CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Raina
C onnor’s comfortable apartment is not a terrible place to stay hidden for a couple of weeks, but what do I do after this whole business with Noel and Valdrin gets resolved?
I fear Connor will kill them. That will put a bounty on my head from their soldiers for the rest of my life.
I have to go with the flow. But I can’t stop thinking about Ruby and how upset she sounded on the phone this morning.
No matter what, I have to talk Connor into letting me go back to my apartment to see her.
“You sure you feel up to going out?” he asks, sliding into a pair of ass-hugging jeans and a button-down light blue shirt that has my tongue hanging out.
“I am. The nap helped.” I take a deep breath and smile when there’s not a hint of a wheeze.
“Then let’s do this.” Connor steers me to the living room and grabs a set of keys from a bowl near his front door.
At his pickup truck, Connor flips on mirrored shades and recommends a diner where he and Rhys meet. I’m famished and plan to eat an embarrassingly big breakfast.
Connor drives a luxury Ram double-cab pickup guarded by three men the size of linebackers in finely cut suits. The truck is completely inappropriate for Manhattan, but it’s the last type of ride law enforcement would think belongs to a mob boss.
He opens the truck’s door for me and lifts me onto the running boards.
“This thing is massive,” I say when he gets into a driver’s seat that looks like a cyber gaming chair.
“Do you mean my cock?” he says, grinning and swiping the dashboard screens to start the engine with a purr.
“That, too. Trust me, you didn’t need this tank to deflect small-dick energy.”
Connor barks a laugh, “You’re a riot, Riatt.”
At least he’s calling me a riot for humor and not destruction.
I murmur, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
WE EAT brEAKFAST AND make small talk in between bites. I get the pancakes, and Connor gets a Denver omelet the size of Colorado. I order tea instead of coffee, needing hot water to soothe my throat.
It makes me think of Valdrin, but I push him out of my head. More self-preservation.
When we’re ready to leave, Connor throws me a curveball and brushes off going to my apartment.
I put down my mug of tea with a heavy hand. “Now you listen to me, Quinlan.”
“Yes, Riatt?” He grins. “Which I like almost as much as Venom. I’m listening.”
“I don’t know what kind of chains your charming brothers have wrapped around their meek wives, but—” I stop when he starts laughing. “What?”
“I’m debating if I should tell you to call Ava and Lennox meek to their faces on Sunday.” He shakes his head. “Nah, don’t. I like you and want to keep you alive. But as you were saying.”
He has a point that I shouldn’t make assumptions about his brothers’ wives, even if the way of the mafia points in a completely different direction .
“I like you, too, all right ?”
“Wow.” He frowns. “How many muscles in your throat did you pull saying that?”
That gets me to laugh. “I have to check on Ruby,” I choke out, my head a whirling tornado of emotions for not jumping out of bed this morning when I heard her shaky voice.
Connor frowns. “Is that a cat or a fish?”
I tilt my head. “She’s my friend. She needs me.” God, I don’t know if Valdrin would hurt her if he thinks she knows too much.
Not the way he looked at her.
But he’s not in charge.
“I don’t have a lot of friends,” I confess. “My neighbor Ruby is one of them. She sounded upset when she called me this morning. I promised I would go home today. Please?”
“Okay.” Connor stands up abruptly and drops a one-hundred-dollar bill on the table, not even bothering to ask for the check. “Let’s go.”
When he reaches for my hand, I let him take it. On the street, Connor opens the passenger door for me, brooding and not making eye contact. I get in, certain that he’ll think differently about this visit when he sees how delicate and sweet Ruby is. How she needs me.
The roar of the truck’s engine is both soothing and bone-chilling. We pull out onto the street and Connor makes the left to go toward my apartment without asking for the address. I stare at him.
“Told you that I knew where you lived.” The past tense stirs up my anxiety, but I ignore it.
“Only seems fair, I knew where you lived.” I try to level the playing field.
While driving, Connor makes a call. “It’s me. I need backup to meet me at my girlfriend’s apartment.” He rattles off my building.
I don’t have time to freak out over being called a mob boss’s girlfriend. I’m too worried Connor is going to abduct Ruby.
When we get there, I recognize Blade, the bald, burly man in a suit, standing in front of my stoop. His partner Jett, aptly named because of his jet-black hair and who’s dressed the same way, is leaning into that car that’s always parked in front of my building.
Some asshole hogs that spot.
Not anymore. Connor’s guards are getting him to move.
“Money or muscle?” I ask, pointing to the shakedown.
Connor smiles, keeping an eye on his men. “I don’t care. I said I needed a place to park. I don’t micromanage.”
I smirk, seeing that crappy electric blue Corolla finally move. Connor slides his tank into the spot. One of the two men stays with the car, and the other follows us into my building.
“No doorman?” Connor asks, sounding surprised.
“You don’t have a doorman.” I fold my arms.
“I have them.” He juts a thumb to Blade and Jett.
I roll my eyes. “No. No doorman. Do you know how much an apartment costs in a building with a doorman?”
“No. And soon you’ll be living with me, so forget about those kinds of worries.”
I turn away so he doesn’t see me frown at the idea that I’ll just agree to be taken care of.
Connor easily jogs up all three flights. “It’s a nice building. Clean. These stairs are a good workout.”
I stupidly think that means he’ll let me live here while we date . Doubtful.
We creep past Ruby’s apartment, and when I stop to listen, Connor asks, “Is this where your neighbor lives?”
My heart starts to pound. “It is. But she’s staying at my place. Her father is...” I can’t believe I’m protecting that prick. “Let’s see what happened to Ruby.”
Hopefully, that’s enough chum in the water to keep Connor happy.
We get to my apartment, and I unlock my door. The sound of a game show tells me she’s still here.
Ruby sits on my sofa with skinny legs pulled into her chest. I hear her favorite show come through the speakers.
Hey everyone, I’m your man, Steve Harvey. We got a great show for you today.
I’ve seen Family Feud many times, too.
The light from my television flickers on Ruby’s face, but she’s not watching. She’s staring blankly at the screen, fingers drumming against her knee. I notice she’s in ratty sweats and not her usual scandalous Daisy Dukes with a tight-white T-shirt she never pairs with a bra.
“Hey, you,” I say gently to not startle her.
Ruby turns to me, blinking fast like I’ve pulled her out of a trance.
“Ray!” She drops her vape, leaps off the sofa, and dives into my arms. Her grip on my neck is tight, but her hands are shaking just enough for me to notice.
God, something is very wrong.
“I’m here.” I hug her back.
She yelps and turns white as a sheet, seeing Connor. God, please don’t tell me they know each other. Did Ruby give him a lap dance or something else?
“Ruby, it’s okay. This is Connor.” I leave off his last name. This is not about him. “The guy I met in June.”
“Oh, hi,” she says, and her voice tells me she’s never met him.
“Nice to meet you,” he says in a lethally protective voice.
“Same.” She picks up her vape and plops back down on the sofa, puffing away on it .
I sit next to her. “Talk to me. What had you so freaked out this morning?”
“I don’t know where to start.”
“Did something happen with your dad? At work?”
“Not at the club.” Ruby shakes her head. “I had a special client.”
I slide a glance at Connor, hoping he didn’t catch that. “Where?”
Her eyes lift to mine. “Off-site.”
Fury courses through me, and I lose my cool. “Ruby, that’s dangerous!”
“No kidding,” she says under her breath.
I exhale and shake my head. “Ruby, did a client hurt you?”
“You can say that.” She sneaks a glance at Connor and then back at me. “But he got it worse.”
“Tell me what happened.” I squeeze her hands and sharpen my tone. “Just talk to me.”
Her entire body flinches and I see the start of a bruise on her neck.
“Oh, Raina.” Her chest rises and falls.
“Breathe, honey. It’s me. You can tell me anything.”
Nodding, she says, “We were in his car. It was late, around two thirty in the morning. We were parked in this lot near the East River.” She swallows hard. “I was giving him head. And he was moaning, then he started cursing and pushed me off.”
“Why?” I ask about the abruptness, and not that the creep suddenly didn’t want a sweet mouth on his cock.
“I wasn’t sure at first.” She lets out a choked sob. “Then I saw them. They surrounded the car. Three of them.”
“What, what happened?”
“They pulled me out first.” Ruby’s voice cracks. “Threw me to the ground. They wore masks. I couldn’t see their faces.”
Bile rises in my throat. “What did they do to your client?”
She shakes her head, eyes shining with unshed tears. “They murdered him, Ray.”
“Oh God.” I pull my hand in front of my face.
“You were with a guy who was murdered in a lot. Near the river?” Connor chimes in, going rigid. “ Last night?”
I hold her arms to stay focused. “It’s okay, Ruby. You can tell us anything.”
Connor hikes into the kitchen, phone in hand. Us . I guess we’re us now.
“I’ve seen guys beat up before. Dragged away.” She gulps a breath. “It’s what they did to me that has me—”
“No,” I whimper.
“Yeah, they took turns with me.” She hugs herself.
My blood runs cold.
“Did you call the police?” I ask, cringing at how that sounds, knowing the cops don’t care about sex workers. “Did you go to the hospital?”
She shakes her head. As someone who didn’t go to the hospital hours ago when I was near death, I can’t be a hypocrite.
“Did you go to anyone else?” I demand.