Oran
“Isn’t that the guy who was following me yesterday?” Sarah hid behind my arm, almost, and pointed at the bar, and I glanced over through tight pupils. There, plain as day, was that asshole who’d been peeking into the window of my building, and he wasn’t alone. The woman who was with him was comfortable, well dressed, with nice nails and perfectly curled blonde hair.Wait a minute . . .
I knew those curls.
Pushing myself up, I ignored the curious glances from my table as I wound my way over to the bar, and I put a hand on Malory’s shoulder. She jumped, her blue eyes widening in alarm, and the guy not only seemed unsurprised, but actually annoyed. Leaning into her ear, I kept eye contact with him as the gears worked in his beady, brown eyes.
“This guy’s a child predator.” She tensed, and I squeezed Malory’s shoulder as my mind whirred. At that moment, the bartender set their drinks on the bar top, and she grabbed her margarita and unceremoniously tossed it at his face. Gasps sounded behind me, and Malory just slid off her stool to storm out.
This wasn’t Hansen’s. There were cloths on the tables, and that drink was easily fifteen dollars or more. Sneering at me with alcohol and strawberry bits dripping off his face, he stood up to square with me, and adrenaline pumped through my veins. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and my eyelid twitched at the rage burning the alcohol off his clothes.
“I guess we are going to have a problem. Who are you working for, huh? The Italians, I bet.” His expression tightened, jaw ticking, and I nodded as that attempt not to show me anything showed meeverything. “I gave you a chance yesterday, but if you’re stupid enough to take a job against me, I suppose it’s not surprising you wasted that.”
“I’m going to walk out of here, or—”
“Oh, now, say it ain’t so,bella.” His eyes blazed in anger, and I almost thought he was going to hit me as his shoulders brushed his ears. “Are you saying you didn’t come here for a fight? Or did you actually expect me not to notice you, let alone Malory, let alone . . . I’m three tables away, man. Seriously.”
Sighing with a slight shake of my head, I rocked back on my heels and stuffed my hands in my pockets as my own ire rose. I knew I wasn’t Carlyle, but God damn. Through narrowed eyes, I watched him flick back his jacket to reveal the piece in a holster hanging off his belt, and my brows rose in surprise.
“I’m going to walk out of here, or I’ll kill you.” My lips twitched upwards at the threat, and the notion of bringing a knife to a gunfight calmed me.Actually, I don’t even have that.
“Oran.” May sidled up to my arm, and I tore my eyes off the asshole as she frowned at me. “We get it, your dick is bigger. Can we go back to eating?”
“Since you complimented me . . . ” Turning on my heel, I scowled darkly as I wrapped my arm around May’s waist and squeezed her hip tightly. “If I see him again, I’m going to fucking punch him.”
“Yeah, okay. Just don’t do it where we’ll get kicked out.” The chiding tone darkened my scowl, and May rolled her eyes as she sat down, leaving one chair between myself and Sarah. All eyes were on me, and I shook my head at my brother’s quizzical expression. “So, what were we talking about?”
“It was about college. We’ve all been, except Erik and Sarah.” My knee bounced under the table, and the hairs on my neck just wouldn’t lay down. Out of the corner of my eye, that asshole wiped himself and scraped his dignity off the floor to stride out, but IknewI’d see him at least one more time. May put her palm on my knee and locked her elbow, and I covered her hand with mine.
“Oran.” Erik leaned back in his chair, all two hundred twenty-five pounds of muscle straining, and my cheek twitched in agitation. “I spent all night in front of that door and didn’t see that guy. Relax.”
“And I appreciate that, but it wasn’t a coincidence that he was here with my personal secretary.” Carlyle cocked a brow at my aggressive reply, and I caught his eye to frown slightly as my knee bounced despite May’s hand. Shaking my head slightly, barely a tilt, I frowned darkly as she squeezed my leg threatening. “Anyway, I didn’t mean to make things awkward.”
“Well, you did, and we haven’t even gotten our food yet.” My glare withered under May’s sharp rebuke, and I rubbed the back of her palm under the table with my thumb. She was beautiful when she was pissed at me, and her eyes flashed green before she sat back to swipe her rusty stray strays from her face. “I know it’s a coincidence, but we all know those muscles are for show.”
“Is that what you think, May?” Holding my free hand to my chest in mock offense, I scoffed slightly, and she grinned as I leaned back in my chair. The tension of the last minute slipped away, and even Carlyle laughed a little at my theatrics. “I’ll have you know I’m a martial artist. I’m a certified human weapon.”
My lips quirked up when she snorted a laugh, and I glanced over at Sarah as she sat, a little detached, staring at her empty bread plate.
“It’s true, though. He really is. In middle school, our dad was teaching me to shoot a gun, and Oran hates guns, so he got signed up for Muay Thai classes. When he got through that, he did Krav Maga, then something else I don’t know the name of. Oran even won a championship in high school.” Carlyle spoke with slight disdain. Nothing could shake his faith in guns, and on the whole, he was right. But there was something great about knowing mixed martial arts, and it was something he was clueless about. A slippery smirk stretched my lips when May gasped in surprise, and I propped my head on my forearm as she bopped her head in a nod. Across the table, Erik took control of the conversation, but I was content to bask in May’s attention. Pride bubbled up in my chest like tar as she gazed at me from under heavy lids and pursed her lips thinly.
“My family’s rule is no guns until sixteen. No real guns, at least. When I was a kid, we had pellet guns and stuff as gifts for every holiday. We learn hand to hand combat in the Navy, but I don’t think I’ve personally ever used those skills. I haven’t been to a gym in a while, but Ialwayshave a gun on me, so . . . ” He trailed off, slinging his arm around Natasha’s shoulders, and I nodded absently. The waitress appeared with a tray of food, and the conversation stopped for a moment. I went to the gym almost every day. At this point, it was such a monotonous thing that I barely remembered I’d done it.
“Oran, can you teach me self-defense?” The question made everyone pause, even the waitress, and I turned to Sarah to nod firmly. If she was relieved, her face didn’t show it, and she rubbed her neck with her forearm as a frown twisted her lips. “If that guy’s involved with my parents . . . ”
“Sarah.” Sharply cutting her little sister off, May’s hand left my leg to grab Sarah’s, and I shuffled out of the way. The fierceness in her eyes was honestly heartbreaking. Even though they didn’t like it, they’d come into the parent-child roles after Sarah flushed that bird. “Don’t worry about things that don’t involve us.”
“I can look into it if it’d make you feel better.” The offer clearly surprised May, and she glanced over at Carlyle warily. He just watched her, deadpanned but serious, and I clenched my jaw at that familiar glint in his eye.
Carlyle might not admit it, but he was a justice monger. If someone fucked with him or anyone he knew and liked, that person wasdead. And it wasn’t going to be a quick, clean shot to the head.
Or by his hand.Inhaling deeply at that thought, I held my breath as May nodded, surprisingly enough, and she sat back in her seat. The three across the table got their plates first, and I assumed the waitress was coming back with ours. Hunger gnawed at my gut, but no one had started eating yet as we waited.
“This isn’t going too bad. I don’t think.”
