I stepped behind the bar and eyed Evie. “What are you thirsty for?”
“Something…unexpected.”
I smiled. “In that case…”
I grabbed a glass, placing it on the bar in front of me. Then I reached for a cocktail shaker, added ice, and poured in an ounce of vodka, followed by an ounce of white rum. A healthy squeeze of lemon juice would cut through some of the sweetness, and I cut one fresh since we still needed to prep for opening.
Evie watched me. “You going to tell me who’s messing with you? Or do I need to ask around?”
I scowled at her. “Threats aren’t cool.” I added the lemon, along with a shot of Midori, then placed the larger shaker lid on top of the full shaker.
Shaking the drink gave me a chance to think. But Evie was watching me, and she wasn’t going to let it go.
I sighed, placed the shaker on the bar, and smacked the side of it with my hand, separating the two pieces. Then I strained the drink into a tall glass, adding a generous splash of lemonade. Evie’s eyes widened.
“It’s…bright.”
I grinned at her. “It’s called a Green Demon.”
She laughed, and I poured myself a whiskey as she took a sip. “It’s good.”
I grinned at her, but the grin fell from my face as I leaned against the bar. “I owe someone money.”
“Who?”
I winced, and she scowled at me. “It’s me, Mere. You can tell me anything.”
“Nero.”
“Nero?” Her voice got so high it cracked, and I sighed. She managed to pull herself together. “This is why you took the case with us. You want to pay him back. Tell me the truth. Would you have taken the case if you weren’t in trouble?”
I thought about it. “Once you told me about Ilayda? Yeah.”
She nodded. “I’m not going to lecture you. God knows I’ve made some bad calls in my life, and if you had to take a loan from him, you had no other choice.”
My eyes burned, and Evie reached across the bar, grabbing my hand and squeezing. “It’s okay, Mere. We’ll figure this out.”
I opened my mouth to tell her it wasn’tmybad call, to admit I was only paying the loan because my father had needed to feed his gambling habit.
Someone walked into the bar, ignoring the closed sign. I should’ve locked the door. I turned to tell whoever it was that we were closed, but the words dried up in my mouth.
Vas was wearing jeans that had seen better days and a black T-shirt that had molded itself to the hard muscles of his chest. He carried a duffel bag in one hand, and his boots had droplets of blood on them.
He’d been away somewhere, kicking ass.
He was staring at me, waiting for me to say something.
“Um, hi.” Perfect. A scintillating example of conversation.
His lips twitched, and he stalked over to us. Then he threw his arm around Evie’s shoulders and pressed a kiss to her head. He ruffled her hair, laughing at her annoyed curse as she pushed him away.
It was brotherly. That didn’t stop the knife of jealousy in my gut. And wouldn’t Vas laugh and laugh if he knew that.
“Day drinking?” Vas raised one eyebrow. “I could get in on that.”
I held up the bottle of whiskey, and he nodded. “Thanks.”
We obviously weren’t going to talk about our little interaction the other day. Vas glanced at me, and there was no heat in his eyes. No teasing smile. Nothing.
