Chapter 21 Ember
EMBER
“Move in with me.”
He says it so softly that I barely even hear him. I lift my head up from his chest and look him in the eye. “What did you say?”
“You heard me.”
I’m speechless for a moment. When he came back last night, bruised and bleeding, all I could think was that he needed aid. I focused on dressing the wound on his forearm and I didn’t ask any questions. Although I had a million of them floating around in my mind.
We didn’t make love last night, but he held me. I stayed wrapped up in his arms all night, and I don’t think I’ve ever slept better. Especially, all things considered.
I want to know what happened with the club.
Practically speaking, I need to know if there was any damage or arrests or worse.
Am I going to have to have the cleaning crew come in early tomorrow and get everything together?
Is the place roped off like a crime scene?
And if so, how long are we going to have to be closed?
But that’s just the surface stuff. The bigger issues still lie before me. It was the FBI who did this. Probably Rastelli, in fact. I haven’t told her anything, though. Why would she even bother with this?
If I had know that they would sweep in and bust the club on the same night as his meeting…
Which is a whole other ball of wax. I didn’t tell anyone about it.
Not even Natasha. But it can’t be coincidence.
That had to be the reason the club was busted.
There was nothing else. At least not that I knew about.
I guess the bigger, scarier question is just how the hell did they even find out about it?
But one disaster at a time. Roman just asked me something that I was not ready to hear. Not now. Not with all this.
“Roman, I can’t just drop everything and move in with you,” I tell him, my mind spinning around all the practicalities of doing something like that. “I have a lease on my apartment. I have things that I would need to move—”
“You don’t need to worry about any of that. I’ll take care of it. You just have to say yes.”
I sit all the way up, regarding him. He looks back with such confidence, like all he has to do is command me and I’ll bend to his will.
It’s not gonna be that easy. Not this time.
“Last night, I told you that I’m going to need you to tell me what happened. I think it’s important that we talk about that now.”
He raises an eyebrow. “You do?”
“Yes. I do. Roman, If you want me to just walk away from my life and move in here, you’re going to have to talk to me. What happened to you last night?”
He sighs and looks at me with a little smile on his lips. He brushes some of my hair out of my eyes. “All right. I had a meeting with an associate. Joseph Abate. He was looking to me for help with a problem he was having, so we agreed to meet up.”
I bite my lip, trying to feign some surprise. “At the club?”
“Yes.”
“After I asked you not to do business there.”
He pauses, but then says, “Yes. Kitten’s Paw is a popular club now, and he hadn’t been there since all the big changes. He insisted on seeing it before we sat down, so we had to meet there..”
I scowl at him. “I really hope you’re not implying that it’s my fault that you broke the one rule I asked you to follow. Making the club successful is a goal that everyone wanted.”
He shakes his head. “Just telling you why we were there.” He pauses as he locks eyes with me. There’s a test behind them. Something he wants to be sure of. “That a dealbreaker for you? Me going against your wishes?”
It’s not, and I think he knows that, at least on some level. “I just wish you’d told me about it.”
“Surely, you don’t expect me to ask permission—”
“No, I just… I’d like to have been in on it. That’s all. Maybe if I knew ahead of time, I could have made some preparations just in case. Maybe whatever damage the FBI has done to the club could have been avoided if I’d been there to head them off.”
With a slow nod, he says, “That’s fair. Next time, I’ll make sure you’re apprised before I make a move like that.”
I look away from his gaze, down to the tattoos on his chest. I feel like he’d know deception if I looked him in the eyes for the next part. “So, the FBI raided the club. Are we in trouble?”
“I don’t think so,” he says. “I expect there’ll be a few minor charges. None of our security are squeaky clean. At least half of the dancers have their own rap sheets. Anything really damning wasn’t on the premises.”
“Not even from your deal? I mean, what if there was somebody working undercover or something?”
“I don’t think there were.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because I’m lying in bed with you instead of in a jail cell,” he says with a gentle smile. He runs his rough hands up my arm and a chill runs down my spine and settles in the base of my spine. The way he touches me just to get me warmed up should be studied.
“What about your arm?” I ask. “Did one of the FBI agents do that to you?”
His smile fades. “That’s a little more complicated.”
“So complicated that you can’t talk about it?”
He pauses, then, “I’m still working out what’s going on, exactly. If I’m quiet about it, that’s why. I need to get a handle on it before I start sharing my thoughts.”
That makes sense, I suppose. “Once you do get a handle on it, you’ll talk to me, right?”
“Yes.” His hand slides around my waist, giving me a sort of security blanket feeling. “Just in case, though, I want to make sure you’re safe. That’s why I need you to move in with me as soon as possible. Your apartment is nowhere near as secure as it’s going to need to be in the coming days.”
“‘Coming days’? What does that mean, exactly? Is this something that’s going to go on for a while?”
“Ember, baby, I need you to trust me for right now. Okay? I just want you to be safe. And here in this house, you’re safer with me than anyone else on this planet. No matter what happens.”
He sounds absolutely sure. Like how could there ever be a question of that? I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone who had that kind of confidence over a dicey situation like this.
I believe him, though. This man will keep me safe at all costs.
“Okay,” I say. “It’s going to take me some time to get my things together.”
“For now, I’m going to have my brother take you to get your essentials. Later, I’ll have a crew pack up the rest of your stuff. You won’t have to lift a finger.”
His hand moves up my back and he pulls me down to him, kissing me deeply. As he bites my bottom lip gently, he whispers, “Just stay with me, Ember. I’ll always keep you safe.”
I melt in his arms as his hands slip into my panties and he grabs my ass cheeks. Warm connection blooms in my chest as I feel him get hard against my stomach.
I believe him. It’s insane that I do. But I believe every word he says.
Ares didn’t say too much to me as he escorted me back to my apartment, and I didn’t ask too much of him.
I did find myself sneaking peeks over at him in the car, seeing so much of Roman in his features.
It’s a little eerie how much he looks like him.
He’s smaller in muscle and stature and his hair is much longer and usually in a ponytail, but he’s got the same intense ocean blue eyes and stone cold expression.
Colder, actually. When we walked into the building, he was looking everywhere but at me, keeping his eye out, I guess.
He behaved as Roman had instructed him to.
As my protection. From what? That’s the million-dollar question.
We’re in the apartment and he’s standing by the door waiting for me as I go around and grab the basics.
I fill a suitcase with as many clothes as I can, grab my toiletries and a few other simple things that will fit snugly in the suitcase, and we’re back out the door.
As we leave, I take a glance at Natasha’s door, wanting to tell her goodbye.
I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, and I don’t know if I’ll even be able to talk to her once I’m back at Roman’s.
The way Ares rushes me along, it seems like there won’t be any time for that at all.
In the car, it occurs to me to ask him, “Is there somebody looking for me?”
He glances over at me as he puts the car into drive. “You talk to Roman about that?”
I should have expected that answer. “It came up,” I say.
“Hmm. Probably a good idea not to ask too many questions,” he says.
“I gathered. But don’t you think it’s important that I know if somebody’s after me? Maybe I can look out for them too.”
He snickers in the same way that Roman does when I say something he finds silly and replies, “You’ve got the brotherhood to look out for you now. It’s not your concern anymore.”
That’s both ominous and strangely soothing. It also shuts me up. I don’t have an answer to that response.
The drive back doesn’t take long, thankfully.
As we pull onto the estate, the first thing I notice is men walking the grounds holding assault rifles.
They see Ares and nod as we pass them by.
As we get close to the house, I catch glimpses of people on the roof, watching us as they hold sniper rifles.
Well, shit. I guess he wasn’t kidding, was he?
Ares helps me with my bag and we walk back into the house. As soon as I walk into the living room, Sasha appears, walking down the stairs. She’s dressed in jeans and an old T-shirt with a cap over her curly red mop of hair.
“Hi Uncle Ares,” she says, then to me, she goes, “Hey.”
“Hi.” I wave. “Interesting outfit.”
“Gotta go clean up at the club,” she says with a wan smile. “Punishment from Dad.”
“Don’t worry about that today,” Ares says. “Your Dad’s got a full plate this morning so he asked me to take you to school. Go change.”
She blinks in confusion. “Wait, what? But Dad—”
“Just do as you’re told, all right? I don’t need you to give me a hard time.”