Page 32 of His Last Shot

A voice comes from behind me. “Weird. I thought it was DJ?” Scott appears, done with his phone conversation.

Dexter’s and Drew’s attention snaps from me to Scott.

“Is there a problem here?” he asks, making his voice deeper.

I love it when he does this. It has solved many confrontations on the job over the years.

Dexter raises his hands. “No problem at all. Drew and I here were just stopping over to say hi to my niece and her date.” He extends his hand. “Scott, nice to see you again.”

Scott takes it and does his famous squeeze. Dexter tries to pull away, but Scott’s grip only tightens. He’s letting this small man know, right here in this crowded restaurant, who has the upper hand and that he isn’t welcome. “You as well. I hope the remodel is still holding up.”

Scott releases his grip as Dexter flips his hand. Probably from the pain.

But he keeps his cool. “It is. The compliments we get on the daily are always glowing. I might call you to do an addition on my house. I was thinking—”

“We’re booked,” Scott deadpans as he relaxes back in his chair, sending a message. ‘We will not be working with you again.’

Dexter clicks his tongue. “Fair enough. Glad to hear business is booming.” An awkwardness hangs over us, filled only with the buzz of a busy restaurant.

You would think the two of them would take that as their cue to leave, yet here they stand.

Looking over my shoulder, I glance at the restroom, hoping Laura doesn’t emerge.

Dexter’s lewd comment about her that day in my garage …

well, let’s just say, I don’t want his eyes on her.

At all. When I refocus, Drew Who’s stare is solely on Rachel.

However, only I have my girl’s attention.

She lets out a low exhale of relief, and briefly, her lids flutter close.

When those beautiful chestnut browns reopen, she sees only me.

I’m sure this whole little exchange was hard on her, even though she did what I’m sure she needed to do.

But now, with the unspoken emotion, you could almost taste the tension.

This little meet and greet needs to end. “Well, if you fellas don’t mind, we would like to continue our evening.” In other words, ‘Bye.’

“I guess that’s our cue to leave.” Dexter takes the hint while grabbing his keys from his pocket. “Enjoy the rest of your dinner.”

Dexter turns to leave, but Drew lingers. “Bye, Rachel,” he says with a flicker of hope in his voice and sadness in his eyes.

She doesn’t respond. Instead, she leans toward me and kisses me on the cheek.

She wasn’t kidding.

Insignificant.

With her lips still on my skin, I glance at where he was standing, but all I see is him retreating. Hopefully, disappearing into the hole he crawled out of.

“Mind telling me what in the hell that was all about?” Scott commands once they are out of earshot. “Geez, Johnny, I leave you for a minute.”

Just then, Laura returns to the table. She pulls out her chair and sits, scooting herself back in. “So, what did I miss?”

“That’s it!” I snap my fingers. Everyone’s eyes dart to me, a sudden hush falling over our table. The image of who Dexter reminds me of pops into my head.

“What’s it?” Rachel asks in confusion as she takes a sip of her water.

“Dex reminds me of the dad from Family Guy! Peter Griffin, only meaner and gruffer.”

Water sprays from Rachel’s mouth, a sudden geyser that soaks the table as we all lurch backward, chairs scraping against the floor. Then, the joke hits. A burst of laughter from Rachel, Scott, and me fill our corner of the restaurant, drawing the attention—and stares—of nearby patrons.

“Come on. Tell me you don’t see it?” I ask through laughter.

“You’re right,” Rachel says, tears spilling over from the amusement, the air hitching with ragged gasps. “He totally does!”

“Seriously?” Laura asks in confusion while wiping down her shirt. “What in the heck did I miss?”

The headlights of my truck cast a bright beam, illuminating her driveway as I pull onto the hard concrete. With a final click, I kill the engine. The smell of exhaust lingers in the air, as I twist my body towards her. She’s fidgeting with her cuticles, her sign that she’s nervous.

“Wanna talk about it?” I plead, reaching over and tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. I rest my hand gently on her shoulder, rubbing small circles into her soft, silky skin, the subtle rise and fall of her breathing evident under my fingertips.

She glances out the window, then turns to me, sighs, and grins.

She’s hesitant, so I lean over the worn leather of the middle console and gently kiss her perfect lips. “No matter what it is, remember that I love you.”

“I love you too,” she murmurs between kisses, her lips lingering on mine.

We break away, our breaths mingling as our faces are inches apart. “What’s bothering you?”

“How do you know me so well already?” She slides back over to her side of the truck.

“I can read you.”

“Now, who’s reading who?” She laughs.

Then her expression becomes serious, so I stretch my arm over the seat.

My fingers play with the silky strands of her hair.

“Saying that to Drew felt so good. So empowering. Even when I saw him”—she pauses, probably because that image is burned into her brain for all eternity—“with her, I really didn’t tell him what I wanted to.

What I needed to. I was scared. Not brave enough, ya know? ” She looks over at me.

I nod, giving her the validation she needs and deserves while rubbing small circles on her shoulder.

“But God.” She smiles and lets out a long, shaky breath. “Saying that to him felt so good.”

“I was so proud of you.” I lean in and give her a peck on the shoulder.

Her cheeks blush from the compliment. One that I’m not so sure she received enough of in the past.

“Thank you.” She peers at her house through the windshield, pondering. “But I worry about the repercussions.”

This makes me snap my head back as my skin tingles with unease. “Repercussions?” I probe. “Like what?” She pauses, rolling her bottom lip between her teeth. “Rachel, what aren’t you telling me?”

My gut clenches as a heaviness settles. She’s keeping something from me. Something huge and possibly dangerous.

She starts. “Well, you know about the gambling.” I nod, anticipating. “And that it’s illegal.”

“I suspected as much.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure Uncle Dexter is grooming Drew to take over.

Or just bring him into the fold. I don’t know.

It’s just a hunch. He and Drew have been having a lot of secret meetings in Dexter’s office lately.

” She pauses. “But also, people have ‘disappeared.’” She uses air quotes for that last word.

“People who have worked with or crossed my uncle.”

Kinda like the guy I saw Dexter and his men escort out of the bar that day. “So, are you talking like murder?”

She shrugs. “They disappear. That’s all I know.”

“And you’re what? Worried about Drew, of all people?” I mean, I’m not going to lie here. A tinge of jealousy pinches at my heart. I hate this feeling.

Her hand stretches over to mine. “Johnny, he hurt me, yes. But I don’t want something like that to happen to him. Or anyone, for that matter. But it’s more than Drew.” She focuses on me, her posture goes rigid. “It’s you. I’m worried about you.”

“Me?” I laugh at the thought. “I can handle myself, Rachel.”

Her brows knit together while she wrings her hands in her lap. “I’m sure those other men thought the same thing.”

“Come here,” I command, waving her over. A tight, nervous smile crosses her lips as she shimmies across the truck and crawls into my lap, wincing slightly along the way because of her joints.

This is one of our favorite things. Her sitting in my lap anywhere, really.

In the truck, on the couch, in a chair. Doesn’t matter.

She loves it because she feels cherished, which she has never felt before.

Me, I just love having her in my arms. But, right now, she needs to be reassured that everything will be okay.

On instinct, I plant a kiss on her lips, then a small peck on the end of her perfectly sloped nose. “I’ll be fine, my love. But now that you’ve told me all of this, I will be more cautious.”

“I can’t lose you,” she whispers while her palm rests on my heart and her forehead against mine.

“You won’t. I promise.”

“You can’t make that kind of promise.”

I let out a long sigh. “Okay … how about this? I promise to never intentionally leave you.”

A low chuckle rumbles in her chest. “That’s just a fancy way of saying it.”

“But it’s one hundred percent the truth.” I grab her waist and pull her even tighter against me.

“Please, just promise me you will be careful. I highly doubt he would do anything to you since he knows how much that would hurt me. But I don’t trust him, Johnny. Power and control. He loves it.”

I snake my fingers through her hair and pull her face closer. Perfect lips hover over mine. “I promise.” I seal my words with a searing kiss.

On my drive home, I replay the conversation in my head. Both from dinner and in my truck. A spark of unease gnaws at me. I’ve never trusted Dexter. Even when Scott accepted the remodel, something didn’t sit right with me. He oozes shady and untrustworthy.

But Rachel’s revelation is causing me some anxiety, I admit. I rest my elbow on the door as I run my thumb over my lip, trying to calm my nerves. Other than illegal gambling, what is this guy involved in? And how is Drew in on it all?

And how can I protect Rachel from them?