Chapter Twenty-three
Ivar
After introducing Chloe and throwing her like meat for lions, Zane approached me at the bar. Without asking, I poured another shot of whiskey into his glass, grabbed my own and we both sipped in sync.
My eyes stay locked on my glass.
“What’s the plan here, Zane?” I asked, knowing he was waiting for me to say something about this shitshow.
Zane knocked back his drink with one long sip, then placed the empty glass on the bar. He hated being questioned, but too fucking bad, that was my job.
I respected Zane. I admired the man, but didn’t fear him like the rest.
My father had been his father’s underboss; our mothers had been pregnant at the same time, and we’d been born weeks apart. We shared birthday parties, were raised in the same house by the same people, we did everything together and have been like that to this day.
Even if it came to the point where he decided to put a bullet between my eyes, it was a fate I would proudly accept. I was his soldier, I knew my place but, I was also his brother.
“I’m still considering my options,” he shrugged.
“And you have to keep her here while you do?” I asked, frustration evident in my voice.
“It’s easier that way,” he replied.
“You know the risks; she can try to kill you at any moment.”
Zane grinned as if he knew something I didn’t. I glared at Chloe, who was sitting comfortably with Jane on the other side of the room. The way she looked so at ease made my blood boil.
“Have you ever thought that she could be a rat? A trojan horse?” I shot at him, making sure no one was around to listen. “Acting like a damsel in distress and perfectly placed to spy on us? Come on, it can’t be a coincidence that she shows up right when they start to move.”
This wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have in a caveman the size of his ego, but here we were. “We haven’t had any contact with them in what? Five years? Why now?”
His jaw locked. I expected him to tell me to fuck off, but instead, he seemed to be taking it in. He must have thought the same already.
Of course he did.
“That’s why she’s here and my decision is made.”
I knew that tone.
“Have you checked the fucker’s club?” He asked, changing the direction of the conversation.
“We asked around and pulled the surveillance,” I said, “cameras aren’t always running, but from what we’ve seen, it was the first time they went there. We’ve got it under watch. If they come back, we’ll know.”
Zane nodded pleased enough and then stepped away. I moved in the opposite direction to join Andy and Mike.
Before I could open my mouth, Arianna joined us abruptly.
“Who is that?” she asked, her eyes narrowing.
I glanced back at the couches where Jane was leaving Chloe and Zane alone.
The way they looked at each other made me want to gag. I’d never seen Zane so spellbound, pussybound and stupidbound all at once in my entire life, and I hated how unpredictable it was making him.
Zane was different around Chloe. There was a shift in his gaze whenever she was around, as if she was all he saw. It made him vulnerable in a way that unsettled me.
“Blondie, that’s why we are here,” Raven answered, responding to Arianna’s prying question with annoyance.
“Shut your mouth, Raven,” Arianna snapped, her eyes alight with irritation.
Everyone either scoffed or giggled.
They never missed an opportunity to mess with Arianna.
Even though she was always around, Arianna didn’t belong to the family.
Zane had hired her years ago, after she took over her old boss’s bordello, a nightlife insider who kept him up to speed on street gossip.
Nothing more than his eyes and ears. Useful when needed, disposable when not.
She just seemed to be the only one in the room who hadn’t figured that out yet.
Maybe the bleach she poured on her hair had seeped into her brain, leaving her as predictably dumb as the stereotype suggested.
“I’ve heard that Zane is going to bring Chloe as his date to the mayor’s party this year,” Andy taunted, and Arianna shot him a dirty look.
“Oh, and did you all notice she’s living here now?” Raven added to the fire, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
“She what?!” Arianna squawked, her voice climbing an octave.
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. It was beyond me how easily these low-level bitches convinced themselves they had any chance with Zane.
No matter how many times he fucked them and then shoved them back into their insignificance, they’d keep coming back for more, circling around like hungry hyenas.
“Zane has never let a woman stay in his house!” Arianna continued, her face flushing red. “What does he want from her after all?”
Andy leaned on his cue stick, chuckling softly. “Looks like she’s special. Might want to get used to it.”
Arianna’s eyes blazed with fury. “Special? Don’t make me laugh. She’s just another pawn he can use.”
“Enough.” I snapped, and they all straightened. “I believe that’s above your payroll, don’t you think, Arianna?” I asked in a tone she knew too well and she caved. “Why don’t you wheel back to your lane and let us do our thing here.”
She glared at me, her chest heaving with barely contained rage but didn’t say anything more. She shimmied her dress down, giving a single dramatic flip of her hair, and strode out.
Raven smirked alongside me, clearly enjoying the chaos she’d helped stir up. “Well, this should be interesting.”
“So, now seriously, what do we think about Chloe?” Raven asked after Arianna left. Her tone more sober.
The fucking question of the moment.
Chloe’s arrival had been unexpected for everyone.
All they knew about her was the bare minimum, that she was somehow connected to the Red Scorpions, but that only left more fucking questions.
Especially when Zane kept on acting like a cunt whenever she was around.
Fuck me.
Andy readied his cue stick, lining it up to take his shot.
“She’s a wild card,” he said as he sent the ball skimming down the table. “Could be an asset, could be a liability. Depends on how Zane plays it.” His ball sank and he playfully winked at Mike, who was already protesting because Andy had won the game.
My eyes met Jane’s, who crossed her arms over her chest and waited for me to answer. She’d just spoken to Chloe, had more than enough time to form her own opinion, but didn’t know what she was allowed to share.
I finished off my whiskey, enjoying the burning sensation as it went down, and decided to ignore the question.
What could I tell them? ‘Boss is under a cock spell and we had to give him time to sober up’?!
That wasn’t how shit worked around here.
No one should know Zane was losing his focus.
I set my glass down with a decisive clink, picking up a cue stick as Andy re-racked the balls.
“Let’s keep focused on our jobs until further instructions,” I said, attempting to sound unfazed. “Zane knows what he’s doing.”
Jane continued to watch me with a mixture of curiosity and concern, but she held her tongue. I’d lied and she knew it. Not even Zane himself knew what he was doing.
Andy nodded, somewhat satisfied with my non-answer, and lined up his shot.
Zane had never acted like this before, and what could happen next was a fucking mystery.