Destroy For Her - R.B. Hilliard Page 0,53
listening to her friends say goodbye and watching her parents grieve, he was plagued by guilt and anger. Two weeks ago, he was at Emma’s house trying to decide what restaurant to order take-out from, and now, she was gone. Carlos had snuffed out her life for no reason, and he was having trouble coming to terms with it. He must have replayed the moment in his garage a thousand times, wondering what he could have done differently. He should’ve grabbed the gun from his saddlebag, or even from one of Carlos’s men. He could’ve tackled Carlos and taken him down. He should’ve done something.
Marlene, Emma’s receptionist and friend, stopped him as they were leaving. “Hey, Ax, thanks for coming.”
“Hey, Marlene.” He scrambled for what to say. “I’m—uh—sorry. Emma was a great girl. I should have been there that night. I—”
Thankfully, she cut him off. “Emma called me after you dropped her off…before…you know. She told me it was over. Just so you know, she wasn’t broken up about it. She actually sounded relieved.” As if realizing how that sounded, she added, “Sorry. I didn’t mean . . .”
Her look of mortification made him laugh. He gave her arm a squeeze. “No offense taken. I’ve got to run. I’ll stop by the shop soon for a haircut.”
“Oh, well, you’d better make that real soon because we’re selling the place.” At his questioning look, she explained, “Emma was the main attraction. We can’t afford it without her.”
Ax immediately thought of Sage. “What’s your timeline for selling?”
“We’d like to list it by the end of the week. Why? Are you interested in buying it?”
“Maybe. How much are you asking?” She gave him the number. It sounded reasonable. He’d seen the place and knew it was in decent shape. Sage would love it. “Can you hold off listing and let me run it by some people first?”
Her eyes lit up. “Sure, uh, wow, that would be great.”
They exchanged numbers, and he told her he would be in touch.
That night, he ran the numbers. He could afford to buy it himself but wanted to see what Steele thought before he made that call. Not only would it help to keep Emma’s memory alive, but it would give Sage a place to work. In time, it could prove to be a good investment.
Steele liked the idea. “LuLu’s been on my ass about finding a place. The numbers sound good. How many stations do they have?”
“At least three, maybe more,” Ax told him.
“Is there room for Sage to do her thing?”
“I’d have to check. Emma mentioned something about a masseuse once, so I think the answer’s yes.”
“Set up a time for us to visit. We can work out the details after we see the place.”
“Will do. Do me a favor, don’t tell Sage. And if you tell LuLu, tell her not to say anything. I don’t want Sage to get her hopes up and it not work out.”
“Have you seen her?” Steele asked.
“Nope.”
Steele chuckled. “You’re a stubborn motherfucker. I don’t know where you get it from.”
“Funny,” Ax muttered. Steele was the most obstinate person he knew. At the sound of Steele’s laughter, he ended the call.
Wednesday afternoon, Ax met Steele and Ink at the salon. Marlene gave them a tour, and Ax was relieved to see that they not only had four hair stations but two additional rooms in the back. They went over the numbers and agreed they were interested. Steele’s mention of keeping the current staff was well received. A few changes would have to be made, but overall it appeared to be a sound investment.
The next morning, Steele signed the papers, and the club became the proud owner of a salon.
It was too bad that he couldn’t tell Sage. If she thought he was keeping secrets before, he wondered what she was gonna think about this one.
“Sage is looking for a place to live,” Sledge told him that afternoon at the garage. “Petal’s gone back to her old school for the time being. They both seem to be on the mend.”
“Thanks for sharing,” Ax commented dryly.
“Sorry. I thought you’d want to know.”
“No, you were just minding my business.”
Sledge shrugged while muttering, “Fine, but I’d sure as hell want to know if some guy was moving in on my woman.”
Whoa, what? “What guy?”
“That DEA guy. I forget his name.”
“Luca?”
“Yeah, that’s it.”
His brows hit the roof. “He’s been to The Cave?”
Sledge nodded. “Yeah man, he’s been there a couple of times.”
A blast of white-hot anger