Chapter 7

Ledger

It's been a little while since I've received a text from Posey, and I head down to the kitchen of Club Greed.

"Can you make me a burger?" I ask John, the head chef.

"Sure thing," he says back.

I wander around the back area of the club, checking my phone every so often. I need to stop. I look like a lovesick teenager, constantly checking their phone.

I'm obsessed.

"I've been looking for you," Adele says, walking up behind me.

"What's up?"

"That couple you dealt with earlier are causing issues again."

I shake my head. Normally, with the prices Dev charges for membership, we rarely have anyone acting out of hand.

But this is a new member, and his wife, and I guess they're not familiar with club policy.

I head back over to where John is cooking my burger. "I'll be back for that."

I follow Adele to the bar, where the couple sits, harassing other patrons.

"Mr. Stevens, I said you'd have to behave yourself for the rest of the evening, or I'll be asked to escort you out. Revoking your membership in the process."

"I'm just having some fun," Mr. Stevens says, one arm wrapped around his wife. "Precious here just wants a little action with the bartender."

I glance over at Joey behind the bar, and he rolls his eyes. "I'm sorry, but Joey has a job to do. We ask that you and your wife move along. Maybe you want to visit one of the community rooms."

Mr. Stevens stands. He's a man with all the confidence in the world. But he doesn't intimidate me. Money will do that to a person. He smooths down his suit and smiles. "I can offer the bartender a lot of money to play with my wife. He'd be a fool not to accept. She's fucking gorgeous."

I glance over at Mrs. Stevens, taking in her features, all sculpted by a surgeon"s scalpel. With so much plastic surgery, it's a wonder she doesn"t melt. "What you do with the bartender when he's off work is your business, but while he's on the clock, he stays behind the bar."

Mr. Stevens gives me a once over. "Maybe you'd like to play with my wife instead?"

The amount of times this offer is made to me is too many to count. And the answer is always the same. Thank you for the offer, but not tonight. Maybe some other time.

But this asshole is pissing me off, and I want him to know I won't tolerate it. I lean in close to him, it's an intimidation technique, and I look him square in the eyes. "You have thirty seconds to get the fuck out of this club tonight and I won't revoke your membership."

The man steps back, looking appalled. "Well, I've never…" his words fall away when I step closer.

"Fifteen seconds."

"Come on, Precious. Let's go." He wraps an arm around his wife and together they leave the club.

I watch as they head out the door, hopefully having a better attitude when they return next time. I stride back into the kitchen and grab my burger and make my way up to the office on the top floor.

All I want to do is eat in peace, and for this night to be over.

I lock my door and sit in the chair behind the desk, getting myself ready to take the biggest bite of my burger. Before I can, my phone beeps.

Most men will pick steak as their favorite thing to eat. Be original.

I laugh before taking a bite of my burger. It is good, but not something I would consider my favorite meal. As I eat, I stare at the past messages between Posey and me and remember how I felt when she revealed it's been forever since she's had sex.

Are her and Bane not having…I can't even finish the thought. I don't want to go there.

Maybe she meant she's a virgin, but I can't imagine that either.

Maybe she's religious, wanting to wait until her wedding night.

Bane doesn't strike me as the type of man to wait. So, her text causes a million thoughts to race through my mind, but I push it away because I shouldn't be talking to her about her sexual life anyway.

So, I keep the conversation neutral.

Are you saying I'm not original?

Well, you're a twin, so no. I guess you're not original.

I laugh at her response. It's been a long time since anyone other than my close friends and family has made me laugh this hard. I change the subject.

Do you have any siblings?

Nope, it's just sweet ol' me.

I push the remnants of my finished burger away and lean back in my seat. A burning starts low in my system, and I want to ask her how sweet she is. How sweet she tastes, but I know better. Instead, I ignore her sweet statement and move forward, trying my best to understand her.

Must have been lonely.

It was.

My heart swells thinking about Posey all alone. Then, a small fire of anger ignites at the thought that once she marries Bane, she'll never be alone again. I push my phone away, berating myself for being stupid enough to text with an engaged woman.

Even if it is just innocent.

My feelings for her aren't.

"Dude, what's your problem?" Roman asks after I miss another shot. We've been playing basketball for over an hour, and I've only made about three baskets.

"Nothing. Got a lot on my mind," I say, dribbling the ball away from center court.

"Care to share? You've been playing like shit all day." Roman swipes the ball from me and rushes away. He stops, aims, shoots, and then turns around to face me. "Seriously. It's not Posey, is it?"

I scrub a hand across the back of my neck. "We've been texting."

"Oh shit," Roman says, leaving the ball as it bounces and rolls into the grass. We're at the courts near our condo building. Roman and I share the top floor of the building, but we each have our own place. His condo on one-half of the building, mine on the other.

He still has the place, but he's been practically living with Greer. And they finally told each other how they feel.

I can't say I'm not happy for him, because I am. I know Roman's wanted Greer for a really long time. And now they have each other. And I can tell my brother's happy. Hell, the way he struts around the court, acting like he's Michael fucking Jordan is proof enough.

"It's not oh shit," I say, heading in the direction the ball went. I scoop it up and head back to the court. "It's harmless. She remembered something about her attacker, and we have just been having a small back and forth since then."

"What did she remember?"

"Just the scent of a cigar. Orange flavored."

"You thinking the Macanudo?"

I nod. "I downloaded a list of all the sales for that cigar in the Club Greed tobacco shop."

"Are any of the buyers friends with Bane?"

"Not sure yet. You think it's one of his men too?"

Roman shrugs as he holds his hand out for me to pass him the ball. "What are you thinking?"

"Same thing. My only question is why?"

"Maybe one of Bane's men isn't happy? Maybe they're scared because he's awaiting trial. Who knows? Hell, it could be because they're sending a message to Bane."

"I don't like that it happened at the club," I say, passing the ball to him.

He dribbles for a moment before stopping to think. "You wouldn't mind her being attacked somewhere else?"

Motherfucker. "You know what I mean." I move toward him, and he dribbles the ball, moving toward the net.

"You need to stay away, Ledger. I'm not kidding. This isn't some girl you can steal away from another guy, like you did with Jessie in high school."

I stand tall. "I didn't steal Jessie away from Adam Fairfax in high school. That was you."

Roman makes a face. "Was not. Looks like you're not remembering history properly."

"Actually, it was Dev, remember?" I say, trying my best to block the ball as he attempts to shoot.

"Shit, you're right. It was Dev."

We both laugh, and I'm able to distract him long enough to knock the ball out of his hand, but then my mind's back to thinking about Posey. I know I need to stop texting her, but all afternoon I've been checking my phone like it's got the winning lottery numbers.

We play uninterrupted for a few minutes until Roman's phone buzzes. He rushes over to where our stuff is and checks it.

"Greer?" I ask.

He nods. "Yeah, she wants to get takeout tonight."

I smile, happy that he's finally found true love. Seriously, I've always viewed Greer as a sister, and now she will be.

As soon as Roman proposes. He said he purchased a ring the moment they got together.

"Does she have any clue what you're planning?"

He shakes his head. "None. I have to tell you something that nobody knows yet."

"What is it? You knock her up already." I laugh at my little joke, and when my brother doesn't laugh back I stall.

My brother smiles from ear to ear, and the air whooshes from my lungs. "Well…" The rest of his sentence hangs in the air. He doesn't need to finish it because I know I've hit the nail on the head.

"I can't believe this." I bring him in for a hug. "I'm so happy for you, Roman."

"I can't believe I'm going to be a dad."

"You and Greer deserve to be happy." And I mean it. Roman's been struggling with anxiety lately, and I honestly thought he and Greer would never work things out and get together.

But they have, and I'm going to be an uncle.

We finish our game, and as I head home alone, I check my phone once more, happy when I see I've got one unread message from Posey.

Do you ever have those days where you feel all alone? That's where I'm at right now.