Own the Wind(99)

“Yeah, we will,” she fired back and suddenly he flashed a sexy white smile that shone so bright surrounded by that black goatee, it took him from handsome to such a knockout I had to hold on to the bar.

“Baby, you cutting me off means you getting cut off, and I foresee that indefinite period of time lasting about a day.”

I only had the back of Elvira’s head but I fancied she rolled her eyes before she mumbled, “Whatever,” which, translated by a girl who understood girls, meant he was right and she was saving face. Then she slid back onto her stool, trained her gaze on Rush, and snapped, “Tequila?”

Rush looked at me then grabbed a shot glass. He put it down on the bar in front of Elvira and poured.

He barely took the bottle away before she lifted it and threw it back.

She slammed the glass down on the bar and in an effort not to freak out about whatever was happening out there with my man, my father, and my best friend involved, I leaned toward Elvira and whispered, “Your guy is kinda hot.”

She turned to me without hesitation and replied, “Careful what you wish for, girl. One by one my girls went down to badasses, I watched and thought, ‘I wouldn’t mind gettin’ me a little somethin’-somethin’ from a badass.’ ” She tapped her glass on the bar for another refill, Rush gave it to her, she threw it back, then she looked at me again and snapped with emphasis, “Wrong.”

“I have a badass,” I reminded her.

“Yeah,” she returned. “And Tyra told me you two went at it for days over a flippin’ fridge. Badasses are capable of and don’t hesitate to throw down about a fridge. An IT geek does not care what kind of fridge you buy. An IT geek just thanks his lucky stars he’s gettin’ it regular. An IT geek would say, ‘Whatever you want, honey,’ if you told him you were paving the front walk in gold.”

I suspected this was true, but still I leaned back and took in Malik, who was now leaning against the bar. What I took in was a tall frame, lean hips, a flat stomach, big hands, broad shoulders, perfect skin, warm, brown eyes, and a brilliant smile even if it was directed at the bar while he shook his head in a way that said clearly he thought his woman was crazy but all kinds of cute.

I leaned forward again and toward Elvira to point out, “True, but IT geeks don’t tend to look like Denzel Washington circa Training Day. Denzel might have been scary in that movie but his scary was all kinds of hot.” Elvira made no reply so I further noted, “And your man isn’t Denzel Training Day scary. He’s more Denzel Man on Fire intense with a little sense of humor and a goatee thrown in.”

Elvira turned her eyes to me and asked, “You got every Denzel film memorized?”

“Doesn’t everybody?” I asked back.

She looked to her glass, tapped it on the bar, and muttered, “Point taken.”

Rush poured her another shot, she threw it back, and I reached out and took the bottle from him. I was a biker babe and I didn’t mind putting the bottle to my mouth and sucking back, so that was what I did.

I was putting the bottle down on the bar when the door opened again, and all eyes, including mine, went to it. My pulse spiked as Natalie, followed by Hound, Boz, and Speck came in.

She looked freaked. She also was wearing a short, tight nurse’s outfit, white stockings, garters, and white, patent-leather, stripper platform, lace-up knee boots. Her boobs were spilling and her hair was a ratted mess of curls contained in ponytails and a nurse’s cap.

Elvira was right. That whole gig had been done to death, and as a nurse I took professional umbrage.

But I couldn’t think of that seeing, as I felt cold start to infuse my system from the outside in because Nat, Hound, Boz, and Speck were the only ones that came in.

No Shy.

No Dad.

I jumped off the stool and locked eyes with Boz, not trusting myself to look at Natalie. Not yet. Not until I knew everyone was okay.

“Where are Shy and Dad?” I asked.

Hound ordered Rush, “Lock her down. My room.” He had his hand on Natalie’s arm, shoved her forward, and she stumbled on her stripper boots.

Rush moved toward Natalie.

My eyes shifted back to Boz. “Where are they?”

“Tabby,” Natalie called, her voice shaky.

I didn’t move my eyes from Boz. “Boz? Where are Shy and my dad?”

“Tabby,” Natalie called again, her voice breaking halfway through my name and that cold shot through me, freezing me completely.

I looked to her.

“It went bad,” I stated and saw tears sliding out of her eyes, mascara going with them. Rush had made it to her and had a hand on her upper arm, but he didn’t get the chance to move her before I shot forward and stood in front of her.

“My man or my father?” I asked.

“Move back, Tabby, honey, we need to get her locked down then take care of some business,” Boz said from close behind me.

“My man or my father?” I demanded to know, not moving an inch.

“Let’s get you to a couch, get you a drink, and we’ll talk,” Boz went on.

“My man,” I leaned in so I was nose to nose with ex-best friend then I lost it completely, “or my father?” I ended on a screech.

“Shy got winged by a bullet,” she whispered, and the deep freeze shattered, imploding from the inside and the pain was excruciating. So unbearable, I had to do something. I had to try to let some of it go. I had to lash out.