Defensive Zone (The Dartmouth Cobras #2) (51 page)

Great.
She grabbed her jacket from the
back of the chair and pulled it on.
No witnesses. Ford will like
that.

She'd be lucky if she got off with a canning
if either Dean or Landon ever found out.

But she'd take the pain if she made it out of
there alive.

* * * *

Silver sucked hard on her rose lollypop and
tongued the hard petals. Her heart throbbed in her ears as she
stepped off the elevator and checked the main floor. All clear.
She'd made it this far without anyone questioning where she was
going. Her staff wouldn't, her leaving wasn't a big deal. She'd
taken off for the road trip on a whim. Nobody took her seriously.
Including her secretary who now had two weeks to find another
job.

No need to worry about that now. This didn't
involve the team. Or it shouldn't anyway.

Out on the sidewalk, she plucked the lollypop
from her mouth and let out a sigh of relief. Then giggled. Sneaking
out as a teen had been less nerve-wracking.

Sneaker soles slapping pavement pulled her
away from her internal fist-pump of success. She stopped and
turned.

A dark smile and a flash of very white teeth
spelled out utter failure. Dominik jogged up to her side and put
his hand on her shoulder. "What's your hurry?"

Further down the sidewalk she saw Oriana and
Max. Oriana gave her the big sister I-know-you're-up-to-something
look before hooking her arm with Max's and heading to her favorite
café.

"I expect an answer, little sister."
Dominik's tone made her shiver. He'd never used
that
tone on
her, the one that made her want to kneel and apologize for even
considering misbehaving.

Thanks for siccing the scary one on me,
sis.
Clasping her small studded leather purse in her hands like
a pathetic little shield, she gave him her most innocent smile.
"Oh, I'm just running late for a meeting Asher set up—"

Dominik frowned. "Asher?"

Brilliant, Silver.
She wrinkled her
nose and shrugged. "We've worked out a professional relationship.
He really is a good lawyer."

"Perhaps. But why would you need a lawyer?"
His hand left her shoulder and he folded his arms over his
extremely wide chest. In that position, he
looked
like a
damn enforcer. "Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"I'm not in trouble."—
yet—
"I'm just .
. . helping a friend."

"I see. Is this friend in trouble with the
law? Are you going to speak to the police?"

"No! The cops
really
don't need to be
involved."
Shutupshutupshutup!

"Ah. And what about Richter and Bower?" His
brow arched. "Do they know that you're getting
yourself
involved?"

"They will."

"When?"

"After."

"I see." He rubbed his chin and glanced up at
the forum. "You passed Richter's office and didn't think to mention
it to him. I have a feeling you know he wouldn't approve of
whatever it is you're doing."

"He's busy." She ran her tongue over her
teeth and sighed. "I swear I'll tell him—I'll tell them both. This
is just something I need to do."

"Something potentially dangerous, I
gather?"

"Umm . . . ."

"Umm is not an answer. I can't allow you to
put yourself in danger, Silver."

Damn it. I am so going to get you for
this, Oriana.
She had to hurry, or she'd miss her meeting with
Landon and that would
definitely
let him know something was
up. Which left only one way out.

"Come with me then." Actually, having him
along was a damn good idea. Ford was less likely to try and
intimidate her with someone like Dominik watching over her. Dean
and Landon would be less pissed if they knew she'd been careful. A
total win-win. "It shouldn't take long. And you are the
enforcer."

Dominik chuckled. "On the ice, little
one."

"Well consider this me adding to your duties.
It's just a meeting, but if you're there you can assure my dear
sister and everyone else that I was perfectly safe."

"Very well." He put his hand on the small of
her back and redirected her to his SUV. "But you will tell me
exactly
who your friend is and who we're dealing with on the
way there."

Her heels scraped the sidewalk as she tried
to pull away. "I wanted to take my car."

"I'm sure you did." Dominik unlocked the
driver's side door. "Get in."

* * * *

The Office sat between a boarded up bakery,
and a used boat lot, in a fairly rundown part of the older port
district. The bar itself looked well kept enough, with clean
whitewashed brick was and a large sign over the spotless reflective
glass front, with the name in bold, black metallic print.

Not the dingy, creepy joint she'd
expected.

A light laugh breezed out with her exhale as
Dominik joined her on the sidewalk. "I can honestly tell Dean and
Landon I was at 'The Office' this whole time."

Dominik didn't seem to find that funny. He
strode forward and held the door open for her. "Make it quick."

Snapping her suit jacket straight by the hem,
she walked past him and stepped into the bar. The hovering smoke
cloud appeared to be a thinned version of the fog outside. Off to
one side, plain high tables with black padded stools lined the
wall. A long, half oval counter in red polished wood took up the
other side of the room. Two men leaned on the counter, one the
pudgy guy that Dean had scared out of her office, the other a
middle aged biker all darned up in leather.

Behind the bar, Ford uncapped two bottles of
Heineken. He laughed at something the biker said and scratched the
center of his hairless, bare chest. The entrance to the bar stood
wide open, giving her a clear view of the rest of him. Low riding
jeans, showing off his trim waist and the sharp cut of his pelvis,
accented by a metal studded belt. He wasn't that muscular, compared
to, say, Landon, but it wasn't hard to see why Jami had been
attracted to him. Something about his smile hinted an invitation
for a reckless ride.

Silver had been on a few of those. They'd
lost their appeal along with the last fad of animal print.

Her heels snicked loudly on the old wood
floor as she approached the bar. She smacked her best
bitch-on-a-mission expression on her face. "Hello, Ford."

"Hey, Silver." Ford faced her and smirked. "I
was wondering how long it would take before you stopped oogling me
and remembered your manners."

"Oogling?" She snorted indelicately. "Oh, I
get it, you're one of those."

Ford brought his beer to his slanted lips.
"One of those?"

She tossed her head and shrugged as she slid
onto a stool at the end of the bar. "If a woman looks at you, she
must
want you." She batted her eyelashes. "If I'd met you a
year ago, I'd have played with you for one night. You're not
utterly revolting."

"I guess it's a good thing we didn't meet
last year." He held up his beer. "Thirsty?"

"No. And I don't plan to be here long."

"You're the kind of girl that's unbuckling a
guy's belt before you get his name, aren't you?" He exchanged a
look with the biker and chuckled before turning back to her. "All
right, let's do this. How can I help you, princess?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Don't call me, princess,
you cocky stump dick."

"Since my dick is officially off the table,
how about we stay on track? Unless you want to start trading
insults?" He took a swig. "You've been around. Shall we discuss
your floppy pussy lips?"

Lips parted, she stared at him.
Oh you
didn't just fucking go there.
"I should slap you."

He rolled his eyes and sighed. "You're boring
me, Silver. I've heard a lot about you, but never that you were
boring."

"I'm not here to entertain you—"

"You're
here
to entertain everyone.
Are you getting to a point?"

"Yes. I want to know why you're using Jami.
If you want something from me, just say so."

Nodding slowly, he took another swig. "What
is it you think I want from you?"

You're supposed to call Asher before you
get him talking, dummy.
Shoving her hand in her purse, she
pressed send on her phone and snatched a stick of red licorice from
an open mini-pack. After snapping her purse shut, she stuck the
licorice in her mouth and chewed hard.

"You tell me. I know dough boy there works
for your family. And your family is invested in the team." She
swallowed and dropped her gaze to the bar top. "Daddy says I have
to keep the investors happy. I can't be doing a good job if you're
going after the GM's daughter rather than coming directly to me. We
don't need to play games."

"I like playing games. I like playing them
even more when I know the outcome." He gave her a shrewd look. "Are
you hearing me?"

She nibbled on her bottom lip, glanced
towards Dominik—who stood by the door like a bodyguard—and leaned
forward. "I'm new at this, so no, I don't think I'm hearing you.
Are you talking about the Cobras?"

"What else would I be talking about?"

"But . . . ." She shook her head and made her
eyes go wide with confusion. "All we can do is put together the
best possible team. You probably know the sport better than I do?
We've got a pretty good lineup . . . ."

"Yes, but a good lineup isn't enough. You
can't make money off games when
everyone
can guess the
outcome. You make money when you
know
the outcome."

"But how could anyone know the outcome?"

"You're smarter than that, Silver. I'm sure
you know the goalie last year was throwing games. The team was good
enough to win several despite him, but they remained the underdog.
Most people bet for the opposition." Ford eyed Dominik. "You have
no idea how much money can be made when you bet against the
odds—but aren't really betting against the odds."

Her hand hovered over her mouth. "Is that
even legal?"

"Of course not. But neither is buying coke."
Ford held up his beer in mock cheers. "I've done my homework too,
sweetheart."

"So you want me to . . . ." She shook her
head. "What does Jami have to do with this?"

"Nothing anymore. I don't need her." He
straightened and rolled his shoulders. "She's more immature than I
thought she was, and more trouble than she's worth. She broke up
with me this morning."

"Oh." Silver bit into her licorice and ground
it to pulp between her teeth. "So . . . you thought
I
would
. . . fix the games for you?"

"As if you could. Your fuck friend is the
goalie, he's too clean to go for it." Ford's hand shot out and he
wrapped his fingers around her wrist. "He might do it for you
though—"

Dominik crossed the room and she looked up to
see his eyes darkening to the color of wood freshly beaten by a
storm. "Silver?"

"I'm okay." She twisted free of Ford's grip
and glared at him. "I won't ask Landon to throw games. They mean
too much to him."

Ford laid his forearms on the bar and lifted
his shoulders in a careless shrug. "Well, I don't really need you
either. But I won't share the profit unless you make this easier
for me. Who else are you fucking? The GM's too uptight to work
with. What about that new guy? Sebastian? He's a defenseman. He
could be useful."

Her throat locked. "I'm not fucking him."

"And Scott? Actually, I considered
approaching him myself. He seems the type."

"I think Scott would surprise you."

"Are you doing him? I'm sure it wouldn't take
much for you to find out." Ford's lips twisted slightly. "And you
came here with your sister's boyfriend. He could be useful."

Dominik must have heard that, he was close
enough. But he didn't say a word.

"He came here to make sure you didn't try
anything." She sat up and her chin jutted out. "And he's loyal to
my sister."

"But you trusted him enough to come here and
discuss this with me?" Ford set down his beer and flattened his
hands on the bar. "How do you know he won't say anything?"

"He doesn't need to. You've said enough."
Smiling sweetly, she picked up her purse. "The team needs your
family's money, so I won't go to the cops. Unless I have to—"

Ford grabbed the collar of her blouse.
"You're not involving the cops."

"I suggest." Dominik reached out and latched
onto Ford's wrist. "You let her go right now."

A click from the far end of the bar made
Silver's heart skip a beat. She knew that sound. From the corner of
her eye she could see the black metal gleam of the gun in the
biker's hand. He motioned with it for Dominik to move away.

Dominik snarled and fisted his hands at his
sides. "She's got someone on the phone, listening to all this. I
suggest you let her go before he calls the police."

"Chill, Cort, they were just leaving." Ford
released her and held up his hands. "The drama isn't necessary, but
I must say, well played, Silver. I just hope you don't forget that
you
do
need my family's money. Your daddy dumped everything
he has into this team. You know that, right?"

"I know that." Silver rubbed her throat and
retreated to Dominik's side. "Just stay away from my family—and
that includes Jami—and we'll be fine. Otherwise, I'll expose you
and let the league cover the loses. I've got other ways to put this
team back on track. We won't need you for long."

"We'll see." Ford thrummed his fingers on the
bar. "Maybe Kingsley Enterprises will tighten their purse strings a
little, just to remind you how much you
do
need us. But
either way, I wouldn't count on me leaving your family alone,
princess."

"If you touch Jami—"

"Jami will be fine. She was a good time,
that's it. I don't threaten kids." He inclined his head towards
Cort who still had his gun out. "But, as I said, you're
leaving."