The phone rang a few times before he finally picked up.
“Hello?”
“Dad, we’ve got a problem.”
“Don’t tell me you got arrested.” His voice got louder with each word. I heard Mom yelling in the background.
“I didn’t get arrested, at least not yet.” I searched the room for my missing glasses.
“What do you mean, not yet?”
I found them on the other side of the room and placed them on one of the tables to make sure they weren’t bent. “Yeah, if you don’t get someone over here to help me clean up the mess.”
“Well, if you stop with fucking vague-ass bullshit and give me an idea of what we’re dealing with, I’ll send people over.”
I groaned and flopped back into the seat. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off I was exhausted and wanted to get the hell out of there. “Elena’s piece of shit husband wanted to make a payment tonight. I met him at the stadium and right off the bat he starting spouting off all kinds of bullshit about her. I lost it.”
“Did you kill him?” Dad asked, no emotion in his voice.
“No, but he’s out cold. Eye swollen shut, broken nose.”
“Sounds like the fucker deserved it.” There was some shuffling on the other end of the line. “What inning is it?”
I looked at the scoreboard again.
“Bottom of the fourth.”
“Okay, give me about half an hour. I’ll have someone over there to deal with it. Is Brock with you?”
“Yeah,” I said, just as Brock returned to the seat next to me and stared at the blood on the floor, shaking his head.
“I want you to leave at the top of the ninth. Tell Brock to stay until the end of the game. I’ll have a car pick him up.”
“All right, I will.”
“Stop by tomorrow on your way to the restaurant.”
“Okay.”
We hung up and I stared at the floor. All of the reasons why I wasn’t thrilled with being part of my father’s business were sitting in front of me. Getting into fights wasn’t something I did—at least, not since elementary school. There was a difference between a non-payment and flying off the handle.
A bag of ice appeared in front of me.
“Otherwise you’re knuckles will swell and it’ll be obvious you were in a fight tonight,” Brock explained, his shirt covered in blood. He needed to change too.
Taking the ice from him, I placed it over the bleeding splits. It burned the second the cold touched my skin and I had to hold back the wince. How the hell was I supposed to explain to Elena what happened tonight?
“Thanks.”
“Fucker deserved that. Had you not beat his ass, I would have.”
“Yeah, except now I have to go home and explain it to Elena.”
“If she hasn’t learned what a cocksucker her husband is already, this ought to do it.”
I sat forward, my arms on my thighs, keeping the ice on my hand. “Oh she knows. I’m more worried about her reaction to me knocking him senseless.”
Brock held up his hands. “Look it may not be my place, but I’m going to give you a bit of advice. I may be wrong, but it seems like you’re not ready to give this chick up. Maybe it’s time to introduce her to what you do—like your dad did. This way she won’t be shocked when shit like this happens.”
“You do know that if I didn’t consider you a friend, you’d be next with comments like that.”
Brock smirked. “You wouldn’t lay a hand on me.”
I rubbed the back of my neck trying to release the tension. “You’re probably right though. I was supposed to bring her the other night and decided not to.”
“Don’t chicken out. Just do it.”
I watched the scoreboard count the innings until I could leave. During the seventh inning stretch there was another knock at the door. Dominic hadn’t made a sound until the sixth inning and that was just grunts and groans.
Brock got up to answer the door.
“Good evening, Mr. Hawes. I’m Victor, you’re father sent me to take care of a mess for you.”
“Yes. I guess my father called ahead to the will call booth.”
He nodded. “He did. It’s almost the top of the eighth. During the change in innings, you should leave while the crowds are out of their seats. I’ll send Brock on his way between the eighth and ninth. By then, I’ll have everything ready to go.”
Whoever this man was, my father obviously trusted him and by the looks of it, dealing with a simple fistfight was probably an easy night.
“Dad said wait until the ninth.”
He nodded. “I know. We talked. This would be less obvious.”
“Thank you, Victor.” I looked around the box.
“Go, I got this,” Brock offered, holding out my jacket. I shrugged it on, fastening it at the front to cover the bloodstains. “You need to get yourself together before you draw attention to yourself out there.” He pointed at my hand. “Make sure you leave that in your pocket until you’re in the car.
I nodded curtly. “Good-night.”
Without another word, I left the club and stadium behind.
CHAPTER 16
Ashton
Despite the number of people at the game, the parking lot was desolate as I walked to my car, the disarming of my alarm the only sound. I climbed in and started the ignition. My knuckles were still bloody and raw.
“Fuck,” I yelled, slamming the palm of my hand into the steering wheel.
Never once had there been an issue with a collection. Obviously there had been incidents like the one with Reynolds, but nothing this bad. They always left on their own two feet, with the understanding that they were to not call attention to themselves. They knew the consequences of not being able to pay back the money. This was the first time I’d had to call for a cleanup.
My hands tightened around the steering wheel until pain flowed up my arm, forcing me to loosen my grip. Backing out of the space, I peeled out of the parking lot; probably not the best way to stay under the radar, but my temper was such that I didn’t really give a shit. Thoughts of Elena and the whole fucked up situation paraded through my head. I must have been on autopilot because I was surprised when the turn off for my street came into view.
Pulling up the driveway toward the garage, I noticed the lights at the front of the house were off. Elena must have gone to bed early. The conversation about what happened tonight would have to wait until morning. There was no way I’d wake her up just to upset her.
Quietly, I walked through the door of the garage into the kitchen. I moved through the house cautiously so I didn’t run into anything. Light shone from the upstairs, brightening the stairwell enough for me to climb without a problem.
I reached the landing and realized the light was coming from my room. Julia must have left it on for me, knowing I’d be home late. Too bad Elena had told me no when I asked her to stay in my room. My dick grew hard just thinking about her in my bed.
Stepping through the door, I froze in my tracks.
Elena lay asleep in my bed.
“Holy fuck,” I whispered. Excitement poured through me.
The sound woke her, her long lashes fluttering open to reveal her warm brown eyes.
“Ashton?” she called, her voice still thick with sleep.
I sat down next to her on the bed and brushed a few wayward strands out of her face. “You said no”
She shook her head. “No, I said I wanted to do it because it was something that I wanted, not to please you. I actually started out in my room tonight and realized that I missed your warmth, the smell of you on the sheets.”
My mouth swooped down, taking possession of hers. When her luscious lips parted, I wasted no time slipping my tongue inside for a taste of heaven—exactly what I needed after the night I’d had. Forgetting all about my knuckles, I slid my hand under the little pink nightie she wore to bed and winced when the fabric caught on the raw skin of my knuckles.