes to that topic, he’s very specific.
He’s said it repeatedly. Although he’s bipolar and an asshole, it’s still
possible he has information as the next of kin that you wouldn’t have gotten.”

She gaped at him. “You
think they left him there and didn’t tell me?!”

“I don’t know,” he
repeated. “But you need to have a heart-to-heart with Liv or Mark because
something isn’t right.”

“You’re right.” She
rested her head against him. “Do your friends think I’m the worst possible
girlfriend for you?”

“No, they actually like
you a lot.” He kissed the top of her head. “Did you call Kate?”

“What?” She looked up
and followed his gaze to where Kate was getting out of a cab and coming into
the hotel.

“Erin!” Kate came hurrying
over to her. “Are you okay? What did Dickhead do?! Hi, Drake.”

“Hi, Kate.” He hugged
her. “Come on, we’ll tell you all about it. Then I’ll introduce you to
Karl
.”

“Wait, what?!” She was
still gaping as Drake and Erin led her into the dining room.

“You all right?” Dom
asked as they returned to the table.

“Yes, thank you.” Erin
introduced Kate to everyone and then looked around. “I apologize for the first
impression I’ve made.”

“Oh, honey,” Molly
laughed. “Sometime, when we have time, I’ll tell you about
my
first
impression.”

Dom snickered. “Yeah,
this was tame in comparison.”

“Oh, well, that’s good
to know.” She glanced at Drake, who winked.

They filled Kate in on
what had happened and she tapped her fingers on the table in irritation.
“Dammit, Erin, this is escalating,” she said in annoyance.

“I know, but what do I
do? What judge is going to give a decorated Marine, who just knocked her
attacker on his ass, a restraining order?”

“The fact that you can
protect yourself doesn’t mean he’s not dangerous,” Molly said. “What if he has
a gun next time?”

Erin stared at her.
“I’m baffled,” she said finally. “We both made mistakes, but he asked for the
divorce before everything happened. And despite what he says, I did not break
my marriage vows. God knows I wanted to, but neither of us was willing to cross
that line. I don’t understand why he’s doing this now.”

“You were
so
sick before,” Kate said quietly. “You were badly scarred, not working,
suffering terrible PTSD and basically there was nothing he could do to you that
your mind and body weren’t already doing.
Now
you’re doing great.
Now
you’re healthy again, and you found a new man.
Now
he has a way to hurt
you.”

“I have zero tolerance
for men who abuse women, even when the woman is able to defend herself,” Dom
spoke grimly. “If Molly’s ex ever comes anywhere near her again, I will kill
him. No questions asked. I think those of us sitting here feel the same.”

“I agree,” Drake said
quietly. “But I can’t protect you from Vegas.”

“I know.” She squeezed
his hand. “We have to talk about that later.”

His eyes looked at her
questioningly but she turned back to the conversation.

Sensing that Erin was
uncomfortable, Toli interrupted. “Toli is very hungry after so much excitement.
Life as Russian hockey player is usually very simple. Tonight, very exciting.”

They all laughed and
ordered another round.

“Thank you for coming,”
Erin whispered to Kate. “I wasn’t sure you would.”

“You think I’d let
Dickhead do something to hurt you and not be there for you?” Kate made a face
at her. “That’s not what I was talking about the other night! Clay is something
entirely different.”

“I know.” Erin reached
over to hug her friend. “I was so scared,” she whispered. “But somehow my
training kicked in and the next thing I knew he was on the ground.”

“That’s my girl,” Kate
whispered back. “That’s the Erin I know.”