Twice as Sexy (The Sexy 2)

Exhausted, Tanner headed back to the now empty club with his partners, where they gathered around the bar. They sat in heavy silence until suddenly the front door opened, causing everyone to stiffen.

“Who’s there?” Tanner called out.

“Hold your fire,” a familiar voice jokingly said, as Daniel Sutherland walked inside, hands up in front of him.

Tanner blinked. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

Jason placed a hand on his shoulder. “What do you want, Sutherland?”

He strode over, pulled up a stool, and sat down.

“Join us, why don’t you,” Landon muttered.

“I heard you guys had a raid tonight.” The man ran a hand over his perfectly styled blond hair.

Tanner narrowed his gaze. “On a tip you called in?”

Sutherland scowled. “Frankly, no. Though I can see why you’d think so.”

“Look, we’ve had a long fucking night. Did you come here for a reason or just to shoot the shit?” Tanner asked. Before they broached the subject of Victor Clark, he wanted to hear what the other club owner had to say.

The man hung his head and groaned. “I targeted you, okay? You guys opened up and took business away from me. So I hired a couple of punk kids to cause some trouble. It wasn’t well thought out, but I panicked that I wouldn’t be able to pay my bills.”

Tanner looked at the man, unimpressed with his reasoning. “Yeah? A bomb scare sounded like a good idea to you? In this day and age?”

Daniel shook his head hard. “Fuck no. That’s when I was out. I would never go along with something like that. It’s too fucking dangerous and the penalty if I’m caught? It’s a federal offense! I’m not spending a decade or more in jail!”

The man’s panic sounded real and Tanner met his friends’ gazes.

“Okay, so what’s going on? From the beginning, okay?” Jason strode up to Sutherland, getting into his personal space.

Sutherland rubbed his palms against his eyes, then blinked and met Tanner’s gaze. “My brother was in prison with Victor Clark.”

Fucking BINGO.

“Victor protected my brother. Pulled him in and let it be known not to touch him. And my brother’s a scrawny guy and they would have had it out for him inside.” Daniel cringed, then glanced at Landon, who stood behind the bar. “Got a drink?” he asked.

Scowling, Landon picked up a bottle of cheap scotch and filled a glass, sliding it toward Sutherland, who downed half of it in one gulp.

“So you owed Vic.” Tanner wanted the whole story out there.

“Yeah. And when he got out of prison, he showed up on my doorstep, wanting that debt repaid. He had looked into your club. Knew we were competitors. I’d already pulled the stupid shit, hacking your sound system and vandalizing patrons’ cars. Vic wanted to target you without getting caught, so he demanded I continue what I’d started.”

“Go on.” Tanner ground his teeth together.

“I hit up your cars. I mean, I hired someone to do it. But I guess Victor was impatient and he wanted bigger things to happen. He didn’t say why and I didn’t ask, but he pulled the bomb scare himself behind my back. And then I was out.” He held up both hands, like he was swearing, then downed the rest of the liquor. “I told him not to come back but he’s been threatening me. Meanwhile I heard you guys were taken in tonight and I couldn’t live with myself. So here I am.”

Thank God, Tanner thought, thumping his hand on the bar. This mess would all be over soon, and with parole violations thanks to illegal behavior and a bomb threat under his belt, Victor was going back to prison for a long fucking time.

“Call Tommy,” Tanner said. “Let’s do this the legal way.” He blew out a relieved breath because Victor Clark would soon be out of his life for good.

It was late, nearing morning, when Tanner waved off the security guard outside his home and let himself into the house. Exhaustion pulled at him and he couldn’t wait to crawl into bed and pass out.

He stepped into his room and realized Scarlett had left the light on in the bathroom with the door cracked open. Catching sight of her asleep in his bed, he grinned. Her blonde hair flowed over the pillow and she didn’t move when he walked in.

Not only could he get used to this in his future, he already had. Unfortunately, once Victor was arrested, Scarlett would have no reason to remain in his house and in his bed. She could go back to her life, living in the city and making her easy commute to the office. The thought churned his stomach.

He undressed, taking off all his clothes and crawling into bed, his muscles and bones screaming in gratitude the minute the soft mattress enveloped him. But he wasn’t ready to sleep until he slid to the middle of the bed and pulled Scarlett into his arms, wrapped his big body around hers, and then he let himself crash. Hard.