Better When He's Bad (Welcome to the Point #1)(20)

Lester and Bax had a standoff going on and I was scared one of them was going to get hurt before the other backed down.

“Why are you over here, Les? You never leave the stoop after dark.”

I tried to keep my voice soothing and mellow. Unwittingly I leaned my weight into Bax’s side, trying to show Lester that he was okay, not a threat. What a load of bull that was. I had never met any one single person in my life who broadcasted that he was a threat like this guy.

“Bad things. Too many people. They made me leave. Gave me a bottle of whiskey.”

“What kind of bad things, buddy?”

His wild eyes skimmed over me and then over Bax.

“Good he’s here. Good, good.”

I shivered and looked up at Bax, who was frowning and trying to follow Lester’s broken thinking pattern.

“Why did they give you whiskey, Les? Help me out here, big guy.”

“Don’t go home, Dovie. Bad things. You watch her. She’s a sweet girl.”

Lester nodded, like his business with us was done, and stumbled back toward the apartment building. I was full of apprehension, and shivered involuntarily.

“He’s a disabled vet. No one—and I mean no one—goes in or comes out of the building without his okay. The only time he leaves the stoop is for church on Sunday morning and if he gets the chance to go on a bender. He’s good people.”

“What did he mean by bad things?”

I sighed and shoved my seriously tangled hair over my shoulder. “I don’t know, but I have a really bad feeling I’m about to find out. Don’t let me keep you from your nightly conquest. I expect to hear from you tomorrow if you’ve got anything on Race. I expect you to keep your word, Bax.”

He grabbed my elbow and started hauling me mercilessly across the street. I struggled a little at first until I realized he was going up to the apartment with me. I really didn’t want to face whatever might be waiting for me up there alone.

“I always keep my word, Copper-Top. That’s not something you have to worry about with me.”

Great. He had already insinuated that if I kept getting in his way and making things tricky for him, he would use me in a way I couldn’t even imagine. I had never offered my body as a bargaining chip before, and I had no desire to start now. But I sensed he would push me if it got him what he wanted. He wasn’t scared of coming across like a total scumbag; in fact, I think he kind of liked it.

I pressed up against his back as we skulked up the stairs to my floor. He was all hard lines and coiled strength. I didn’t know how a guy as big as he was moved so silently. He just melted into the shadows and darkness around us. I felt clumsy and awkward behind him.

“Shit.” The swearword was breathed out more than spoken when we rounded the corner where my apartment was.

I guess I really should have put a move on those new locks because the door was standing wide open, and even from where I was partially hidden behind Bax, I could tell I didn’t really want to see what was inside.

“Benny?” My voice quivered a little.

Bax shook his dark head and I felt the muscles I was leaning against tense.

“No. Destruction isn’t his style. This was Novak, though. He wants me to know he has eyes on me. He waited until we were together to do this, not while you were here alone.”

He swore again.

“You have anything in there you absolutely need?”

I bit my bottom lip. “My stuff for school.”

He sighed and ran his hands over his head. “If this was a typical turn and burn, I doubt anything really made it. You can check, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

I was shaking. I seemed to be doing a lot of that tonight.

“The good thing about going without much is that there isn’t much to get attached to. Let me see what I can salvage and I’ll call Carmen to see if I can crash with her and the boys for a few days.”

He gave his head a violent shake. “Too close. You need to get farther away.”

I snorted. “Where do you suggest? This is the Point, not grammar school. I don’t have a hoard of besties in my back pocket to pull from in an emergency. The only other person I can rely on in the world is missing, in case you forgot, so Carmen’s will have to do.” Not that I was thrilled with the prospect of bringing any kind of danger to her door.

He sighed and his hands opened and closed into fists.

“I have a place I can take you for a few days.”

I barked out a laugh and tucked some hair behind my ear. “No, thanks. I’ve had enough of strippers and prostitutes for one night. Carmen’s will be fine.”

He glared down at me and started hauling me toward the door, which was hanging drunkenly off its hinges. Turn and burn indeed. Nothing escaped unscathed. My clothes, pots and pans, the stuff in the fridge, anything that wasn’t tied down was on the floor. The couch was upside down, the curtains were ripped off the broken window, and sure enough, every single book and piece of paper that was in the messenger bag I used for school was tossed and thrown all across the floor. It looked like someone had put the entire mess through a wood chipper. Disaster didn’t even begin to cover it. All I could do was stand there and try and take it in with my mouth hanging open.

“Come on. There’s nothing you can pull out of this mess.”