Her eyes.
They’re unfocused. She smiles, bats her pretty little eyelashes at the men at her feet, but it’s almost as if she’s looking through them. Her mind is elsewhere, disconnected from the body crawling along the floor, pandering for men’s attention. Theycall out to her, requests, beckoning her closer, wanting totouchher, waving dollars at her. But it’s as if she can’t hear them.
Her body, usually loose and free when she’s dancing, is tense; the delicate curve of her shoulders are stiff, and her fingers grip the pole in front of her just a little too tightly.
She’s on edge. My fists clench and my jaw tightens. I sit perfectly still, and I know I should look away but I can’t. Afraid that if I do, she’ll disappear and I’ll lose her again.
Fury burns hot under my skin but I force myself to stay in my seat.
“Gorgeous, right?” I hear Giovanni say, taking notice of my attention.
I don’t say anything, don’t look at him, keeping my eyes locked on her.
“She for sale?” I hear Alex say, and I break my gaze on Briar for the first time to shoot him a dark look. He just cocks his head at me.
Giovanni, to my surprise, looks uncomfortable. His mouth tightens when he looks up at Briar, not answering Alex’s question.
Instead, he turns his attention back on me. “You like her, yeah?”
Look away.
“That’s Bella.”
No. That’s Briar.
I force my eyes away from the stage again and reach down to pick up my drink.
The music finally stops and my little dancer disappears backstage, and it takes everything in me not to follow her.
Giovanni leans over to tell one of his men something. The man nods and disappears.
Moments later a couple girls are brought over, though none of them are Briar.
A girl with short, bright purple hair that has to be a wig slithers up to me, attempting to take a seat on my knee.
“No,” I growl, lightly shoving her away.
She’s not too broken up about it because a half a second later she’s crawling into Liam’s lap alongside the blonde he’s already got curled around him, whispering something into his ear with a smile on her face.
I want to find Briar. I want to find out why the fuck she’s here but I sense Giovanni’s eyes on me. I’ve already piqued his interest when I stared at Briar for too long.
He calls her Bella.How many fucking names does this girl have?
“So about those girls you owe me.” I fixate my narrowed attention back on to Giovanni.
The waitress appears, slipping a fresh glass of sambuca con la mosca into Giovanni’s hands but I don’t look up, enjoying watching Giovanni squirm under my hardened gaze a little too much.
“What can I get for you?”
I see her at the exact moment she sees me, and she straightens up with surprise, nearly dropping the glass in her hand.
Briar.
“Your best Irish whiskey,” Liam chirps, oblivious though he looks my way, tilting his head questioningly.
Briar doesn’t move, doesn’t write down the order. No, she just stares at me. A fawn’s response, deer in headlights, which slowly morphs into panic and fear as her eyes dart between Gio and me.
“Ah, Bella.” Giovanni’s Italian accent draws out her name, and I almost reach for my gun when his hand wraps around Briar’s wrist, tugging her down and into his lap.
