Saving Savannah - A Reverse Harem Romance, page 17
“Look,” he said, his tone much lower and slower now. “All you have to do is tell me where they are, and we’ll go get them together. You and me.”
“But Louden—”
“Louden doesn’t have to know,” Jarrett said, his voice going sinister. “Not right now, anyway.”
He looked me up and down again, and his expression slowly changed. It went from one of anger and frustration to something almost… co-conspiratorial.
“Or maybe he doesn’t have to know at all,” Jarrett suggested coyly. He reached out with one hand and laid it awkwardly on my shoulder. The gesture was supposed to be comforting, but it was all I could do not to flinch. “Maybe you and I just take off with everything,” he shrugged. “All of it.”
Wheels began turning in my head. “You’d do that to him?”
Jarrett shrugged. “You think you’re the only person he ever crossed?”
“No,” I admitted. “Not by a fucking longshot.”
“Exactly.”
I paused, stalling. Thinking…
“And what about this?” I asked, nodding toward his scar. “You said something about having to pay for—”
“I blame Louden for this more than you,” said Jarrett, tracing the ridges of bumpy pink skin with one finger. “He was the one who fucked everything up. Shit, we were getting away clean. If not for him trying to cut you out… well…”
“And you weren’t in on it?”
“No, no,” he lied through his teeth. Jarret’s hands went up defensively, his eyebrows too. God, he was such a terrible, terrible liar. “I had no idea that was his plan. Honest to God. I found out at the same time you did.”
“You mean when the gun went off,” I sneered.
“Yeah. That.”
Our eyes locked, and for a moment I almost felt sorry for him. Louden was using him much the same way he’d used me, only Jarrett was too stupid to realize the extent of it. But when it really came down it, we both had the same kinds of scars. We’d both been fucked over.
“Maybe we can work something out,” I lied through my teeth. “Give me an hour. I’ll go get what’s left, and come right back here to—”
“What’s left?”
Shit, I cursed myself silently. Bad choice of words.
Jarrett’s eyebrows came together angrily. “What do you mean what’s left?”
“Well I had to sell some of it,” I said defensively. “Look around. This stuff costs money. I had to start over.”
“How much did you—”
“Not much,” I jumped in quickly. “Less than my share, believe me.”
I was pretty sure I was lying on that one, but there was nothing to be done about it. Right now, all I needed was one thing: to get away.
“Stay here,” I promised, “and I’ll come back for you.”
Jarrett was stupid, but not that stupid. “Bullshit,” he scoffed.
“No, really. I—”
“If you’re serious about this, you’re gonna have to show me.”
I paused, not realizing what he meant. Not at first, anyway. But then…
“You really want to run off with me?” said Jarrett. “Cut Louden out for once, and leave him behind?”
I nodded slowly, even as he moved closer. His hand went up again. This time his palm touched my face.
“I’ve always wanted you Julia,” he murmured. “You know that? All this time, through all of Louden’s bullshit…” He reversed the motion, stroking my cheek with the back of his hand. “I’ve always admired you.”
He was close enough that I could see every nook and cranny of his pockmarked scar. Smell the fetidness of his stale breath. Jarrett moved even closer, and it took every ounce of my resolve not to shrink away. But I had to get out. I had to untangle myself before he—
CRASH!
Forty-Nine
SAVANNAH
We both whirled, just as the big window at the front of the shop shattered inward. Something crashed through it — something big — and the next thing I knew Jarrett was being flung backward, pinwheeling wildly as he sprawled to the floor.
“ERIK!”
My lover was on top of Jarrett in an instant, his tattooed arms a furious blur as they rose and fell in a flurry of savage punches. I was frightened and shocked. Elated and astonished. A thousand emotions surged through me at once, in all the time it took to blink.
Erik was big — bigger even than Jarrett. But Jarrett had the advantage of being batshit crazy. I’d seen him in situations where he should’ve by all rights gotten his ass fully handed to him. But then the crazy kicked in… and he’d fought his way out.
That seemed to be what was happening right now. Jarrett somehow managed to wriggle his way from Erik’s grasp, but it cost him dearly in the way of punches. I heard the ‘snap’ of his broken nose, as Erik connected hard. The sound of air leaving his lungs, as he sputtered for breath.
Jarrett spun away and rolled backward, scrambling to his feet as the two squared off. He was bleeding from the nose now. Maybe the mouth, too.
I spun into action. Rushing to a nearby shelf, I grabbed the largest — and most expensive — crystal I could find. It was three times the size of my fist. It must’ve weighed close to ten pounds.
Before I could hurl it, Jarrett leapt at Erik. The two men locked up again, spinning across the shop. They shattered one of my chairs, then rolled to the floor, all punches and elbows and knees. And in Jarrett’s case, fingers and teeth…
After a brief struggle, my lover took the upper hand. The moment he did, Jarrett reached up and jammed his thumbs into Erik’s eyes. He screamed and fell backward. Jarrett pounced on him.
“HEYYYYY!”
My yell was loud enough and wild enough to grab Jarrett’s attention. His head whipped in my direction, even for a moment…
And in that moment I swung the crystal right into his exposed jaw.
There was a sickening crunch, followed by a gurgled scream and the distinct sound of teeth skittering across the shop floor. I dropped the crystal, which was now split into three or four pieces. Those pieces hit the floor and shattered.
Fuck!
My hand was throbbing! It was bleeding too. But that was nothing compared to the blood gushing from Jarrett’s ruined mouth. He clamped his hand over it — presumably to keep the rest of his teeth in — and fled as fast as he could. He ended up exiting through the broken window, and disappearing out into the street.
“Savannah!”
There was so much adrenaline coursing through my body I barely recognized my own name! Or rather… not my name.
“Are you alright!?”
“Yes,” I sighed, sinking to the floor. “I— I think my hand might be—”
Erik was there in an instant, taking my hand in his. Turning it over gingerly, taking special care not to hurt me while he performed his perfunctory examination.
“It’s not cut,” he said, turning my palm over. “The blood’s not yours.”
“Always a good sign,” I laughed nervously. “My fingers feel like I slammed them in a car door, though.”
“We’ll take care of them,” he said. “But first we have to call the police.”
He pulled out his phone, and the alarm bells went off in my head. The second his thumb touched the screen, I closed my hand over his.
“We can’t call the police,” I said shakily.
Erik looked at me like I had twelve heads. “What? Why the hell not?”
“Because…” I swallowed hard. “Well, because…”
That’s when I saw it; the recognition in his eyes. The realization I wasn’t just keeping a few things in, but I was keeping him — the others — totally in the dark.
“You know that guy,” Erik pointed through the broken window. “Don’t you?”
I couldn’t hide it. I couldn’t lie.
“Yes.”
I didn’t want to. Not anymore.
“I know him.”
Erik sighed and shook his head as he sank back against my front counter. He was still catching his breath. Still rubbing at his eyes, which were growing red at the corners.
“Savannah…” he breathed. Slowly he closed his eyes in frustration. “What the fuck is going on?”
I sat down beside him, cradling his face. Hugging him tightly, and enjoying the feel of safety and security he provided.
“I’ll tell you,” I said softly, kissing his eyelids one by one.. “I promise, I’ll tell you everything.”
I surveyed the chaotic mess of my shop. The discarded satchel. The strewn clothes and broken glass.
“But not here.”
Fifty
ZANE
“I really am from Georgia,” she said, cradling the cup of tea we’d given her. “You got that part right. And Louden really is my ex-boyfriend. We dated off and on for a few years.”
She was sitting in the middle of our kitchen, safe and sound thanks to Erik. None of us liked the way she’d left last night. Since then, he’d taken it upon himself to keep an eye on her shop.
“I can’t believe you dated that fuckwad,” said Roman.
“I know.”
“I mean… the guy just reeks of smugness and bullshit.”
Savannah sighed wistfully. “I was young. Stupid and reckless.” She set down her tea and squinted up at us. “You sure you guys ran out of coffee?”
“Yeah, day before yesterday,” I told her.
“Barbaric.”
“Drink your tea and keep talking,” Erik prodded her. “You promised to tell us everything.”
I saw her shiver, and pull the blanket a little further over her shoulders. Then she grabbed the tea, if for no other reason than to cradle it for the heat.
“The second I got emancipated from the state, I started waitressing,” said Savannah. “I knew my way around the kitchen, because I was always good at serving. That was the one aspect of foster care that I actually liked — cooking for everyone at the houses I stayed at. I did that a lot.”
“Maybe you should’ve been a chef,” I offered.
Savannah threw me sideways smirk. “What, I’m not a good palm-reader?”
“Okay, touché.”
“Anyway, I was a waitress. I saved up for a while, and eventually got my own place. Still worked at the diner, though.”
Roman folded his arms. “And that’s where you met that shitbrick?”
She shook her head. “No, Louden came later. First came my shop. It took a few years to save up enough money, but I eventually opened something downtown. It was small. Modest. Nothing like the place I have now. But it was mine. And it got me off my feet and out of waitressing. Eventually, anyway.”
It was wonderful, finally hearing these things. Getting an actual back story for this woman we all loved together, rather than having her balk or clam up or change the subject.
But I also knew there was a reason she was telling us these things now. And either it was a really good reason… or a very bad one.
“So I did palms, and tarot card readings. A few star charts too, but I never liked those. The money was good, and I had low overhead. Nothing and no one to spend it on.”
She trailed off, remembering. She’d been calm and placid up to this point, but now I could see her expression going sour.
“So what happened?” I asked quietly.
“I got robbed,” Savannah said bitterly. “I didn’t even have a safe. Someone broke in, and took everything I kept in the drawer.” She took another sip of tea and winced. “But I was between places. Staying at the shop while I upgraded my apartment. I watched the whole thing go down, and then followed the thief outside and into the streets.”
“You’re out of your mind,” said Erik. “You know that?”
“Yeah, probably,” Savannah replied. “But I was angry, and being that furious makes you even more reckless. So I followed this guy all the way back to his place, and waited until he left the next morning.”
I chuckled, realizing where this was going. “And then you robbed him, didn’t you?”
“You’re goddamn right I did.”
Roman grunted, maybe in approval. Erik shook his head.
“The thief was Louden,” I said flatly. It wasn’t a question.
“Yes,” Savannah admitted. “I went in and raided his own shitty apartment. Got my money back and then some. But he caught me on the way out. Told me he’d been watching me watching him.”
“And was he?”
“Yeah, Louden was always one step ahead like that,” she continued. “Rather than take the money back, he laughed and told me to keep it. He said he was impressed by my tenacity, and said the money was nothing compared to what he was making doing other… things.”
She paused again, her mind going back over the events of her past life. Playing them over in her mind, probably picking out all the biggest mistakes.
“So what happened next?”
“She dated him,” said Erik, taking over the story. “He was your typical alpha bad boy. A little dangerous, maybe a lot more handsome than he is now. And you were still young and foolish. And—”
“Lonely,” Savannah admitted, staring at her feet. “Don’t forget lonely.”
There was a moment of silence, during which none of us said a thing. We waited patiently, until she eventually went on.
“Yeah, Louden brought a chaotic excitement to my life that I’d been missing,” said Savannah. “We dated almost two years. To say it was tumultuous would be an understatement. And it got worse as time went on.”
“Did he touch you?” Roman growled.
“No, not really,” said Savannah. “But he’d break just about everything in our apartment. Half the time he was sweet and charming, the other half — full of rage. But he was always crazy, always nuts. It was like he had two sides, and both were equally terrifying.”
“Then why’d you stay with him?” asked Erik.
“All the typical reasons,” she said. “In the beginning I thought I loved him. I was attracted to how sure he was of himself, even when he was doing bad things.” She shrugged. “Or maybe it was the bad things I was attracted to, I don’t know.”
Savannah pushed back from her chair and got up. She began pacing a little, and we moved aside for her.
“Eventually I worked up the courage to leave him. I gave him this big long speech, terrified the whole time he was going to do something crazy to me. Only he remained eerily calm. Instead of getting mad he shrugged and told me he agreed with me, and that we’d be better off apart. But before he ‘let me go’, he told me he and Jarrett had one last job.”
Roman’s eyebrows came together. “Jarrett?”
“The guy from the shop,” guessed Erik.
Slowly she nodded. “Louden told me they had a really big score lined up. Said if we did this one final job it would make us all rich, and we could go our separate ways. But they needed a third. They needed a driver.”
“And that driver was you.”
“Yeah,” said Savannah sullenly. “I knew Louden was bad, and the things he did were probably worse. But I’d always separated myself. I’d never gotten involved.” She stopped pacing and stared back at us. “Except for this one and only time, when I broke my rule.”
Roman and Erik looked thoughtful, as they pieced things together. But I already had an idea.
“Louden didn’t come all the way up here just for you,” I theorized. “He came for a reason. And it has to be a good reason too, if he dragged Jarrett with him.”
Our girlfriend’s chin was on her chest now. She’d brought one hand to her forehead.
“Savannah…” muttered Erik. “Remember. Everything.”
“I know…”
“You pulled the job together,” said Roman, before she could go on. “You stole something. And somehow, you ended up here with it.”
She nodded again. This time her hand shifted over her eyes.
“What did you take?” I asked gently. “Savannah… what did you steal?”
Stepping forward abruptly, she reached into her shirt and plucked something from between her breasts. Before we could react, she spilled it onto the kitchen table in a long, glimmering line.
“This.”
Fifty-One
SAVANNAH
The guys stared down in wonder, the morning sun gleaming brightly against the line of gemmy green stones. It was like they’d never seen a small fortune in jewels before.
“Are those—”
“Emeralds,” I said plainly. “Some cut, some uncut.”
I dropped the soft leather pouch on the table as well. Then I pulled out my chair and sat down.
“So you robbed a jeweler,” Erik breathed.
“More like we intercepted a delivery,” I corrected him. “But yes. In essence, that.”
They stared down some more, totally mesmerized. I couldn’t blame them. After the robbery, I’d spent most of the first week staring myself.
“My God,” said Roman. “You are rich.”
“No, I’m lucky. Lucky to be alive, actually.” A cold shiver ran through me — the same one that always did. “I should’ve never gotten away.”
“I can’t believe you kept this from us,” said Zane. “I mean… you could’ve told us. You could’ve—”
“That’s not all I kept from you,” I cut in, no longer able to contain the guilt. My throat was going tight now, as if trying to stop me. But I had to finish. “I… I mean…”
God, why was this so hard? It seemed like such a small lie. A simple lie.
A necessary lie.
“My name’s not Savannah,” I said glumly, unable to meet their gaze. “It’s Julia.”
I could feel them staring without looking up. In my mind’s eye I could picture the disbelief, the look of betrayal in their eyes.
“You’re… Julia,” Zane repeated. The word sounded especially strange coming from him, like he had to twist his mouth around it.
“Yes.”
“Julia the jewel thief?”
Christ. It was almost funny. Almost.
