Signaling an end to our unsettling conversation, he pushed up his cuff and peered at his watch. Unable to help myself, I mentally appraised the luxury timepiece with the rose gold accents and brown crocodile strap. He must have seen my interested gaze because he just chuckled and said, "Sorry, but forty percent of retail is a bit too steep of a discount for me."
"Never say never," I said, thinking of the high-end clients who snuck in here late at night to pawn their family heirlooms just to make the lease payments on their Mercedes or the mortgages on their six bedroom mansions in Royal Oaks.
"Truer words, huh?" Smiling, he backed away and started toward the door. "Tell Jack I said hi."
That was absolutely the last thing I was going to do. Though neither side had confirmed the rumors to me, I had heard all about that scrape between Nick Connolly, Besian and John Hagen a few weeks earlier. The bruises covering Kelly's battered body had told me all I need to know.
On his way out the door, Besian made a point of catching Marley's gaze. To her credit, she simply frowned at him and got back to work. He didn't seem the least bit deterred and that worried me. The last thing that girl needed was a man like Besian Beciraj sniffing around and wreaking havoc with her carefully laid plans. With a biological dad locked up in the pen and a stepdad who was the vice president of an outlaw motorcycle crew, she had more than enough man trouble in her life.
Ignoring the mobster's interest, she turned her attention to the notepad and game system in front of her. Something about her perplexed expression left me uneasy. I crossed the store and joined her behind the counter. Voice soft, I asked, "Is there a problem?"
"I'm not sure, Abby. Look at this barcode." She showed me the smudged code on the bottom of the game system. "Yesterday, Mattie and I were going through the inventory out here as part of the post-robbery audit. He noticed some of these barcodes were smudged so I had him copy down the serial numbers and descriptions so I could manually compare them with the system."
My brother's big, loopy handwriting made me smile. At some point, he had gotten bored while doing the inventory because he had decorated the margins of the paper with drawings of robots and gigantic dinosaur-like monsters. Apparently he had been learning quite a bit of technique during his sketching classes with Hadley at the arts center she had founded earlier in the year.
"What did you find during your manual search?"
Marley looked around nervously before sliding closer and whispering, "These barcodes belong to products we've already sold. The serial numbers are in the system, but they weren't cross-referenced with the stolen property lists or submitted for verification."
My stomach dropped. "How many of these smudged barcodes did you find?"
"In this section?"
Now my heart raced. "This is happening in other sections of the store?"
She nodded. "I found two watches, a couple of diamond bracelets, six televisions, a couple of DVD players, a stereo, two—"
"Stop," I said, holding up my hand. As the panic subsided, anger overwhelmed me. "Who did the intake for these items?"
Marley hesitated. "Dan."
Suddenly, Besian's warning sounded awfully prescient. "Pull everything with a smudged tag and take it back to the storeroom. I'm not leaving until I figure this out."
Fighting the feelings of betrayal that surged through me, I grabbed the game system and strode back to my office. If what Marley suspected turned out to be true and the store had been put at risk of being closed down for selling stolen property, there was going to be hell to pay.
And I would be starting with Dan.
* * *
"Mattie, you almost done packing?" Jack closed the newly repaired dishwasher and scrubbed his hands in the sink. He was drying them when Mattie appeared with his suitcase and collection of DVDs. "You got everything you need?"
"Yes."
Feeling a bit guilty for arranging the sleepover with Finn, Jack wanted to make sure Mattie was fully onboard. Although he had a raging need to be alone with Abby so they could discuss the unexpectedly swift change in their relationship, he refused to do anything that would hurt Mattie's feelings or their friendship. "Are you sure you're okay hanging out with Finn tonight?"
"Jack," he said with a huff, "you've asked me four times. I said yes. I mean yes."
"Okay. I didn't want you to feel pressured."
Mattie rolled his eyes and let loose another exaggerated sigh. "I'm a man of my word, Jack."
He grinned. "Yes, you are."
"Are we going now?"
"Yeah. Let's lock up, and we'll get out of here."
A short time later, Mattie was happily helping Finn tidy up the weights and start the evening laundry loads. Not for the first time, Jack found himself wondering if Mattie would enjoy taking a part-time job at the gym. They had been talking about bringing on an employee to handle some of the everyday tasks that often got pushed aside to deal with clients. Mattie loved the atmosphere at the gym and was always pitching in, even taking the initiative to put together a sign-in sheet for the stations that had the most use so there weren't any more arguments about the gym's standing first-come-first-serve rule.
He was still mulling over the possibility when he arrived at the pawn shop. Sliding out of his front seat, Jack took a moment to enjoy the Texas sunset. The high-rise buildings on the horizon were silhouetted against a sky splashed with vibrant citrus shades. The sight of so much color took him back to the sunsets in Afghanistan. Despite the violence and horror that had marred his tours there, he would always remember the stark beauty of the place.
When he stepped inside the shop, Jack nodded at the security guard near the door. The bulky beast of a man motioned toward the back of the store. "The boss is in the back." He hesitated. "It's tense back there right now. You might be better off waiting for Abby out here."
Jack didn't like the sound of that. Wondering what sort of trouble she had run into now, he crossed the store, weaving in and out of the clumps of customers eyeing merchandise. Mark noticed him approaching the employee only area cordoned off by waist-high counters topped with bullet proof glass. Three lines of customers with tickets in hand waited to pawn, redeem and sell their items. Their gazes locked and the former Navy pilot reached under the counter to unlock the door. Jack returned the man's wave with an appreciative nod.
Before he even reached the storeroom at the rear of the shop, Jack picked up the sound of raised, angry voices. He easily separated Abby's voice from Dan's. She sounded hurt and betrayed while Dan shouted back in defiant defense.
"I could be arrested, Dan! They could pick me up right now on charges for selling stolen property!"
Jack's eyes widened at Abby's panicked outburst. What the fuck?
He stepped forward and twisted the door handle. Thankfully it was unlocked. Otherwise he would have beat on it until one of them let him inside.
"What?" Abby shrieked at him before she realized who it was. Instantly, her angry expression changed to one of sheer embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Jack. I didn't realize—"
"What the hell is going on in here?" He shut the door behind him and blocked Dan's exit, just in case the older man had any funny ideas. "What stolen property, Abby?"
She glanced at Dan, his expression pale and stricken. He skin was nearly as white as his hair now. Whatever was happening here, it was clear he was the guilty party. "It's pawn shop business, Jack. Please let me handle it."
He started to tell her that anything that hurt her was his business but bit his tongue. How would he feel if she barged in on an argument he was having with Finn over the gym? He would be annoyed. Though his instinct was to stay with her and show that she had him standing strong and tall in her corner, he understood that this was something she could handle all on her own.
Pushing off the door, he reached for the handle. "I'll be in the hall."
Abby trailed her soft fingertips down his arm. She offered a pleased smile. "Thank you."
With a stiff nod, he slipped i
nto the hallway and leaned against the wall there. Eyes closed, he concentrated only on the conversation happening on the other side of that door. He tried not to let his thoughts wander ahead of him but it was difficult to keep them reined in tight. Was this the real reason for the robbery? Was someone trying to get back stolen property that had been fenced? Was it evidence in a crime?
"Why, Dan? Why would you risk everything to buy shit off Flea?"
Jack's lips settled into a grim line at the mention of the shifty-eyed and pock-faced junkie Finn jokingly referred to as the neighborhood mascot. The once-promising college athlete had tempted fate with one taste of meth and had been consumed by it. Since then, he had graduated to crack and heroin.
Though it drove Jack crazy, he allowed Finn to bring the painfully thin man inside the gym after hours for a shower and a meal a few times a month. After watching Finn fight and slay his own demons, Jack would never question his younger brother's desire to help others battling addiction. He didn't think Flea could be helped—if the man survived another winter, Jack would be shocked—but Finn wasn't about to stop trying.
"Was it the money? Is that what this is about? Are you pocketing the cash from the sales of those ghost barcodes?"
"Yes."
Something about his tone told Jack there was more behind that answer. Antsy, he rubbed his thumb along the underside of his wrist and fought the urge to barge back into the storeroom to ask more pointed questions. If Abby didn't get the full truth out of Dan, he would find a way to get it on his own.
"But, Dan, if you needed money, you could have come to me. I would have given you whatever you needed, on whatever terms would have worked for you. My God—you've been a part of my family's business for decades. Granddad trusted you. He loved you like a brother—"
"Some brother," Dan interjected testily. "I gave twenty-nine years of my life to this damned shop, and where am I today? Night manager!"
"That's bull, and you know it, Dan! I offered you the general manager position but you declined it."
"Because I'm better than that! I deserve more than a new title and a heavier keychain."
"What do you want, Dan? What is this really about?"
"I should be a partner! I ought to own part of this shop."
Jack held his breath as the tense silence stretched into long seconds.
"Dan, Granddad was always very clear that this was going to stay a family business. It was his dad's business first, then his and now it's mine. That doesn’t mean you aren't incredibly valued. If you had come to me—if you had told me how disrespected you felt by the GM offer—I would have found a way to make it work."
Jack's throat tightened as Abby's voice wavered. His sweet girl was on the verge of tears—and it killed him that he wasn't in there to support her.
"I've always thought of you as family, Dan. Even with all the friction we've had over Mattie, I always respected your position here and your knowledge of this business. Some of the best skills I have were learned from you." She paused and seemed to be trying to compose herself. "If you had asked me for a partnership in the business yesterday, I would have figured out a way to give you a slice of it—but now? Now, I want you to leave."
"You're firing me." Dan wasn't asking. He seemed resigned to the fact.
"I'm not sure. Probably," she added. "I need to sort this stolen property thing out first. I…I don't want to see you around the shop for a week. I'll make sure you get your direct deposit on the first of the month. After that…I just don't know."
Jack moved to stand in front of the door. Arms crossed, he waited for Dan to exit the room. The older man looked crushed by his dismissal, but Jack didn't feel even the slightest twinge of sympathy. He had no one to blame but himself. With a dead-eyed stare, Jack made sure Dan understood that if anything happened to Abby he would make sure the disgraced employee was dragged through the mud.
Just thinking about the way Dan had come down like a damned hammer on Mattie for taking the watch infuriated Jack. All the while, the rat bastard had been selling stolen merchandise to unsuspecting buyers while putting Abby at great risk. It sickened him.
Sensing Dan wouldn't make a scene and didn't need to be followed, Jack returned to the storeroom. The betrayed and wounded look on Abby's face slashed at him. He vowed then and there that he would never do anything to make her look at him like that. Whatever it took, he would do right by her.
He closed the distance between them. She didn't try to stop him when he reached out to wipe away the bitter tears streaking down her cheeks. The thin streams left shiny trails on her silky brown skin. He silently prayed he would never be the cause of such pain. "I'm so sorry, Abby."
"I'm stupid. You know?" She inhaled a sharp breath. "How could I not know this was happening in my store? Four weeks, Jack. The items I pulled off the shelves today date back four weeks!"
"You trusted your team, Abby. You said it yourself. Dan was a trusted member of your staff. Why would you ever suspect him of doing anything to hurt the business?"
"I should have known, Jack. I should have seen that he was upset and hurt when Granddad didn't leave him a piece of the business."
"Abby, you're not a mind reader." He used the bottom of his Connolly Fitness T-shirt to wipe away wetness still gleaming on her beautiful face. "What are you going to do?"
"I've shut down the sales side of our business. We'll continue to pawn and buy but not one single piece of merchandise is leaving this store until I know that everything on the shelves is legit."
"And after that?"
She swallowed hard. "After that, I'll be calling my contact in the police department. I've spoken to our lawyer. It's going to be messy, and we'll have to issue refunds to all of the customers and—"
"Sweetness," he gently touched his finger to her sensual pout. "Is there anything you have to do tonight?"
"I need to finish sorting through the piles of inventory Marley helped me pull."
"Does it have to be done tonight?"
"Well—"
He seized on her moment of indecision. "We're leaving. I'll come with you in the morning and help you do whatever needs to be done."
"Jack, you have a business to run. You have clients. You have—"
He bent down and captured her lips in a searing kiss. When her protests were quieted, he pulled back just enough to gaze down into those coffee-colored irises. "You are my number one priority, Abby. The gym, my clients—none of that matters without you."
Surprise filtered across her face. "Do you…do you really mean that?"
"I said it. I mean it."
She placed her hand on his chest and stared up at him with such uncertainty. "What are we doing, Jack? What is this?"
With everything going wrong in her business, she didn't need upheaval or uncertainty in her personal life. Wanting to soothe her, he brushed his fingers along her jaw. "I’m doing what I should have done a long time ago. I'm going after the woman I want."
"Me?"
He tapped the tip of her nose. "You."
She bit her lower lip. "You're sure?"
He chuckled. "Yes, Abby. I'm sure."
"But—"
"No." He pressed his finger to her lips and repeated his earlier statement. "I said it. I mean it."
She seemed to finally understand what he was trying to tell her. Like Mattie, he was a man of his word. She needed to realize that she could always count on hearing the absolute unvarnished truth from him.
The taut stress that had been tightening her expression melted. The corners of her mouth lifted and her eyes sparked mischievously. Like a naughty little kitten, she bit down playfully on his fingertip and touched the very tip of her pink tongue to his flesh. The brief contact ignited his desire for Abby. Suddenly, he couldn't get her home fast enough.
"Mattie is hanging out with Finn tonight so we have your house to ourselves."
Her neatly shaped eyebrows lifted with mock annoyance. "You fix one dishwasher and one window and now you're act
ing like you own the place."
Though she said it with a teasing smile, he heard the light censure in her voice. "Abby, would it be all right if we spent the night at your place? Just the two of us?" He lowered his face and dotted ticklish kisses along the curve of her neck. "You. Me. A bottle of wine. A hot bath." He bit down gently, just enough to make her inhale a shaky breath, and then flicked his tongue over the reddened spot. "What do you say, Abby?"
Shivering against him, she grasped his hand. "Take me home, Jack. Make me forget about the awful day I've had."
Her husky, needy voice spilled over him like a silky caress that went right to his throbbing dick. Before the night's end, he planned to be buried to the hilt in Abby's slick heat, but first he would give her everything she wanted. All of this bullshit with Dan would be a distant memory once he tucked her close and let her drift off to sleep in his arms, sated and relaxed.
Already forming his plan of sensual attack, he gave her hand a tug and took the lead. He would have Abby sobbing with ecstasy and screaming his name in pleasure before he was done with her.
Chapter Five
Eyes closed, I sank a bit deeper into the steaming hot bath. The soothing warmth eased the ache from my shoulders and neck. I tipped the glass of wine to my lips and enjoyed a long, slow drink of the slightly sweet Australian Riesling.
"You need me to top that off before I slide in with you?"
A smile played upon my lips at the deep timbre of Jack's voice. "No, thanks. I'm a one glass a night girl."
"You can let loose tonight, Abby. I'm here, and Mattie is perfectly safe with Finn."
"I'm good." Though I was tempted to have another glass, I stuck to my rule. Finally opening my eyes, I glanced at Jack and nearly had a heart attack. He had stripped down to just his boxer-briefs and—oh my God—he looked absolutely delicious. Last night, when he has slipped into bed with me, he had stayed almost totally clothed, just in case more trouble had arrived on my doorstep. Tonight, I was getting a much desired look at the full package.