Game Of Risk (Risqué #3) (12 page)

‘It’s too soon for that, we just found out… you know, and we need some time to process everything before we make big decisions.’

‘I know that she’s pregnant, so you don’t have to talk in code,’ Ivy said, pulling herself closer to her desk.

‘You do?’ Ruger asked.

‘Who do you think was there when she took the tests?’ Ivy asked. Ivy and Bri were neighbours and had become quite close, neither had another good friend, so the women confided in each other. ‘I agree with Blaser that it’s too soon to rush Bri into moving. But if you’re worried about Layla then she’s better at the apartments than she would be at your parents’ house.’

‘There’s been no trouble at my mom’s and Mom takes care of Layla. Out here there’s… She doesn’t know anyone, she wouldn’t know what to do and she might cause problems for herself.’

‘Problems?’

‘He wants you to think that he’s worried about her,’ Blaser said. ‘What he’s really worried about is that she’s hot and there are guys here. There are no guys around to move in on his turf at our mom’s.’

Now that Blaser put it like that Ruger wondered if he was concerned about the idea of another guy moving in on Layla. Except after the night they’d had together he was sure they were definitely starting something and he doubted that Layla was the type to have several guys on the go at the same time.

‘No one will make a play for her around here. No one hits on me,’ Ivy said, swivelling to face them again.

‘Everyone around here has met your husband,’ Ruger said. Only a man with a death wish would think about trying to touch Dax Harrow’s wife.

‘Her husband is another good reason why Layla should stay here,’ Blaser said. ‘Dax knows what he’s doing in a fight. He bailed Bri out, didn’t he? If anyone tries to cause trouble for her—‘

‘Saying that she would be safe here doesn’t change the fact that there’s nowhere for her to sleep,’ Ruger said, more exasperated by Blaser’s argument than opposed to it. ‘Are you going to sleep on the couch and give her your room? ‘Cause she’s not safe out front alone.’

‘I thought Suzette was staying in your apartment,’ Ivy said.

‘She is,’ Ruger said. ‘Hence why I have nowhere for Layla to go.’

‘Is it that, or is it that you’re afraid to have a girl in your house in case she never leaves?’ Ivy asked, catching her pen in her teeth and raising her eyebrows at him.

‘Yeah, it could be that, ‘cause the last time I was a nice guy, I let Suzette move into my apartment and she’s never planning on leaving.’

‘Kick her out,’ Ivy said.

‘Like it’s no big deal.’

‘Woman has a point,’ Blaser said.

Covering his hand with his eyes, Ruger exhaled. ‘Then you tell her to move, Blase.’

‘If kicking Suzette out is causing you trouble, I’ll talk to her,’ Ivy said.

‘No,’ both men said at the same time.

Suzette and Ivy were not the best of friends. Being neighbours they’d had a few run-ins over noise levels. ‘I would be perfectly nice about it,’ Ivy said. ‘The woman has no right to take up residence in your apartment, not when she’s got a boyfriend.’ This caused both him and Blaser to peer at her. ‘Which I guess, neither of you knew.’

When Ivy tried to turn back to the desk, Ruger caught the back of the chair and pulled it out to spin her around so he could look at her. ‘Suzette has a boyfriend?’

‘I thought everyone knew,’ Ivy said, but the innocent act was fooling no one and Ruger had a feeling that it was Ivy’s intention to out Suzette’s not-so-secret. ‘Bri knows and so does Lyssa.’

Lyssa was Suzette’s best friend, so it was no leap that she knew about this mysterious man in Suzette’s life. Lyssa and Bri were going to be family and Ivy was Bri’s best friend, so word must have gotten around the female network.

‘Bri knows?’ Blaser asked.

Surprised that Bri hadn’t confessed all to Blaser, Ruger continued the questioning. ‘Who is he?’

‘If you’re jealous then—‘

Ruger caught the back of her chair and held it so that she couldn’t sneak away again. Leaning over her, he was intent on getting answers now. ‘Oh no, you’re not going to use that play. Every man who knows Suzette knows how… high maintenance she can be.’ Suzette was a good-looking woman, but Ruger preferred his women to be a little less needy.

‘Obviously some men are into that,’ Ivy said.

‘Where did she meet him?’ Blaser asked.

‘How long has it been going on?’ Ruger asked, wondering why Suzette hadn’t asked this new boyfriend for kindness instead of relying on his. Then a thought struck him. ‘Have they been doing it in my place?’ In his bed was more what perturbed him, but he didn’t want to go there.

‘I’ll say,’ Ivy said. ‘Sometimes I think she’s trying to out-do Dax and me. But I don’t think the guy likes that idea. They do it at his a lot too.’

‘How would you know how often they have sex at her boyfriend’s place?’

‘I think that if you want to know about Suzette’s love life, you should ask her,’ Ivy said.

‘You can’t stand each other,’ Blaser said. ‘Don’t pretend to protect her now, Ive, come on, tell us. You told Bri so—‘

‘Bri figured it out for herself,’ Ivy said. ‘She shares a wall with Suzette too.’

Bri was in the first apartment on the upper floor of the apartment building, Suzette was next door, and Ivy shared the third apartment along with her husband, Dax. If Ivy and Bri found out by overhearing what Suzette was up to in her apartment, Ruger’s connect the dots of the flow of knowledge through the women hadn’t been too accurate.

‘She did?’ Blaser asked.

‘Yeah, she figured it out while Dax and I were away in California. She’s probably known about it the longest. Though I guess Suzette probably told Lyssa before the rest of us knew.’

‘I don’t have time for this,’ Ruger said and flipped around to look at Blaser. ‘I have to get on the road. Just look after Layla, ok? Talk to Bri and if she will give you up then I’d appreciate it if you’d stay over at Mom’s just while I’m away.’

‘If something goes down over there, I can’t look after Mom and Layla alone.’

‘Dad is still capable,’ Ruger said. ‘Once I get the story from Drew I’ll be in touch and if I think there’s any real chance of danger coming your way, I’ll clue you in.’

Psyching himself up to head out on the road without Layla, Ruger spun around, but Ivy caught his arm. ‘Dax and I will watch Blaser’s back. We’ll keep her safe.’

‘Thanks,’ Ruger said and left the garage to get on with his to-do list.

He didn’t know much about Ivy, and he already knew she could be a vixen, but he knew Dax was capable because he’d saved Blaser’s life at least once. Telling himself that Layla would be safe, he started to dial Lyssa because she was next on his list. Ruger couldn’t shake the discomfort he felt at not being by Layla’s side when she could need him, but taking her with him was just too risky.

Layla had been drinking tea on the back patio with Prudence and Lyssa when Lyssa’s phone rang. She hadn’t seen Ruger since he dropped her off here this morning and she was uneasy about the phone call that he’d received from Drew.

Under Ruger’s advisement, she didn’t use any of the phones in the Warner house to try and call Drew, but she really wanted to see Ruger soon to get the full story. Trusting that he would come to her as soon as she could, she was surprised to learn that he was the one who had called Lyssa.

Lyssa left the table and walked to the back of the yard to talk to him, and once again, Layla felt left out. She didn’t want to be in the dark about any danger that could be encroaching and she was worried that Ruger and Drew were keeping things from her. They might think that they were protecting her, but she didn’t feel protected, she just felt excluded and that encouraged feelings of vulnerability.

‘Ruger is always going at a thousand miles a minute,’ Pru said, topping off each of the glasses. ‘He’s very dedicated.’

Layla wouldn’t ask Pru any questions about what she thought that Ruger did, because she was afraid the search for answers would only lead to more questions. ‘He is,’ Layla said.

‘Did you enjoy your night away?’ Pru asked.

‘Yes,’ Layla said, sitting forward to sip from her glass.

‘He does go away a lot. Too much. But I think he’s ready to settle down.’

Pru made no secret of the smile that was asking Layla if she was ready to settle down too. But after only one night together, she couldn’t reach any conclusions about where her relationship with Ruger was going to go.

‘He mentioned a change in his career path,’ Layla said, hoping that she wasn’t revealing any secrets.

‘Ruger isn’t afraid of change. He never has been. He adapts to whatever the situation calls for. You said that you were between jobs at the moment?’

Mandy had left a voicemail telling her that her employment was terminated, but Layla couldn’t argue with that decision. She had flounced off in the middle of a meeting with a handsome man who stole her away. Layla couldn’t blame Mandy for thinking she was flaky.

‘I move around a lot,’ Layla said. She had already told Pru that she had travelled the country after her mother died. Pru was easy to talk to, but had a clear agenda which Layla was hesitant to encourage. ‘I think that I’ll spend some time with my brother soon.’

If he would have her, then she would go to see Drew and Serendipity once this Ashcroft case was over. Talking to Ruger about her past and about how her mother’s death affected her, she was ready to discuss it with Drew and find out just how it had affected him. If they could both be honest, Layla hoped that they would be brought closer by the truths, as difficult as they may be to tell.

‘He’s in Atlantic City, is that right?’

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘For now anyway.’

‘Family’s important. I think you can see that we value it here.’

‘Yes.’

‘Sorry to interrupt,’ Lyssa said, coming back to the table with a more solemn expression than she’d left with, clutching her cell phone to her chest. ‘Can I borrow Layla for a moment?’

‘I’ll leave you two alone to talk,’ Pru said, rising with her glass in hand and retrieving the jug of iced-tea. ‘Come into the house when you’re ready.’

‘Ruger is coming over,’ Lyssa said as Pru retreated toward the house. ‘But he won’t be staying long.’

‘Ok,’ Pru said and disappeared into the building.

Lyssa came to Layla’s side and sat down to take her hand. ‘You need to go upstairs and pack a bag. Do you have many things here?’

‘Pack a bag, why?’

‘You have to come and stay with Colt and me for a few days.’

‘Why?’ Layla asked, snatching her hand back. ‘What’s going on?’

‘I don’t know the details, but you don’t have to worry, we have plenty of space for you. Blaser will be staying as well.’

Layla didn’t trust the doctor’s expression of calm because she could see the quake of concern beneath. ‘Why would Blaser come and stay with you? What about Bri?’

‘She and Blaser don’t live together. She will probably visit him. But don’t worry, it will just be for a couple of days.’

And then what? Layla didn’t like all of this mysterious behaviour. She would be the first to admit that she didn’t know everyone in the Warner family very well because she hadn’t been around them for long. But she could tell when someone wasn’t giving her the full story.

‘You all know, don’t you?’ Layla asked.

Ruger hadn’t told his mother the truth and so Layla had assumed that his brothers and their partners didn’t know it all either. It turned out that she had been working on a false assumption.

‘Know?’ Lyssa asked.

‘About Drew, about what he’s into?’

‘No,’ Lyssa said, putting her cell phone onto the metal table and dragging her chair closer. ‘All I know is that Ruger has to go out of town for a couple of days and that he’s concerned for your safety.’

‘Why should I believe you?’

‘Because what I do requires trust and I know that trust is rooted in honesty,’ Lyssa said. ‘I do know that what he’s doing is connected to what happened to Bri last year. I have been helping Bri work through some of her trauma. I can’t break her confidentiality with the details I know about that. Colt hasn’t told me everything about your connection. He’s been working another case and we haven’t seen much of each other this week. I will say that the brothers have had a bit of an… awakening recently. It’s meant that honesty has become more crucial in their relationship. So the chances are that Colt and Blaser know all of the details.’

That came across as honest. Lyssa didn’t have to offer any more information beyond her initial statement, yet she had. ‘There’s no reason for you to be endangered because of my problems.’

‘Don’t worry about that,’ Lyssa said, wearing an encouraging smile. ‘Colt won’t let anything happen to you. He won’t let anything happen to me. Ruger went to Blaser for help because he knows that this debt they owe is shouldered by both of them.’

Layla had been so caught up in her flirtation with Ruger that she had lost track of this frequently referred to debt. For a time she had almost forgotten about the trouble Drew was in too. Until now it had seemed so far away, but it seemed to be creeping closer and whatever Ruger was going to do, Layla wanted to be a part of it. She didn’t want to run and hide, to leave all of the danger to Drew and to Ruger.

‘You said that Ruger’s coming here?’

‘Yes.’

‘I’ll go and pack.’

Letting the doctor believe that it was her intention to pack and do as Ruger had ordered, Layla went up the stairs and began to pack up all of the possessions she had here. With her new possessions, it was quite a tight squeeze, but she got everything in and as she was finishing up, she heard the sound of a vehicle in the driveway.

Peeking out of her bedroom window, she saw Ruger exit his truck and head down the path toward the back door with purpose in his stride. If he wanted to get on the road to get on with whatever he had to do, then she doubted he would linger long with his mother.

So Layla sat on the bed beside her suitcase, which was packed and standing on the floor, ready to go. Sure enough, she heard his approaching gait less than a minute later and then her bedroom door opened.

‘Are you ready to leave?’ he asked, not coming further into the room.

‘Where are we going?’

‘Lyssa said that she told you,’ he said, leaving the door to take another step toward her. ‘You have to go and stay with her and Colt this week.’

‘This week? I thought it was only going to take a couple of days.’

‘I don’t know how long it will take. I hope it will only be two days, three at the most.’

‘What is going on?’ she asked, getting to her feet. ‘I’m not a pinball you can just bounce from one relative to another whenever it suits you.’

‘Hey, I said to Blaser that he should come and look after you here. It was Lyssa who suggested her place. I’m just trying to make sure that you are comfortable and safe.’

‘Great, then take me with you.’

‘No.’ There wasn’t any indication of wiggle room in that response. He didn’t smile, he didn’t err, and his expression came over all stony when he got closer. ‘I am not taking any risks. I told Jansen I would keep you alive and that is what I intend to do. His first condition was that I not bring you anywhere near him.’

‘You’re going to see Drew?’ The anger she had been compacting in preparation to release it in a torrent, instead bled away in the blaze of hope that fired at the notion of seeing her brother. ‘Please let me come with you. I want to see him.’

‘No,’ he said again.

Rushing into his arms, she tried to will him to change his mind. ‘How would you feel if one of your brothers was in trouble, wouldn’t you want to help?’

‘You can’t help,’ Ruger said. ‘And I’m only going to see him for long enough to get some information. I’m not hanging around there. I’ve got somewhere to be.’

‘Tell me what’s going on, Ruger. I’m not going to let you walk away from me without any idea if you’ll come back.’

‘What I’m going to do isn’t dangerous,’ he said, but his exhale betrayed that she’d wheedled her way into his psyche a little. ‘I’m going to do what I do. I’m going to collect goods and take them to a buyer, that’s it.’

‘I thought your days as a fence were over,’ she said. ‘You told me that—‘

‘This isn’t work… it’s personal, ok?’

‘What’s the big secret? What is this debt that you owe Drew? I deserve to know.’

‘The debt doesn’t matter.’

‘It does. It’s what motivates you, and Lyssa seems to think that Blaser is as invested in this as you are.’

‘He is,’ Ruger said then faltered. ‘He was.’

‘Was? What changed?’

‘I started to fall for you, that’s what,’ he said, pulling her near. ‘I told Drew I would look after you because I wanted to repay what he did for someone I care about.’

‘Care about… like a woman?’

‘Yes, she’s a woman, but not my woman. She’s Blaser’s woman.’

‘Bri?’ He nodded. ‘What happened to her?’

‘It’s a long story, but Jansen pulled her out of a sticky spot. We owe her life to your brother.’

‘So now you want to repay that by saving mine?’

‘I’m not going to have to save yours, ok? No one is going to get near enough to jeopardise you. I want you to stay with Colt and Blaser because they’re smart guys who know what it’s like to care for a woman. They’ll protect you with their lives.’

‘I thought I wasn’t going to have to be saved,’ she said, resigning herself to the truth that this man was going to hold onto his secrets. ‘Will you tell Drew that I love him?’

‘I will,’ Ruger said. Pressing a hand to the back of her head, he forced her to rest her head on his chest. ‘I’m sorry that I don’t have time to tell you everything, and I promise I’ll stop shuttling you around as soon as I get back.’

‘You can’t promise that. Not until you have your own place.’

‘We’ll figure something out. Last night won’t be the only night we have.’

The idea that he might not come back, that something could happen to him before they had the chance to find out what was between them made her squeeze her eyes closed. ‘You better come back to me, Ruge. If you’re not back in three days I’m going to come and find you, and if you’re dead—‘

‘I won’t be dead,’ he said, laughing and sweeping her hair aside when she leaned back. ‘I’m just going to drop off some things to our friends. They’re friends who have been there for all of us before, I won’t leave them high and dry.’

‘You owe a lot of people favours, Ruger,’ she said. ‘Will you be repaying debts for the rest of your life?’

‘No, this is it,’ he said, kissing her. ‘I promise that once this whole mess with your brother is fixed up, you’ll have me all to yourself.’

‘All to myself… maybe by then I’ll have been plucked off the street by another handsome stranger, one who would take me to a karaoke bar.’

‘If karaoke is what it takes to be with you then I guess I’ll have to find it in my heart.’

‘You want to be with me?’ she asked.

Rushing him on the language score this morning had seemed hasty in light of her own indecision. Now she feared that they didn’t have the time to mess around and if this did end up being the last time she saw him, she didn’t want to always wonder how he felt.

‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘Last night was just the beginning.’