Chapter 15 #2
The man accosted Adelaide and me at dinner. He'd hounded her for a meeting for weeks. But he didn't want to spend five minutes with me? I rolled my shoulders back, refusing to let him make me feel small. I was just as dangerous and important in this city as Adelaide was.
At least that was what I'd keep telling myself.
"You were in a hurry to speak to Adelaide recently. What did you want from her? If you tell me nicely, I might pass it on." I puffed out my chest.
His gaze flashed, and it was so unlike anything I'd seen from him before. I tried to reconcile the bumbling police chief with this dapper, dark gentleman.
"What does she see in you?" Beck's eyes peeled at me like a scalpel, and I shivered under the intensity.
The alcohol I'd consumed filtered through my body, and I was abruptly aware of how drunk I was.
"Adelaide? Look at this damn face." I waved my fingers at my charming smile, and Beck let out a soft chuckle.
He leaned forward and steepled his fingers.
"No, you second-rate, dim-witted, drunken Spare.
Any idiot with eyes can see she doesn't give a shit about you.
I don't care about the stupid games you want to play in Greenich Bay, except I know who you're really interested in, and you don't deserve her. "
A tingle ran down my spine, and I bit my tongue to prevent myself from confirming or denying his accusation.
I might be stupid. I might be drunk, and everyone knew I was one bad move away from being replaced as heir to the Donato empire.
But it would take more than a carefully placed barb to pull me into an argument.
"Who would that be?" I coated my lips with vodka, just enough to lubricate my dry mouth.
Beck's eyes flashed like firing coals. "Lara, of course."
He said my girl's name like he knew it intimately. Sharp with longing and accusation.
Beck jabbed his finger at me. "Go on, tell me how wrong I am. Lie to me, Spare."
I couldn't get my tongue to cooperate even if I tried. He was right. I respected Adelaide, but I didn't want her. Lara, though? She was the key to the lock around my heart, and I hadn't even known it until she set me free.
"Nice try." I settled back in my seat and threaded my hands behind my head.
A sinister smile slid across Beck's face, and it was so incongruous with the bungling police chief I thought he was.
Had he been hiding this on purpose? Or was our police chief a wild card when he was off the clock?
I knew many people who were like that. My heart crashed as adrenaline flooded my limbs.
"That's disappointing." His nostrils flared, and his gaze slid back to the Den again. "I heard you have a terrible temper when provoked."
A year ago, I would have reacted badly. Partying with my former companions, letting them egg me into some sort of violence.
I would have been drunk, high, and so damn empty.
But there were threads of good in my life right now, and I wouldn't put those in jeopardy.
Was he trying to provoke me into a fight?
What had I even done to deserve his malice?
"Shut your mouth." Jonah's gigantic form barreled into my view, and he wrapped his hand around my forearm. "Let's go. Right now."
I stared up at the mountainous guard through a drunken haze.
I didn't mind being muscled around, but not like this, a child to be minded.
Jonah's grip tightened. I'd humored him the other day at lunch, but that was the last time I would let Jonah tell me what to do.
No matter how pretty his eyes were. They blazed with fury as I shook my arm from his grip.
"Jonah, put your hand on me again and you'll be protecting Adelaide as a ghost."
Beck let out a bark of laughter and slapped his thighs, looking between us with interest. "Now this makes sense," he added to himself, but I wasn't paying attention to him.
Jonah bristled, and the tendons in his neck were tight cords as he weighed up what to say to me next. He wore his customary black uniform, almost Beck's twin tonight, with a dark palette.
"You shouldn't be here; the optics look bad." Even he grimaced at the comment, and I shared a look with Beck, of all people.
His lips twitched, waiting to see if I would meekly comply. I had too much alcohol coursing through my veins to care about optics.
"How did you even know I was here?"
"Adelaide has eyes everywhere."
Beck's mouth was a dark slash. "So she sent you here to retrieve her errant boyfriend?"
Jonah clenched his jaw and shook his head. "She doesn't care, but I do—" Pink colored his cheeks as he caught his flustered comment. "Don't be a baby, let's go."
I pressed my palm against the warm tightening in my stomach. I knew we were friends.
"This toddler is not leaving until I spend a little money. Den is opening back up soon, and I have cash burning a hole in my pocket." I jutted my chin in the air, daring Jonah to drag me out of here.
Entry inside the Den was fifty thousand, and you had to be approved to join.
Mostly it meant you had to be rich or have enough of a name to get in.
They opened at various staggered times, and I'd missed the earlier slot.
I used to come every weekend, always losing big.
It was like tracing the steps of a lesser man.
I was good at poker, but I was usually so fucked up I couldn't play the game.
Jonah collapsed next to me and waved over the server. "Get me a gin and tonic, strong."
I arched an eyebrow, failing to smother my grin. Jonah never faltered in his broody, silent persona, even when we had lunch together. He still kept his emotions wrapped up tight.
"Please." Jonah waved off my amusement. "You drive me to drink."
The exasperation was new, as was the way he snatched his drink from the server when she brought it over. My chest warmed as his jaw ticked. Needling him gave me so much pleasure.
"I'll take a whiskey," Beck snapped, and I gestured to the beautiful server.
"Put it on my tab. I'll carry it over to Den when it opens."
She nodded and confirmed it would be open shortly, and we'd get escorted in. Beck didn't look at her once, nor did Jonah. The leather booth was warm at my back.
Beck checked his watch again and muttered under his breath. His shoulders cradled his ears.
Jonah frowned, tossed the rest of his gin and tonic back, and slammed the glass on the table. "You look different Chief. Why do you look so different?"
"I'm not playing twenty questions. We are not friends, and we never will be."
Jonah made a strangled noise in his throat.
"Because you care about protecting the innocent?" I probed, curiosity piqued.
Adelaide told me her background check on the new chief had shown nothing of note. Now I was wondering if he just needed a guys-night-out and a custom suit to allow himself to be corrupted.
He blinked at me and muttered under his breath again before he said louder. "Can you get me in there?" He jerked his head to Den.
"What's in it for me if I do? A favor?"
"Fine." Beck leaped up, hungry.
Maybe he had a gambling problem. He arched a dark eyebrow, and I peeled myself up, never one to back down. Curiosity overtook my buzz. Beck hurried along next to us, and I allowed it, wanting to know what he offered.
"What about you, big guy? Do you play?" I grinned at Jonah, enjoying the color he turned when I got under his skin.
"I'm babysitting, and that's it." Jonah warned and stomped up the glossy staircase beside me.
We were escorted inside, and I searched the room for my regular table. Jonah's meaty hand wrapped around my bicep, his laser vision pinned at the blackjack table. I followed his gaze, and my stomach dropped.
"What the hell is Lara doing here, and who the fuck is that?" I breathed.
My knuckles went white with the restraint it took not to leap through the crowd.
She wore a red two-piece outfit. A skintight crop top with narrow straps that wrapped around her midriff and a tiny red skirt that barely covered her ass.
A dead man walking was sitting far too close, his arm curled around her waist.
"That's what I'd like to know," Jonah growled, his nostrils flared.
Beck chuckled low, under his breath. "You're welcome."
I might have questioned the tone, but my vision blurred on the edges as the guy she was with brushed her dark hair over her shoulder and whispered in her ear. Her teeth flashed like rolling dice.
Fuck the gambling. What game was Lara playing right now? My anger had nowhere to go. It slid around inside me, trying to find a righteous hold.
She wasn't mine. She wasn't mine.
Lara could go out with whoever she wanted, and stupidly, I thought it would be Jonah. The tension in the giant man told me he thought the same thing.
"I want to sit at that table, please," I asked the attendant.
She fluttered her long, dark lashes and consulted her tablet. I bounced on my toes, filled with impatient energy. Lara didn't owe me anything. We weren't official. I'd warned her away from me. Jonah's chest heaved, and I saw the tough-guy exterior crumble before my eyes.
"Mr. Lacott's table is full, unfortunately." She tried to move me, but I refused.
"Make space. I don't care who you need to shift. I'm playing at Mr. Lacott's table tonight." Her head whipped up, and she nibbled on her lower lip.
Jonah opened his mouth, and I was about to snap at him, tell him to mind his business.
Lara was here with someone else. She was moving on. Did I have any right to treat her like that?
No.
Did I deserve to know anything about Lara's life after the way I treated her?
Also no.
Did I care? Absolutely not. Logic was on a cruise ship right now, three cocktails deep.
"You don't want to make an enemy of the Orazios or the Donatos. Make the changes," Jonah warned through gritted teeth, nostrils flaring with icy anger.
My hackles settled. I guess I wasn't the only one feeling jealous. A badge slapped down in front of the attendant, and the poor girl's shoulders cradled her ears.