Surrender To Me

WREN

I nudged Hawk with my foot. He groaned and rolled away, giving me his back.

“Wake the fuck up, Hawk,” I snarled. I was running on only four hours of sleep, thanks to his barging into my apartment beaten and bloody. Then, there was my visit to Bane. The man who was even sexier in person.

Before I got sucked into those thoughts, I walked into the kitchen to get some coffee. I made enough for both of us, taking the cup into the living room. Hawk had gotten himself vertical, which was a good start.

“Drink this,” I told him, shoving the coffee under his nose.

He grabbed the cup with both hands and took a shallow sip. He looked at me over the rim. “What am I going to do, Wren?”

“Fucked if I know,” I replied, running a hand through my hair, shoving it out of my face. I watched his expression crumple. “What did you do with the money?”

His eyes darted away from my face, his tell showing me everything I needed to know. “You lifted it, didn’t you? You fucking idiot.” I stood up to pace. “Did you think he wouldn’t notice?” “Snake never did,” he replied in a petulant tone.

Ah, so here it was. This had worked in the past with another dealer, so Hawk figured why wouldn’t it work again?

“Snake is a drug-addled junky peddling cut-to-shit heroin. Like he gives a fuck about making green. All he’s interested in is making sure he has his supply taken care of.”

Hawk rested his elbows on his knees. “I know it was stupid, Wren. I know I fucked up. But there has to be a way, right? You can ask the bank for a loan. Use the shop as collateral?”

I turned to stare at him. What the fuck was he thinking? “My business is on the verge of collapse, Hawk. How in the hell do you think I’m supposed to get that kind of cash?” I was glad I was holding the coffee in my hand because if I didn’t, I was going to punch him in the fucking face.

“Fuck.”

“You’re not fucking wrong, Hawk. Jesus!” I stalked back and forth for a little longer, trying to get all my jumbled thoughts into some sort of order. What were we going to do? Bane Rivera didn’t look like the kind of man who would simply let my brother off with a slap on the wrist. More like a bullet in the head. There had to be a way to get him to back off, to extend the timeline. I paused in my pacing and took a sip of my coffee.

What if I offered to pay him off in installments? It would be tight, but I could afford a couple of hundred a month. At that rate, though, I would be paying Rivera off for nearly thirty years. That was if the guy went for the idea. I didn’t hold out much hope.

“Argh, I can’t even fucking look at you right now, Hawk.” Taking my coffee cup with me, I stalked into my bedroom and slammed the door. I couldn’t afford to focus any more of my energy on this. I still had to go into the shop and earn money. I had to pretend that things were okay, that my brother hadn’t messed up in the biggest way possible.

Draining the last of my cup, I placed it on my dresser, then pulled on a pair of black leggings and a hot pink polo shirt with my business name and logo on the breast. I’d opened Bubbly Paws a couple of years ago hoping to cash in on the craze of people treating their dogs more like humans. It turned out my hunch had been right, but about a year ago, another dog grooming salon had opened, and, for some reason, I was slowly losing my patronage to them.

Without sufficient cash flow to throw into advertising, I was left having to suck it the fuck up. I didn’t hold out hope for an improvement any time soon, but I wasn’t a quitter, so I’d see it through. I shoved my feet into my Vans, then went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and do my hair.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

I’d just placed my hairbrush down when my phone rang.

Putting it on speaker, I said, “Tell me you’re coming over with copious amounts of alcohol tonight,” I said to my best friend, Darcy.

“I’ll do you one better. We’re going out tonight.”

I stared at the phone. “Going out?”

“Yeah, you know, getting a few drinks, maybe getting you a few numbers? Please tell me you haven’t forgotten what fun is. I worked hard to get you to lighten up.”

“I know what going out is, Dee, but tonight? I thought it was date night for you and Baron on

Fridays.”

“Baron has to work late.”

Baron was her husband of five years and the only man Darcy had ever loved. They’d been high school sweethearts, and they were so perfect for each other that it made me sick to my stomach.

“Come on, Wren. You’re my only single friend. You’re my only excuse to go out anymore.”

Rifling through my makeup bag, I pulled out my foundation and shook the bottle. “I don’t want to be used, Darcy.”

She laughed. “You’ll be using me. I’m the best fucking wing-woman you’ve ever had.”

I snorted, applying my foundation efficiently. “We can have one drink.”

“Yes! I knew I’d wear you down.”

“Where do you want to go?”

“Temptation in West Hollywood.”

I whistled through my teeth. “I hope you know someone who knows someone who knows someone because getting on that list is hard.”

“Oh, we’re on the list, babe. Don’t you worry?”

Applying some mascara, I asked, “How in the hell did you manage that?”

“Baron manages their books. All he had to do was ask.”

Fuck, I knew I liked Baron for a reason. “What time should I meet you?”

“Nine?”

“Done. I’ll see you then.” I hung up and finished applying a clear gloss to my lips. Taking one final look at my reflection, I decided it was as good as it was going to get. Besides, I was going to get splashed by shaking dogs all day, anyway. I looked as tired as I felt, but I wasn’t going to earn money without actually heading to work. I could worry about Hawk later. Hell, maybe this would be the wake-up call he needed to start getting his shit together.