“You stupid?” he asked.
I decided not to answer that or react to it all, but I only decided that because I needed him.
I changed the subject. “I got a situation.”
“No shit?” he told me.
Thinking he still was referring to what he didn’t really know was going on between Merry and me, something I was done talking about, not to mention I had to get out and help Feb, I kept our conversation firm where I wanted it to be.
“Listen, I need a favor,” I said.
“I play, you pay,” he replied.
This was not a surprise. Ryker did nothing for nothing. You always paid. But I was speaking to him because he had three options he accepted for compensation: you owed him a marker, you gave him information, or you gave him money.
There was no marker he’d be willing to hold from me. And I didn’t want to spend the money on an investigator, not one as good (or expensive) as Tanner Layne, not one who was probably shit but less expensive, and not Ryker.
But I worked at a bar and Ryker dealt in a lot of currencies, information being one that for him was most lucrative.
“My ex and his wife are making rumblings they might wanna take my boy from me,” I shared.
“Sucks, sister,” he muttered but didn’t jump in to offer services for free.
“They may be happy just to negotiate more time with him. Before I sit down and do that, I wanna know, they get that time, he’s goin’ to good people. I need you to help me on that. And as a down payment to that shit, I’ll tell you the renters two doors down from my place had a short but loud conversation I overheard and the name Carlito was mentioned.”
I didn’t know if Ryker had any interest in Carlito.
I just knew that Ryker had interest in anything, specific things being worth more, and those specific things he took an interest in was the kind of guy Carlito was.
Ryker was silent.
I opened my mouth to speak.
“You at the bar?” he barked, his tone so loud and severe, I automatically jerked the phone an inch from my ear.
I felt nastiness slithering up my neck into my scalp at the sudden extreme Ryker was aiming at me.
“Yeah,” I answered hesitantly.
I got nothing in reply.
“Ryker?” I called but heard beeping, telling me the call ended.
I stared at my phone for a second, went to recent calls, and called him again.
He didn’t answer.
Shit, that was not good.
I left a voicemail of “Call me,” stowed my purse, shoved my phone in my back pocket, and headed out to help Feb.
“You need me to get anything from the storeroom?” I asked over the bar she was hunkered down behind.
“Took stock and grabbed everything I needed. Just gotta rotate it.”
I went behind the bar.
There were four fridges back there. She was at fridge two.
I went to fridge three and dragged one of the boxes she’d filled toward me.
“Heard you took care of Merry after the Mia news made the rounds,” she remarked casually.
Lying in wait.
Shit.
I knew I wouldn’t get away with it. She was my big sister in a lot of ways.
I opened the fridge and pulled out the front bottles of Bud.
“Yep,” I confirmed.
“That go okay?” she asked.
I looked to her. “We got drunk. We fucked. Shit got wrinkled. We’re ironing it out.”
Her eyes got big at the we fucked, but I ignored that and went back to the fridge.
“You two ironing it out…is that working?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I answered her question, unsure if it was a lie, a semi-lie, or what I hoped it would be—the truth.
“Cher,” she called.
I turned my eyes to her and there it was all over her face—that sweet that rode close to her edge, easy to get to if she gave a shit about you.
“It’s cool,” I assured.
“Shit like that goes down, a girl can get ideas.”
I grinned and did it to hide the pain. I was good at it, so I was relatively certain she bought it.
“Not a girl like me.”
Hold On
Kristen Ashley's books
- Holding the Dream
- Dance Upon the Air
- High Noon
- Moon Island(Vampire Destiny Book 7)
- Illusion(The Vampire Destiny Book 2)
- Upon A Midnight Clear
- Son Of The Morning
- MacKenzie's mission(MacKenzie Family Saga #2)
- Loving Evangeline(Patterson-Cannon Family series #1)
- A Billionaire's Redemption
- A Convenient Proposal
- A Dishonorable Knight
- A Headstrong Woman
- A Passion for Pleasure
- Atonement
- Beyond a Doubt
- Beyond Control
- Cavanaugh on Duty
- Colton's Dilemma (Shadow Breeds)
- Conceal, Protect
- Conflict of Interest
- Confessing to the Cowboy
- Dreams Don't Wait
- Explosive Attraction
- Find Wonder in All Things
- Forbidden Fires (Bondage & Breakfast)
- Galveston Between Wind and Water
- Game On
- Gone with the Wolf
- Honor's Players
- Illusions of Love
- Intaglio Dragons All The Way Down
- Just One Song
- Living London
- Lone Wolf (Shifters Unbound)
- Love Resolution
- Lyon's Crew
- Mountain Moonlight
- Need A Want Companion Novel
- Of One Heart
- Once a Bad Girl
- Once a Thief
- Once Again a Bride
- Once and Again
- Once Touched, Never Forgotten
- Once Upon a Kiss
- Once Upon a Prince
- One Desert Night
- One More Kiss
- One More Sleepless Night
- One Night of Misbehavior
- One Night Standoff
- One Texas Night
- Only Love (The Atonement Series)
- Operation Endurance
- Primal Bonds
- Questions of Trust A Medical Romance
- Reflection Point
- Retribution
- Savage Redemption
- Second Chance
- Secure Location
- Someone I Used to Know
- Son of a Preacher Man
- Soul Bonded
- Sunset Seduction
- Sweet as Honey (The Seven Sisters)
- Sweet On You
- Tempting Cameron
- That Carrington Magic
- The Bridgertons Happily Ever After
- The Demon's Song
- The Dragon and the Pearl
- The Lone Rancher
- The Millionaire Cowboy's Secret
- Translation of Love
- Twisted Perfection
- Vision In White
- When Love's Gone Country
- The Lost Tycoon
- Down on Her Knees
- Love, Your Concierge
- A Demon Made Me Do It
- Campbell_Book One
- The Lady of Bolton Hill
- Born to Ride_A Clubhouse Collection
- A Question of Honor
- Blood on Copperhead Trail
- Passion and the Prince
- Top Secret Twenty-One
- Dungeon Royale
- Make Me Bad(Private Lessons)
- My Fair Billionaire
- Writing Our Song:A Billionaire Romance
- Kissed by Moonlight
- Redemption in Love
- The Masterful Mr. Montague
- Diamonds are Forever
- Every Second with You
- If You Only Knew