River chuckles, but Snake’s smile tightens, his bloodshot eyes narrowing around his pinpoint pupils. “Always the jokester, huh?” Snake says then picks up Avalee’s crystal flute and takes a whiff before bringing it to his lips for a sip. “Mmm, your girl here has some good taste.” Snake tosses the rest of the golden bubbly in my face and cackles.
“Is there a problem here, sir?” Our waiter stalks over, but he looks uncertain as to how to handle the situation.
I hold up a hand to halt the waiter and shake my head, then pick up the napkin from my lap and gently wipe away the alcohol, working as hard as I have ever had to to keep my fury under wraps. If Avalee weren’t here, I would already have Snake pinned to the floor. But I have made a serious effort to temper that rage over the years. I’m not the scrawny boy they kicked around in high school anymore and Snake knows it from the last time I whooped his ass, but he also seems to have realized I’m holding back. He’s smart, even if he acts like a flaming idiot.
“Let’s try this again, maybe slower so your tiny brain can compute,” Snake chides. “We have a business prospect that can finally get us to the financial success and freedom we so desire and deserve. But we need your help, little brother. Your…expertise…is required,” he says.
Great. Just fucking great.
“What is he talking about, Ruin?” Avalee asks.
I shake my head at her and glare at Snake then River. “No.”
Avalee raises her brows and crosses her arms, and she clearly looks put out by my reluctance to answer her questions. But if I answer them now, then I will have a lot more to answer for. And I’m still struggling to figure out how to share that with her.
Snake sits back and smiles, then his eyes slither back to Avalee. “Okay. How about this. If you don’t agree to help us, we will just have to dig into the background of your pretty little friend here and see what’s hiding in her closet. I bet she has all kinds of skeletons,” he says, starting to reach for her, and I smack his hand away.
He starts cackling again, and River shakes his head. River is just as much of a prick as Snake, but he at least has respect for women. I’ve seen him knock Snake around a few times, but since Snake is a year his senior, he usually falls right in line behind him.
“Fine. But I’ll only help you this one time and only if you promise to keep her out of it.” I don’t say her name. I want to give them as little information about her as possible—anything to keep her safe, even lying to their faces that I will help them.
Snake opens his arms wide and then pats me on the shoulder. “There we go, little brother. Now, was that so hard?”
“Whatever. Just leave.”
A man in a nice black button-down and fitted black slacks approaches our table. “Excuse me, gentlemen, miss,” he says, turning to Avalee, then back to my brothers. “But I’m going to have to ask that you vacate the premises before I have to call the police.”
Snake and River stand to leave. “Suits me just as well. This place is a little too above the collar for me. I think I want to go have myself a juicy cheeseburger. You know, eat more at my level. Something you should probably be doing too,” Snake says, pointing back at me. As they are walking away, he picks up a roll from a nearby table, and another customer gasps in disgust.
The manager grunts and starts following them out.
I turn back to Avalee and try to think of something to say to fix the situation, but she stands up and stalks off to the bathroom before I can get a word in. I sigh and toss my napkin on the table, cursing my father and my dirtied blood. Why did I have to be related to those criminals? Then again, I am related to them. So, I do share their blood. Which means I’m really no better than them, right? I mean, what am I doing here in this fancy place with Avalee? Honestly, with my record, I’m more like Snake and River than I will ever hope to be like Avalee. She’s pure, and I’m nowhere near good enough to touch that world.
My heart squeezes tight as I consider what I may have to do to keep her safe. It isn’t ideal, but maybe she will be better off without me after all. Sure, my criminal record is based on a lie. I didn’t actually commit the crime, but I took the fall for it all the same. It didn’t help that I was there, incriminating myself. How do I explain to her now that I’m innocent? After the little shitshow those two pulled, will she even believe me?
No. Maybe I am better off staying in my lane and letting her drive on ahead in her own. Otherwise, what am I doing but inviting more chaos into her life? She comes back from the restroom, her eyes a little puffy and blotchy. Great. She’s been crying, and it’s my fault. I promised to protect her and to keep her safe from my brothers, and I’ve already broken my word.
I look at my hands and wish there were something I could say or do to fix everything, but I’m lost and unsure of myself.
Avalee picks up her fork and starts eating her dessert in silence. I guess I can only be thankful she didn’t storm out of the restaurant, and I have to see if there is any way I can salvage what my brothers have broken. My shirt is still soaked from Snake tossing champagne in my face, and I dab at it with my napkin.
“We’ll have to go back and soak that so it doesn’t stain,” Avalee says around a mouthful of cake decked with chocolate mousse and points my way with a crumb-covered fork.
I smile, but a throbbing in the center of my skull makes it hard for me to think about anything but knocking Snake’s last few good teeth out of his head.
Seventeen
Avalee
We walk through the door of my apartment, my legs feeling heavy, and I finally am able to breathe after the little upset at dinner with Ruin’s brothers. No wonder my father didn’t want me involved with the Lautners. I knew Ruin’s father was a piece of work, but his brothers might be worse.
Half brothers,I remind myself. Poor Ruin. I mean, wow. Honestly, they are nothing like the man beside me, petting and cooing over Stormy, who is happily licking Ruin to pieces. Ruin may be cooing over Stormy, but his face is guarded and has been since the restaurant. He’s barely said more than two words to me since we left, and those were “You okay?”
“Give me your shirt,” I say, reaching out to him.
Ruin’s dark eyes search mine for a moment, but he doesn’t say anything, just begins unbuttoning. With each button, his rippled chest and abs slowly emerge from beneath the navy-blue button-down. I bite my bottom lip, stealing a couple glances at his toned and tanned figure. He has more tattoos hidden under the fabric, but I try to focus on what’s important right now—which is cleaning his shirt and finding out more about what his brothers meant by “expertise.”
“You can use my shower if you want, to get washed up. But I’m afraid I only have girlie shampoos and soaps,” I say with a frown.
