Better When He's Bad

CHAPTER 2 Dovie

I HAD BEEN AROUND long enough in the worst parts of town to know the difference between a bad boy and a boy who was just bad. Bad was stamped all across Shane Baxter and it had nothing to do with the star tattooed on his face or the ominous and deliberate way he moved, like a coiled snake ready to strike and eager to fill you with poison before you could blink. His dark eyes were flat, like his emotions had long ago been switched off and he had no interest in tapping back into them. I grew up poor. I grew up where sometimes it was a luxury to just be poor because that meant at least you had a little bit of money. So I had seen that look more than once, but I had never seen it worn in a face you just knew could destroy everything you loved and not even blink a ridiculously thick black eyelash. This was a young man who had seen more—lived more—in his short years than most people did in a lifetime. You survived in his world by being the best of the worst and there was no doubt in my mind that was exactly what Bax was.

Sure, Race had given reassurance after reassurance that Bax was a good guy. That once he was out, he would be able to help my brother fix the situation with Benny and Novak, that he was just a guy who had been handed a hard lot in life and did the best with what he had. But looking at him in my run-down apartment, I could see that Race was way wrong. My brother wasn’t familiar with desperation, with having to suffer without; he couldn’t see what I saw in the man before me, and that was the undisguised willingness to do whatever it took to survive. Five years in prison hadn’t beaten him down when he went in as a scared kid. It had made him stronger, made him a bigger threat, and if I wasn’t mistaken, probably a better criminal. I didn’t want him anywhere near me, but if he was my only option to help Race, I would do whatever it took, give him whatever he wanted. Race was that important to me.

Bax didn’t bother to ask if I cared if he smoked, just lit a cigarette and put it between his lips. The bottom of his mouth was puffy and cracked like he had smacked it on something. His dark eyes roved around my space and I felt like he was taking stock. I hated it. I lived on what I made, I supported myself by working my ass off, and I knew how to live and protect myself in the slums. I wouldn’t let him judge me and find me lacking. He was a convicted felon after all. I might not have had much, but everything I did have I came by honestly.

“What do you know?”

His voice was scratchy, rough, like he didn’t use it often. He walked over to the cracked window and pulled the sheers I had over it away so he could look at the diner across the way. He was probably worried about his precious car.

“Not much. Race showed up at the group home I was dumped off at when the last foster family I lived with moved right after you went away. He told me he was my brother. He gave me the basic rundown on the Hartmans and I realized my father was as much of a nightmare as my mother. Race took me out of a really bad situation, gave me a pretty good life for a brief minute, made us a family, and then he brought me back here to wait.”

“Wait for what?”

I shrugged and flopped down on my ancient couch. “Wait for you, I guess.”

I sent Carmen a text to let her know so far things were okay. I had the entire neighborhood keeping an eye out for the elusive thief with the star tattoo for the last week. It was almost a relief he had finally shown, even if he thought breaking and entering was appropriate. It bugged me that I had missed with the Taser. I needed to spend a couple more sessions at the local Y working on self-defense. A single girl in this kind of neighborhood could never be too safe or take too many precautions.

“I grew up in a town just like this, in a place just like this, but a state over. From what I managed to piece together by listening to Race when I shouldn’t have, Lord Hartman paid my mom off and she was supposed to get rid of me and disappear. She didn’t. Took the money and ran; only she didn’t want me so much as she wanted a fix. I was in the system—foster care, group homes—and Race found me just as I was getting ready to get placed in a notoriously bad home. The dad had grabby hands, mom was a drunk and didn’t care. I wanted to take off, but Race talked me out of it; told me he would take care of me. He bribed the lord to step in and claim his parental rights so I wouldn’t be in the system anymore, and we stayed in the town where my school was at together until I graduated. He never told me why he couldn’t come back to the Point and I got tired of asking. And then a year ago something changed, and he packed us up and moved us here like he was on some kind of mission. Like he had a plan. I felt like I owed it to him to come along without question. He saved me.”

I shook my head and twisted my hands together. “I don’t know what he had going on, but I liked this neighborhood, liked the community college, so I settled in. He kept to himself and kind of skulked around the streets. I thought he was just waiting for you to get cut loose, but then the guy in the suit showed up. He roughed me up a little, scared the hell out of me, and Race went off like a lunatic. I’d never seen him that fired up. I know he went to see Novak. He said he was done being a puppet, that he was done letting other people call the shots. He told me he never forgave himself for what happened to you, and that if you came around I needed to trust you. That was weeks ago, and no one has seen or heard from him since.”

He blew out a stream of smoke and pushed the hood of his sweatshirt back. He had on a black knit hat that made him look like he was up to no good. In fact, everything about him made him look that way. The bruise on his cheek, the black pants and heavy boots, the small tattoo of a cartoon Road Runner on the back of his hand by his thumb, the thick, dark eyebrows over emotionless eyes, and the downturn of a mouth that was too soft and pretty to be on such a hard face. With the obvious power harnessed in his big frame, he was not a guy I wanted to be in a tiny place with on a good day, and I hated—absolutely hated—that he didn’t say anything to me or that I couldn’t tell what he was thinking behind that curtain of black in his gaze.

“He never went to school?”

That seemed like a weird question to take away from everything I had just laid on him, but I had no choice but to play along.

“No. He used his tuition money to support us for a few years. He also pulled me out of public school and put me in private school for my last two years.”

“Altruistic bastard.”

I bristled automatically. “The school I was at had metal detectors, the students and the teachers were armed, and a girl got raped in the locker room. I never knew if I was going to get homework or attacked. It was awful. Race wanted something better, and since Lord Hartman refused to do anything about it, he took it upon himself to.”

“He couldn’t save me, so he decided to save you?”

I had thought the same thing, many, many times, whenever Race brought up his incarcerated best friend. A guy who looked that tough shouldn’t be so sharp. He should be all muscle and no brains. His perceptiveness made him a million times more dangerous in my mind.

“I don’t know what his reasons were and I didn’t care. I had someone who loved me and cared more about me than a hit. He offered me a chance at a normal and stable life; he showed me what family could be. He went to battle with the lord and lady of the manor for me, and I will do anything—and I mean anything—to keep him safe.”

Race was more than just my big brother. He was my hero. He was my savior. He was the only thing in the entire world I couldn’t live without. Money, objects, security—none of it mattered; it was all an illusion. The sacrifices Race had made for me, the way he had swooped in and showed a lonely sixteen-year-old from the way, way wrong side of the tracks that there was more to life than just getting by . . . I could never repay him for that. I would give anything and everything I had to keep my brother safe.

He put out his cigarette on the heavy tread of his boot and pushed away from the window. He pulled his hood back up around his face and walked past where I was still on the couch. When he got a few steps away, he looked down at me. Those eyes of his were just an endless dark void in a face I was sure I would never forget.

“Keep your head down. If Benny or anyone shady comes poking around, call this number.” He rattled off a bunch of numbers I would never remember but I nodded anyway. “If Race makes contact, any kind of contact, tell him I’m out. Tell him to find me, that Novak is my problem, not his. Tell him the slate is and always was clean until I say differently. You got all that, Copper-Top?”

I hated that nickname. Being broke was one thing, being broke and having flaming red hair that everyone wanted to make fun of on top of it was another. However, he was not the type of guy I was going to quibble with over a stupid nickname. In fact, he didn’t look like the kind of guy that took to quibbling, no matter what it was over. He moved toward the door and I jumped to my feet.

“That’s it?”

He looked over his shoulder at me and pulled the rickety door open.

“Unless you know anything that might actually help me, then yeah, that’s it.”

I glared at him. “I meant, what happens now? What do we do to find Race?”

He lifted a dark eyebrow at me and the corner of his mouth pulled down in a frown.

“We do nothing. I hit the streets and make people talk. I need to figure out what Race was working on the back end that Novak wants bad enough to have Benny looking for him. You just let me know if you hear from him.”

He was out the door so silently and quickly I had to scramble to follow him to the stairwell. I was tall and had long legs. He was taller and had longer ones. He also moved like one giant dark shadow against the other ones on the wall.

“I want to help you. I need to help. I owe Race everything.”

From a few steps below he looked up at me where I was nervously hovering. It made me shiver. No one’s eyes should be that cold, that flat.

“He might not be my brother by blood, but he’s my brother just the same, and I know him well enough to know that whatever he did for you, he did because he wanted to, not because he had to. Race loves being the hero.”

I didn’t know how to take that, and by the time I got my thoughts in line, he was already all the way down the steps. I knew if he disappeared, I would never see him again and I couldn’t let that happen. He was my only link to Race, no matter what that meant for me.

“I need to help.”

He looked over his shoulder at me and I knew enough not to follow him any farther.

“You couldn’t even help yourself. You really think you’re going to stop anyone with a Taser and a frying pan?”

I also had a loaded nine-millimeter in a nightstand next to my bed that Race had made sure I knew how to use, but I figured that was information he didn’t need to have.

“I’ve been waiting for you. I knew it was you.”

“And if it hadn’t been me and you missed with the Taser, you would’ve been fucked. Literally. I work better alone. I don’t know what’s going on and I don’t need some farm girl slowing me down or messing with my flow.”

I felt my eyebrows shoot up to my hairline. I had heard a lot of things about the way I looked, some more flattering than others, but never had anyone insinuated I looked like I belonged on a farm.

“Excuse me?”

He laughed, at least that’s what I think the noise was supposed to be, and jumped down a few more stairs.

“It’s the freckles and the ivory skin. You look like a little girl on the farm. You definitely don’t look like you belong in the inner city, and you sure don’t look like you’re twenty.”

Well, he didn’t look like he was just a couple years older than that, but there was no denying he totally looked like a criminal and all the dark and dangerous things he supposedly was.

“Well, I’ve never been on a farm in my life and I will do whatever it takes to keep Race safe and bring him home, with or without you.”

I wanted to sound strong. I wanted to sound like I would be valuable to him. I didn’t. I sounded scared and unsure. He heard it.

“Without me, Copper-Top.” And then he was gone. Just vanished. Disappeared into the night like the thief he was.

I sighed and went back up to my apartment. I wasn’t worried about any more unwanted visitors. Lester, the homeless guy who lived on the stoop, didn’t let anyone in the building that wasn’t supposed to be there. All I did was bring him a plate of food and pass along a six-pack every now and then and he kept an eagle eye on me. The only way Benny and his goons had managed to find me was because they had ambushed me on an early Sunday morning when Lester took his stinking self to church. They were lucky. I was not. I was also scared.

I was scared for Race—scared for me. And if I was being honest, I was one hundred percent terrified of Bax. I was street-smart. I knew how to take care of myself, but there was nothing in my bag of tricks that made me think I was capable of dealing with a guy like him. He was a very scary wild card, but I needed him. I had never needed anyone in my life before Race showed up at my door.

My cell phone was ringing just as I was twisting the locks shut on the front door, even though I now knew they were useless, thanks to my midnight visitor. I snatched it up and went to the window to wave down at Carmen.

She laughed in my ear and I flopped down on the couch. She was sweet. A single mom . . . Marco and Paulie kept her busy. They were good kids. She was a good mom but this wasn’t a fairy tale, so I knew life was hard for all of them, especially since Marco was thirteen and Carmen was only six years older than me. We tried to watch out for each other, but living like this was every man and woman for themselves, and the sooner you learned that, the better off you were. Expectations were foolish to have. The reality of the situation kept all of us honest and allowed us to form loose bonds with each other.

“So? What did he say?”

I sighed and twisted one of my orange curls around my finger and stared up at the yellowish-tinted ceiling. It wasn’t a great apartment, but it was far from the worst place I had ever lived.

“Not a whole lot.”

“He have any idea where Race might be?”

“No, but he didn’t seem overly concerned that something bad had happened to him either.”

“Your brother told you that he was all kinds of ‘take care of business.’ You should’ve believed him. Race was always up front with you, even when you didn’t want to hear it.”

She was right, so I sighed again.

“He’s not going to be back. I’m not going to know what’s going on. Race could be out there anywhere. Hurt, in trouble, or worse, and I’ll never know.”

She muttered something over her shoulder and there was the clatter of dishes in the background. She got back on the line and sighed.

“This Novak guy is no joke. He’s a bad man and Race told you all along that getting tangled up with him was the worst thing he had ever let happen in his life. I hate to tell you this, honey, but this might just be a situation for the bad guys to outdo each other. Heroes have no place in this kind of fight. It takes nasty to fight nasty, and the word around the Point is that nobody is nastier than Novak.”

I knew Race wasn’t perfect, that he had made a lot of really bad decisions, decisions that had life-changing consequences, but despite that, he was MY hero, and if that meant hitching my wagon to the devil’s black horse to see this through, then that’s just what I would do.

“If Novak is that bad, I don’t understand how some two-bit criminal who’s hardly old enough to drink legally can stand a chance against him. Not only that, how does he have enough clout to do anything about Race? He’s been locked up for the last five years, how does he even have a leg to stand on in this kind of fight?”

Now, having just spent an hour in his presence, I had to admit Bax radiated all kinds of scary, bad things that made me want to believe he could be my brother’s saving grace, but I couldn’t get over those eyes. If he didn’t feel anything, anything at all, how was he going to care enough about Race to find him and help him? I needed to make him understand how important helping find my brother was. No one had more invested in Race’s safe return than me.

“Honey, you heard the way your brother talked about this guy, like he’s some kind of superhero. This guy is your brother’s best friend. They had a bond strong enough that he was willing to go to prison for Race. That means something, Dovie.”

Logically I knew she was right, but I was having a hard time separating fear, adrenaline, and panic from rationality.

“I gotta go. I just had a big group of kids walk in. I wonder if their parents know they’re out this late.” It was said ironically because she knew good and well that Marco and Paulie were anywhere but in bed, sound asleep, where they should be. “I tell you all the time, hon, people are going to ultimately be who they are. If this guy is bad news, then maybe he’s bad enough news to tangle with Novak. You just keep your head up and watch your back. I don’t trust the suit, and I don’t trust a boy with that kind of trouble in his eyes.”

I snorted. “There was nothing in those eyes, Carmen.”

“Oh, honey, if you look close enough, everything is in those eyes. That’s why they’re so dark. They are full. Full of every secret, every promise, and every temptation that can make a good girl do really bad things and enjoy every second of it. Watch yourself, Dove. This could get ugly for you really fast.”

My place had already been broken into twice, a known gangster knew my name and where I lived, and my brother was missing and a convicted criminal was my only hope to find him. It was already as ugly as it could be in my mind. I told Carmen good-bye and walked into my room so I could curl up in a ball on top of the thin comforter. I didn’t like to feel out of control. Ever since I was little, it had been up to me to make sure I survived, that I was safe, that I had what I needed to make it in this world. Race showed up and blew all that to hell. I relied on my brother. I trusted him and I loved him, two things I had never felt for another human being, ever. Not being able to do anything, just throwing all my eggs in the Bax basket, made me nervous and entirely exasperated.

I heard a knock on my front door and roused myself from my moping. It could only be the kids; everyone else lately seemed to think breaking and entering was the best way to get inside my place. I pulled the door back open and looked down at Marco and his younger brother. He was a future badass in the making, no doubt, but he was also a sweet kid who looked out for his little brother and treated me like family because I made him cookies occasionally.

“What’s up?”

He shifted nervously on his feet. “Just wanted to make sure you were all right. That guy isn’t a joke like the guy in the suit was.”

“I know, Marco. It’s fine. He’s gonna try and find Race.”

“I know. He was on the phone when he got back to the car. Man, is that a sweet ride.” Envy colored his tone.

“What was he saying on the phone?” I bit my lip because I shouldn’t be pumping a kid for information, but if Bax didn’t want to let me help him, maybe I just needed to take the choice away from him.

“He was talking about someplace called Spanky’s over in the District.”

The District was where all the working girls lived and worked. It was where all the strip clubs and bars where girls were looking to make ends meet on their backs were at. It was still in the Point, just one more part of what living on the poor side of town brought you.

“What was he saying about Spanky’s?”

Marco looked at me questioningly and I tried to smile reassuringly. My anxiety made it more of a grimace, and he didn’t buy it for a second, but he answered me anyway.

“He asked if a girl named Honor still worked there. He told whoever he was talking to that he would be by tomorrow to talk to her.”

I didn’t know if it had anything to do with my brother, or if he was just worried about getting laid. He did say that was on the top of his priority list at the moment, but I wasn’t sure it was a lead I could let slip through my fingers. I reached out and messed up Marco’s hair. He swore and grabbed Paulie’s elbow to drag him back to his apartment.

“Be careful, Dovie. That guy isn’t someone you want to mess around with.”

If this kid at his age could sense the danger radiating off of Shane Baxter, then maybe it wasn’t the greatest idea to try and insert myself directly in his path. I ran the very real risk of getting run over. Unfortunately, I just didn’t know what other choice I had at this point.

“YOU’RE IN A HURRY to get out of here tonight.”

I looked up at the sound of the voice as Brysen Carter sat down next to me. We were both waitresses at the same corner restaurant that rested right in the part of town where the Point turned into the Hill. I was from one side of the road and she was from the other, but we got along pretty well, and if I was the type to have friends, I would’ve considered her one. She was nice to me, didn’t pry into my business, was always willing to pick up a shift for me if school or my other job called, and she didn’t take crap from anyone. And it wasn’t because she clearly came from money, but because she was petite and pretty and the restaurant was close enough to the Point that it made people think she was easy pickings. They were wrong.

“I am.” I was doing my count-out well before my shift was over and had handed off my last two tables to a new girl. I hated giving up money, but finding Race was what mattered to me most of all, and I could go without hot water for a month if that’s what it took to find him.

“Homework?” She was just being friendly, but I didn’t have the time to get into it. I had no idea when Bax would show up at the club, which meant I needed to get there before he saw and intercepted me.

“No, not tonight.”

My other job was working a few hours a week at a transition home for kids who had grown up like I had. While there were a lot of really good foster homes and people wanting to help out in the world, there were also a lot of really bad ones. I wanted to help. Wanted to give kids the option to have a normal life, like Race had done for me. I went to school at night because I eventually wanted a degree in counseling. I wanted kids in my shoes to have a fighting chance.

“Well, I know you don’t have a date because hell hasn’t frozen over, so where are you off to?”

I looked up at her and rolled my eyes. She was such a pretty girl, I always wondered why she was here and not in some sorority on a campus somewhere. She had a perfectly styled bob that was just the right shade of blond and lighter blond. She had kind blue eyes and a figure that was made for the tight black skirt and T-shirt she wore to work. She was lovely, and genuinely concerned about me but I couldn’t get into it with her. I didn’t need someone else telling me to be careful and to watch my back because Bax was trouble. Message received, universe, the guy was bad news; too bad there was nothing I could do about it. Instead of answering, I cocked my head to the side and lifted an eyebrow at her.

“Do you think I look like a farm girl?”

She stared at me like I had grown horns, and then barked out a laugh. “What? Who told you that?”

I shoved the money and receipts in the bag for the drop and pocketed my tips. “Just this guy. I thought it was crazy.”

She tilted her head to the side and considered me thoughtfully for a second, then tucked some of her blond hair behind an ear.

“Well, you do have this whole wholesome-and-wide-eyed-innocent thing going on, but I know you, so I know it isn’t really who you are. It was probably the clothes ten sizes too big and lack of makeup. Plus all that wild hair you never do anything with makes you look about five years old most of the time.”

Fancy clothes, nice hair, and a made-up face got you unwanted attention in this part of the city. Plus my hair was already a beacon, and I didn’t need anything else to make me stand out.

“That’s what he said.”

“Who is this guy?”

I shrugged as nonchalantly as I could manage. “Just a friend of my brother’s. He stopped by looking for Race and I had to tell him I hadn’t seen him in a while.”

She made a face. For some reason Brysen was not a fan of my brother. They had similar backgrounds and were both slumming it now for personal reasons, but they didn’t click. She was rude to him, and he dismissed her, and it was awkward for me because I genuinely liked her, and I didn’t like very many people as a rule.

“Did he have any idea where Race might be?”

I shook my head and shoved away from the table. “No, but I’m not sure he would tell me if he did. He didn’t strike me as the sharing type.”

“Sounds like the rude type if he called you a farm girl without knowing the first thing about you.”

“You have no idea . . . Look, I’ll talk to you later, okay? I have to go.” I didn’t wait to see what her response was before bolting out the door.

I didn’t have—had never had—a car and when Race disappeared he had taken his car with him. It was just one more reason I was worried about what happened to him because it was a really nice car and the likelihood of someone trying to steal it was as high as the junkie on the corner. I twisted my riotous hair into a ponytail and pulled a slouchy gray hat over the mass. If anyone was going to recognize me, it would be from the hair, and not the nondescript jeans, baggy black sweater, and worn-out Converses I had on. I looked just like every other street kid wandering around, and Bax had seemed entirely unimpressed with my minimal assets as it was, so it wasn’t like he would be looking for me anyway.

Bar after bar. Strip club after strip club. Men and women making a living in a way that had been around since the dawn of time colored every block, every bend in the District. Trying to find a place called Spanky’s when every other joint was named something similar with the same thinly veiled innuendo was a lot harder than I thought it would be. When I finally did locate it, I was loath to go in.

It was neon. It was pink. It screamed debauchery and dirty things. Just standing on the sidewalk made my skin crawl. My life wasn’t pretty and rosy, but I had never been low enough to think that getting naked and selling myself was a way out. I gave myself a mental pep talk and forced myself to open the door. I couldn’t stop from rubbing my hand on the thigh of my jeans after I was inside. It was just as pink and gaudy on the interior. My eyes darted around, trying to figure out the best place to hide out and be unobtrusive, when a hand clamped down on my arm and whipped me around.

“You old enough to be in here, girly?” The behemoth African-American man gave me a little shake. His bald head gleamed under the neon-pink lights and I felt my heart lodge in my throat. Aside from the diamond in his front tooth and the snarl on his face, there was no missing the gun he had snuggled to his side in a leather holster. I was used to violence and the unsavory things that happened in this part of town, but guys with guns was new, and I wasn’t sure how to proceed without making a fool of myself or blowing my shot at checking up on Bax.

“I am.”

“You aren’t here to work or to watch.” It wasn’t a question. “What are you doing here?”

I tried to pry my arm loose, but didn’t get anywhere. “I’m looking for someone.”

That was the wrong thing to say because his ebony brows slammed down and he gave me another little shake. My teeth clicked together and I tasted blood.

“Look, little girl, if your man stepped out on you, that’s your problem. You got a beef with one of the girls, you handle that on your own time and not during working hours. Understand?”

That must be a regular problem if they had this guy here to prevent catfights before they started.

“Run along. Go buy some lipstick or something, and maybe next time your fella won’t have to come looking for a good time down here.”

My pride made me bristle against my will and I pulled on my captured arm again. I was about to tell him to go to hell when the door behind me opened. The brisk night air wafted in, along with an electrical charge that was only carried by a force darker and heavier than the air around it.

“Hey, Chuck. I need to see Honor.” There was no mistaking that rough voice that crackled with authority and cigarette smoke.

“Hold on a sec, Bax. Gotta escort the riffraff out.”

Oh, great. Now, if I had been hoping to slide by unnoticed, there was no chance. I could practically feel those dark eyes burning a hole through the back of my head. My other arm was grasped in a steel-like grip, and I was hauled mercilessly around. My hat went flying and my ponytail sprang free and smacked me in the face. I blew on a curl and met a blazing black stare. The star next to his eye throbbed in time to the muscle twitching in his cheek. It was as terrifying as it was fascinating to watch.

The large bouncer took a step away from me, which sent me falling all the way into Bax. He caught me with his other hand and shook me so hard that my neck made an alarming crack.

“What in the fuck are you doing here?”

“You know her?” the bouncer asked drily.

Bax’s gaze narrowed on me and he gave me a shove that had me scrambling to stay upright on my feet. I felt like a little child being punished for not finishing my dinner. I snatched my hat up and shoved it back on my head and crossed my arms over my chest.

“No. Race knows her.”

“Ahhh . . . well, I have to say, he used to have better taste,” the bouncer drawled, just as drily as before. I wanted to smack him. Too bad he was the size of a house.

“She’s his sister. Lay off.”

“Sorry.” Only the apology went to Bax, not to me. Go figure.

“Honor is on the main stage for five more minutes. I told her you were coming by tonight to see her. She didn’t know you were out.”

“It’s been a busy few days. Just trying to touch base now.”

“That was a raw deal you got, Bax. We were all sad to see you go down for it.”

Bax bit out a bitter-sounding laugh that had no humor in it, and jerked me around to his side.

“I was in the car when the cops stopped me. No getting out of that kind of thing, plus I was a habitual offender. I was lucky all they saddled me with was a nickel.”

“I heard there was way more to it than that.”

Those dark eyes flicked to me and then back up to the bouncer. “You heard wrong. I got busted running cars for Novak. That’s all there was to it. Now I’m out and Novak can go fuck himself. I just want to touch base with Race and get on with my life. Five years is a long time to sit on your hands.”

The bouncer nodded like he understood and I subtly tried to pull myself free. Bax wasn’t having any of it and tightened his grip on me. It hurt, and I think he knew it, if the way those dark eyes narrowed at me indicated.

“Tell Honor I’ll be there in just a second. I gotta handle this first.” This was me, as he turned around and hauled me back out the door. I squeaked in surprise because I wasn’t used to being manhandled, and I wasn’t used to having that kind of unbridled anger directed at me. I minded my own business, I kept my head down, and I stayed out of the way. That was how I survived as long as I had. Getting right in Bax’s way flew in the face of all that, and now this was the consequence.

“What are you doing here? How do you know about this place?”

I wasn’t going to answer that, and I also wasn’t going to let him intimidate me. I yanked free and spun around with every intention of walking away from him. Only I forgot that I wasn’t dealing with just some guy. This guy, he didn’t get ignored or dismissed, and I subsequently found myself backed up against the crumbling brick of the strip club in a scary part of town with an even scarier man all up in my face. I gasped and put my hands around his thick wrists as he hauled me up to the very tips of my toes and got nose to nose with me. The anger in that midnight gaze was hot enough to burn.

“You think you can play games with me, Copper-Top? Do I strike you as the kind of guy that’s carefree and easygoing? Now, I’ll ask once more, and that’s as nice as I get, because if you make me ask again, neither one of us is going to be happy about it. What in the fuck are you doing here?”

Each thick wrist I was holding on to had a matching black-and-gray tattoo of broken links of chain around it. Like he had broken free from some kind of restraint and was set loose to wreak havoc on an unsuspecting world.

“I’m worried about my brother. He trusts you, thinks you can help him. I need to know what you know. Marco heard you say you were going to be here, so I need to be here. I love him.” My voice cracked, and even though I knew it was foolish to show the enemy weakness, I couldn’t stop tears from filling my eyes.

“You have no clue what you’re doing. All you can do is be in my way and make trouble for me. Chuck never forgets a face, so if someone comes sniffing around, he’s going to mention a redhead poking her nose where it has no place being. Go back to school. Go back to the diner. Go back to your apartment. If I can find Race, and it’s not too late, I’ll let you know.”

He let me go and I slid down the wall, my hair snagging on the rough brick. He turned his back on me and I reached out to snag his wrist. I knew desperation, knew the soul-deep burn of want and can’t have, but this was something else.

“Please, Shane. Please let me help you. He’s my brother. I’ll do anything. I’ll give you anything you want. Please.” I had never begged for anything in my life, and I sure as hell had always been too smart to owe a debt to a guy like this, but for Race I would do it. I tried to make him see, tried to put everything I was feeling into my gaze, but those black velvet eyes didn’t so much as flinch. He flicked the tip of his tongue out and let his gaze skate over me from the top of my head to the tips of my battered tennis shoes.

“Are you a virgin, Copper-Top?” I recoiled, because I had no clue what that had to do with anything. I felt heat flood into my face and I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Why? What on earth does that have to do with anything?”

He pulled out a cigarette from the pack in the pocket of his hoodie and lifted a dark eyebrow at me.

“You’ll give me anything? I don’t think you have anything I want, but I was locked up for a very long time. A guy gets lonely.”

I couldn’t tell if he was baiting me or if he was just being mean and outrageous on purpose. I also couldn’t tell if he was serious, which was the worst case.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

He gave a laugh and blew out a stream of smoke. He ran his thumb along the edge of his bottom lip and stepped around me.

“No one calls me Shane. It’s just Bax and that’s why you’ll only be in my way. When you say you’re willing to give anything, you have to mean it. These people, they will take it all, even if it’s something you don’t want to give. Go home.”

His hand was on the door and he was slipping away from me again. I don’t know what spurred me into action, still didn’t know if he was serious or not, but for Race I could do it. I would hate myself, hate this dark and dangerous boy, but I could do it.

“I’m not . . . a virgin, I mean. No one is anymore, so no one can take it, because Billy Clark already did. I gave it up willingly after drinking a stolen bottle of wine when I was sixteen and he told me I was pretty. He was the first boy who ever did that. I’m not scared of you, Bax. I am, however, scared to death for Race. I will do whatever it takes.”

He must have seen the resolve, must have known I wasn’t just going to go away, because he flicked the cigarette he was smoking into a puddle of unidentified liquid and pulled open the door.

“We are both going to regret this sooner than later, Copper-Top. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

I felt his eyes burn into me as he followed me back into the strip club. I wasn’t sure what I had just agreed to, or what was waiting for me around the next bend. What I did know, could feel in every cell of my body, was that I had just made an unbreakable deal with the devil and paying up might mark my soul forever.