Page 35 of Hide From Me

“Where’s Cal?”

I looked behind me.

“Out there somewhere. I lost her.”

He nodded and went to pour me a drink I didn’t know I wanted. I watched him watch the guy next to me.

“Alright. Well, stay close to here until you find her. What can I get you?” he asked pretty boy.

Pretty boy asked for Jack and coke, something I at least recognized by name.

The bartender was giving me some strange looks as he walked to the corner of the bar, where he started to text someone.

Whatever. I drank down whatever he gave me, and this time there was no burn or taste of liquor. I hadn’t paid attention to what he’d been doing, but now that I thought about it, the only thing I’d seen him add was soda and maybe some kind of juice. I was thirsty as hell, so I chugged it down, trusting the tatted-up guy far more than the pretty boy.

There were several other bartenders, all with the hourglass tattoo of the Spectors.

“You wanna go somewhere quiet, baby?”

I whipped my head back to pretty boy, my long curls sticking to my sweat damp skin.

“No, not really. Also, don’t call me that.”

He flashed me that smile. There was little doubt that he thought it would turn my head his way and have me panting for him. Or something. Instead? I simply tried to get up and walk away. I just didn’t get far.

FOURTEEN

cas

I parkedmy bike behind Noir and slammed my fist against the metal door, waiting for one of my guys to open it.

“Hey, boss, Thad’s got eyes on the girl.”

I gave him a nod and a quick fist to fist greeting, but I needed to get to her. The network we had was extensive, and with us, there were always people being watched, protected, killed, and brought to one of the many rooms in the basement of these clubs. Noir was one of the most extensive clubs for our darker operations, with a basement made for torture. No one but a few knew that though.

No one questioned when I’d put Rylee’s picture out there as someone to watch and protect. She wasn’t the first girlfriend of a Spector we’d put on the fuck around and find out list.

We protected our own. No one would think anything of Rylee for the moment. None of them knew that she was my special interest or my fucking obsession.

Thad was getting a fucking raise though. I stepped out of the back room onto a landing that put me about a head taller than the crowd. Like a damn drug, I found my fix in seconds at the bar, and she didn’t look happy.

Good.

I took the two steps down to the floor in one stride and stormed through the crowd. It was late enough most people were drunk or hooking up and no one gave a shit who was pushing past them. I caught Thad reaching across the bar and grabbing some little frat-brat’s arm. The same guy that Rylee had looked irritated with.

I met Thad’s eyes as I reached the bar and grabbed Rylee around the waist.

“She’s already taken, fuck off.”

The frat-asshole had no sense of self-preservation or no idea who’s bar he was in.

“Fuck off. I saw her first. She’s just playing hard to get. No bitch who dresses like that is taken.”

I hadn’t actually looked at what she was wearing closely. The images of her leaving the apartment had been enough for me to see blind rage. But it didn’t fucking matter.

“One, she can wear what she wants, and it’s your own fucking grave if you think her outfit was for you. Two, she can wear whatever the fuck she wants when I’m the one she’s dressing for.”

Rylee tried to move, and it was either to get out of my grip or turn around, but either way, at that moment, I was holding her tightly against my body, praying she was enough to keep me from killing this asshole.

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