Roman's Vow (Riley's Pride #4) - Sandra R Neeley Page 0,18

go and standing back while his friends lifted him from the floor he fell to when Lazarus let him go, and carried him out of the bar.

Lazarus looked over to the girl who stood just outside the bathroom, still holding her face. “You can do better than that, sweetheart.”

The girl just nodded, then disappeared into the bathroom.

“She’ll go back to him. Watch… Don’t know why the fuck women stay with assholes that beat on ‘em,” Lazarus said, picking up the cocktail table that had been knocked over in his fight with the man who’d hit his girlfriend. He picked up the broken bottles and carried them over to the garbage can, then looked over at the bartender. “Wanna toss me a towel and I’ll dry up that mess.”

The bartender tossed a white bar towel toward Lazarus. He caught it and sopped up the spilled beer on the table, then dropped it to the floor, using his boot to swish it around and soaked up most of what was there, too.

“I’ll get the rest when I close up,” the bartender called out.

“A’ight,” Lazarus answered, leaning over to snatch the towel off the floor before walking over to the bar and tossing it to the bar top.

“You’re pretty good with your hands,” the bartender said.

“Gotta be,” Lazarus said.

“Heard you telling Candy you just got into town.”

“Yep,” Lazarus said.

“Looking for a job?” the bartender asked.

“You offering a job?” Laz countered.

“I could use another hand around here. Tend a little bar and bounce some people out when necessary.”

“Maybe we could work something out,” Lazarus said. “Not sure how long I’ll be here, but I could probably give you a hand while I’m here,” Laz asked.

“Sounds like a plan. Pays a hundred and fifty a week.”

“That ain’t much,” Laz said.

Bartender shrugged. “Got a room upstairs you can crash in for as long as you’re here. That make it any sweeter?”

“Done! Consider me employed,” Lazarus grinned. He poured himself another shot and lifted it in salute to the bartender. He was exactly where he needed to be in order to immerse himself in the lifestyle that would give him the answers he and his Pride needed. Hard part was done, now all he had to do was be his normally charming self, and keep his ears open.

Chapter 5

Roman and Riley stopped at a Cracker Barrel and had a late lunch, then drove around a bit to get a feel for the city. Sitting at a traffic light, Roman looked over and noticed a jewelry store. “Pull over!” he said.

“What?” Riley asked, looking up from his phone. He was typing out a text for Lazarus while waiting for the light to change.

“I want to go in that jewelry store,” Roman said.

“She can’t wear a ring in jail, Roman,” Riley said.

“I know. But I want to look anyway.”

Riley went around the block, then came back and found a parking space. “Give me a minute to finish this text to Laz,” Riley said.

They sat there for a minute until Riley finished typing on his phone, and hit send. “Alright, let’s go.”

As they walked into the jewelry store, the little bell on the door jangled and the girl behind the counter looked up. “Good afternoon. Can I help you find anything in particular?”

“Yes, I want to look at wedding sets,” Roman said.

“Right over here,” she said, walking to the far side of the room and indicating the display case in front of her. “Did you want yellow gold, white gold, or platinum?” the girl asked.

“I’m not sure. Can I just look for a minute and see if anything catches my eye?” Roman asked.

“Of course, let me know if you have any questions.”

Roman leaned over and took his time examining every single set in the display. Then his eyes fell on one that was perfect. “Can I see that one?” he asked, pointing to one in the back.

“This one?” she asked, opening the back of the display and taking out the set he pointed to.

“Yeah. That’s it,” he said.

The girl handed it to him and he smiled as he looked closely at every detail of it.

“It’s a very delicate ring,” the girl said. “It’s made to look like an antique.”

“Yeah. It is. It’s perfect for my Talie,” he said.

“It’s platinum, with a classic round diamond as the center stone. The smaller stones encircling the center stone and leading down the sides of the band are two points each. The center stone is 1.17 carats, there are twelve stones encircling the center