Chapter 28. Ace #2
“Best place for a shootout? Most crimes committed in one week? Number one for bar fights?” My voice rose in agitation. “Top ten places to die? Do you really think a top-level music executive is going to come to a place like this?”
“I think you’re overreacting,” she said. “I sent Mark the name and address, and he didn’t have a problem with it. This isn’t a bad area, and the place looks clean…”
“The bar is already on the floor, and you just brought an excavator,” I said dryly.
“All the tables are full—”
“Of criminals.”
“People are just chilling,” she complained. “Maybe you should just try to relax and have a good time.”
“I should never have allowed you to come,” I grumbled.
“If you hadn’t distracted me dressed the way you’re dressed and looking how you look and doing the things you do, I would have tied you to the bed and made you forget all about karaoke.
” I raked my fingers through my hair, cursing under my breath at clients who insisted on living their lives despite the risk. But that was Haley.
“You like my dress?” She smiled and spun around to torment me further.
“Like” didn’t even begin to describe the effect that dress was having on me, with its naughty slit and low-cut neckline and the damn back that showed way too much skin.
I wanted to fuck her in that dress and then I wanted to tear it off her and tie her up and make her promise never to wear it again where any other man could see her.
“I’d like it better with a thick parka around it, and instead of those stilettos, maybe a pair of winter boots.” I glared at a dude who was looking in Haley’s direction. “How about a balaclava and a few of Janice’s scarves? That would be a better look for a place like this.”
“Stop grumbling.” She leaned up and kissed my cheek. “You did your job and said no. You pointed out the risks. Unfortunately, you were overruled, as you knew you would be. Risk is my middle name.”
“I was seduced, not overruled.” I was saved from letting loose all the thoughts in my head when Skye arrived with Dante.
I’d met Skye at the coffee shop, but not Dante and I’d been curious to meet the bass player who’d finally made it big.
He was around my height, muscular and solidly built.
But there was a darkness around him, the barest hint of violence pulsing beneath his skin.
He was a man you would only want on your side of a fight.
“I see I’m not the only one who lost the battle when he said no to this bar tonight,” Dante said after Haley introduced us. “It’s a disaster waiting to happen.”
“I didn’t get the benefit of knowing where we were going in advance.” I glared at Haley. “If I had, I would have tried even harder to shut it down. I wasn’t happy about going out at all. I played all my cards—”
Dante glanced over at Skye and his face softened. “But then she got all dressed up and walked up to you with her sweet talk and sexy smile and suddenly you’re in a fucking South Side karaoke bar with a bunch of crime lords and you’re damn glad you came.”
“Pretty much sums it up.” Every instinct in my body was screaming at me to take Haley home, but every time I even thought about suggesting it was time to go, she would look over at me and smile and my brain would fuzz all over again.
“Twenty bucks says someone gets beat up before eleven,” Dante said, pulling me out of my train of thought. “Thirty says someone pulls a gun and we all get to go home early.”
“Forty says the undercover cop in the corner arrests someone for dealing.” I’d spotted him five minutes after we arrived. He was too stiff, too aware, and too underdressed in his jeans and polo shirt, despite the rough vibe around us.
Dante laughed and we spent a few minutes trying to spot the most likely criminal elements in the bar.
“Are you packing?” Dante asked. “I want to know what kind of backup I’m going to have if we have to make a quick exit.”
I moved my jacket aside to show him my gun. “I try to identify the threats in advance, so I don’t have to use it.”
“They’re all threats,” he said. “I know one of the guys at the bar. He’s big in organized crime.”
“I can’t figure this place out. On the surface it looks like a decent bar—nice decor, great vibe, good DJ, no one has food poisoning yet. And then you take a closer look—”
“And you want to get your woman the hell out of here,” Dante said.
My woman. I liked the sound of it too much.
“I’m just her bodyguard.”
Dante chuckled and lifted an eyebrow. “Been there, my friend. I told myself I was just Skye’s internship supervisor, but she was mine from the moment we met.”
Had Haley been mine since we first met in her kitchen ten years ago?
Not in the way Dante was talking about. We’d been too young, and I’d just been ripped away from the only family I’d ever known.
But she had touched my soul and lit up my life with her joy and her laughter as she danced around the kitchen with Paige and her father.
I’d never seen that kind of spirit, the utter abandon with which Haley and her dad spun each other around, singing at the top of their lungs.
I could have watched them for hours. We’d been friends until the longing came, and then I’d had to make a terrible choice between honor and following my heart.
After two torturous hours, and a no-show from the music executive, the DJ called Haley’s name and she walked up to the stage with all the poise and elegance of the celebrities I’d spent two years protecting.
I moved closer, positioning myself so that anyone who wanted to get at her would have to go through me.
Her first notes came out loud and clear and the crowd cheered when they recognized Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off.” She gave an incredible performance, filling the bar with same light and energy she’d had that first day we met.
At one point, she caught my gaze and the distance between us vibrated, humming deep in my bones. Space became music, a beautiful sound.
After the applause died down, I moved to intercept her as she stepped off the stage. “You were amazing,” I said, keeping one hand on her waist and using the other to make a path through the crowd. “You’ve always sparkled on stage.”
“I just wish Mark had been there to see me.” She gave a wistful sigh. “One day I’m going to be on a real stage. Not in a bar or in a community hall, but in a stadium or arena, and thousands of people are going to be watching me.”
“I’ll be right there cheering you on.”
“Haley…” A tall dude in a blue collared shirt, his body lean with muscle, black hair slicked to his head, stepped into our path. My body tensed and I pulled Haley to the side, putting myself between them.
The smallest frown creased his brow so quickly I wondered if I’d seen it. “Mark Hansell from EMI. We talked on the phone.” He handed Haley a business card. “You were great up there. I liked what I saw.”
Haley’s eyes widened and her smile spread from ear to ear. “Thank you. I was hoping you’d make it tonight.”
“Can we go somewhere quiet and talk?” Mark asked, looking around. “I love a bar with character, but they’ve gone pretty heavy with the bass tonight. I saw an all-night coffee shop around the corner…”
Haley looked over at me and I nodded. A coffee shop would be safer than the bar. Even more so once Jordan’s backup arrived.
“I’ll just tell my friends I’m leaving and grab my coat,” she said. “And this is my boyfriend, Ace. He’ll be coming with us.”
Mark shook my hand. “No offense, Ace, but I need to talk to Haley alone. I have to get confidentiality forms signed just to have a conversation. It’s just easier when fewer people are involved.”
Safety or her dream career. I thought I knew what choice she would make, and I was trying to figure out a way to protect her without being seen when she said, “I’m sure Ace won’t mind grabbing a different table so we can talk privately.
This isn’t a great area, and I’d feel more comfortable with him there.
He’s ex-military so he can handle any kind of trouble. ”
Mark’s face tightened and I got a strange feeling in my gut that had me putting my arm around Haley’s shoulders. “No problem, babe. I’ll find a table in the corner and stay out of earshot.”
After a moment of hesitation, Mark nodded, and his smooth voice took on an edge that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. “Of course. I want you to feel comfortable.”
Haley led Mark through the bar to our table asking questions about his work in the music industry.
I followed behind them, scanning the crowd, my skin pricking with a growing sense of unease.
Outwardly, nothing in the bar seemed to have changed.
The DJ had just announced the next singer and was pulling the lyrics up on the screen, people were laughing and chatting, the serving staff were weaving their way through the tables with trays full of drinks, and yet something felt wrong.
Instinct had kept me alive in the field, and I knew better than to second-guess myself.
I grabbed Haley’s arm and pulled her to my side.
“Apologies. I need a quick word with Haley.”
I didn’t wait for Mark’s response. Instead, I led Haley far enough away that we could talk without being overheard.
“What’s wrong?” Haley studied my face, frowning.
“I don’t know, but we need to get you out of here. Now.” I scanned the bar, trying to find the source of my unease. A couple fighting. A drug deal gone bad. Maybe the undercover cop had nabbed his man. Or was it something more sinister?
Something in my face must have made her realize this was serious. “We need to warn everyone.”
“I don’t want to cause a panic. Tell Mark you’ve got to settle the bill or use the restroom and that we’ll meet him out front. We’ll take your friends out the back.”
Her forehead creased in a frown. “Why doesn’t he just come with us?”