Seduction (5 page)

I fist my hands. I can’t believe we’re ending it here. I need to be inside her. I want to kiss and lick her all night. I want to make her squirm and scream. I want to fuck the memory of her ex right out of her pretty head. “I’ll stop by your sister’s house after I’m done at the club.”

She shakes her head. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“What?” I look at her incredulously. “Why not?”

“I may not be home tonight.”

It hits me hard. I want to finish what we started. Where’s she going? “Plans?”

“No,” she says. “I want to go for a long ride after dinner.”

The only ride she needs is underneath me. I don’t like what I’m feeling, but I shake it off. “Come on, baby, we need to get dressed.” I watch her scoot down the hallway to the guest room. I’m gonna kill Darren if the Banditos don’t get to him first.

I’m not in the mood to deal with Darren or bikers. I storm inside the club and find my boss and Sargent sitting together, having drinks like nothing happened. Where’s the immediate threat?

“You made it, Craig.” Darren smiles.

I don’t return the friendly look. “Where’s the fire?”

“I offered Sargent a two-hundred-dollar bar tab and we’re buddies again.” Darren slaps him on the back.

More and more, the club is becoming a regular hangout for these guys. A couple of their
old ladies
keep trying to get hired. I don’t have a problem with them generally, but when they get shit-faced, it’s not pretty. They raise hell, sell drugs, and like to recruit our dancers to work at their club down the street. That’s where I draw the line. I walk casually behind Sargent and stare at the bandage on the back of his head. Stitches. I knew it. I’m sure he wants to know the identity of the girl who assaulted him.

I claim the seat next to Darren. “Rum and Coke,” I tell Glenda.

“Rough morning?” Darren asks.

I lick my dry lips. “Unfulfilled.” That’s an understatement. I’m horny and pissed off at the world right now.

Sargent lifts his eyebrows. “Nothing personal about the other night.”

The closest thing to an apology I’m going to get from him. I wave my hand. “No problem.”

“Although Sargent would like to know who cracked his head open with a bottle.” Darren stares at me. I’m surprised Sargent opened his big mouth. Perhaps he did it to force my hand.

“Don’t know her name,” I lie.

“He doesn’t want to hurt her,” Darren says. “He wants to hire her.”

“As what, a bouncer?”

The biker throws his head back and laughs. All I need is for Marisela to end up dancing at that roach-infested shit box. Divas is really a front for drugs. But it’s a hotspot. If you can get over the low-caliber women who work there.

“She’d make a great entertainer.” Sargent drinks a shot.

“What makes you think I won’t try to recruit her myself?” I ask.

“I’ll consider it a personal favor if you don’t.”

“How about we let the lady choose for herself—if she ever shows up again.”

“She will,” he mutters.

“Play nice,” Glenda says as she serves me. “We don’t even know who
she
is.” She throws me a measured look.

“We caught everything on tape,” Darren announces like a stupid asshole. “I must say, she reminds me of—”

“You can’t rely on grainy black-and-white imagery to identify someone.” I cut him off. He rubs his chin and gazes at Sargent.

“We’ll let you know if we figure it out.” Darren offers his hand. Sargent shakes it, then stands. “Fair enough?”

“The sooner the better,” he grunts, scooping his gloves and keys off the bar. I watch him leave.

As soon as the door shuts, Darren twists around on his bar stool. “You know something.”

“Yeah.” I nod. “So do you.”

“Robyn’s kid sister?”

“The one and only.”

“She’s a hot piece of tail,” Darren comments, sipping his vodka tonic. “Does she need a job?”

I rub the back of my neck. I want to say no. But if Marisela is determined to dance, she’s better off here where we can protect her. “Yeah.”

“You seem disappointed.”

“She’s a nineteen-year-old kid.”

Darren chuckles. “Not according to Texas state statute…”

My heated gaze flicks to his face. “Point taken.”

“Bring her in. I want to meet her.”

“When?”

“Tonight.” Darren drops a ten-spot on the bar for Glenda and leaves.

It’s my day off, damn it. That reminds me…I lean forward and grab my wallet out of my back pocket. I pull out a hundred and fling it on the bar. Glenda glances at the bill, then at me.

“Need change?”

“Nope.” I frown. “Paying a debt.”

“You didn’t…” She’s astonished. I want to slap the silly look off her face. “You seduced that poor girl already?”

The mere mention of seduction makes me hard again. I reach below the bar and adjust myself. I won’t lie to Glenda. “Came pretty damn close.”

“Apparently not close enough,” she teases. “You’re worse than a grizzly bear today.”

“It’s my day off.”

She’s mulling something over. “And you and Marisela were…The phone calls. Shit. Sorry.”

I begrudgingly make a confession. “It’s probably better we didn’t.”

That catches her attention. “I never thought I’d live to see the day Craig Hanson admits he made a bad decision.”

I throw the straw from my drink at her. “She’s different.”

“Space-creature-with-three-nipples different or there’s-more-to-her-than-what’s-between-her-legs different?”

I’m not prepared to answer. “Be satisfied with
different.
” I stand. “I need to get out of here.”

I’m quiet through dinner. Garrick and Robyn throw a dozen worried looks my way, whisper, stuff forkfuls of steak and vegetables in their mouths, then stare at me again. I can’t take it anymore. “What?”

“Just wondering where you’ve been all day,” Garrick says. “Robyn told me you went shopping but didn’t come home with any clothes. Do you need money?”

I swirl my peas and carrots around on my plate with my fork. More questions. “I didn’t find anything I liked.”

Robyn snorts. “Since when does a Gonzalez girl leave the mall empty-handed?”

“Since she’s learned the hard way that’s there’s more to life than material possessions.”

“Ouch,” Garrick says. “We’re only trying to help.”

“I’m sorry,” I say. “I’m broke and need to get some work soon.”

“Marisela, have you danced before?” Robyn asks.

“I did a couple of guest sets at clubs in Austin.”

Robyn is surprised. “And you liked it?’

“I like the money.” I don’t realize how cold I sound until after I’m done speaking.

What I really want is to be able to confide in them. Tell them about Estevan, or, as I prefer to call him,
the
unmentionable.
He doesn’t deserve a name. He never deserved
me.
I loved him. Enough to abandon my dreams and follow him wherever he went. Only once we arrived in Austin, everything changed. His family didn’t want me around. So I was forced to scrape together a living in a big city where I didn’t have any connections.

Garrick’s rugged features go soft when he looks at me again. “Your sister and I want you to be happy, Marisela. In order for that to happen,” he says, “a little honesty is required. Understand? It’s the first thing I expected from your sister when our relationship turned serious, and it’s the first thing I expect of you if we’re really going to be a family.”

I’m humbled by his kindness; he’s such a gentle giant. “I understand.”

“Good,” he says. “Robyn told me about your ex-boyfriend.”

I glare at my sister. Some things are sacred. Especially discussions about guys.

“Don’t give her attitude,” Garrick warns. “I demanded to know everything. Safety is number one where my family is concerned. You always have a home here with us.”

“Try to understand,” Robyn adds.

I look away, searching for something to hold. My hands get restless when I’m nervous.

“You alluded to some abuse…is this guy a threat?”

I try to ignore him, but I feel his heavy stare on me.
Goddamnit.
Maybe I should leave the state. “Yeah, to
me.
”

Robyn stands, then walks around the table. “Did he hit you?”

“Too many times to count.” They want truth—I’ll give it.

“I’ll kill him,” she gasps. “Where? How?”

“Specifics?” I ask.

“Specifics,” Garrick repeats angrily.

“Let’s see…” I pause for dramatic flair. “One night when he and his teammates were drunk, they made me play strip poker. After I refused to take off my bra and panties, Estevan tied a noose around my neck and made me strut around his basement for over an hour in front of everyone.”

An agonizing hush follows. Tears sting my eyes. I can’t focus on anything but the rising pain in my belly. “Want more?”

No answer.

“On another occasion, after I’d been fighting him off for three hours, he stripped me naked, tied me to a chair, turned the air-conditioning as high as he could get it so I’d freeze, and then dumped gallons of ice water over my head. He told me if I was going to disobey him, he’d shame me. There are endless examples, between his alcohol binges and coke parties.”

I hear a noise in the living room. We all turn. Craig is standing in the doorway, his face as shadowed as my brother-in-law’s. “Oh. My. God.” I avert my eyes. As denigrated as I feel recounting these horror stories to my family, having my would-be lover overhear everything exceeds my emotional fortitude. I race upstairs.

There’s a lump in my throat as I watch Marisela retreat. I heard everything. And I feel as small as a flea. Garrick and Robyn look shattered. “The front door was open,” I explain. “When no one answered, I invited myself in.”

“How much of the conversation did you overhear?” Garrick asks, running his fingers through his hair. “Not that it changes anything.”

“Enough to want to kill the son of a bitch.”

Robyn sighs, then sits. She’s pale and thin. And I know Marisela’s situation will dominate her thoughts until she’s sure her sister is safe. “It’s good to see you, Craig.”

I walk over and give her a gentle hug. She’s quivering. “It’ll be all right, I promise.”

“Imagine
you
telling
me
that,” she laughs sadly.

I’m not so sure they’d want me here if they knew what happened this afternoon. After hearing Marisela’s heart-wrenching stories, I’ve decided to share some of what I know. “We need to talk.”

“Sit.” Garrick motions to an empty chair.

“Marisela spent the day with me,” I confess. The room is quiet, save the strained breaths I hear Robyn taking. “While we were having lunch, she received several phone calls from her ex.”

“And?” Garrick’s bad temper is predictable. When he resorts to speaking in one-word sentences, it’s safe to assume he’s near the breaking point.

“I couldn’t handle her crying, so I confiscated her cell and listened in. The bastard was in the middle of threatening her.”

“What did he say?” Robyn asks.

“Baby,” Garrick says. “Why don’t you make some tea while Craig and I step out?”

She considers it for a second. “All right. Will you join us, Craig?”

“Sure.” I hate tea. I follow Garrick outside and we sit on the front porch. The sunset is amazing—the sky is on fire, just like me.

“Did Marisela tell you about Robyn?”

I nod and offer my hand. “Congratulations, bro.”

“I’m going out of my mind already. She’s so stubborn—won’t listen to a word the doctor says.”

I grin. “She’s a smart girl. She’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah,” Garrick agrees. “It’s her little sister I’m concerned about right now. What did Estevan say to her?”

“Threatened to slice her breasts off.” Garrick growls. I remember how callously he dealt with Carlos Cruz, the asshole who tried to hurt Robyn. “I won’t let anything happen to her.”

He looks at me. “What’s she to you?”

“Asking as a friend or overprotective brother-in-law?”

“Both.”

Fair enough.
I’m not sure I can give an accurate answer when I don’t know for certain myself. “I care enough to be here.”

Garrick’s gaze doesn’t leave my face. “You’re a womanizer.”

“Don’t feed me that southern gentleman bullshit,” I say. “So are you.”

“
Used
to be.”

I laugh, although darkly. For now, all that matters is Marisela’s physical safety. “Let me help Marisela. She needs a job—Darren wants to meet her tonight. She’s safe with me.” In the back of my head I know she’s not. I want her something fierce. That’s not going to change in the foreseeable future.

Garrick clears his throat. “If you hurt her…”

We shake hands. “I’m going up to her room.”

“Across from the bathroom.”

I wave to Robyn as I pass by, taking the stairs two at a time. I rap gently on the closed door. There’s no answer. I open it. Marisela is curled up on her bed, crying. I go in and shut the door. “Marisela.”

“I don’t want your pity.” She doesn’t move.

I perch on the edge of the mattress, leaving considerable space between us. “The last thing I feel for you is pity, believe me.”

She raises her head, then wipes tears from her eyes. “I can’t believe you eavesdropped. Some things are private, Craig.”

I want to kiss her tears away. “Pity didn’t inspire what happened between us today.
You
did.”

“And some good that did me. Now I’m sexually frustrated
and
confused. What are you doing here, anyway? I told you I wanted to go for a ride after dinner. Not see you again.”

I hold my hand over my heart. “That wounds me more deeply than you’ll ever know.”

She whacks my shoulder with her pillow. I catch her arm midair—our gazes lock. It goes straight to my cock. A simple look from this girl gives me a hard-on. That’s new. I shift uncomfortably. “You still want a job at the Devil’s Den?”

She nods.

“The owner wants to meet you.”

She drops the pillow. “He knows about me?” She’s shocked.

“Security footage from the fight the other night. You’re something of a celebrity among some of the girls already.” Her eyes go vacant as she stares at the door. Did I say something to upset her? “What is it?”

“Nothing,” she fibs. “Private thoughts, that’s all.” She slides off the bed and opens the closet. “See?” she says pointing at the virtually empty space. “These are all my worldly possessions. Not a stitch of clothing to go out in.”

“Where’re your clothes?”

“Shredded.”

I feel my jaw clench. Estevan. I
want
him to come here. “I’m sure your sister—”

“You don’t understand,” she says, clearly frustrated. She walks back and forth, tapping every piece of furniture as she goes. “This armoire, bed, dresser, mirror, desk, and chair
all
belong to my sister. I used to have my own things. Nice things. Including a beautiful wardrobe. I need something of my own to feel halfway human again.”