Page 10 of A Dance With Devils
“Things?”
“People mostly.”
That makes her lean back, her head tilted at me. “Philanthropic with your money, are you?”
“That’s a big word for someone who lives in this hovel.”
“And that’s a big fucking attitude you’ve got there.”
The snap and sass makes me grin and make my way over to an old battered armchair closer to her, ass sitting and legs kicked up onto an equally battered coffee table. “I have a right to it. Everything’s a game to me. Including you. Don’t try working it out.”
She smirks and picks up a pen, elongating her wide mouth, and returns to the paperwork she was looking over. “I won’t. We don’t have time for that anyway, Malachi. Shame.”
I’m about to counter the rationale, perhaps challenge whatever time she thinks she’s got anymore now I’ve done my part of this bargain, when the main door crashes open behind me. I tilt my stare over my shoulder and watch as a barrage of bikers come hauling ass into the space. Too many. And me glancing at each one, taking in their frame, size, age, clothes, and my own chances against them is not reducing the numbers. Even for me, this is not looking doable.
Possible, though.
“Malachi doesn’t want to leave, boys,” she murmurs.
I don’t move. What’s the fucking point in wasting energy before its needed? And I’d rather look at her for as long as I’ve got. Smooth skin on display. Nimble, long fingers writing something down on all these sheets she’s more invested in than me. “You played me?”
“If that’s what you want to call it,” she mumbles. “I call it jelly sandwiches and survival. I’ve had lots of practice.”
Two of the burly ones are over and on me before I get a chance to argue the virtues of reciprocity, both sets of hands hauling me upright and leading me out of the door. I laugh all the way, astounded that someone’s got a steer on my sport. They all seem baffled by my amusement, including the younger kid who’s priming himself for knocking me sideways.
“You lost once kid, don’t try it again,” chuckles out of me, as I’m pulled into the yard. “I won’t be as forgiving this time.”
There’s another five of them waiting for me outside, one of which is the other guy who was here earlier. He cracks his knuckles, trying for threatening. It’s working. Looks like my odds just went tumbling off a goddamned cliff, as they begin crowding around me and readying themselves to teach me a lesson. Another laugh tumbles out of me at the thought. Haven’t been taught a lesson for a long time. Haven’t been outmanoeuvred nor outwitted either.
Maybe today’s the day.
My neck cricks out, body stilling to get a gauge on who moves first and where. It’s not going to end well for me, but silence is the best way for me to stay focused and sharp, hopefully giving me a chance. And this way lets me imagine that robe stripped from her skin, her mouth on me rather than the distance between us now.
“No Brandon,” she suddenly says.
My gaze snaps around, searching for her in the middle of these guys. She eventually pushes through them all, still dressed in nothing but that tantalising robe and bare feet, regardless of the wet ground beneath us.
“The cooler should do it for a few days. We wouldn’t want to mess up that pretty face before we send him home to Daddy.”
Clever.
I smirk and watch her standing there in front of their chests, her arms crossed and hip cocked as if she’s got all the control now. Whoever she thinks I am, she knows well enough that with money comes power, and with power comes attorneys and law courts and all kinds of problems for these types of men. “Hopefully he’ll learn enough manners to not come back after that.”
Never was very good at manners.
And now I’m more interested than I was before.
“I’d have them kill me, Ally cat,” I murmur. “This isn’t going to end well for you anymore. It might have been nicer before this.”
Her eyes narrow, fingers drumming over her forearms as if that’s given her pause to think more seriously about what she’s provoking here. I don’t mind what happens in reality because unless one of these dicks comes at me with a gun in his hand, which is unlikely even for this part of town, especially considering the money she knows I have, I’m finding this more exhilarating than anything has been for years.
I chuckle again at the thought and relax my hands into my pockets, as I spin slowly to look at the fearsome threats circling me. They’re still bemused beneath the angry glares. Uneasy. All of them. But I suppose not many of their targets would be so blasé of their seemingly hostile approach to dealing with problems. Unfortunately for them, I’m not usual.
Haven’t been for a long time now.
“Cooler,” she eventually mutters, her body turning. “With a small reminder to not come back here again.”
The crowd moves in, advancing until they’re no more than six feet from me and blocking her from my sight. That alone pisses me off more than all these dicks getting in my face. She was pretty to look at, and more interesting than anything I’ve seen for years. Sullen, calm in the face of adversity, and apparently not threatened by me in any way.
