So I slip my hand into his and let the warmth from his grasp wrap around my cold fingers as we enter through the scarlet door, together.
12
Jack
I’m going to kill Samson.
I spy my younger brother the moment I step into the back room, and the sight of his drunk ass sprawled out on the concrete floor has me swallowing curse words as fast as I can conceive them.
I’m going to kill him for putting me in this situation. Jenna wasn’t supposed to be exposed to anything regarding my “real” life, aside from my house when she dropped me off, and now she’s right in the middle of it. Thanks to Samson.
Vipers? Seriously? Goddamn. What was he thinking coming here?
We’re not alone in the back room. Seated at a round table between me and Samson are the “poker players.” I know them each by name and contraband, and they know me just the same.
The poker faces eye Jenna, and I can almost hear the wheels turning in their heads. I grip her hand more tightly, feeling like I just walked a gazelle straight into a den of lions.
She’s going to bitch at me from here to hell for treating her like she’s mine in here, but I had no choice. If she’d just stayed in the car like I said, things would have been fine. But no, the diva had to pee.
All the eyes in the room drift away from Jenna and fall back on me and I relax a bit.
I wasn’t sure what was going to meet us on the other side of the red door—I’ve had such varying experiences it’s hard to make an educated guess anymore—but it looks like everyone is playing nice tonight. I glance at a guy seated at the table with a fresh black eye, a bloody lip, and two missing fingers. Nice enough, at least.
“Jack…” says a familiar voice.
I lock eyes with the owner of Vipers. Alec’s never been good at greeting others with any kind of finality to his tone. It’s one of the things that make him so unsettling.
I glance at the missing digits on the bloody guy’s left hand.
And unpredictable.
Loosening my hold on Jenna, I straighten my shoulders and nod once. “Alec.”
Memories I’ve stuffed in deep dark pockets of my soul start to pull themselves out and slowly unfold within my chest as we eye one another.
He lights a cigarette and takes a painfully slow drag as he watches me. His blue eyes are ice-cold and calculating. The kind of eyes you want on your side, if only to keep from having them against you. He exhales just as slowly as he pulls the smoke into his lungs, and a long wisp of white glides above the table like a sickly cloud.
“Haven’t seen you for a while,” Alec says. He slowly scratches at the black whiskers on his chin. “I didn’t think you’d ever come back. You sticking around this time?”
“Not likely.” I look around, my gut crawling with nerves and anxiety. I need to get Samson and Jenna out of here. Fast.
Keeping my composure stern and steady, I gesture to my brother, facedown on the floor behind the poker table. “Did he break anything?”
The poker faces shake their heads in unison. Alec says nothing.
I look at each pair of eyes, one by one. “Does he owe money—or any other type of payment—to anyone here?”
From the corner of my eye, I see Jenna glance at me, but I don’t look at her. I can’t. I can’t believe I let her walk into this. I need to get her out. Now.
More heads shake in response. Still Alec is silent, but his light-blue eyes darken and tension fills the room.
Holy shit. Holy shit.
My eyes dart around, noting the exit door in the back, the rickety wall ladder leading to the roof, and the heavy red door behind me. I’m more familiar with this building than I care to admit, so I know just how cornered we are right now.
Jenna. Oh God. I need to get her out of here.
As if she can sense my thoughts, Jenna steps closer to me, her shoulder pressing into my back like she knows she needs a shield, and lets out a shaky exhale.
Shit, shit, shit.
“No payment is required…” Alec finally says, breaking the silence. His voice is quiet and unresolved. Eerie. “But you know how I feel about… drop-ins.”
My pulse rises. “Samson has nothing to do with the business. You know that. He was just…” I glance at my brother’s drunk body. So ignorant. So breakable. “Hell, I don’t know what he was doing. But he wasn’t here to stir shit up.”
“Oh, I assure you he was.” Alec leans back and gives a subtle nod to the poker faces.
Three guns are immediately pointed at my face, and Jenna sucks in a sharp breath.
Unpredictable Alec.
I know he won’t kill me. I know this is just a show. But Jenna doesn’t know that. And the trembling hand she has braced against my back certainly doesn’t know that.