Page 16 of Clear Shot (Lauderdale Knights #9)

Aiden

The electricity in the air has nothing to do with the storm that’s on the way. This spark is one hundred percent because of my wife. The way she’s looking at me. The way she held on tight and urged me to go faster on the bike. Her insistence on staying here. With me.

“You should go.”

“Not without you.”

How the hell am I going to fight these things I’m starting to feel for her when she does shit like this?

All I want to do is pull her into my arms and kiss her. Touch her. Strip her out of the shorts and T-shirt she’s wearing and then lick every inch of her. Throw her on the bed and make love to her until she’s boneless and spent, completely under a spell I never want to break.

But I can’t.

Not yet anyway.

“All right.” I want to address the elephant in the room but this isn’t the time. We’re expected for dinner and we need to get updated on what’s going on. There will be plenty of time to talk later.

“Hungry?” I ask.

She nods. “Yes. And steaks sound perfect.”

“Let’s go eat.”

We walk into the hall and go back downstairs, joining everyone outside. Jordan and Felix are there, along with a younger guy on the team, Elias Haverstrom. He’s nineteen or twenty and this is only his second year in the league.

The wind has picked up but there’s no rain yet, and it almost feels like any other South Florida evening when there’s a thunderstorm on the horizon.

This is no thunderstorm, though.

“Well, it looks like Katherine is about a hundred miles off the coast,” Mr. Knight says. “They’re expecting it to hit landfall around four or five in the morning.”

“Fucking weather from hell,” Jordan mutters. “Why do we have to have hurricanes?”

“Would you prefer earthquakes?” Elias asks. “My buddy Connor plays for the Phantoms and he says the one they had not that long ago was brutal.”

Jordan grimaces. “Nah. That’s why I like the Midwest. I can handle snowstorms and blizzards, but this is bullshit.”

“Don’t forget tornadoes,” Mr. Knight adds.

“Ugh. No thanks.”

“I can trade you to Alaska, if you like,” Mr. Knight deadpans.

Jordan opens his mouth but then snaps it shut. “No thank you, sir, Mr. Bossman, sir.”

Everyone laughs.

“Mr. Knight, can I help with anything?” Hana asks politely.

He turns with a smile. “Please call me Remy. You don’t work for me, and when you’re a guest in my home, I want everyone to be casual. Including you boys. It’s Remy outside the arena.”

Everyone nods and Flora comes out with a big pan of something.

“Baked mac and cheese with bacon,” she says. “There’s salad on the table, and corn on the cob is coming off the grill in a moment. If there are any condiments you need that aren’t already out, please let me know. I keep the pantry well-stocked.”

Everyone dives in like we haven’t eaten in years, and chatter is lively throughout the meal.

“Where did Noelle and the baby go?” I ask Remy.

“They went to my mom in Vancouver,” he replies. “They were due for a visit anyway, so it worked out. I’ll probably join them when this is over.”

“You think we will die?” Felix asks in his thick French-Canadian accent.

Remy reaches over and lightly smacks the back of his head. “Bite your tongue!”

Felix is serious, though. “You are not scared?”

Remy frowns. “I don’t think I’m scared, per se.

Definitely on high alert but I’ve prepared to the best of my ability.

I literally have the highest rated windows and shutters on the market and four generators that will give us full power for four or five days.

I have a satellite phone in case cell towers go out.

And we’re stocked with enough food and water to last a week, maybe more. So no, I’m not scared.”

“I would like this trade to Alaska.” Felix raises his hand like a kid in school.

Remy arches his brows. “Be careful what you wish for, my friend.”

“I do not like the weather,” he insists with a little shake of his head. Then he mutters something in French that no one understands.

“You’ll be okay,” I tease him. “We’ll protect you.”

“I think you will die too,” he grumbles.

“No one is going to die!” Elias rolls his eyes. “Chill out, dude.”

“You will quickly learn that Felix has zero chill,” Jordan says, chuckling. “Usually we just let him babble until he’s done.”

“I’m nervous too,” Hana admits softly. “But we’re here together, and even if there’s damage, I don’t believe the house will come down around us.”

“I also have a concrete safe room with no windows that can withstand a small bomb. In the very worst-case scenario, we’ll hunker down in there, but I don’t anticipate that happening.”

“Did I know you had a safe room?” Jordan asks curiously.

“No reason for you to know,” Remy responds with a shrug. “But now you do.”

Felix still looks uncomfortable but I feel pretty good, all things considered. Remy would have left with his family if he thought there would be a safety issue. Instead, he’s hunkering down with a group of his players, along with his staff, so he must be confident about the safety of the house.

Not to mention a fucking safe room.

That’s next-level stuff, but he’s next-level rich, so I guess it makes sense.

Hana is chatting away with Flora and they seem to be coming up with a plan for breakfast—I hear the words protein powder and pancakes, and that makes me smile. Leave it to Hana to pitch in.

“Who’s up for poker?” Remy asks. “I have a bazillion dollars in chips, so we won’t use real money. Not during a storm like this—we play for bragging rights.”

“I love poker!” Hana turns with a grin. “I’m not very good but it’s fun.”

“I’m in,” Jordan nods.

“Me too.” I grin back at my wife, who has a mischievous smile on her face. Something tells me she’s better at it than she’s letting on, so I’m both amused and interested in learning something new about her.

Once we’ve cleaned up from dinner, we help Remy carry the chairs and table into the pool house, lock it up tight and then close up his built-in grill.

“I’m going to leave the shutters open for now,” Remy says, staring out at the eerily quiet night. Even the wind has stopped, telling us something a lot more sinister is coming. “Just to watch, see what happens.”

“We’ll help you close up when it’s time,” I say, nodding.

He meets my eye and I can tell he’s worried.

It’s obvious to me that he’s been downplaying the danger—category 5 hurricanes can be deadly—and I suddenly regret not forcing Hana to get on his friend’s jet. Not that I can force her to do anything, but I could have cajoled or laid a guilt trip on her.

She’s inside talking to her brother now, who sounded annoyed that she didn’t get out in time, but that wasn’t anyone’s fault.

She got on the plane without thinking about checking the weather—why would she?

We haven’t had a hurricane since I’ve lived in Fort Lauderdale, so it wouldn’t have been on my radar either.

“Johan wants to talk to you,” Hana says, approaching me with an eye roll.

“Hey, man.” I take the phone from her and brace myself.

“I’m counting on you to keep her safe,” he says.

“We’re at Remy—er, Mr. Knight’s place. It’s going to be fine. I wouldn’t let anything happen to her.”

“You should have made her leave!” he snaps.

“You know that no one can make Hana do anything, right?” I ask, lowering my voice. “She didn’t want to. Believe me, I tried.” Probably not hard enough, but again, she was pretty firm in her insistence in staying.

“She’s stubborn,” he mutters.

“The timing was unfortunate, but we’ll be fine. You have my word.”

“Stay safe,” he says finally. “All of you.”

“Mr. Knight is on top of this.”

“But he sent his family away.”

“I know.”

There doesn’t seem to be anything else to say so we disconnect after promising to stay in touch as long as possible.

“He’s upset,” Hana says when I hand her back her phone. “But he’s just worried. He’s not mad at you.”

“No, but I’m a little mad at myself.” I meet her gaze. “If something happens to you…”

“If something happens to me, the same thing will happen to you, so we’re in this together. Isn’t that how it should be?”

There’s a lot to unpack in that statement but we don’t have the time or privacy to get into it, so I just nod.

“Poker time!” Jordan calls out.

“Let’s play here in the solarium,” Remy suggests. “That way we’ll see when the storm starts and can close up the patio.”

We gather in the brightly lit room and Flora brings out a big box of chips.

“Join us,” Remy tells her. “It’s going to be a long night. You don’t have to work.”

She hesitates but then nods. “Let me change into something more comfortable. Deal me in. Seven card stud?”

He nods and it’s obvious to me that they’ve played poker together before.

Hana sits next to me on one of the love seats and our thighs are pressed together as she leans forward.

Remy is dealing the first hand and I watch Hana discreetly check the cards that are face down.

In seven card stud, the dealer passes out two cards per player face down, then there’s four rounds of cards face up, with us placing bets between each round.

Players can fold at any time in the process, but if you stay in, the final card is also face down.

Hana has definitely played this game before, her expression neutral as she watches the cards.

Jordan folds first, and then me.

“Whatcha got?” I ask her quietly now that I’m out.

She surreptitiously angles the cards in her hand so I can see them.

Holy shit.

She has two aces in her hand—and two more on the table.

Four aces is an incredible hand, and one that’s hard to beat.

However, Remy has four clubs showing—and they’re a straight, which means they’re in a continuous sequence. If he has the fifth one in his hand, it would be a straight flush, which is pretty much the only thing that can beat Hana’s hand.

“See your bet and raise you,” he tells Hana.

She doesn’t react, merely puts more chips in the pile.

Remy lays down his hand, shaking his head.

Two pairs.

Hana grins. “Four aces.”

“Son of a bitch.” Remy laughs. “You got me. You have a hell of a poker face, Ms. Hasek.”

“Until I have to go to the bathroom,” she replies, scooping up all the chips. “If I have to pee, all bets are off. You’ll see faces you’ve never seen before!”

Everyone laughs and we gear up for the next hand.

It’s going to be a long night, but at least there’s good company.