CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

 

TAYLOR

“Taylor?” I hear Savannah call out from down the hall. They returned yesterday. Case and I spent the four days they were gone locked in this house. And it was perfect. I almost forgot I know nothing about the guy. It’s so hard not to care about him and to try to play this stupid game by his rules. But it didn’t matter how mad I got at him or what words I threw at him, he didn’t leave like when we were at his house and he told me to leave. He stayed here with me. And I consider that progress. I know this relationship is very unhealthy, but that’s what makes it so hard to walk away. It’s addicting.

“I’m in my room,” I holler back as I try to zip my corset. I think Case got tired of guys wishing for my tits to pop out, so I finally got a bigger top. But I have the hardest time getting into it by myself.

“I didn’t know you were working tonight,” she says with a frown as she enters my room.

“Yeah, well, Jenna called me and asked if I could cover her shift.” I haven’t even had the chance to tell Case yet that I’m working. I haven’t had the chance to see him today and only spoke to him once earlier his morning. He said he had work to do. Jenna just called me a little over an hour ago, but I immediately jumped in the shower and started getting ready. “Can you zip me up?” I ask giving up. I usually put it on backward and then twist it around, but that’s so much work with my big boobs in the way.

She zips my top up, and I turn to look at myself in the mirror. “Are you guys getting serious?” she asks. I had told her last night about the days he and I spent here at the house. I kept out the part where we made whatever it is official.

I spin around to give her a quick look before I face the mirror once again. “No. It’s strictly sex,” I say, but it feels like a lie. I wouldn’t say it's love, but I would say I’m falling for him. Even though I know he’s not gonna catch me. I’m gonna hit rock bottom, and it’s gonna hurt, but right now, things are going really well.

She starts to talk to me but something on my TV catches my attention. I see a reporter standing in a parking lot that looks somewhat familiar. I reach over to my bed and grab my remote. I shush Savannah as I turn the volume up. “I’m here outside of Club Fusion where a big drug bust has just taken place …”

I gasp. A drug bust? “Oh, my God.” I place my hand over my mouth. “We were just there,” I say out loud.

“What?” Savannah snaps. “What were you doing there?” she demands, obviously forgetting I had told her about it last night.

“I went with Case and Brecken,” I remind her not taking my eyes off the screen. They show video of a man with his hands cuffed behind his back. His head is bowed, but I don’t miss his slicked-back jet-black hair and the expensive-looking suit. “Rox,” I whisper.

“What the hell is Rox?” Savannah asks confused, now looking up at the TV.

“The owner of the club,” I mumble.

It flashes back to the reporter. “We have been told the club has a surveillance system, and the cops have obtained it. They expect to make more arrests in the case …”

My legs start to shake. Surveillance? What if we are on it? Am I gonna go to jail even though I didn’t do any of the drugs? Of course, I will; I didn’t report them to the police. I just sat there and drank.

I spin around, grab my phone off my bed, and dial Case’s number. It rings twice and goes to voicemail. “Dammit.” I hang up and call the club. I recognize the bartender’s voice. “Let me talk to Case,” I demand.

“He’s in a meeting.” Bryan says.

“Dammit. Go and get him, now!”

“I’m not going to disturb Case while he’s in a meeting. If you need to talk to him, call his cell.” Then he hangs up.

“Son of a bitch,” I hiss looking down at my phone. “I gotta go,” I say snatching my purse and running for the front door.

It only takes me twenty minutes to get to work. And I barely come to a stop before I jump out of my car. I run across the parking lot and to the back door. I yank it open and run down the back hallway. I run through the empty club floor and up the stairs. By the time I make it to his office, my side hurts and I can barely breathe. Shit, I’m out of shape.

I yank the door open to his office and step inside. “Taylor,” Case says in surprise.

I place my hand on my hip as I bend over trying to catch my breath. Looking up at him, I see he is watching me with mixed emotions. His eyebrows are pulled together as if confused, but his lips are thinned and his eyes look hard as if he’s angry with me.

“TV.” I breathe, trying to explain myself. “He was on TV …” I say through a gasp.

His back straightens, and he looks to the left. “Can you excuse us?”

I stand up quickly sucking in a deep breath as I notice an older man standing beside Case’s desk who I somehow missed when I stormed in. Shit! I was told he was in a meeting. In my haste to get to him, I had forgotten.

The older man looks me up and down with narrowed green eyes. “Sure. I’ll wait outside,” he finally says after a long second. I hold my breath as he walks out still eyeing me up and down as if he wants to say something but decides against it.

“Who was that?” I ask rubbing my side that still stings.

“Doesn’t matter.” He waves him off. “What’s wrong?” he demands as he walks around his desk and comes to me. “And who was on TV?” he asks impatiently.

I continue to rub my aching side. “Rox. He was arrested. I saw it on TV.”

The concern falls from his face, and he stares down at me. “Reporter said surveillance …” I swallow thickly as my heart rate starts to pick up again. “Do you know what that means? We’re gonna get in trouble. The police are going to go over it and see us on it.”

He places his hands on my shoulders. “I’ll take care of it.”

“What does that mean?” I demand. “Take care of it? How are you going to take care of it?” I snap.

“Taylor, you don’t get to be where I am without making friends.”

My eyebrows pull together. My first thought is whether that guy outside is his friend, and if so, what was he doing here? “Do you even listen to yourself? Case, you can’t just make this go away,” I shout. “We could go to jail.”

“I promise you. You won’t go to jail,” he says softly.

I yank my shoulders away from him. “That is not a promise you can keep,” I say breathless once again.

“You think I’m that type of person? One who would let you take the rap for something you didn’t do?” he demands, his voice rising.

“Well, you sure as hell can’t do anything to stop it. They’re gonna see my face on that tape. Hell, I sat in a room with drugs right next to me,” I scream out now as I realize just what is happening. “I thought you were going to ruin my brother’s life, but it turns out you’re going to ruin my life,” I ramble out loud.

“Taylor,” I hear him say, but all I can picture is me in a cell for the rest of my life. “Taylor,” he yells and then shakes me.

“What?” I snap.

He looks down at me, and his blue eyes search my face. “Please trust me,” he asks softly. “You’ve trusted me this far. I will make sure nothing happens to you.”

I wanna ask him how he can make that promise, but I don’t. He was right when he said he didn’t get to where he was without knowing people. And he once told me that everyone in this town owes him something. Maybe he knows someone on the inside of the force. Maybe a crooked cop. I don’t ask because I’m better off not knowing. For all I know, it could be the guy standing right outside his office waiting for me to leave so they can finish their meeting.

I nod my head. But I feel numb inside. I’m going to go to jail and all because I fell for a man who is part of a world I can’t control.

“Why are you dressed in your work outfit?” he asks as his eyes finally take me in.