“This place is fancy,” she says, tipping her head back and lifting a crystal flute of champagne to her lips.
I follow her gaze around the dimly lit restaurant. A chandelier hangs over a grand piano in the corner, but the light is surprisingly minimal. “I just wanted to treat you like the queen you are for an evening. I’m only sorry I can’t do this more often,” I say.
Avalee sets down the flute, rests her arms on the table, and leans forward. She crooks a finger at me, beckoning me closer. I lean toward her, drawn in by the spell she casts around me. She brings a hand up to cover one side of her mouth and whispers, “I don’t need all this fancy stuff, Mr. Lautner. I have everything I need already.” Her peach lips part into a mischievous smile that sends heat coursing down to where I begin to stiffen.
Her honey-brown hair falls around her face, and I reach out to push the strands back behind her ear. This gorgeous woman has me wrapped so tightly around her finger. If she asked me to jump up and scream at the top of my lungs, I’d do it. I’d make a fool of myself. I don’t have time to respond to her little remark before the waiter brings our main course on porcelain plates. She opted for the leg of lamb accompanied by split peas, mashed potatoes, and a mint gravy. Since lamb can be a bit too gamey for me, I went for the peanut chicken with a side of rice pilaf and something I couldn’t pronounce. So many of my best meals have been alongside Avalee, and it feels good to have her beside me again. It feels right.
We split our food, trying a bit of everything. Her meal is the better choice, go figure. The lamb slides right off the bone, and we both forget any sense of manners as we lick our fingers clean and laugh at the absurdity of it all.
“You know, for an uppity place, the food is good,” I say, rubbing my hands on the linen napkin.
“Yeah. I had so many gross experiences with food at fancy places like this when my father would take us on company trips. One time, I tried escargot!”
“Like, snails?” I say, frowning at the thought of putting anything slimy in my mouth.
She nods, sipping her refilled champagne glass. I tug at the collar of my shirt and try to stifle the little voice in the back of my head screaming about budgets and spending. It isn’t about that right now, I remind the voice. It’s about treating her like a queen.
“That’s pretty wild, Avalee.”
“Yeah. My father actually dared me. He didn’t think I would do it, so I bet him I would.” She sits back in her seat, looking around the restaurant. My eyes travel the length of her neck, and I resist the temptation to follow that same trail with my lips.Save it for another time, Ruin.
“And what would you get if you won the bet?” I ask.
“I did win the bet,” she says, brows raised. “And he had to eat twenty raw oysters if I ate the snails. They weren’t bad, but they weren’t my favorite. They were drizzled in some aioli thing, but I struggled with how chewy they were.” Her mouth bunches up into a cringe.
“Yummy,” I say, and we both laugh.
“I guess we missed something really effing funny, River,” a familiar voice says from behind me. The hair on the back of my neck stands up, and gooseflesh races down my arms. I slowly turn to find both of my half brothers hovering over my shoulder. Snake is thin, his eyes hollowed and bloodshot, which I know can only mean he’s been using again. River crosses his bulging biceps over his chest, revealing a big, fat anchor tattoo whose lines and edges are a little wobbly and thin on the underside of a forearm. It almost looks faded, as if he’s had it for many years, but I think it is just a botched ink job. New prison ink to join the spider tattooed boldly on his forehead.
It takes me a minute to wrap my head around the situation, but I quickly recover and say, “You both need to leave. Now.” Seeing them here, with Avalee sitting across from me, raises my guard. These fools are the reason I suffered so many concussions my senior year of high school and after. They are also the idiots who convinced our father to buy into their little Ponzi schemes that got us into trouble to begin with. Not that our father was a saint. The man had his fair share of dirty deals going on over the years, none as dirty as the lemon lot he ran.
“Oh no, little brother. We aren’t going anywhere. And unless you want that pretty little side piece of yours to not be so pretty anymore, I’d suggest you hear us out,” River adds.
“Don’t you dare bring her into this,” I say while reaching for the butter knife, keeping my movements subtle so as not to alarm them. Threatening Avalee has to be at the top of the list of dumb shit River has pulled with me.
“Oh, so she’s someone important, is she?” He glares at her, and I check to make sure she’s okay, but her face is blank. “Now, now, little brother,” River says, sneering, “let’s play nice in this fine establishment, yes?” His eyes are on my hand hovering over the knife. I relax my hand, but my body is still on guard as I roll my eyes to the ceiling with a huff.So much for subtlety.
“Way I see it, we’re in a public place. So, we don’t have to leave. It’s our right to be here.” Snake pauses and glances around. “And you know what, River?” he says.
“What, Snake?”
“I’m hungry,” Snake replies, patting at his tummy. “Prison food sucks. Why don’t you give us a little taste?”
They both grin, their teeth yellowed and stained or missing altogether. “What a fine idea, brother. I think we are well overdue for a proper meal, yes?” River says and spits at the floor by his feet.
A couple at a table nearby gasps and waves to a waitress, and I bounce between pissed and embarrassed.
Snake holds up a finger—his hand is covered in more prison ink like River’s, but instead of a sailor theme, it’s poorly imagined spider webs. They’re the perfect evil pair. “Though, we do have pressing matters to attend to and really just need a few minutes of your time. Or do you plan toruinyour date over our past differences?”
I close my eyes, calculating the many possibilities of what Snake and River’s showing up could mean. I hadn’t expected them to get out already, which means they must have had their time shortened for good behavior, as impossible as that might seem. When I open my eyes again, I find Avalee glaring big holes into their foreheads, her face still unreadable, but her skin a few shades paler than normal. Why they had to show up now, after I promised I would keep her safe from them… Honestly, I want to shake my head and scream at the universe. If this is some sick cosmic joke, I’m not seeing the humor.
“Fine. Five minutes and then leave us the hell alone,” I say. I need to take back control of this situation and not letthemruin my date, the jerks.
They pull up chairs and sit around Avalee and me. Avalee is quiet but watching their every move. Some of the color has returned to her face and neck, at least. She keeps glancing between the exit and us, and I try to motion for her to leave with a tiny nod, but she sets her mouth just like she used to before standing up for herself to bullies when we were kids. I shake my head to deter her from that and hope it’s enough, but I know she isn’t going to budge from her seat.
“We’re working on something that will finally set us on the path to fortune,” Snake says, waving a hand in the air. He always did lean toward the dramatics.
“And whatsomethingare you working on? Perfecting meth?” I ask.
