He sauntered over, his lip looking nice and swollen. He was going to have a black eye too. Good. He deserved that and more.
He slid into the booth next to Slater, who barely even glanced at him, and slung his elbows on the table.
“Give me one reason I shouldn’t beat you down for what you pulled.”
I tried to look bored. “Last time I checked, I wasn’t on your payroll.”
“You’re at my table.”
“I’ll stay out of your way. You stay out of mine,” I said and slid out of the booth to stand.
“Sit down,” Dom ordered.
I suppressed a smile. He was a predictable tool. As much as I hated it, having Julie here tonight had actually helped me.
I glanced his way but didn’t sit down.
“Why are you here?” he asked.
I gestured to the room around us. “This is a club. I came to party. Saw my man Slater”—I motioned to him and he grunted—“and decided to come say hello. I see I’ve worn out my welcome.”
I glanced at Slater. “Later, man.”
He drank some beer.
“You used to roll in Myrtle Beach?”
“Yep.”
“You knew Pike?”
“Yep.”
“You part of Pike’s crew?”
“Nope.”
Dom’s eyes narrowed. My one-word responses weren’t really to his liking. I had to admit, I liked pissing him off. “No?”
I half shrugged. “I was. Now I’m not.”
“I told ya,” Slater said to Dom. “Gray moved.”
Dom narrowed his eyes suspiciously at me. I felt the muscles in my neck bunch. This is where I had to pass the test. “You were part of Pike’s crew. He runs more towns than anyone I know. Why would you walk away from that much power?”
“Power wasn’t mine. It’s his.”
“So you want your own power? Your own turf?”
“Power is too much work,” I said arrogantly.
He stared at me, weighing my words. I let him look, refusing to buckle against his doubt. I knew he didn’t believe me. Hell, who would? Who wouldn’t want power? Power was worth almost more than money in a world like this.
Slater cleared his throat. “Gray had other things to focus on.”
Dom turned his gaze away from me toward Slater, and I finally took a breath. Slater grinned a cocky grin. “Some men are more apt to be led around by their dumb handles.”
Dom threw back his head and laughed. He glanced at me. “That bitch really worth all that?”
My gut tightened and anger rose up inside me at the mention of Julie. I didn’t want her brought into this. Not at all. I glanced at Slater. I wanted to punch him in the face. He gave me a look, a split second of warning in his eye.
About fifty cuss words floated through my head. If I didn’t say the reason I moved here was because of Julie, I was screwed.
“What can I say? I like her eyes.”
Dom laughed. “Yeah, I just bet it was her eyes that had you following her up here.”
I grinned suggestively.
Dom gestured to the booth so I slid in. “Man like you must be pretty bored around this Podunk town when you’re used to so much action.”
“I wouldn’t turn down a little work.”
“Lucky for you, I have an opening.”
Slater stiffened slightly and reached for his beer. After he took a sip, he grabbed the blonde who was sitting beside him and started making out.
“An opening?” I asked, looking away from Slater and not so much as glancing back.
“One of my crew had to take a leave of absence.”
“Why?” Slater was still kissing the blonde, but I knew damn well he was listening.
“He got a little too ambitious.”
I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I knew not to press the issue even though I really wanted to. Instead of asking straight out, I said, “So what happens when he comes back and I took his job?”
“He ain’t coming back.”
That didn’t sound very good. I forced myself to smile slowly. “Well, it looks like it’s my lucky day.”
“I’ll be in touch,” he said and then slid out of the booth and turned to walk away. Then he glanced back. “One thing,” he said.
I flicked my gaze up to his.
“You ever touch me again, I’ll kill you.”
I felt Slater’s adrenaline rush, his sudden hawk-like attention. I didn’t dare look his way. I thought it would be a dead giveaway something was up. I stayed lounged in my seat. His threat didn’t scare me. I realized maybe it should, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.
I think my lack of reaction got under his skin because he added, “And don’t keep that little piece hidden. She’d look good at my table.”