Pulling at the cuffs of my shirt, I stand, avoiding their eyes and ignoring his question as I peer around the room in search of Alicia, wondering where she's run off to while I've been distracted.
"What have you got Leo doing?" Jaylen asks, standing from the table and walking around it until he's in front of me.
My eyes meet his, and I scratch at my beard as I sigh, knowing he won't let it go until he knows the answer.
"He's keeping an eye on Lenny while the Garcia's are still in London."
Jaylen shakes his head.
"You just can't help yourself, can you? If they realise you're having him followed, it's gonna cause trouble, Dom."
"Which is exactly why I sent Leo," I snap.
The flash of hurt I see in his eyes has me gritting my teeth, and I close my eyes as I sigh.
"Jay, I'm—"
"No, you're good," he says, waving off my apology and stepping back, looking at me with what I think is disappointment in his gaze. "I get it. I'm still not back at my best, so I'm being kept out of the loop, and you're sending Leo out instead of me. It's cool."
He turns and walks off, leaving me feeling guilty as I watch after him.
"Nice one, dickhead," Kaleb says, roughly clapping his hand on my shoulder as he shakes his head and follows after Jaylen.
My brows draw down.
"You know you've really fucked up when he's willingly leaving me alone to follow after a man he claims not to care about," Sophia says, standing from her chair with a groan.
She grabs onto my arm, squeezing it until I look down at her, and my shoulders slump as I fiddle with the rings on my fingers, knowing she's about to give me an earful.
"I know you're angry, Dom, and I know you feel like everything is slipping out of your control, but you can't keep lashing out at people. Especially not the people who care about you. I understand you're under a lot of pressure right now, and you're stressed because there's a lot of change going on, but don't push us away. Especially not Jaylen. He's been working so hard to get back to where he was so he can be back at your side. You need him there, Dom."
With those parting words, she hobbles away towards my parents, who are across the room speaking with Brody. I sigh as I grab my glass from the table, knocking back the drink before signalling a waiter to come and top my glass up.
Twenty minutes have gone by, consisting of people bidding goodbye to me as the guests in the room surrounding me slowly start to dwindle down as the night comes to an end. It's not until there's only about ten members of my organisation left that I find myself curious as to where the little viper has disappeared to.
Come to think of it, I haven't seen her since she was dancing with Jaylen, and glancing at the watch on my wrist confirms that was almost an hour ago.
Draining the remainder of the liquid in my glass, I pull my phone from my pocket as the burn of the alcohol slides down my throat, trailing a warm path into my stomach.
Dominic:
Any idea where the viper is?
Percy:
Who?
Dominic:
My wife…
"Last time I saw her, she was heading out to the lobby, looked like she was in a rush to get somewhere," he says from behind me, causing me to jump slightly. He laughs at me, patting me on the shoulder.
I frown at his words, glancing around the room again as if I were expecting to see her, but I'd know if she were here.
She may annoy me and ruffle my feathers, but I'm drawn to her.
She's a beacon, and I hate to admit it, but my eyes struggle to stray from her when we're in the same room.
