Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
SINCLAIR
I didn't expect Coast to turn up on time. I certainly didn't expect him to have Phoenix with him.
Both players’ hair was damp, like they'd recently showered. Both wore dark trousers, Phoenix with a dark grey henley, Coast with a blue button-down.
"I hope you don't mind Phoenix tagging along for the ride to the restaurant," Coast said. "He helped me to clean up a bit of a mess."
They exchanged glances before Coast explained what happened.
I listened with horror, but not surprise. Sooner or later, someone would have come after Coast.
"I agree with Phoenix," I said. "I wish he'd caught that on his phone so I could watch."
What? Just because I'm a woman, doesn't mean I wouldn't appreciate seeing Coast use his skate like that. Frankly, it was kinda hot.
Yeah, because I needed to find him hotter than I already did. If I wasn't careful, I was going to be in big trouble. As it was, my ovaries were following his every movement.
"I suggested to Coast we recreate it, but he declined." Phoenix followed us out to Coast's dark red SUV.
"I declined on the grounds you refused to be the victim." Coast grinned as he walked around to the passenger side and opened the door for me.
"I can't film it and be the victim at the same time." Phoenix slid into the back seat. "I suggested someone other than me. I can think of a few people off the top of my head who deserve to end up on the sharp end of an ice skate."
"Like who?" I clicked my seat belt and looked back at him.
"Anyone named Fiorelli or Bell, for a start," he said. "That kid at school who said I'd never amount to anything. My junior league coach, who said I'd never make pro. That dickhead centre for the Emus who thinks he's the absolute shit."
Coast jumped into the driver's seat and started the engine. "Yeah, he deserved to be smashed against the boards a few more times. Him and that smug prick from the Opal Springs Ghouls, the left-winger."
"If smug prick was a prerequisite for getting killed with an ice skate, the list would be very long," I remarked pointedly.
Coast glanced over at me and grinned. "Phoenix, I think she's implying we're smug pricks."
"We are smug pricks," Phoenix said without any hint of apology or modesty. "But with good reason, because we're fucking awesome."
"Hell yeah we are," Coast agreed. "So is Sinclair. Right, Sunflower?"
I looked over at him. Sunflower?
"I'm not that awesome," I said. "I'm just me. Sinclair Rooney from PR."
"There's nothing just about you, Sinclair Rooney from PR," Coast told me. "I'm sure PR stands for perfect… Something starting with R."
Phoenix snorted with laughter. "You're such a dumbass."
"I'm thinking we drop Phoenix off by the side of the road," Coast said. "Maybe outside Nicholas Fiorelli's house."
"You wouldn't do that," Phoenix said. "First of all, you love me too much. Second, you need me to keep the puck out of the goal when it gets past you."
"I concede the second point," Coast said. "But if the team had two of me, they wouldn't need you."
"If the team had two of you, no one else would fit into the arena. Your ego would take up all the space," Phoenix scoffed.
I laughed at their banter. "Are you two always like this?"
Coast grinned. "No, sometimes we're mean to each other."
He glanced back at Phoenix before turning his attention back to the road.
"Seriously, we've known each other since we were kids.
We give each other shit, but when push comes to shove, he helps me bury the bodies and I help him do the same.
Or in the case of today, leave them where the people that sent them can find them.
Disappearing doesn't send a strong enough message as clearly saying we can deal with whatever shit they throw at us. "
"Even if they mess up Coast's new paintwork and floorboards," Phoenix said.
Coast winced. "Yes, someone is going to pay for that."
"Your insurer," Phoenix said. "I'd love to be there when you explain how the damage happened this time."
"Fuck that, I'll just get it fixed myself," Coast said.
"Is it safe to go back there?" I asked. "Maybe you should stay somewhere they can't find you. Or at least, somewhere unexpected."
We all knew there was nowhere the Fiorellis couldn't find someone if they wanted to.
"That's a good idea," Phoenix said.
"I'll think about it." Coast drew up outside Gianna's restaurant, one of the most exclusive restaurants in the city, with a view over Dusk Bay.
"I was lucky to get us a table at short notice, but I pulled a few strings." Coast killed the engine and walked around to open my door.
I scowled at him, because I was capable of opening a car door, but I stepped out anyway. "Will Phoenix be joining us?"
"Phoenix would love to," Phoenix said before Coast could say no.
Coast gave him a look with a raised eyebrow, but then shrugged. "I guess it wouldn't hurt. It's only dinner." He levelled a finger at Phoenix's face. "But you pay for your own food. And if three becomes a crowd, you fuck off."
He wasn't backwards in coming forward.
"Noted," Phoenix said easily.
I always had the impression he was difficult to get along with, but maybe he just didn't like crowds. With just the three of us here, he seemed a lot more relaxed. Less likely to be a PR nightmare that would end up on my desk on Monday morning.
In theory.
Coast grunted and placed a hand on my lower back to guide me in through the wide glass doors.
My first impression of Gianna's was of candlelit opulence. The walls were all painted black. Gold sconces were set in the wall every metre or so.
Tables were spaced to give some measure of privacy. Black tablecloths draped over their surface and grazed the dark wood floor.
One wall was entirely taken up with windows, overlooking the sparkling lights of the bay. In summer, those windows would be open, letting in the breeze and the scent of sea air. Right now, they were closed tight, to keep out the cold.
Coast nodded to Kennedy Knight and her three boyfriends, Mannix, Ares and Ice, as we filed past.
Ice responded with a nod and a smile, but the other guys looked at Coast and Phoenix like they'd strangle them with their bare hands if they got too close to Kennedy.
In a place like Dusk Bay, that was exactly what would happen. Guys around here were known for being possessive.
I smiled at Kennedy as I followed the guys to our table. I didn't know her well, but she seemed nice enough.
She smiled back before returning to the conversation with her boyfriends.
"This is nice." I slipped into my chair.
We had a table in the corner, me in the middle, the guys on either side, all facing the room.
Now I realised why Coast was so agreeable to having Phoenix along.
He got attacked in his own home. This was him being cautious with himself and with me.
Possibly with Phoenix as well. He must be more rattled than he was letting on.
"I asked for a table in the corner," Coast said, confirming my suspicions. "We can never be too careful. Not even in here."
"I hear Gianna keeps a shotgun right beside the kitchen door," I said.
"If anyone is going to do that, it would be Gianna," Coast said. "She doesn't like anyone interrupting her diners."
"Has she ever used it?" I asked.
"Not that anyone knows of." It was Phoenix who answered. "It might not be true, but it's a good deterrent. That and no one wants to be banned from coming here. I recommend the ravioli."
"It's not as good as the carbonara," Coast said.
While the guys argued over the merit of the pasta, I let my eyes wander around the room. Everyone seemed deep in conversation. I recognised a few faces.
One of the players from the Dusk Bay Smashers rugby team sat with his girlfriend on the other side of the room. A couple of people high up with the Brantleys sat on the other.
I recognised a couple of local celebrities and a rock star or two.
Some out with people other than those they were married to, clearly intimately acquainted.
Not that that was any of my business. If they decided to cheat, that was up to them.
They wouldn't get any sympathy from me when everything came crashing down around their ears later.
"Sunflower?" Coast apparently asked me something and I totally missed it.
I turned to him. "Sorry, what did you say?"
"I just asked if you wanted some wine," he said.
"Right, sure." I smiled.
"If this is too much, we can go somewhere else," he suggested. "If you'd prefer burgers —"
"No, this is fine," I said quickly. "I love pasta." I loved burgers too, but I wasn't going to pass up the chance to eat here. I may never get another opportunity. Gianna's was usually booked out over a year in advance.
He nodded and gave our order to the server when they stopped at our table. They quickly wrote it down on a small pad before sliding away. Servers in places like this were trained to blend in with the furniture as much as possible. Not to intrude on diners' experiences or personal space.
I wondered if I could learn to be as unobtrusive as that. Probably not, or I'd have had a career as an assassin or something. I should probably stick to PR.
"Are you all right?" I asked Coast. "It's not every day you get attacked in your own home. At least, I hope it's not."
He grinned with all his usual cocky swagger. "Of course I'm all right. It takes more than a couple of attackers to rattle me."
"What is the number exactly?" Phoenix filled a glass with water from the jug and took a sip. "Four? Six? Just out of curiosity, not future reference."
Coast eyed him doubtfully. "Sure, bro. I don't get rattled. Some day they might throw enough at me to kill me, but until then I'm going to keep on keeping on."
"It's okay to not be okay," I said. "I've been rattled every time I had to kill anyone.
I can say the same for everyone else I know.
" Especially Elenna. She didn't say as much, but I had the impression she felt like she had blood on her hands after she shot someone in the head.
She was always wringing her hands like she couldn't wash it away, even when her hands were so clean the skin was almost raw.
"I know," Coast said. "It's also okay to be okay. Okay?"
I held up my hands in surrender. "All right. But if you ever need to talk, you know where to find me."
"Me too," Phoenix said. "I'm sure there's some bro code thing about supporting each other when we kill someone with a perfectly good ice skate. I don't really know the protocol for things like that. I'm just guessing here." He shrugged one shoulder and downed the rest of his water.
"That sounds accurate to me," I said. "Whether it's an ice skate or a bullet or strangulation by rubber chicken."
They both laughed and looked at me like maybe I was out of my mind.
I spread my hands. "Sometimes a girl has to do what a girl has to do. For the record, it was the kind that squeaks."
They laughed again.
"I knew you were my kind of girl," Coast said.
"Funny, I was going to say the same thing," Phoenix said.
They exchanged glances and something passed between them. I wasn't entirely sure what, but I had a feeling things were about to get very interesting.