Gabriel sent Connor a sarcastic smile. “It’s like talking to a wall, innit?”
“You got that right.” Connor started to laugh. “It’s sort of funny actually.”
Alex couldn’t fault their description. At this point he felt like a blank wall. “I’ll leave you two ladies to your gossip and see what brought Captain Downtown away from his kingdom.”
“Like hell.” Gabriel pushed away from the wall. “You’re not talking to that wanker all by yourself.”
“If he’s a wanker, why are you worried I can’t handle him without backup.” Alex shoved his way out the office door. “And please, God, don’t give me your wingman speech again. You were in the marines, not the air force.”
Alex left Connor’s office and the storage area for the bar. They were technically closed on Sundays, so the bar was empty. True to his suspicious nature, Gabriel had left Donovan MacIntyre locked in the entry cage. It deserved a laugh though Alex didn’t figure the disgruntled-looking city Alderman would have found it funny.
MacIntyre had struck a classic impatient pose. The man probably practiced in front of a mirror. He had the posture down perfectly. Spine ramrod straight, arms crossed, and chin lifted until he was all but staring at the ceiling while looking down his nose. The toe of one loafer tapped the black-and-white tile floor. Alex wondered how long it’d been since the guy had gotten laid. He looked like he could use a chance to blow off steam. Not that Alex would be suggesting MacIntyre stop by Morgan’s store to pick up a pocket pussy to supplement his obviously lacking sex life.
“I can’t believe anyone comes to this place if their first experience with your hospitality is that cockney bastard,” MacIntyre sneered.
Alex didn’t offer to open the cage. MacIntyre had ignored the usual pleasantries; so would Alex. “See, the thing is…your reputation precedes you, Donovan. Gabriel would rather chew nails than let you in here.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“Or preferential treatment,” Alex shot back. “Depends on your perspective.”
MacIntyre was vibrating with righteous indignation. Had his hair not been so gelled, it would have been quivering right along with him.
“Now.” Alex leaned forward and hooked his fingers on the chain-link barrier between them. “What brings you into the bar on a day when most decent places are closed so their employees can spend time with family?”
MacIntyre ignored the deliberate dig. “I’ve come to take Emory Banks home.”
“Why?” Years of controlling his facial expressions kept Alex from showing MacIntyre how unsettling the ridiculous demand was. Emory was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, but was she just hiding from MacIntyre? Or was she in some kind of trouble?
“This cesspool is a magnet for the lowlifes and gutter trash that come downtown. Emory doesn’t belong in a place like this with a man like you. She’s an innocent. She can’t possibly understand how much the filth and degradation that goes on here will affect her future prospects.”
Alex gripped the barrier until the metal dug into his hands. Instinct told him Emory had lost her innocence long ago to an asshole like MacIntyre who had been drunk on his own self-righteousness and male power. Alex didn’t know what claim Captain Downtown had on Emory, but it needed to come to an end.
“Filth and degradation?” Connor’s deep voice rumbled like cannon fire as he made his way through the room. “When was the last time you asked one of your servers if she felt degraded by the treatment she gets from your customers?”
“Sounds like the pot calling the kettle black,” Gabriel added from the back of the room. He’d perched on a barstool, with his elbows braced against the bar.
“Emory!” MacIntyre shouted as though he truly believed they’d chained her in the back room somewhere.
“She isn’t here,” Alex told him quietly. “Though I wouldn’t be disappointed if she were.”
“I must have gotten through to her.”
Alex was tempted to open the cage and wipe the look of satisfaction from the man’s face. His obsession with Emory bordered on psychotic.
“Stay away from her, Dalesio.” MacIntyre’s snarl rivaled that of a rabid dog’s. “She belongs with a man who can treat her like the good woman she is.”
“In what world do you have any idea how a woman wants to be treated?” Alex was through being reasonable. “How much time have you spent with her? A few dates? And you honestly believe that gives you some kind of understanding of what she wants or needs? Men like you are the reason women learn to hate us all. Get a clue. And until then, fuck off.”