Destructive.
They could tear me apart and have zero regret.
A pang of regret pierced my heart.
I could disappear without a trace and no one would know or care.
Rafe, Bishop, and Ash might mourn me for a split second before they moved on.
The space between me and the men shrank to nothing.
I should have left as soon as I felt the threat.
But I’d stayed and now, I couldn’t possibly back down.Show no fear.
My sergeant at the training academy taught me that.
Not wolves, I realized as the blank coldness took over the leader’s face.
Sharks.
They were all sharks, and they smelled my fear like chum in the water.
Another man leaned on the edge of the bar behind me, arms crossed, watching my every twitch.
“I agree. Business is boring.” The leader smirked with such a callous edge to his lips that my fear turned into a wild thing.
“Funny how reporters always seem to ask the same damn questions when they shouldn’t.” He jutted his chin toward the back room. “You’re poking around where you don’t belong, lady.”
I gripped my beer tighter, knuckles whitening.
My mind raced, scrambling for a response that might get me out of this situation.
A rational, believable escape.
My cover, the polite, harmless journalist, didn’t seem to be cutting it, but what else did I have?
I had to sell it. “I swear I’m just here for a good time. And for my job. I don’t know anyone here, so when I hear about clubs like the Steel Vipers, I can’t help but be curious.”
The leader’s eyes darkened.
Holy hell, the man exuded danger brighter than a neon sign.
I needed to learn his name.
I was definitely telling Captain Delaney to keep an eye out for him.
“You’re a lucky woman.” The look in his eyes remained predatory. “Otherwise, we’d have a real problem on our hands.”
Raw fear settled in my chest.
My palms grew sweaty, but I didn’t dare set the mug down and give up my only possible weapon.
Stay calm.
I’d been in danger before.
All I had to do was stay calm and work the situation.
