4. Indi #2
I blinked and furrowed my brows. “Who—”
“That man. The fucker on the dance floor,” he growled. His hands fell to his sides and squeezed into fists. “I saw him…touching you.” The fear dissipated and absolute rage burned behind those dark contacts, seething in his emerald eyes. “Did he fucking hurt you?”
I shook my head. “No…I’m okay.” I stroked his cheek and pulled his face into my embrace, clutching him against my chest. “I promise.”
Haze hugged me tight, softly kissing my bulging cleavage. “Then…” he breathed between kisses. “Why were you rushing? You looked like you were in a panic.” He kissed my chest again. “I tried to get to you sooner…but I—”
I gently pulled him away and looked down into his eyes. “Ray took the bait.” He looked up at me. “He left the VIP booth to make a call, presumably to Kief. I was trying to tail him, but this club is so fucking crowded, and I lost him.”
Haze exhaled, almost relieved at what I said. “Where did you lose him?” He asked, leaning down to kiss my thigh. His fingers glided up the back of my bare leg, making me shiver.
This man has no self-control.
I swallowed. “He…he was walking past the bar toward the other side of the club when I lost him.” He kissed higher on my thigh, lifting my leg to his shoulder as I tried to stay focused. “He—he was…ah!”
He licked my skin, and I couldn’t stop myself from crying out, liking it too much.
Haze’s eyes shot to me as he grinned, kissing my ankle.
“What’s wrong, little sis? Can’t focus?” He kissed me again, and I bit my lower lip.
“Well…now you know how I feel, watching you strut around like that.” His eyes fell to my chest. “Do you know how hard it is to control myself? All I want to do is—”
He leaned forward, rising from his knees, but I pressed my heel into his chest, stopping him.
He grinned, enjoying how more dominant I’d become recently.
My arms rested on either side of me as I arched, pressing the heel deeper into his chest. “Sit,” I commanded.
Haze’s smile grew as he listened, plopping back down to his knees.
“Now.” I used the tip of my pointed heel, pushing his chin upwards. “Be a good boy…and go find Spider.”
His smile fell instantly. “And what if I don’t want to?” He tried to push forward, but I only straightened my leg, preventing him from doing so. “Indi,” he growled.
My head tilted, and I roughly tapped his cheek with my heel. “Uh-uh. Remember what happens to bad boys,” I teased, enjoying the situation a bit too much. Haze sighed heavily, and I knew I’d won. “Good,” I purred, slowly dropping my leg. “Now…get…Spider.”
My twin, tense and reeling, stood to his feet.
“Fine.” He took a step towards me, leaning across my body as he pressed his arms against the velvet lounger on either side of me, surrounding me with his wide frame.
His head tilted, and that typical taunting face of his returned.
“But when we get back to our bed tonight, I’ll be the one calling all the shots. Do I make myself clear?”
I nodded, salivating at what was to come.
“Good.” He kissed the top of my head. “Now, don’t fucking move until I get back.” His eyes flicked to my necklace before returning to me. “I meant it, Indi.” He pulled back, leaving me nearly gasping for air as he stepped from the room.
“Fuck me,” I exhaled, slightly taken aback. I looked up at the green lights, feeling their warmth all over my skin.
With a heavy sigh, I leaned back along the velvet lounger, imagining what colorful things he was going to do to me once we got back. I caught myself grinning like a child, obsessively focused on him while playing with the zodiac pendant.
We really are a twisted pair…obsessively possessive and absolutely smitten with one another.
My fingertips felt the raised emblem of my pendant.
A pair of Tauris twins…how fitting.
Sudden voices in the hall outside the private VIP room caught my focus. At first, I assumed it was another VIP guest being led to a room, but the sudden shouts of a familiar voice told me otherwise.
Ray?
I shot to my feet and approached the door, slowly cracking it open enough to hear better.
“I don’t give a fuck!” Ray shouted, roughly shoving one of his little goons aside and into the hallway.
The petty dealer looked flustered, sweating profusely as if something seriously bad had just occurred.
“You get your ass out there and find that fucking woman. Now!” The other man nodded frantically, rushing away.
Oh shit…does he mean me?
Ray wiped his forehead. “Fuck! He’s going to kill me if I don’t find her.” His phone suddenly rang, and the color drained from his face. “Shit.” He pulled it out of his pocket, staring down at the screen. “Fuck me,” he groaned before answering the call. “Kief. I—”
Kief?
A distant, loud voice shot through the phone, silencing him.
He nodded, covering his mouth as he tried to remain calm.
“Yes, sir…yes. I–I’ll find her.” He paused, listening.
“The Cosmic Oxen? Midnight tonight? But—” He swallowed, nodding along as my cousin presumably spoke.
“Yes…yes, I’ll find her. You have my word.
” Ray hung up the call and leaned against the wall with a loud exhale, propping his head against it.
“Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck! Perra!” He slammed his fists into the wall, punching it again and again as he raged.
I flinched at his temper, forgetting the world I was seeded within.
Ray sat up, groaning before tapping away at his phone, making a call. “Toro…”
Toro?
He quickly shot down the hall in the opposite direction, just out of earshot.
Fuck…I can’t hear what he’s saying.
I looked around, hesitating.
I need to tail him before it’s too late.
I carefully opened the VIP room door enough to step through and walked into the hall.
I tiptoed on my heels, keeping a safe distance, when I was suddenly whipped back.
My body spun as I landed in Haze’s arms. My eyes reluctantly raised to meet his as they glared down at me.
“What did I fucking tell you?” he asked, snarling through clenched teeth.
My head spun back, losing sight of Ray. “I was—”
Spider stepped from behind my brother. “We need to leave. Now.”
“Leave? Why?” I looked from Spider to Haze. “What happened?”
My twin sighed, guiding me away while speaking in a low voice. “Spider is going to take you back to Felix’s place.”
“But…what about you?”
He dragged me behind, refusing to look at me. “I know you’re stubborn, but just do what I say. Stay with Spider. And for fuck’s sake, don’t go running off again. I’ll be right behind you.”
Spider and I stepped into Felix’s home, still dressed from The Burnout.
Haze wasn't too far behind, arriving maybe twenty minutes after us, saying he had business to handle. I wanted to believe it was related to Charlotte’s Web, but by the way his knuckles looked when he arrived, I had a feeling it wasn’t.
What did he do now?
Haze pretended as if nothing had happened, joining my side.
Felix and Dream were both standing at the end of his dining room table, surrounded by even more files and paperwork.
From the looks of it, Felix had been working all week, nonstop.
And by the way Dream was eyeing him, I could tell even she was worried.
“They’re here,” she whispered to him. Felix lifted his head, his green eyes surrounded by dark circles.
I nearly tripped at the sight of him. He looked so much like our father in that brief passing moment.
Spider brisked past us, taking his seat at the table. “Damn boy.” He eyed all of Felix’s work, impressed, before propping his feet up across the table. His worn skater shoes left tiny bits of asphalt on the tabletop as he looked at my brother. “You must be a Capricorn.”
Felix rolled his eyes. “Can we focus, please?” Spider shrugged. My brother’s eyes moved to us. “Sit. Now.” He tapped at his laptop while speaking to us all. “I was only able to get the cliff notes of tonight, but care to explain to me what happened?”
Haze scoffed, taking a seat. He pulled me into his lap and nestled in close, hugging me tight. “Ray’s card finally declined, which means Indi was able to drain all his funds, cutting him off from Kief.” He gripped my chin and forced my eyes onto him. “You did such a good job, little sis.”
My core burned as I stirred in his lap.
Felix lit up a cigarette. He took a long drag, exhaling a cloud of smoke. “Indeed.” He walked over to grab a new bottle of whiskey, cracking it open as he poured himself a glass. “But the card wasn’t Ray’s.” He took a quick sip. “It was Kief’s.”
We all froze at his words.
Kief’s? That means…
Felix smirked. “That means you, baby sis, just racked our cousin’s credit card. One he had used to fund parts of Northern Lights.” He swirled his little glass. “A good job indeed.”
Spider laughed. “Damn, girl, get it.”
I…racked up Kief’s card? Fuck.
Haze tilted his head. “Wait…why would Kief give someone like Ray his card? He’s just a pathetic low-life drug dealer.”
Felix returned to his seat. “He didn’t. And Ray is a bit more than your basic drug dealer.
You see, that specific card isn’t even real.
It’s a clone of the real one. I’m assuming Ray swiped it sometime during their brief encounters, cloning it for his own personal use.
He probably thought Kief wouldn’t notice, never intending to spend so much.
But thanks to you.” He pointed to me. “He spent it all. Sure, that card was only a pinch of Kief’s real assets, but it was a blow, nonetheless. ”
Spider tousled his dark brown hair. “The fucking disrespect, though. To steal from the very head of your network.” He scoffed.
“Charlotte’s Web may technically be smaller compared to Northern Lights, but unlike them, we live by our word.
And we don’t bite the hand that feeds us.
” He grinned. “Oh, Ray is a dead man walking.”