Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
CHRISTIAN
I wake up on the bed where Starling and I were together the first time with a raging headache, unsure of how much time has passed.
But my guess is…not much.
Gage and Norman are standing over the bed, staring down at me with twin worried expressions. I don’t imagine they’d still be standing here if I’d been out for more than a minute or two.
“See, he’s fine! No big deal,” a too-loud voice sounds from behind me.
Wincing, I glance back to see Unger looming over me from the head of the bed. Unger is my most recent employee, the only guy at the shop with a history of run-ins with the law, and the one I originally suspected of being the rat.
But it looks like he talked Gage and Norman into joining him in whatever scam he’s running.
“You shouldn’t have hit him,” Norman says, his squeaky voice even more strained than usual. He shifts his gaze to mine as he adds, “We didn’t sign off on that, boss. I promise. We aren’t into the rough stuff.”
“You’re just into stealing from me?” I ask, my voice scratchy and my head still pounding as I motion vaguely toward the half-loaded trailer.
“We’ll put them all back,” Gage says, his brown eyes sad and ashamed in his heavily lined face.
Gage has always been like an uncle to me, the older man I turned to for advice when I was first starting out and didn’t know my way around some of the vintage bikes people brought into the shop. When I finally started making enough money to hire him on full time, I was so happy. I knew he’d had a hard life, family, and career wise, and could really use the steady work.
Of the three of them, his betrayal hurts the most.
“I’m sorry, Chris,” he adds. “We never meant for things to get so out of hand.”
“He needs money to hire a lawyer to fight for custody of his granddaughter,” Norman pipes up. “And I’m in trouble with my loan shark.” He motions to Unger behind me. “This guy got me gambling again. I wasn’t even thinking about it until he came in with his bookie. I thought I was on the wagon for life.”
“Cry me a fucking river,” Unger says. “You weren’t complaining when you were making money. Everybody loses sometimes.” Motioning my way, he adds, “And I don’t know why you’re kissing this jerk’s ass. If he was the great guy you think he is, he would have loaned you money when you asked for it, Gage.”
“I told you I’d work something out after the shop sold,” I remind Gage, leveraging myself into a seated position as the world rocks around me. I pull in a breath, fighting a wave of nausea as I add, “But if you’d said it was urgent, for Sierra, I would have found a way to make it happen.”
“He shouldn’t have had to tell ya,” Unger says. “He’s Gage. He never asks nobody for nothing. The fact that he asked at all should have clued you in that it was a big deal.”
“No, you’re right,” Gage says, still looking miserable. “I should have been honest about it. I was just…ashamed. Ashamed of myself and of Mandy. I thought I raised my daughter better than to treat her baby girl the way she does. I know the drinking is part of it, but Sierra deserves so much better than what she’s getting at home right now.” He shakes his head, his throat working as he swallows. “But stealing from my boss and friend… Well, clearly, I’m not a great role model, either. I just thought, since the shop’s insured and all, you’d get the money back for the bikes and it would all work out in the end.”
“And we had nothing to do with that tape,” Norman says. “I’m so sorry about that, Chris.”
Gage cuts a hard glance his way, “What tape?”
“ Wah wah wah . Get over it. It was a fucking prank,” Unger says, circling around to stand by the shelf where the nanny cam still sits, the tiny camera clamped onto the edge of an old oil can. He jabs a thumb toward it. “He’s the one who was spying on his own people. If you ask me, he got what he deserves.”
“I was spying because I got a tip that someone was running a chop shop out of here after hours,” I say, glaring at Unger. “And it’s my place of business. If I want to install extra security measures, that’s my right.”
“It’s not actually,” Unger shoots back. “It’s against the law in Minnesota to record your employees without their knowledge or to leave a device in a room to record conversations you’re not a part of. You’re lucky we ain’t suing you for everything you own.”
“It’s also illegal to upload stolen footage of other people having sex,” I counter, my head still spinning a little.
But I’m feeling better with every passing moment. I just need to stall for a few minutes more and I’ll be strong enough to tackle Unger and tie him up until the police arrive. Gage and Norman won’t stand against me. Now that they’ve been reminded of the human being behind the shop, they clearly feel terrible about what they’ve done.
“You’re going to do time for it,” I continue. “And that’s just for leaking the tape. Who knows what you’ll get for everything else you’ve been doing around here, including grand larceny. Those bikes are worth way more than the amount needed to qualify.”
Unger laughs as he lifts his hands at his sides and does a little shimmy up and down. “Oh no, I’m so scared. You’re so scary, Mr. McGuire. What with your big muscles and giant yellow dick.” He laughs again. “Yeah, I’ve seen those pictures, too. Of you prancing around in your stripper outfit. I have no fucking clue why people around here seem to respect you so much. You’re a fucking embarrassment. If I were your girlfriend, I would have tossed you out of bed for having a hairy ass and moved on to something better.”
“But then what would I braid when we’re done banging and I get bored?” a sultry voice teases from the entrance to the shop.
My heart races as I turn to see Starling leaning against the doorframe. “Get out of here,” I order her. “It’s not safe.”
“Oh, you mean these guys?” Starling wanders in, her gym bag slung over her arm for some reason. She flutters her fingers in the general direction of my wayward employees. “They don’t scare me.” She comes to a stop just a few feet from Unger’s position by the shelf, crossing her arms as she nods toward Gage and Norman. “Those two look like Keanu when he gets caught peeing in my shoes. You guys feel terrible about all this…whatever you’ve been doing. Right?”
Norman nods hard enough to make me dizzy as Gage says, “Yes, ma’am, we do. And we’re going to do whatever it takes to make this right. Pay Chris back plus interest, turn ourselves in to the police, whatever he feels is best.”
“But I really don’t want to go to prison,” Norman squeaks. “Tammy and I are finally making it work.” He motions toward his head. “And I’ve got a baby face and these long eyelashes. Every girl I’ve ever dated said something about them. How pretty they are, how thick and luscious and all that. I really don’t want to hear that from a hardened con who wants to be my boyfriend, you know? I really, really don’t.”
“I’m not going back behind bars,” Unger says, his slimy gaze raking up and down Starling’s body. “No pretty girls in prison. You look even better in person, by the way, Foxy. I like a tall girl with legs long enough to wrap around you twice.”
“I like nothing about you,” Starling says pleasantly, meeting his leer with a cool smile. “You’re a slimy thief, and you have a rat mouth.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Unger asks, his tone shifting from smarmy to threatening.
“It means—Your mouth. Looks. Like a rat’s mouth,” Starling says slowly, patronizingly.
A part of me is proud of her for giving this asshole shit, but the fact remains that he knocked me unconscious. Unger is dangerous, and I don’t like her standing that close to him.
Before I can tell her to head into the office to call 911, she adds, “The yellow teeth are part of it, sure, but it’s the shape of the mouth itself that’s the problem.” She cocks her head to one side, her brow furrowing as she seems to consider something. “Or maybe it’s the giant nose that’s really taking it out of ‘needs dental intervention’ into full on rat mouth territory.”
“If I were you, I’d shut your mouth. Before I shut it for you,” Unger says softly, puffing up his chest as he takes a threatening step toward Starling. He’s a couple inches shorter than her five eight, but he’s a strong man and to my knowledge Starling isn’t an expert in self-defense.
“No thanks,” Starling says, looking utterly unfazed. “I don’t think I will. I’m not scared of you, either. You’re a mean little shit, for sure, but there’s only one of you and four of us. Try something and see how fast we make you eat concrete.”
Unger reaches into his jacket pocket, pulling out a butterfly knife that he opens with an expert flick of his hand. He points it toward Starling, making my heart lurch into my throat as he says, “I’d rather see you eat my cock.”
“Run, Starling!” I shout, attempting to stand only for a wave of renewed dizziness to send me to my knees before I get two steps from the bed.
“Stop it, Unger,” Norman says as Gage helps me up.
“This isn’t what we agreed to,” Gage says, keeping his arm around my waist as I find my balance. “Let the girl go and get out of here. We won’t call the cops until you’ve got a head start.”
“You’re not giving the orders here, old man,” Unger says, advancing upon Starling as she backs slowly toward the door. “I am. And my boys will be here in ten minutes to pick up the cargo. We’ll see what we decide to do with you then. If you wise up and help out, maybe you get to live. If not…maybe you don’t.” His tongue slips out across his bottom lip. “Either way, this little porn star is coming with us. I’d like to make some more movies with her. Good ones, this time. Without any dumb costumes.”
“No, I insist on costumes,” Starling says, the slight tremor in her voice the only sign that she’s starting to lose her cool. “I’m a costume girl. Can’t get into the mood without one. I’m also going to need snacks, my flattening iron, and my emotional support skunk.”
“Is she weird or soft in the head, Chris?” Unger asks without glancing my way. “I can’t tell, but I wouldn’t put it past you to fuck a dummy.”
“And I wouldn’t put it past you to fuck a skunk,” Starling says. “But I think the skunk is probably going to fuck you up first.”
Unger snorts. “What?”
“My skunk. It hates slimy, thieving bigots and doesn’t like you one little bit.” Starling points behind him, drawing my attention to the little black-and-white striped hero toddling in from the office to save the day, snorting and chirping up a storm as she bounces toward Unger’s feet.
God only knows how Bella got back there—the only way in would be through the window I know I closed and locked—but I’ve never been more grateful for her escape artist skills.
Unger turns to look over his shoulder, the shock of seeing an actual skunk in the room throwing him off guard for a moment. A moment is all Starling needs to swing her gym bag over her head and down on his arm, knocking the knife from his hand.
A second later, Norman has tackled him to the ground.
“I’m subduing him!” he shouts as the two equally matched men grapple on the ground. “See! I don’t deserve to go to prison!”
I move toward the scuffle, joined by Gage. In just a few seconds, we have Unger pinned to the cold concrete, his hands wrenched behind his back. Leaning down to his face, I whisper, “If you had hurt her, I would have ripped your spleen out through your nose.” I dig my knee into the small of his back. He yelps and I smile. “But since you didn’t, I’ll settle for bruising your kidney.”
Bella, who’s still stomping and grumping just a foot or so from Unger’s face lets out a squeak that sounds like she’s agreeing with me. “Good girl, Bella,” I say. “But you can stand down. We’ve got him.”
Norman clears his throat. “You know that skunk? Is she going to spray us?”
“No, she’s a good girl,” I say, holding out a hand to Bella as Gage takes my place holding Unger down.
“She’s a warrior princess,” Starling says, appearing at my elbow to help me up and guide Bella against my chest. Then she throws her arms around both of us. “I’m so glad you’re okay. Don’t ever run off to avenge our leaked sex tape or fight bad guys without me again.”
Leaning my cheek against the top of her head, I say, “I didn’t think I was fighting bad guys tonight. But absolutely, I promise. You’re a cool head in a crisis, woman.”
“It’s my PR training,” she says, sighing against my shoulder. “I wasn’t as cool as I looked, though. Especially when I first peeked through the window and saw you passed out on the bed. If he’d hurt you, I would have pulled his spleen out through his nostrils, too.”
“I believe it,” I murmur. “How did you get Bella into the office? Did you slip her through the window in there?”
Starling pulls back from the embrace, smiling up at me before she strokes Bella’s head. “No, I left her in a locked kennel in the locked car. She’s just a magical creature. Bars and doors have no power over her enchanted skunkness. I think we should give up on the crate and let her roam free around the house. She’s clearly going to go where she wants to go anyway.” She looks up at me again, her expression sobering as she adds, “And by ‘the house,’ I mean our house. I’ve decided we should live together.”
My lips quirk. “Oh, you have, have you?”
“Yes,” she says, her gaze not wavering from mine. “Turns out, seeing you in trouble really brings out my feels. And my feels are that I like you, Chris. I more than like you. You’re one of my favorite people and my best friend and I really don’t want this to have an expiration date.”
Throat tight, I lift a hand to cup her face. “Well, since I’ve been in love with you since sometime in July, I guess moving in together sounds pretty good.”
She blinks, her eyes shining as she asks, “You have? Really? You love me?”
I take a beat to set Bella down. Standing, I pull Starling close again as I say, “That’s why I didn’t want to do the mentor thing. I was already in way too deep for that. Though, at that point, I was still doing a decent job of being in denial about it.”
“But you’re not in denial anymore?” she whispers.
“Not even close. I’m crazy about you, princess, and I want to make this work. I’ll turn down the Warm Hearts job and stay here. With you.”
Her eyes go wide. “You don’t have to. I know how excited you were about that opportunity. You could commute. Or we could do long-distance for a while, while I look for a job in Minneapolis.”
I shake my head. “Nope. You love it here. You belong here. And as much as I like to deny it sometimes…I do, too.” I shrug. “Besides, long distance is the worst. I don’t want to be far away from you. I want to give this a real shot, me and you and Bella and Kyle.”
“Is Kyle your boyfriend, McGuire?” Unger grunts from the floor, where Bella has now joined the crew holding him to the ground, clearly not trusting that the humans have this situation handled just yet. She sits on his head, her tail swishing into his face as he adds, “I wouldn’t be surprised. You always seemed a little light in the loafers to me.”
“None of your business, Unger,” I say pleasantly, taking a cue from my cool as a cucumber girlfriend. “It won’t concern you, anyway. Seeing as you’re going back to prison, you won’t be invited to the housewarming party.”
“Starling, are you okay?” a worried voice shouts from outside. A moment later, Starling’s sister, Wren, appears in the doorway in a long white nightgown, carrying a shotgun.
“I’m fine, and the bad guy is already on the ground,” Starling says. “But we should call the police.”
“I called 911 a minute ago,” Wren says. “As soon as I saw your car parked down the road. But they said two other people had already called in.”
“Probably Nora and Sheila,” Starling says. “I sent out a few SOS texts before I left my car.” She glances up at me. “I figured it was better to ask for forgiveness for overreacting than get in trouble for underreacting.”
“Smart,” I say. “But if there’s ever a next time for something like this, you should stay in the car.”
“Agreed.” Wren surveys the scene for a moment, double checking that Starling is really okay before she lets her weapon drop to her side. “The police should be here soon. In the meantime, somebody want to tell me what the heck is going on?” She blinks again. “And why there’s a skunk sitting on that man’s head?”
“Unger was trying to steal from me,” I say, nodding toward the pinned man. “But Starling, Gage, and Norman helped me take him down, with a little help from Bella. She’s my skunk and a real sweetheart as long as you don’t get on her bad side.”
“That’s bullshit! I wasn’t the only one who—” Unger breaks off with a grunt, his voice muffled as Gage applies fresh pressure to his back and Bella flops her tail over his nose.
“Shut up, Unger, you’ve done enough damage,” Gage growls. To me he says, “Thank you, Christian. For the chance to be on your side. Norman and I promise you won’t regret it.”
“We do, we promise,” Norman agrees.
He starts to say something else but is interrupted by the sound of sirens wailing in the distance.
Starling takes my hand as we all turn to face the door.
“I’m so sorry,” I murmur for her ears only. “About the tape. From what Matty said when we talked earlier, getting it taken down probably won’t be easy.”
“It’s okay.” She sighs. “Well, it’s not okay. It’s mortifying, but like I said, seeing you in trouble put things in perspective. I can survive the fallout from a sex tape.” She tightens her grip on my hand. “Not sure I could survive a world with no Christian in it.” Her lips tremble into a shy smile as she adds in a softer voice, “You really love me?”
“I do,” I promise. “A ridiculous amount.”
Her grin widens. “Me, too. I’m totally smitten with you, McGuire. Have been for a while. And I secretly always thought you looked smoking hot in your stripper speedo.”
I smile. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She leans closer to my side. “I’m so glad you’re going to be mine.”
“Me, too,” I agree, holding her close as we wait for the police to arrive and the rest of our life to begin.