Chapter 4
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Statistically speaking, one hundred percent of the time, Harlow took my breath away. Tonight, she sucked the air right out of my lungs, making it almost impossible to breathe.
I was the kind of animal that required oxygen for survival, so I forced myself to inhale and exhale. My eyes never left her.
She wore a backless gown that fell just above her feet.
The amount of cleavage she had on display was minimal, but somehow hotter than if she was naked.
Black heels made her even taller, and her legs longer than sin.
Not that I believed in sin, as such. That is to say, it's a judgement people make. Me, not so much.
"I don't know why you take any weapons with you when you kill people," Boner said, leaning against the back of a chair. "I think I'm dead just looking at you."
His blue-eyed gaze drank her up the same way I was.
Boner's words were more elegant than Cass' response. He stood, gaping, like he'd never seen anyone or anything like her before.
She laughed. "I don't think I'll try it. I have a feeling it won't be effective on anyone but you three."
"Anyone with average eyesight would see how gorgeous you are," I said. "But if you tried to kill with how you look right now? It would be dangerous if they caught you on camera."
"You'd be easily recognizable," Cass agreed. Somehow he managed to oil the hinge in his jaw and get it closed again. Most of the way at least; he was still staring openly.
"You guys look incredible too." She swung her gaze from one of us to the other, taking in our dark suits and ties. Mine brightly colored, the other two more muted, like they didn't want to steal the limelight from her.
That was a first for Boner. He usually enjoyed being the center of attention. Tonight, though, was about Harlow and her new restaurant.
I had to admit, I was looking forward to this. It was the ultimate 'fuck you' to Solomon Danforth for trying to kill us.
He'd surprised Boner and me, and had his minions bind us to a chair. Lucky I had something sharp on me, just in case. I'd freed myself and stabbed Danforth in the groin. I was aiming for slightly to the left, but it was effective in distracting him long enough for us two to get to him.
I won't lie. I was trying to work that into a play somehow, if I could do it without giving us all away. Who doesn't want to watch a play about a heroic playwright who saves his woman and her other boyfriends from certain death? Personally, I'd watch the hell out of that.
"Of course we do," Boner said with his typical cocky grin. "I always knew Cass, Hardbattle, and I would scrub up nice."
"Hardwick," I corrected. I couldn't tell if he was getting my name wrong on purpose or not, but I was going to keep reminding him until he got it through his thick skull.
Although, this one, as mistakes went, wasn't so bad. I made a note to use it when I wrote my play. Maybe Arnold Hardbattle? That sounded like a good protagonist name to me.
"Yeah, yeah." Boner flapped his hand in my direction. "We should get going. The party should be starting soon."
"Not without Harlow." Cass stepped over to take her hand, pulling her to him so they could walk together out the door.
"Definitely not without the guest of honor," Boner agreed. He opened the door and held it for the rest of us to file out. "Is Jules coming?" he asked as he closed it behind us.
"He said he'd meet us there," Cass said.
It was Jules we were talking about. He might decide not to show.
The man was difficult and unpredictable, but Harlow liked him for some reason.
They were constantly at each other's throats, but anyone could see the sparks flying between them.
Sooner or later, she'd be calling him 'boyfriend' as well.
I wasn't sure how I felt about sharing her with another guy, but we'd made it work so far. I wasn't going to beat myself up about not staking my claim long before the rest of them came along. She wasn't ready for it then, and neither was I.
What changed? I wasn't sure. Possibly getting closer to the bottom of her list, like the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Psychology probably had something to say about that kind of optimism. Either way, we were here now, and I wasn't going to let her go.
Before we got onto the elevator to take us down to the street, I ordered us an Uber.
"It's only a couple of minutes away," I said. I caught a hint of regret in Boner and Cass' eyes.
Clearly they were thinking the same thing I was. We'd like to peel the dress off Harlow and make her scream a few times. If we were fashionably late to the opening, where was the harm?
We sighed in unison and stepped out of the elevator, arrayed around her like we were her bodyguards.
I could add that to my play. Playwright by day, bodyguard by night. Hero when required. Maybe I should think bigger. A screenplay instead of a play.
Before I could start thinking about who'd play me in the movie, the Uber pulled up in front of us.
"Your carriage awaits, my lady," Boner said grandly, opening the back door and gesturing for her to slide inside.
"It's not going to turn into a pumpkin at midnight, is it?" she said with a laugh.
"I hope not. Although, I'd make a cute mouse." Boner slid in beside her, leaving Cass to hurry around to the other door and me to slide into the front passenger seat.
"Of course you would," she said.
I twisted around and watched them kiss. His tongue slid over her lips and into her mouth.
If they kept doing that, Boner wasn't going to be the only boner around here. I'd have one in the front of my suit pants. Cass too, judging by the expression on his face, and the way the fabric rose, tenting in his lap.
The driver cleared his throat, confirmed the destination with me, and pulled away, narrowly missing running into another vehicle.
"Watch where you're going, asshole," he shouted out of the window, even though it was him who hadn't looked.
There was nothing like a hair-raising car ride to start the night.
Of course, if he got one of us killed, the rest of us would go after him. He didn't know that, and didn't seem intimidated by the glance I slid his way. Not surprising. There were more intimidating people in the city than me. On the outside, that was. He had no idea what I was like on the inside.
Which was why you should be careful who you pick up when driving an Uber.
Although I've seen that meme. The one that says one out of every four people is a serial killer.
Since there were five of us in the car, the statistics weren't in his favor.
I couldn't rule out the fact he was also one, but he wasn't going to be taking us to a side street and murdering us tonight. Or any other night, come to that.
The traffic crawled all the way to Angel's Redemption before the driver stopped in the middle of the street to let us out. I paid and followed the others past the line waiting outside, and into the restaurant.
"There's a line," Harlow said excitedly, looking over her shoulder with wide eyes.
"Of course there's a line," Boner said. "They'd be crazy not to stand out there for hours waiting to eat here."
"What he said," I agreed. Sometimes the man was wise. In this case, he was simply right.
The restaurant was popular before it was closed for renovations. People were waiting for it to reopen. Some would be regular customers. Others curious to see if it lived up to the hype, which it would, since it was Harlow's restaurant now.
I spotted a couple of food critics near the front of the line before I strode past them. I had no doubt they'd give her a good review. Before you ask, no I wasn't going to kill them if they didn't. Giving a bad review wasn't a good reason to murder someone. Or even maim them.
Usually.
One of Harlow's new staff met us inside the door and led us over to a table with a card in the center that said, 'Reserved.'
I managed to maneuver myself so I was sitting beside Harlow with Cass on the other side. Boner huffed slightly before flopping down beside Cass.
I gave him the faintest of smirks. He couldn't sit next to her all the time. He busied himself pouring glasses of water for each of us from the jug in front of him, and passing them around. I nodded my thanks and took a sip. It was cold and refreshing and the glass was clean. Tick and tick.
As a stickler for cleanliness, I tended to notice these things. If a glass had stains on them, I always sent them back, especially lipstick stains. No offense to people who wear lipstick, but I don't want to wear it myself.
"I propose a toast." Boner raised his glass as if the water was fancy champagne. "To the most beautiful woman in the whole city. Harlow St. James."
I raised my own glass, and didn't offer any thoughts about his bias. If I did, I'd have to accept that I had my own bias. Fuck that. Harlow was the most beautiful woman in the city.
"To our woman," Cass said, looking at his glass like he hoped the water would turn into a milkshake.
Harlow must have been thinking the same thing I was, because she laughed and reached over to put a hand on his bicep.
"We make milkshakes here," she assured him. "Wouldn't want you going without."
He grinned back at her. "You're the best."
The guy might pop, or implode, if he didn't get his hourly fix of the drink.
Personally, I couldn't see the appeal, but each to their own.
"I hope you don't mind, but the menu is set tonight," Harlow said. "I couldn't have opening night without serving my meatballs."
Cass, who'd just taken a sip of his water, almost choked on it. He started coughing, his hand thrown over his mouth.
"They only have beef and pork," she assured him.
He turned his face to give her a look, brow furrowed. "Promise?"
"I promise," she said with a nod. "Angel's Redemption is only going to serve the best ingredients."
Apparently that meant no bad guys on the menu.
I was curious to see what bad guy tasted like, but not curious enough to try.
Human flesh wasn't that good for you after all.
It contained all sorts of bacteria and bad shit.
Considering the source, they might have been tainted by evil too.
Not that I believed in evil. Not really.
People usually had reasons for the things they did, even if they were completely horrible and fucked up.
I said reasons, not good reasons.
"I'm sorry to bother you, Harlow." The maitre d' stopped beside the table. "There's a man outside who says he knows you. We weren't sure if we should let him in."
Harlow's brow dipped briefly before she nodded her thanks. Only when her employee walked away did she turn and look at us. Her face slightly pale.
Had Hypnos or Zeus found us? Or Hans Getzoff come to arrest us?
She mouthed the word, “Fuck," before pushing herself to her feet and stepping toward the door.