“Where the hell have you been?” Claire asks Emmy as we find our way to a leather couch in the dimly lit club. I love that Emmy sits right down on my knee like she was fucking made to perch there for me.
I meet her eye and she gives a small pouty shrug, as if knowing I'd love this choice of hers. I swear this woman has mastered the art of the sexy shrug. It gets me hard just watching her, not to mention the fact that her bare pussy is just inches from my covered cock.
“We were busy having a discussion,” Emmy tells her friend, pursing her lips. “A work-related discussion. Very serious.”
“Yeah, work discussion my ass,” Jack says, raising his beer in our direction. “Good to see you again, Emmy. This asshole treating you okay?”
“I'd say so,” she answers, keeping her cards close.
Landon hands us both tumblers of whiskey, neat, and I clink my glass against Emmy's.
The smile spread between us lasts for only a minute.
“What the fuck is that bastard doing here?” Landon asks, pointing across the club.
Frank Grotto is making his way through the crowded room, headed straight toward me. He has a posse with him, all suited up. None of them should be here, and they know that.
It's not cool to show up on my turf uninvited.
“I'll get a bouncer to deal with him,” McQueen says, quickly assessing the situation.
My hands are clenched, my body stiff. Two times in two days, this asshole shows up in my domain.
“Fuck that, I can deal with him on my own,” I say, standing as Grotto approaches us.
“You got a fucking PI following me?” Grotto asks.
“It's none of your business what I do,” I say. I'm impressed Trenton followed through so quickly. We spoke briefly this evening about what I need—dirt on Grotto—and already he’s trailing him … though apparently he's being pretty obvious about it.
“I think it is. And I think you'd be wise to pay a little closer attention to what I do, Bullet.”
Emmy gasps at this exchange, and I shoot her a look, knowing my woman needs to keep quiet, otherwise she'll get hurt.
The whole table around us has stilled, watching this showdown.
“Besides,” Grotto continues, smugly. “I think Trenton is gonna be quiet for awhile.”
“What did you do to him?” I ask, grabbing him by the collar of his suit.
“I don't let pieces of shit follow me around, unlike you.” Grotto takes in the people who surrounded me. All my closest friends, and Emmy's too.
“Fuck you,” I say, pushing him away. Landon, McQueen and Jack have my back, arms crossed, not letting these men intimidate us.
“I'm out.” Grotto says, hands reaching for something in his pocket.
For a split second I think it's a gun he's going after, but that’s just my past haunting me. Men like Frank Grotto are smarter than that. They aren't willing to go to jail for shit—they like money and power. None of those things are available behind bars.
He pulls out a phone, flips it on, and brings the screen to my face.
“Looks like your PI is out, too,” Grotto says, spitting the words in my face.
It's a picture of a man, face covered in blood. Shot to the heart. It's from the online new source Vegas Weekly.
“I'm gonna fucking get you for this,” I tell him.
“I'd like to see you try, Bullet. I'd like to see you try.”
EMMY
I'm trying not to hyperventilate as I watch Grotto and his posse leave the club. It's hard, though. Every inch of my skin is trembling. Every muscle in my body is screaming at me to run.
I meet Claire’s and Tess’s eyes, searching, hoping they have hidden telepathic talents. And that I do, too.
I need out of here. Now.
They seem to register my panic, because they stand, grabbing their clutches and my hands. Leading me away as Ace tries to stop us.
I don't pause. I can't.
“Just keep walking, okay?” I tell my friends. They must see the panic written all over my face because they don't ask questions. They just do as I say. These girls are the best friends I could ever ask for.
I need to tell them everything as soon as we get somewhere safer.
When Grotto said the name Bullet the first time, I thought I misheard him.
But then he said it again.
Bullet. The same person my sister Janie was texting the day of her crash. The name of the person who picked her up. Who was driving the car.
Ace, the man who put my sister in a coma.
Ace, the man I slept with, the man I wanted to save me. The man I considered changing all my rules for.
Ace, the man who walked away from the scene of the crime.
Ace, the man I need to walk away from now.
12
ACE
I tell the bouncers to shut the club down for the night. I don't trust Frank Grotto not to make a scene, and I fucking need the people at Spades Royalle to be as safe as possible. They are my number one concern.