Free Stefan (The Marquette Family Book Three) by Tressie Lockwood Page A

could do it on his own time where it wouldn’t risk her livelihood.
    “This is why I can’t stand him,” she grumbled. “I wish I could go back in time and say no when he wanted to come in on our plan.”
    Tyjon shut the door and wandered over to the couch to look for his makeup. Talicia would kill him if he had stained the leather. “We didn’t have enough money to start it by ourselves.”
    She sucked her teeth. “I’d have figured it out one way or another. I always do.”
    “Yeah, you would do, Licia. You’re smart. Don’t worry either because Kevin will get bored soon enough and we won’t see him for two or three months.”
    “I’m hoping.”
    “He’s not stupid. He won’t risk doing anything too crazy to risk the club.”
    She eyed her brother.
    “Okay, he’s not overly stupid. Anyway, who knows? He might really get bored and sell out to us.”
    “That will never happen. One of his ho’s would spend all the money he made in a week. He needs steady income, and this club provides it. I don’t see him walking away anytime soon.”
    “Damn.” Tyjon blew a kiss at his reflection in the compact. “What if we ask Jerome to kill him?”
    “Tyjon!”
    “You think I’m joking? Those guys are killers.”
    “What guys?”
    “Those…uh…” Her brother looked like he was thinking up an excuse. Then his face cleared. “It stands to reason if Stefan has a bodyguard his brothers do. In fact, I saw pictures of them online. There’s this whole fan site devoted to the bodyguards. Let me bring it up for you.”
    “Never mind. I’m not interested.”
    “Girl, they’re huge, except one of them. I want me one.”
    “Are any of them gay?”
    “Who knows, but I’m always willing to convert.”
    “You or him.”
    Her brother looked scandalized. “Him! You know good and well coochie don’t do it for me.”
    “Don’t be gross, Ty. Look, I can’t help it. I have to get down there. I just don’t feel right if I’m not floor level watching everything. Don’t have a conniption. I’m not going to approach Kevin. I’ll see you later.”
    “Wait, Licia. Tell me at least if you’re going to go on vacation with Stefan. If you don’t, can you give me your ticket?”
    Talicia kept walking down the stairs. No sense in answering his outrageous suggestion. The night passed slowly for Talicia because she kept thinking of Stefan. Really, from the moment he asked her to take a vacation with him, she was on board. She’d told him she had to think about it, but days spent with the two of them alone? Hell yes!
    They could go wherever she wanted, he’d said, and he would foot the bill. She’d fussed that she could afford to pay her own way, but he had stubbornly refused. Then she pulled the thing about needing time to think about it because she was a busy woman. Sure, she was busy but not so much she couldn’t find someone to run the club for a week.
    The more she dreamed about it, the more she went through her wardrobe in her head, considering what she would take. Stefan had suggested some place warm, and so had Tyjon. Her on a beach in a bikini was comical, but she wouldn’t mind a wrap and a one piece.
    Talicia’s head was scarcely on the job as she locked the door behind the last person. Then she recalled she needed to recheck the men’s bathroom. Some people got notions about hanging out after hours in a bar and getting drunk for free. The bouncers made the rounds, but sometimes they got sloppy. That’s why she stayed on them. Talicia pressed a hand to her mouth yawning and stretched the other arm over her head. She looked toward the DJ booth and made a signal. Cut the music. Quiet was what she craved, and her pillow so she could think about the trip.
    Just as she was about to go around to the back hall that led to the bathroom, a man stepped out in front of her. She jerked to a stop and frowned. “We’re closed, sir.”
    The bald head, height, and the black dress shirt told her this was the man