Chapter Ten
Drew
She was cute.
Even when the blood was draining from her face and her eyes were widening with fright.
It was almost a shame to have to be this way with her.
With Maisey off the market, I was definitely looking for something that was more than just a pair of tits to get me by on a Friday night—and every other fucking night for that matter.
The iron deficiency comment had made my lips twitch, and a few of the grunts and suppressed snuffles from the other guys hadn’t gone unnoticed, either.
But Ayda… she was too far gone to hear any of it.
Raising a brow in her direction, I tilted my head to one side and studied her some more.
She was hard to read, but easy enough on the eye for me to spend some time at least trying.
Her eyes were pretty amazing as far as color went, the blue of them popping out from her ivory skin like they were made purely to be fucking noticed.
And here I was noticing.
Slater’s foot slid into mine under the table before he cleared his throat to try and break the silence. I stayed completely still, even though his nudge had been enough to snap me out of my Ayda-inspired thoughts.
Scowling back at her, I dropped every ounce of humor from my face and pressed my mouth into a thin line. I could feel the air around me shift as all the boys sat back slowly, while I leaned forward, bringing both hands together on the table.
“Would you dare to repeat that last part for me, Ayda?” I said carefully, keeping my voice low so only she and my fellow brothers could hear what came out of my mouth.
She shuffled her feet, her eyes darting around the table, down to the pad in one hand, while the other, with a bandage wrapped neatly around it, lifted to push her hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry. I was being pedantic. Did you want the steak?”
My eyes flashed briefly at the wrapping on her hand. I tried to recall seeing it last night, but who was I kidding? Everything about last night was hazy. Closing my eyes, I only opened them when I knew they were blazing back at hers. “No. I want you to repeat what it was you said to me.”
“I… I said that if that’s not enough, you might have an iron deficiency you should probably see your doctor about. Or something to that effect.”
“Were you trying to be cute?”
Switching the order book from one hand to the other, she rubbed her unbound palm on her apron in discomfort. “Sure?”
My brows rose higher. “Are you still trying to be cute?”
Her hand moved over her stomach, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip, making her look younger than her twenty-five years. “Mr. Tucker, I’m just trying to do my job. I spoke out of turn and I’m really sorry for that. If you haven’t decided, I can go and get your coffee first.”
“No, you weren’t, sweetheart. You weren’t just trying to do your job.
Doing your job would be too easy. You were trying to be smart, when in fact, what you were being was incredibly stupid.
You see, there’s a damn good chance I could well have iron deficiencies, given the fact that I’ve just spent the last five years eating food that wouldn’t be served to pigs and living in the filth of a very lonely prison cell.
I guess that's what you get for being responsible for the death of a man. My body isn’t quite as strong as it once was because of that very fact.
There are a lot of things that might need putting right and that might take a while.
And I'm not just talking physically; I'm also talking mentally. I'm more fucked up than you could even begin to imagine. The last thing I need is some jumped-up, big mouthed, apron wearing piece of short skirt telling me what I might or might not have. Do you hear what I’m saying? That’s not a good move on your part. You've pointed out my faults. You’ve made me angry. And do you know what happens when people make me angry?” I held her attention with nothing but a steely look as I paused and took a small breath inwards.
“I get real fucking hungry for a lot of things. Power. Revenge. Pussy. The need to show people just who the hell they are messing with. So in trying to do your job, you’ve managed to create a whole new one for me.
What happens from here? Who knows? All you can do now is run on back to that kitchen, think about how epically you’ve just fucked up, and grab me that little coffee you mentioned.
When you get back, I’ll put my order in, and you can pray to every God you know that it doesn’t include your ass on my plate. ”
Ayda stood looking lost for a moment, her eyes dropping to her hands as though she was unable to find the words she needed in order to deal with the situation. “Fifteen coffees coming right up. I really am sorry.”
“I don’t do apologies, Ayda. Your family seems to want to make a name for themselves by pissing me off.
I'm sure you'll find a way to make that right.” My fingers curled into an even tighter ball as I cleared my throat and leaned even farther down to whisper.
“Or I could go find your brother and make him deal with both your mistakes for you?”
“No. This is on me. If there’s a debt to be paid, I’ll pay it.
My brother has to be left out of this. Please.
I can’t lose him.” She didn’t give me a chance to respond.
As distraught as she seemed to be, she turned, almost completely composed, before gliding through the tables and disappearing through the swinging doors.
“I think she knows who you are now,” Kenny groaned from the opposite side of the table, stretching his legs and arms out like I’d just had him curled up inside my magic hat or some other torturous shit.
I wanted to find it irritating, but I was riding off the high of seeing that flash of horror that washed across Ayda’s face.
This was the stuff in my blood—that need to always be the one in the room who could turn people drip white with nothing more than a look.
I’d spent too many years building up my reputation and gaining respect for it to have all just disappeared when I got back out.
I might not have been sure of my place or what I stood for, but I knew one thing for certain:
I’d always be the Drew Tucker that people feared. I’d make damn sure of it.
“I think she does,” I huffed out through a laugh, leaning back in my seat with my hands resting on the edge of the table. “She’s going to know me a whole lot more soon, too.”
“You’ve scared the girl now. Leave it alone,” Harry mumbled beside me.
“How about you shut the fuck up, Rogers?” I snapped, my head rolling round to face him. “One minute you’re telling me that I’m too soft. The next you’re telling me I need to back off. Maybe you’re the one that’s confused as fuck. Stop putting that shit on me.”
Harry’s eyes turned to stare into mine with a new sadness that I’d not seen him wear before.
Of all the things that could have made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, that look was it.
“We don’t do this kind of crap in public, Drew.
You know that more than anyone. That was your rule.
Remember that?” he said quietly, before he slid out from his seat and started to turn on the heel of his boots in the general direction of the door.
“Where you going?” I asked roughly. I had no idea what the fuck was happening, but his mood swings were even worse than mine.
“I’m going outside for a smoke and some air. I don’t feel so hungry anymore.”
I watched him as his short, stubby little body wobbled out of the diner. My tongue ran across the front of my teeth as I tried to work out what to say in front of the others.
“Ain’t no accounting for a hormonal man.” I eventually sighed, turning back around to face the guys with a huge grin on my face. “And let’s hope Little Miss 32C hurries back on those fine, shaky little legs of hers because I am fucking starving.”