Vice Read online

  Her thumbs flew across the screen, and she gave one final tap. “There.” She handed the phone back, and Felicia thought she’d be able to see the text before she sent it. But Pearl had sent it zipping through cyberspace, and Felicia looked up in surprise.

  There were no maybe’s or just’s in Pearl’s version. The text read, Hey, I know you can’t ride your motorcycle to work, and I’d love to give you a ride if you need one.

  The words burned through her retinas. I’d love to give you a ride.

  Horror moved through Felicia, and her eyes felt like dinner plates as she looked up at her friend. “What—?”

  “It’s better,” Pearl said. “Trust me.”

  Better was subjective, that was for sure.

  “All right,” Jerry said at the same time Felicia’s phone bleeped out a text notification. She startled and hurried to silence her phone.

  “Sorry,” she said, her emotions spiraling when she saw the notification suck back up to the top of the phone, disappearing before she could see who’d sent. She shoved the phone back into her purse and faced her boss.

  Not being able to read and respond to that text might drive her insane and kill her as Jerry started detailing a plan to reopen the store the following morning and how they could reassure customers than Market Fresh was safe for shopping.

  Her nerves fired and buzzed, and she couldn’t wait to read that text.

  Chapter Five

  Vice felt like he’d been run over by the time he opened his front door to Smoky’s happy face and wagging tail. “Hey, bud.” He closed the door behind him and made sure the door was locked before he crouched down to get the dog some love.

  Smoky licked his face, causing Vice to laugh. “Stop it,” he said, playfully pushing the dog away. “Do you still have food? Water? Need to go out?” He straightened, his back protesting right along with his ribs.

  He’d refused the painkillers Mav had quietly offered him, but there was no one to impress inside the walls of his own home. After downing four pills, he opened the door for Smoky and made sure the dog had all the food and water he needed.

  He panted as he moved down the hall to his bedroom and he decided he didn’t need to change his shirt to sleep. He couldn’t lift his arms that high to get it off. Sighing, he sat down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. “This has to heal fast, okay? Can we make this heal fast?”

  Karly had let him take the car, and Vice had dang near driven himself off the road, because it had been so long since he’d been behind the wheel of a car. No matter what people thought, driving a motorcycle wasn’t the same as a car.

  He pressed his eyes closed, the burning sensation reminding him of how tired he was. He’d already taken a day off work, and he needed to go in to the office tomorrow. He’d survived on less sleep in the past, and he could do it again.

  On the nightstand, his phone buzzed, drawing his attention. His head almost felt too heavy for his body, and as Smoky came trotting into the room and jumped onto the bed, Vice reached for his phone.

  Pain roared down his side, and he wondered if he could text Chandler and say he wouldn’t be in for another day. Surely bruised ribs constituted a good reason to miss work.

  He had a couple of texts, and when he saw Felicia’s name with a bright blue circle next to it, his heart sped. Vice certainly wasn’t tired anymore.

  He tapped on her text first, though he noted that Mav and his oldest brother Pete had also texted. Mav would want an answer quickly to make sure Vice had gotten home safely, but still Felicia was more important.

  Hey, I know you can’t ride your motorcycle to work, and I’d love to give you a ride if you need one.

  His heart pounded and then skipped and then fell to his feet. As it rebounded back into his chest, Vice could only stare at the words. Slowly, a smile formed on his face, and he startled when his phone buzzed in his hand, the screen lighting up.

  “Hey,” he said, his voice so loud in the quiet house. “Sorry, Boss. I’m home. I’m safe.”

  “Good,” Mav said, who hadn’t even had to say why he was calling. “Just making sure.”

  “I appreciate it. Hey, uh, while I have you….” But he didn’t know how to tell Maverick about Felicia. His friend had never had a problem with Vice’s relationship with her, but the problem was Vice didn’t know what their relationship was.

  “I can’t read your mind,” Mav said.

  “Yeah,” Vice said. “Uh, Felicia offered to take me to work and pick me up.”

  “Great,” Mav said easily. “Karly and I will ride over and get the car tomorrow sometime.”

  “Thanks,” Vice said, his throat dry. He was grateful for the use of the car. Glad he didn’t need to take it back. Relieved Mav wasn’t going to ask any questions. Of course, it was almost three o’clock in the morning.

  “I don’t want to see you for a few nights,” Mav said. “Let Felicia take care of you.”

  “Will do.” The call ended, and Vice went right back to Felicia’s text. “I definitely need a ride,” he said aloud to himself as he typed the words on the screen. “I have to be work by nine-thirty. I’m usually off about five.”

  He looked up. Felicia went into the grocery store at three. There was no way she could pick him up from work at five. A frown pulled down his eyebrows, and he studied his response again.

  He didn’t need to do this—make like more difficult for Felicia.

  She offered, he thought.

  But that didn’t mean he had to accept her help.

  He wanted to accept her help, because then he’d get to see her.

  Exhausted, Vice let his shoulder droop and his phone drop to his lap. Smoky edged closer and put his head on Vice’s leg. “I know, bud. Sorry I was gone tonight.” He stroked the dog absently. “What should I do?”

  There was so much to sort through, from a possible relationship with Felicia to the Devil’s Breath. The club had voted that night to simply wait for a moment to see what the Breath was really up to. Their Sergeant-in-arms, Gerald Mortensen, had a sister in Williamsburg, and he was going to poke around up there over the next few days to see what he could find out.

  Vice hated the waiting game, but he felt like he’d been playing it a lot lately.

  If he and Felicia started seeing each other again, would her previous rules apply? Vice felt like they were standing on the edge of a turf war, and he didn’t want to bring Felicia into that. She wouldn’t want to be involved, and he didn’t need to start kissing her again only to have his heart ripped out of his chest for a second time if she decided his involvement in the Sentinels was too dangerous.

  He looked at his phone again. I definitely need a ride. I have to be work by nine-thirty. I’m usually off about five.

  He added, We should talk about any rules we might have if we’re going to do this, and sent the text. That way, if she didn’t want to define what “this” was, Vice could just drive Karly’s car until his ribs decided to play nicely.

  Felicia wouldn’t respond in the middle of the night, and Vice noted that she’d texted over twelve hours earlier. He mentally kicked himself for leaving his phone home that night, as she’d probably been riddled with anxiety since sending the offer to drive him to work and had never heard back from him.

  His thoughts circled, and the next thing he knew, his alarm was singing to him, prompting a groan to come out of his mouth as he reached to silence the device. He got the job done and sat up, his chest and abdomen aching now, instead of the sharper pains from yesterday.

  Felicia had texted, and Vice couldn’t read fast enough. I can take my first break at five, she’d said. And maybe we can go to lunch today and talk.

  Vice started chuckling, hoping he was about to get his Felicia back into his life. She was a strong woman, that was for sure. She knew what she wanted, though she had some anxiety she dealt with. Vice had loved that vulnerability about her, loved that she could eat anywhere one night but also had opinions the next evening.

 
; Sounds good, he said. Lunch is when you come pick me up.

  He managed to get himself in the shower and get his white shirt and tie on without too many issues. He was definitely moving slower, and all of his muscles seemed to house a perpetual ache. When he went down the hall and into the kitchen, the scent of coffee met his nose.

  “Lucas?” he called, arriving in the kitchen to find his best friend standing in the doorway that led into the backyard. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to get Smoky for the day,” Lucas said, turning. He held a cup of coffee in his hand, and he smiled at Vice. “You look good.”

  “Gotta get back to work,” Vice said. “I’m surprised I didn’t hear your bike.”

  “I got here while you were in the shower.” Lucas sat at the counter and watched Vice.

  “You’re off today?”

  “Yep.”

  “Going into the park?”

  “It’s going to snow any day now,” Lucas said. “So this might be the last day we get in the trees.”

  Vice nodded, because Lucas was right. “Felicia offered me a ride to work.”

  Lucas said nothing, but his dark eyes held interest and curiosity as if they were the only emotions on the planet.

  “I said yes.” Vice poured himself a cup of coffee and stirred in a spoonful of sugar. “We’re going to lunch today to talk about some things.”

  “Rules?” Lucas’s eyebrows went up.

  “She didn’t specify.” Vice took a sip of the coffee and almost spit it out. He’d somehow forgotten about Lucas and his strong brew. He stirred in more sugar and turned toward the fridge to get out the cream. “I like her.”

  “I know you do.”

  Vice didn’t have to hide anything from Lucas. When he turned back around, he went to sit by his friend. They’d lived on the streets together. He could keenly remember the night Lucas had knocked on the door, his lip bleeding and his eyes bloodshot.

  “He’s done it again,” Jordan had said, backing up and looking over Lucas’s shoulder, as if his abusive father would be standing there. “Come in.”

  Lucas had. Jordan’s mother had fed him, bathed him, and forbade him to ever go home again. She’d marched over to the Miner house and packed up whatever she could find for Lucas. Only six months later, Pete had offered a better life in Chicago, and Jordan’s mother and younger brother had gone.

  “What if she has the same rules?” Lucas asked.

  “I don’t see how the result will be different.” Vice took a sip of his coffee, bringing himself back to the present. He sure did love Lucas, though, and they’d been there for one another through thick and thin for a very long time. Vice had never worried about or even wanted a woman in his life.

  He’d had plenty of girlfriends, and they came and went like the weather. He stayed, and he wanted someone who was willing to commit to him the way he would commit to them. The way he’d pledged his loyalty to the Sentinels. That was why the Club was so important to him. The men and women there didn’t come and go, and they didn’t judge him, second-guess him, or abandon him if he made the wrong choice.

  But Felicia Cheswick had changed all of that with a sexy smile and that gorgeous red hair. And beneath her beauty lay an even more desirable soul. Vice wasn’t sure when she’d first taken his heart captive, but he did know she still had pieces of it, even two years later.

  “See what she says at lunch, then,” Lucas said, standing up. “And text me. I’m objective. I’ll tell you what I think.”

  Vice chuckled and shook his head. “You always do.”

  “Someone has to.” He whistled for Smoky and picked up the dog’s leash. Smoky’s booming bark filled the sky, and Lucas shushed him while he put the leash on. “All right, Vice. See you tonight.”

  “Later.” Vice waited until Lucas and Smoky had gone out the front door before he left his undrunk coffee on the kitchen counter and moved to the windows. He watched Lucas load Smoky into the sidecar on his motorcycle, a smile moving through his whole soul. With everyone in the right spot, the bike’s motor roared to life and Lucas eased away from the curb.

  Only a few seconds later, Felicia’s dark blue sedan pulled into the driveway, and Vice instantly dropped the blinds. Nerves ran through him at the speed of light, and he fell back a step, thinking he needed to feed his dog.

  “Your dog literally just left with Lucas,” he muttered to himself. With nothing left to do, he straightened his tie and stepped around the couch so he could answer the door when Felicia rang the doorbell.

  “Hey,” he said, his breath whooshing out of his mouth. “I hope I didn’t make you get up too early.”

  “I’m up in the morning,” she said, a smile stealing across her face. It also stole the breath right out of his lungs. “Are you ready?”

  “Yep.” He took a step and then turned back. “Wait. I need my wallet and my phone.” He hurried away, foolishness filling him now.

  Get it together, he told himself. He grabbed the items he needed and faced Felicia again. Everything settled inside him as he reminded himself of who she was. Who he was. What they’d had in the past.

  Armed with the memories and the longings of his heart, he moved back to her and swept his arm around her. “I was surprised to get your text.”

  Felicia gazed up at him, and everything hot and crackly moved between them in that moment. “I thought you might need some help.”

  “Oh, I’ve needed help for almost two years now.” He ran his nose down the side of her face as he closed his eyes.

  A sigh came out of her mouth, and that was all Vice needed to hear. She still liked him, and she’d just been caging her feelings for all these months. With that, and the memory of her body beside his, he stepped back and indicated she go first down the steps. Number one, he didn’t want her to see him mincing his way down the front steps to keep from sending pain up his side. And number two, he liked walking in the wake of Felicia’s perfume.

  As he followed her and got in the passenger seat, all he could do was send up his hope and prayers that she wouldn’t tell him her old rules were still in play.

  Chapter Six

  Felicia had never been a mother, but she knew pain in an expression when she saw it. She could hear the soft grunt as it came from Jordan’s mouth as he eased into the passenger seat and glanced at her. Her heart bled just as much as any mother’s would when they looked at one of their loved ones in pain.

  She didn’t want to be Jordan’s mother, however, and she outright rejected the idea that she was in love with Jordan Waterhouse.

  “Okay?” she asked, glad her voice sounded normal. Jordan had a way of seeing and hearing things Felicia thought were submerged though, and she quickly put the car in reverse.

  “Okay,” he said, and he didn’t sound too normal.

  “Do you really have to go to work today?” she asked.

  “I don’t like sitting around,” he said.

  “So that hasn’t changed about you.”

  “Not much has.” He sighed and leaned his head against the headrest while she got the car going in the right direction. “What about you? What’s changed?”

  “I got a new cat,” she said. “He’s an orange tabby cat, and I named him Freckles.”

  Jordan looked at her then, and his gaze felt so heavy on the side of her face. “Like your sister.”

  “Yes.” Felicia self-consciously reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear. “I’m surprised you remember Shelley.” She glanced at him but didn’t make true eye contact.

  “Oh, sweetheart,” Jordan said, and he wore a smile in his voice. “I remember all the stories you told me.”

  He had a special way of making her feel so special, and a new brand of heat filled her as she pulled up to a stop sign.

  “How is Shelley doing?” he asked to break the silence as she eased through the intersection and got on the main road that led downtown to his office building. “Did she ever marry that guy? Gideon, right?”

 
Again, his memory surprised her. They hadn’t dated in almost two years, and their previous romance felt so far away to Felicia. Every moment she spent with Jordan made her memories a little brighter, though.

  “No,” she said. “I mean, they’re still together. But they haven’t gotten married.” Felicia had never admitted to anyone that she didn’t really want to get married. Shelley obviously didn’t either though, and the two sisters had endured plenty growing up to break their faith and hope in marriage.

  Jordan didn’t question that, and Felicia didn’t want to tell him how marriage-adverse she was. They’d never made it that far into their relationship previously, and they both had plenty of family trauma in their pasts.

  “I heard Maverick got married,” Felicia said lightly.

  “Are you going to set the same rules as last time?”

  She opened her mouth to respond, but surprise kept her silent.

  “I mean, I get why you set that rule last time,” Jordan said. “And I failed, and you kept your word. We broke up.” He paused for a moment, but Felicia didn’t know what to say in the void.

  “And if the same rule applies. I don’t really see the point of….”

  In her peripheral vision, she could see him gesturing to her, and then him. “This. I can drive myself to work.”

  Felicia didn’t know how to respond. Jordan had always kept her dancing, kept her mind thinking through things, that was for sure. He was full of predictability at the same time he continued to surprise her.

  She continued driving, making all the turns without asking for directions. She’d been to Jordan’s office building plenty of times during their five-month relationship.

  “I want to drive you to work,” she said, making the final turn onto Market Street, her time with him coming to an end. “I don’t have the same rules as last time.” She drew in a long, deep breath. “In fact, I don’t think we should have any rules, other than being honest and open with each other.”