Rock Chick Revenge (Rock Chick #5)(82)

I felt a strong hand slide under my hair and rest at the back of my neck then, “Babe.”

I straightened, turned and looked at Luke but he didn’t take his hand away. Lee had been with Bobby when we got there and now he was standing by Luke but his eyes were on me.

“What’s in that head of yours?” Luke asked quietly.

“I just vowed sextuple revenge against Dickhead Dominic Vincetti,” I told him.

One side of Luke’s lips went up. Lee’s eyes did an amused crinkle.

“And I feel it’s my fault,” I went on.

Luke’s grin faded and so did Lee’s eye-crinkle.

“If I hadn’t walked into your office –” I started to continue.

“Quiet Ava,” Luke said softly.

Lee spoke more words. “Ava, most of the time, my men volunteer for their Rock Chick assignments and do them on their own time. Bobby was on his own time, a favor to Luke. He knew what he was doing and he wanted to do it. It isn’t your fault that some shithead brought you trouble. Don’t take it on your shoulders, it doesn’t belong there. What happened to Bobby belongs on the shoulders of the guy who hit him in the head with a baseball bat.”

Well, that was honest, succinct, to the point and made sense.

Still.

I closed my eyes and Luke turned me into his body by putting pressure on my neck. I put my hands to his waist and rested my forehead on his chest.

“Later,” I heard Lee say to Luke.

“Yeah,” Luke replied.

After some time slid by, I lifted my head and looked at Luke. “I need cookies,” I told him.

His face got that almost-soft, still-hard look, his eyes going warm and he bent his head to kiss my nose.

* * * * *

Sissy had spread the word and by the time Luke and I (and Silent Santo) got to Fortnum’s, everyone had congregated. Everyone being Indy, Ally, Daisy, Jet, Roxie, Shirleen, Sissy (and Silent Lucky, her bodyguard and my other kidnapper), Tod and Stevie.

The minute Luke and I (and Silent Santo) walked in, all eyes swung to us.

“Babe,” Luke said, sounding amused.

I turned to him, my back to the Rock Chicks (and g*y guys). “Don’t leave me here. Take me to Australia. Now.”

He looked down at me. “Don’t think I’ll find Dom Vincetti in Australia.” A shiver slid through me as Luke got close and his hand went to my jaw, thumb stroking my cheek and f**k buddies or not, it was nice. “I don’t want you leavin’ here, not even with Mancini. You gotta go somewhere, you call me.”

I nodded. Not because I was giving in to Luke’s tough guy, macho man demand but because I didn’t want to be kidnapped again.

He kissed my nose then he was gone.

No sooner had the door closed behind him when Tod squealed, “Girlie, get over here. Spill. We want details.”

Again, I had to ask, why me?

I walked to the Rock Chicks and flopped on the couch by Shirleen. Ally peeled away and got me a skinny vanilla latte. When my coffee arrived, I sipped and told them about Dom calling, Ren’s date and Luke giving me the business.

I didn’t go into detail.

Shirleen narrowed her eyes on me. “Girl, so far I’ve lost a hundred bucks on you. I gotta get somethin’ outta that hundred. I want it blow-by-blow. You don’t give it, I’ll cuff you to somethin’ my damn self.”

I stared at Shirleen. She looked serious, as in seriously serious. I didn’t want Shirleen to cuff me to something so I sighed and gave them a blow-by-blow.

When I was done, Sissy said, “Oh my.”

Indy said, “Holy crap.”

Roxie said, “Wow.”

Ally said, “Righteous.”

Stevie said, “Lordy.”

I said, “I know.”

“Oowee,” Shirleen said, getting off the couch and pulling her blouse in and out at her chest. “I need to go home and get me a cold shower before I go back to work. Child,” she said to me. “You did good. You held out. Then you got nailed. You’re a real Rock Chick now.”

Everyone watched her leave but it was probably only me who was, for the first time, wishing I wasn’t a Rock Chick.

“My favorite part is the cookie swipe,” Tod shared with the congregation.

“The cookie swipe was good,” Roxie agreed.

“That ain’t my favorite part,” Daisy put in.

“Mine either,” Ally concurred.

“I can’t believe you’re f**k buddies with Luke Stark,” Sissy’s tone was accusing and she was glaring at me. Obviously f**k buddies wasn’t where she thought this was heading. She likely had visions of wearing a bridesmaid’s dress and was planning my bachelorette party.

“I can’t believe it either,” Indy said but she didn’t sound accusing, she sounded amused.

“I wish I was f**k buddies with Luke Stark,” Tod told everyone and got a scowl from Stevie.

“Me too,” Ally’s voice sounded far away.

“Ally!” Roxie and Jet cried in unison.

Ally snapped back into the room. “I’m just saying.” She looked at Roxie. “Has Hank ever done a cookie swipe?”

Roxie looked away. “No,” she mumbled, obviously liking the idea of a cookie swipe.

“Eddie?” Ally’s gaze had moved to Jet.