Chapter 24 Villain #3
“Look at Pinkie. She’s got a crush on your licks, man,” the drummer said.
“Wait until she sees you play your harp, Joe,” Ziggy said with a grin.
“You're not joking, because that would be perfect,” I said, giving Joe the most enticing look I could manage.
He blushed, looked down and mumbled, “Yeah. I can do a harp. I don’t want to be dressed up like a cherub though.”
“I’ll make a note of that. Thanks, Joe. I can see it’s hard for you to admit that you have classical roots. Anyone else?”
Ziggy raised her hand. “I play the tambourine. Also standing bass.”
The other guitarist muttered something about a bunch of band geeks. I wouldn’t bother remembering his name.
I had moments of actual pleasure throughout the rest of the morning. When we broke for lunch, I left the hotel and drove barely over the speed limit to the drive-in to pick up everything Dirk liked. They had it ready when I got there, and Tansy gave me a hard smile as she handed over my order.
I winked at her. “Thank you so much. I’ll tell Dirk you made it especially for him.” I drove to the compound too fast, parking outside Dagger’s warehouse.
I sat for a moment, breathing through the rage, before I grabbed the bags and headed into the dark room, pulling off my sunglasses and tucking them into my hot pink top. “Delivery for Dirk Dagger. Is he here?”
A guy wearing a greasy shirt with a picture of a hamburger adjusted his glasses and pointed towards the back.
“Thank you so much.” I winked at him and got big eyes and a stammer. It was almost validating to see that I could seduce someone. I found Dirk frowning at a drone in pieces on the desk in front of him.
“I didn’t order anything,” he said, then looked up, and his eyes widened behind the nerd glasses I’d never seen him wear before. He looked accessible and nice, like Superman in his next-door neighbor persona. I wanted to kiss him and have a nice girl-next-door persona that matched his.
I smiled brightly. “Hey, handsome. I have a very big favor to ask, so I brought some food to soften you up. I didn’t spit in it or anything.
I can’t guarantee Tansy’s spit behavior, because you know jealous dames.
” I set out the food using the fancy napkins I’d borrowed from Heaven.
Rich boys loved to be served fancy things.
“To what do I owe the honor of this unexpected poisoning?” His eyes were narrowed suspiciously.
I took a big bite of his burger and then groaned because it was so good and I was starving. No wonder Jezebel was always a little ragey. She needed to eat more burgers. Not that I wasn’t still going to kill him.
“Hey, I thought that was for me.” After my second bite, he took it, his hand brushing mine.
I blinked at him while the contact sent an electric charge through me. My heart chose that moment to erupt with butterflies that made it hard to erupt in my throat.
“Right. I was just proving that it isn’t poisonous,” I said, licking my fingers and ignoring my body’s idiotic reaction to him.
“I don’t mind poison; I was just making conversation.” He leaned towards me, tilting his face up so he’d be easy to kiss, chiseled jawline annoyingly angled so I wanted to punch it. Punching jaws was stupid. It’d be better to bite it.
“How much money did you make off the video?” I asked as he devoured his burger.
He swallowed and offered me a mischievous smirk. “Series of videos. I’m not sure. I haven’t checked it recently. It’s not much money compared to my usual business.”
I was going to kill him. Not much money?
Of course not if we’re talking about Haversham Corp and Geotech or his larger family business.
But this was my music he was prostituting.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Of course not, but it’s the first money I’ve made with my music.
You wouldn’t take that away from me, would you? ”
He stood up and leaned close enough to brush my nose with his, sending another shock of awareness through me. “No. I’ll have every cent to you by the end of the day. Would you like that in cash or traveler’s checks?”
I needed to kiss him. Or kill him. Either way. “Did you publish it to humiliate me and my grandfather, or did you have more complex motives?”
“It sets the stage.”
“For…”
“Events.”
“I’m too stupid to understand?”
“You’re too smart to understand.” He shook his head. “Understanding isn’t the problem. Complex pieces are in motion.”
“And you don’t want to change my projected trajectory with undo meddling. I see. I’ll just continue blithely along without upsetting your villainous game.”
“When are you going to date me? I’ll tell you something while we eat sushi.”
“I don’t like sushi.”
“Everyone likes sushi. Come to my house and we can play knives and truth.”
“Truth and Dare.”
“Truth and Dagger.”
I rolled my eyes and stepped away from him. “I have rehearsals to get to. I just wanted to bring you a burger.”
“And get your money.”
“I hate that you saw me play. That wasn’t for you.”
“No, just for the rest of the world.” His eyes darkened, burning into me. “I’m very glad that I was there for your very first public performance, like I’ll be there for your second. Do you want me to record that too? You’ll make good money; I’ll see to it.”
“You will whether I ask you to or not. You have your scheme.”
“And you have yours.”
I shook my head. “I have therapy. This concert is for me because it’s what I want. Don’t ruin it for me.”
He raised a dark brow. “Or…”
I put my hand on his arm. He was so strong, so warm, so safe. “Or I’ll break you.”
“I would say that I want to be broken, but I have no intention of interrupting your performance. You can break me anyway, but not for that. Are you satisfied or do you want collateral?”
I smiled and backed away. “With you, I am never satisfied.” I turned and walked off, slipping his keys into my pocket.
His house was our collateral. I’d keep the musicians there until we were as smooth as a well-oiled gun.
It was time for me to become more familiar with my nemesis. Because that’s what I wanted.