“Don’t laugh! This is serious,” she scolded.
“Shit, I’m sorry. I tried to hold it in.” I continued to laugh. “Man, I wish Jace had heard you say that.”
“I don’t,” she groaned.
“Too bad, babe. I could have heard that ridiculous comment on the other side of the house,” Jace interrupted.
Audrey’s body locked up underneath the covers at the sound of her husband’s voice. I quickly leaned in so only she could hear. “I saw his face when he first saw her and if I had seen anything other than annoyance, you know I would have knocked his lights out. Trust me, the way he looks at you, even with bags under your eyes, messy hair, stretch marks, and... ouch!” I yelped when she pinched the shit out of my stomach. “You said it first!”
“That doesn’t mean you get to list it all!” she whisper-shouted back.
“Fine, fine. But there is no comparison. He looks at you like you’re his whole world and his only reason to breathe. A random topless girl is not going to pull his attention. Besides, so what if he looks at naked tits? The day he stops looking at tits is the day you should start worrying.” She laughed quietly but gave me one more hard pinch under the covers. “Cut that shit out, Audrey!” I chuckled.
“Alright, play time’s over. Outta my bed and hands off my girl, Parker,” Jace grumbled while climbing in on the opposite side of Audrey. He immediately pulled her across the bed toward him in his typical possessive fashion.
I began to climb out from under the covers and said, “This kind of feels like that one time we almost slept together, doll. Remember during your freshman year?” I could barely contain my cheesy-ass grin because I couldn’t help but fuck with Jace on a daily basis.
“Lane, he doesn’t fall for your terrible lies anymore. Go to bed,” Audrey giggled. And that was all I needed to feel better. If she was happy, we were all happy.
Jace glared at me on my way out but didn’t say anything. As soon as I hit the hallway, I heard him softly ask her, “That didn’t really happen, did it?”
I silently chuckled, so I wouldn’t wake up the baby again. It never failed with that guy—he was way too easy to rile up. Right before I stepped into my room, Jace jogged down the hall toward me.
“It was a joke, dude. I couldn’t resist.”
“Nah,” he whispered. “I know that. It’s just that she told me you’re heading out of town again?”
I sobered and told him, “Yeah, I got a call a little while ago. I have to go.”
“What about the Nolan job?”
Jace and Jaxon Riley were twin brothers who came into a lot of money when their father passed away. Immediately after they graduated college in California, they took ownership of his security company, The Riley Group. Their best friend, Cole, had family money as well so all three of them and their wives built houses on a big plot of land here in Texas, which is where they are originally from.
After graduation, Jace and Jax hired Cole and me to join them in Dallas, and we all left the Golden State behind. It was a hard choice, considering my original reasons for being there in the first place. But I couldn’t imagine being away from Audrey and I knew I would make decent money and be able to make my random trips whenever I was called.
My job title was a little more unconventional compared to the others. I oversaw a lot of the financing, because that’s what I was good at and I had recently acquired Texas CPA license. But I also flew out to meet potential clients that were considering using The Riley Group for security purposes when they came to Dallas. Most of our customers lately had been high-profile, so they expected a face-to-face consultation before they trusted us to safeguard them. I couldn’t seem to stay in one place for too long, and didn’t have anyone to come home to, so taking on that responsibility just made sense.
“I’ll hand the Nolan case off to the rookie,” I answered his question.
“You’re going to trust Ethan with a quarter-of-a-million-dollar job?”
“We gotta loosen the reins at some point. I’ll be in touch with him throughout the entire deal. Look, I have to go. He’s going to be there.” I tried to hide the pleading in my voice.
Jace’s type-A personality required him to keep a close eye on his employees, and even more so on his family. Audrey was like my sister, so when he married her he gained a brother at the same time. He didn’t spy on me, but he started asking all the right questions and one day I had to break down and spill before I lost my job. He knew everything now. It wasn’t something I enjoyed keeping from Audrey, but Jace had agreed with me that she didn’t need that stress put upon her, especially now with the baby.
His voice turned stoic and he asked, “You’re sure he’ll be there?”
“As sure as I can be. Charlie got me a spot in the ring and says he’ll be there.”
“Where?” he whispered.
“Tijuana. The usual.”
“Let me transfer some money over for you,” he stated nonchalantly.
“No, seriously I’m good. I can take care of this myself.”
“I’m sure you can. But I also know that these trips come close to wiping you out. You don’t want to be broke once you actually get her back, do you?”
I knew that this was why Audrey fell for Jace. He was completely selfless and would help any of his friends or family, even to the point of hurting himself. I could always count on him when I was in a bind, regardless if I’d asked for help or not.
“I’ll pay you back. With interest,” I replied brusquely.
“You just make sure Ethan gets Nolan to sign on the dotted line and that’ll be payback enough,” he said with a grin. He reached his hand out so I could shake it but then promptly pulled me in and we swiftly patted backs.
“Thanks, man.”
Before he made it to his room, he turned and said, “Bring her back here, okay? I want to meet her.”
I nodded but didn’t reply. I tried to never go into these trips with my hopes up anymore. Years of returning home empty-handed had taught me that, in order to guard my heart, I always had to expect the worst.
- TWO -
Bouncing on my toes, Mateo continued to wrap my hands for me. The basement we were standing in was dark and smelled of piss and mold. A single rusting light dangled above us, allowing Mateo just enough visibility to get his job done.
All I wanted was to get this over with. I hated coming to these things. Training in a well-lit gym where I knew I wouldn’t catch hepatitis was fun. Fighting in these sketchy underground matches fucking blew and made my skin crawl.
“Have you seen him yet?” I asked.
“I saw two of his guys. He’s here,” Mateo responded under his breath.
“I don’t think I’ve been training enough lately. Shit, Teo...” I rambled nervously.
“You look pretty fucking cut. More so than the last time I saw you, so you must be doing something right.” He nudged my right hand down and pulled up my left to begin wrapping it.
I watched as he slipped the loop around my thumb and wound the red material over my wrist, between each finger, over my knuckles in a dizzying pattern, and finished with a final pull over my wrist.
“How’s the support in your thumbs?” he asked.
I shook out my hands and flexed my fingers, feeling everything out. I allowed the blood to flow through each appendage before I cut it off swiftly with a tight fist and then opened them again. Sweat beaded in the small area between my shoulder blades and I could feel a single drop running down the center of my spine toward the black shorts I was wearing.