“Um.” Noelle shifted. “I’m not sure. I’m looking for first-hand accounts of stories that put the Steel Vipers in a positive light. Do you have anything like that?”
“Well, there was the one time we took down a robber trying to steal an old lady’s purse.” Freddie grinned so wide his canines flashed.
“Oh, wow. Did the woman report the attempted robbery? Did anyone turn the guy in?” She delved into a series of questions that raised the hairs on the back of my neck.
The questions were thoughtful and probing, the kind I’d heard detectives ask the couple of times I’d been hauled in for a good workover when they wanted to implicate our gang in some crime or other.
Freddie answered the best he could, but the poor guy hadn’t really helped with the takedown.
He’d stood on the sidelines, too worried about getting hurt to be of much use.
I let the questioning run its course, and by the time they finished, Freddie stalked away a flustered mess, his thoughts of getting laid long gone.
“You sure Rafe meant for us to share her?” Bryce’s voice barely drifted into my ear.
He strode past me. “She doesn’t look the type.”
“Rafe knows what he’s doing.” I set up another shot.
Rafe always knew what he was doing, and trusting him had kept us all alive and out of prison. “You’d better pay attentionto your words. You either have Rafe’s back, or you don’t. And questioning his decisions is a straight lane out the door.”
Noelle leaned toward us, her bright blue eyes locked on and full of questions.
She was lying about something.
I knew it as well as I knew every single part on my motorcycle.
I’d put the whole thing together myself.
People were nothing more than a collection of parts put together through their experiences.
What experiences had shaped Noelle into this curious and gorgeous creature?
Rafe loved using our bad boy image to keep rival gangs at bay.
What did it mean that he’d agreed to let Noelle do fluff pieces to help our image?
Bryce’s gaze lingered on Noelle longer than I liked.
I shifted my weight to cut between him and Noelle. “Come on. I’m going to teach you how to play.”
She hesitated, her breaths coming short and fast as she met my eyes. “I’m just trying to do my job.”
“Right.” I settled my hands on her hips and turned her around so she faced the pool table.
I leaned over her shoulder so my lips brushed her ear. “I’m not sure I believe you are who you say you are. What kind of reporter comes into a place like this without prior knowledge? I’m verygood at finding out the truth about people, and I will learn the truth about you.”
“I just arrived in town. This is my first assignment.” She gripped my fingers where they locked on her hips.
“Do you realize what Rafe meant when he gave you to us?” I slid my hands lower, into the dips along her hips.
I turned and flicked the toothpick out of my mouth before I bent and nibbled her earlobe.
She tensed but didn’t tell me to stop. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb. It doesn’t suit you.”
“You don’t know anything about me.” Her grip tightened. “You need to let me go.”
