“I’m good. It’s my crew, so I’ll handle it,” I said firmly.
My phone rang, and I did well not to jump on it straight away. The chance of Rory calling me back was slim to fucking none, but I still had hope.
Seeing Hunter’s name on the screen just pissed me off, so I declined it and pocketed it again. Whatever bullshit he wanted to throw at me could wait.
“You good with Skeet and D ditching for that party?” he asked, eyeing me.
As much as I’d been annoyed about it, Skeeter was right and we made bank. They were some of our biggest clients.
“They’re not ditching. You know those boys pay us good, so if they want to handle the deal tonight, then they’re welcome to it. Just means we can focus on this meeting with the Reapers and I don’t have to worry about Skeet getting trigger-happy and blowing the deal,” I scoffed, starting to pick things up to put the office back together again. “I don’t want to go to their party anyway, so it’s doing me a favor.”
“Donovan—”
“I don’t want to hear her name right now,” I snapped, hoping the guilt didn’t reflect on my face. “Let them do what they fucking want with her, I’m fucking over it.”
“Want help tidying up?”
“No. I want you to go and let Samuel know he’s coming with us tonight,” I sighed, putting the cigarette between my lips and bending down to right the desk, and he thankfully got the picture and left me alone.
How long would Skeeter be at the party before she told him what I’d done? Would he storm back here straight away? Maybe wait until tomorrow and come up with a plan to turn the crew against me?
It wouldn’t take much for some.
I wouldn’t put it past him to just kill me, and I’d probably just stand there and let him.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
RORY
“Here’s to Rory being a big girl now,” Tyler teased, holding a shot glass up in a toast. I rolled my eyes, lifting mine to humor him.
“Thanks, Ty.”
He winked and downed it, flagging Skeeter and Diesel down as they walked in our direction.
Guilt consumed me at not telling him about Slash, and I startled as Skeeter’s arm dropped around my shoulders and his teeth nipped my jaw.
“Hey, baby girl. Sorry we’re late. Happy Birthday.”
“Thanks. You’re not late, it’s fine,” I smiled, trying to relax.
“Why are all these people here? You don’t even like them,” he asked bluntly as he scanned the crowd, making me snort.
“The guys made it an open invite.”
“That’s asking for trouble,” he scoffed. “I say we just get drunk alone upstairs and spend the night in bed.”
I tensed, a frown tugging at his mouth as he felt it, but he didn’t say anything.
“Rain check. I can’t run off to fuck all night with a houseful of people here.”
I could’ve. None of them were here for me, they just wanted to party.
His frown deepened, and he leaned down to talk in my ear. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I’m just itching to get fucked up and dance,” I said as I forced a grin, standing on tiptoe to kiss him.
His fingers wrapped around my throat lightly as he took control, and he reluctantly pulled back when Tyler appeared.