Page 196 of Ice Darling
I make a fist and bang on the door. It rattles on its hinges.
“Dude, that’s too much force,” Chance cautions. “He’s not going to come out if you attack right out the gate.”
Gunner pulls me back forcibly by the shoulder.
Chance steps forward and knocks again.
No response.
Chance tries one more time. “Sir, your complimentary drink is here.”
“Complimentary drink?” I hiss.
Chance shrugs.
“I’m busy. Go away!” a male voice calls back.
I grunt. So much for doing it Chance’s way.
Giving the door another hard, deliberate knock, I growl, “I heard you’re looking for Cordelia.”
The door swings open.
Raymond Rourke fills the doorway, looking like a shell of the man who accompanied Gwendolyn to all their rich friends’ glamorous parties. Dark under-eye circles shadow his face, and his beard is more unkempt than mine.
He looks surprised when he sees me. Then his gaze tracks to Chance and Gunner who are flanking me like bouncers.
With a self-preservation instinct, he wheels back.
I take that as permission to storm into the room.
“What the—what do you think you’re doing?” Ray yells, his gaze casting around for, I assume, a weapon of some sort.
“Relax. We’re just here to talk,” Chance says, and then he nudges me in the side.
I didn’t say that at all, Chance.
I step forward threateningly. “Actually, I’m here to help you pack your bags.”
“Who do you think you are, Renthrow?” Ray spits.
The fact that he knows my name makes me freeze. “Do you know who I am?”
His eyes widen, and he shakes his head, but the way his jaw clenches tells me otherwise.
“I know who you are too.” I take another step, and Ray scrambles back. “You’re the guy who’s leaving town tonight. And you won’t be back. You won’t even breathe in the direction of Cordelia or this town again. Because if you do, I will make sure the next thing you see is your own dental X-ray. Do I make myself clear?”
Ray’s lips curl up in a snarl. “I heard you have a daughter.”
I jerk around, rage building in my veins. How dare he mention my baby girl?
“I wouldn’t stick around Cordelia if you want to keep your family safe. The woman is a curse.”
I grab him by the collar. “Shut your mouth before I shut it for you.”
“It’s true. Ask her. Ask her what she said to Gwen. Ask her what happened to my wife and child a few weeks later.”
My nostrils flare, but I grind out. “I told you to shut up.”
