Rev It Up (36 page)

She felt him relax next to her then and wished she could do the same. But her nerves were stretched so tight she was afraid to move, even an inch, for fear she’d completely lose what little control over herself.

“We both made a lot of mistakes,” he sighed. “Mistakes that are hard to forgive, but we’ll manage.”

She didn’t see how—

“And don’t worry,” he continued, his next words like arrows to her heart. “We’ll find a way to work out Franklin’s schedule so that it’s not too hard on you. You’ll see.”

Oh, sure. They’d work it out.

And all it would take was for her to give up her son…

“Listen up, you greasy piece of shit,” Rock growled, and Vanessa raised a brow, doubting name-calling would get them very far with the wife-beater-wearing guy working the reception desk. “We know this sonofabitch is staying here, and we need his room number. Now!”

Rock shoved a photo of Johnny at the receptionist, whose dull eyes barely glanced at the thing before he switched his cigarillo to the opposite side of his mouth, chewing sullenly.

Rock made a move toward the pistol he kept concealed in his suit-jacket, and she grabbed his arm, sidling up beside him. “Look, sugar,” she said in her gravely smoker’s voice, trying to ignore the sour aroma of body odor that assaulted her nostrils when she leaned in close to the bars protecting the man working the desk. The guy was like the Land that Hygiene Forgot. “We need to find this man. He owes me lots of money. And my new best friend here,” she jerked her head toward Rock, “has agreed to help me get it back. Now,” she winked and licked her lips, “I can make this worth your while.”

The receptionist glanced at her boobs, a spark of interest igniting his vacuous gaze. She didn’t have great, huge jugs like good ol’ Candy, but hers obviously worked in a pinch. Sir Smokes-A-Lot seemed to enjoy them.

“What didja have in mind?” he asked, pulling the cigarillo from his mouth and sucking on his stained teeth.

She smiled even as her stomach revolted at the sight.

Reaching into her top, she pulled out a wad of hundred dollar bills. Peeling off two, she waved them through the bars. “How ’bout we start here. And then, once I get the rest of my money back…” she stuck a finger in her mouth, sucking it slowly before inserting it into her cleavage, “… I can give you a little freebie just to show my appreciation.”

The receptionist’s Adam’s apple bobbed in his dirt-ringed throat as he watched the movement, then he hastily licked his thin lips before turning and plucking a key from a hook on the wall. “Room 602,” he said and snatched the key back when she went to swipe it. “Now, I don’t want no mess to clean up,” he warned.

“Don’t you worry, sugar,” she purred, leaning in even closer, until her boobs smashed against the bars. “I want my money, not a jail sentence.”

He considered this bit of logic for a while before handing her the key. “I’ll be expecting my freebie when I get off at 2 a.m.,” he called to her when she turned toward the elevator, dragging Rock with her.

“Sure thing, sugar.” She blew him a kiss over her shoulder. “I can promise you at 2 a.m. you’ll be getting off, and then you’ll be
getting
off
.”

The sound of his sickening chuckle gave her a good case of the heebie-jeebies, but she managed to control her shiver of abhorrence until the elevator doors closed her and Rock inside.

“I could’ve just threatened to shoot him,” Rock drawled, grinning down at her.

“Yeah,” she said, “but then he might’ve been inclined to make a call to the room and warn dear Johnny. This way, he’ll be inclined not to.”

Rock’s brows climbed up his forehead as his eyes pinged down to her halter top. “Who knew a pair of great funbags could come in so handy outside the boudoir.”

“You did not just use the term funbags,” she said, shooting him a look of disgust as the elevator doors chimed and opened to sixth floor.

***

“Get him upstairs and into bed,” Michelle said, setting her purse on the kitchen table and rolling her head around her shoulders. She didn’t remember ever being this exhausted, this emotionally wrung-out. Not only was her heart bloody and desecrated, but her entire body was one giant throbbing ache. Her bones actually hurt. “I’m going to try to call Lisa one more time.”

“You heard your mama,” Jake said, Franklin cradled in his strong arms, their matching dimples winking in their cheeks until she was forced to look away. “It’s up you go, little dude.”

“But I d-don’t wanna go to s-sleep,” Franklin cried, his bottom lip sticking out so far it was a wonder the thing was still attached to his face. The doctor had warned her that children his age often became emotional after surgery, after coming down off anesthesia. “And my b-belly hurts, Mama,” he sniffed and tucked his head up under Jake’s stubbled chin.

Her gut twisted into knots until it ached as much as her heart.

She checked her watch. “It’s time for another dose of pain meds,” she said, amazed she was still able to function given the nearly overwhelming urge to lay down on the floor and cry. Cry for the physical pain her son was in. Cry for the emotional pain she’d caused Jake. Cry for the spiritual pain she’d suffer only getting to see her son part-time. Just cry, cry, cry.

Of course, that would help no one. And, as a mother, she didn’t have that luxury. She dragged in a breath to steady herself before striding back to the table to dig in her purse. When she found the liquid medicine, she handed it to Jake along with the plastic measuring cup that’d come with it.

And this was how it was going to be from now on. This splitting of parenting duties…

Oh, God.

She barely beat back a sob of hysteria before gathering her courage once more and calmly instructing, “He’s supposed to get one tablespoon,” she instructed before turning to her son. “You want to finish watching
Tangled
, don’t you, sweetpea
?
” she asked.

He shoved his little thumb in his mouth and nodded, his eyes bright with unshed tears. “The horsh ish funny,” he said around the chubby digit.

“Yes,” she smiled weakly, leaning in to ruffle his hair and kiss his pale cheek. The smell of her little boy combined with Jake’s beachy aroma was an aromatic assault, reminding her of all the things she loved and all the things she’d already lost and was poised to lose still.

Joint custody…

The term sounded profane.

“That ol’ horse
is
funny,” she managed, though her throat was clogged with tears. “And I’ll be up to check on you and bring you some ice cream as soon as I call Miss Lisa.”

Franklin’s tired face crumbled, and he started crying in earnest. “I m-mish Mish Lisha,” he wailed, hiccupping.

Yeah, I know exactly how you feel.
She wanted to break down right along with him…

“I think it’s time we got this little warrior dosed and into bed,” Jake observed, and she took a step back, nodding, watching the two of them cross the kitchen and disappear into the living room.

How was she ever going to survive this?

***

When they exited the elevator on the sixth floor of The Stardust Hotel
,
Rock’s deep, rich chuckle made the butterflies in Vanessa’s stomach once more take flight.

That’s all it took. One look from him. One word. And she felt like she was plummeting down that first steep hill on a roller coaster.

Gee, Van, you’re one sad sack.

Yeah, there was no question of that. Because if any other guy referred to her breasts as funbags, she’d be sorely tempted to land a knee in his family jewels right before she crowned him King Asshole. But Rock said it, and she got all gooey, thinking he was the cutest, funniest thing to ever walk on two legs.

Ugh.
The reasons why she obviously needed professional, psychological help just kept piling up.

“You okay to do this?” he asked once they reached Johnny’s hotel room.

In answer, she kicked out of her stripper shoes and reached beneath her skirt for the .38 Special she kept strapped to her thigh.

“
Mon
dieu
,” he whispered, screwing his eyes closed for a brief second, “that might be the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

She grinned as she quietly inserted the key into the lock. Before she turned it, he grabbed her hand, shaking his head. “I’m goin’ in alone first. You follow behind me when I give you the all-clear.”

“Oh, don’t go getting all testosterone-y on me now,” she hissed, frowning up at him. “I can take care of myself. There’s no need for this He-Man crap.”

“
Non
. This isn’t a negotiation. I’m—”

Oh, whatever
…

Before he could finish, she turned the lock, threw open the door and barged into the room, her pistol quartering the area.

Rock let loose with a string of French curses, but he was barely a split second behind her, both of his guns up and ready and sighting around the room. Once he realized the place was empty and she wasn’t in any immediate danger, he turned and barreled toward the attached restroom. She heard the shower curtain rings squeak against the rod as he yanked the curtain aside. Then he appeared in the bathroom door, his face like a gulf hurricane.

“
Damn
,” she cursed. “So no Johnny?”

He didn’t waste any time laying into her, breaking out a thesaurus’s worth of words for dumbass, but she waved him off as she padded toward the rumpled bed.

Picking up a creased photo, her blood began pounding in her ears.

“Oh, shit,” she breathed, turning it around for him to see.

***

Jake looked down at the face of his drowsy son, his heart nearly bursting with a love he’d never known.

It was an amazing feeling. An overwhelming feeling. A
scary
feeling.

He was a father. He had a son. A little boy whom he was responsible for shaping into a good, honest, loyal man.

“You getting tired, little bro?” he asked, brushing a lock of soft hair back from Franklin’s brow.

“Nuh-uh.” Franklin shook his head against the pillow as his big, gray eyes drifted closed, and his plump little thumb found its way between his lips.

Jake smiled and tiptoed from the room, partially closing the door behind him. The pain medication was fast-acting, and he was glad for it. Because every time Franklin’s face scrunched up, his little cheeks draining of blood, Jake felt like someone shoved a hot knife in his gut. And considering that was his reaction after only having been a father for one day, he couldn’t imagine what Shell must be feeling.

Shell…

Damn, we sure made a mess of things, didn’t we?

With a heavy heart, he lumbered to the guest bedroom, unbuttoning his shirt and tiredly dragging it from his shoulders as he pushed through the door.

A sound in the corner had his head whipping around. He had just enough time to register he was wasn’t alone and drop his shirt to the floor while simultaneously reaching for the pistol in his waistband…

But he wasn’t quick enough.

A muzzle flash blazed through the darkened room a split second before agony exploded in his head, and he knew no more.

***

“Come on, come on,” Rock growled. “Pick up, Snake…
Merde!
” He resisted the urge to throw his phone out the window of Christian’s Porsche as he and Vanessa sped north on the highway toward Lincoln Park.

“Michelle isn’t answering either,” Vanessa said from her position in the passenger seat. “Her phone goes straight to voice mail.”

She grabbed on to the dashboard when he swerved around a slow-moving Peapod delivery truck but didn’t utter so much as a squeak. The woman might look fragile, what with that small Latina frame of hers, but she was turning out to be incredibly tough.

When she’d stormed into Johnny’s hotel room like Captain frickin’ America,
zut!,
he’d nearly vomited his own heart.

“Try her home phone,” he instructed as he shifted into a lower gear, working the pedals.

“I don’t have that number. You try her at home. I’ll call Boss.”

“
Oui
,” he said as he cut across three lanes of traffic, the Porsche’s fat tires clinging to the asphalt like they were coated with glue.

Christian might have a terrible eye for sensible clothes, but Rock could totally get behind the Brit’s taste in vehicles.

He quickly thumbed through his contacts on his phone as he flicked on the Porsche’s blinker and took the next exit in a squeal of burning rubber. Keeping one eye on the road and one eye on the old lady in the Caddy who could barely see over the steering wheel in the lane beside him, he found Shell’s information. Pressing the number for her land-line, he held his cell phone up to his ear.