Gabe (Blue-Collar Billionaires 3)

I laugh at his childish glee. "Get your mind out of the gutter. I was at Finn and Rissa's engagement party. I might have been … busy afterward but it's nothing serious. It can't be anything serious. She deserves better than a guy like me."

I have no doubt that Luke already knows about me. He's probably looked into all of us. Tank already admitted that he did the same. There are few secrets amongst us now, which is for the best. I'm tired of hiding.

“But you've cleaned up. So what's the problem?" Luke asks.

"There's no problem. I just don't want her anywhere near my messy life. Whatever this shit is with Max, it can't end well. I can't drag her into this."

Luke nods and luckily lets the subject drop. As I finish my beer, a comfortable silence descends until he starts talking, hesitantly, about the software he’s working on. He’s been doing his best to stay away from this entire situation with Max but between my request for help and Finn’s insistence on visiting him every few days, I can tell he’s starting to accept that we’re going to be a part of his life. And that it might not be such a bad thing.

Half an hour later as I walk out into the cool night air, my senses are on high alert. Talking about the situation with Luke has only reinvigorated my earlier fears. Max could be running from someone. Or he could be someone that others run from. The uncertainty has me looking over my shoulder. Just thinking about it gives me that creepy feeling you get from being watched.

Before I can talk myself out of it, my phone is in my hand and I’m dialing a number that I haven’t used in a long time. Cole answers on the first ring.

“Wow. Gabe Marshall. It’s been a long time.”

His gravelly voice still sounds the same, like he’s been sucking on cigarettes since birth. My relationship with Cole is complicated. Zack hates him and blames him for teaching me how to find trouble at a young and impressionable age. But there are so many things my brother doesn’t know. It’s true that Cole corrupted me but in many ways he saved me, too.

“Yeah it has. I need a favor.”

He chuckles. “I know what that means. Give me the info.”

Cole is mainly known for boosting cars but he’s also like an information network. He knows everyone who knows everyone. Anyone on the wrong side of the law operating in the southern Virginia area will be on his radar. After giving him a quick description of the scarred guy I saw outside Max’s hotel, he’s silent for a minute.

“I’m on it. What have you been up to kid? You looking for work?”

In Cole’s world, my world, looking for work can only mean one thing. He’s putting together a job and he’s looking for players. For one illicit moment, I feel that old excitement, that anticipation. Then I ruthlessly squash it.

“Nah, I’m out of the life.”

He chuckles. “No one is ever really out of the life, kid. Call me if you change your mind.”

I force myself to walk to my car, ignoring the urge to check behind me again. This is the reason I decided to go straight. No more shadows around each corner. No more worries about who might be coming after me. I'm done with all that and I won't let Max's troubles drag me back in.

But as I slide behind the wheel of my car, Cole’s words echo around my head.

No one is ever really out of the life.

chapter five

SASHA

Things have a way of looking different in the morning. So when I wake up on Saturday, I decide it's time to get proactive. Ever since my epic fail on national television, I've been in survival mode. Planning the grand opening of the club has kept my mind off of things but now that there might not be a club, it's time to stop licking my wounds and get serious. I need to find a source of funding fast.

Gabe's words come back to me. I know that he's trouble but he was right about one thing. I can't allow each failure to take me out of the game. Failing at things is a side effect of living life. Maybe singing isn't going to be my career and that hurts, but there are so many other dreams that I have. Opening this club will be a manifestation of a dream I've had ever since I was a kid.

After a quick shower, I review my schedule for the day. After the blistering safety lecture I got from Eli when he found out that I was conducting music lessons from home, I've stopped scheduling new students. Even though I know he's right, I can't help but resent the intrusion. I take a deep breath. If all goes right, I'll be scheduling new students soon in my beautiful new space.

Thoughts of business remind me of him. I press a hand over my suddenly racing heart, remembering that kiss. Despite his insistence on leaving me sexually frustrated, his advice last night was exactly what I needed. And even though it had been hard to hear in the moment, I actually appreciate his restraint. I don't really want to get involved with anyone right now; I'd just lost my head in the moment. What girl wouldn't with a kiss like that?

Just because I've sworn off men momentarily doesn't mean I'm dead. Gabe Marshall is exactly the type I usually fall for. Beautiful. Smug.

Trouble.

I look at myself in the mirror. "The type of trouble you don't need right now."

But damn, he was a good kisser.

Even though it's empty, I decide to spend the day at the club. There's not much I can do without fixtures but just being in the space will inspire me as I go over my massive to-do list for the opening. Plus, Gabe's advice about cutting costs makes me think. A cleaning crew is scheduled to come this week but maybe that's something I can cut. I need to go to the space and see how bad it is. Plus I just want to see it again.