I shook my head, not sure what to say to him about Cillian’s shitty mood, and he nodded sharply, telling me he understood. The topic was dropped, and Conall asked about what it was like to blow up Reyes’s cousin instead.
The ride went quicker after that conversation began because Rowen had a slew of questions as well, but even as we exited the car at the club and handed the keys to a parking attendant in a specialized garage for VIP customers, Cillian didn’t look at me. He was purposely staring at everything else to avoid meeting my gaze, and I couldn’t help the anger that stirred inside me. I’d thought we’d put this to rest, but now I knew better.
Like me, Cillian wasn’t the kind of guy who put emotions aside. He let them poison his system, festering worse than an infected wound until it exploded into fury, which he used as a weapon against our enemies. Usually, I thought of controlled passion as a good thing, but I’d noticed that the angrier he got, the more mistakes he made.
“I got us into the VIP section,” Conall said as we headed toward a bright red door to the side of the parking garage.
“Won’t that bring us too much attention?” Rowen asked. It was a good question.
“Nope.” Conall popped thepin the word, which reminded me of Vail, and a hollowness in my chest ached. Leaving Vail and Fallon before never hurt, but this time it did because the distance between me and Cillian was a mile wide and cold as ice, a bone-deep freeze. “Lions prowls the dance floor looking for guys to flirt with. Most are straight, taken, or pretend to be, so he doesn’t usually have much luck. That’s why he frequented the Virtue.”
“What’s the plan?” Cillian asked gruffly.
Conall stopped before he reached the door and turned to us. “We bait him.”
Rowen cleared his throat. “Why do I have a wee feeling that I don’t want to know yer plan?”
Conall laughed. “We dance.” He paused with a frown. “Well, you dance. Very sexily. Together. And when Lions comes over and flirts, which he will, you’ll convince him to come outside and you’ll knock him out. Then we take him to Vinegar Hill andta-da! We remind him why he should treat our products nicely.”
Rowen snorted out a laugh. “I can’t dance in that tangle of bodies. If it’s only throwing meself about with no steps, I can’t do it.”
“He’s not lying.” Cillian crossed his arms. “So, are ye gonna do it then, Conall?”
Conall chuckled. “Of course not. Can you imagine if word gets back to Sloan that I was grinding up against you or Aspen? He’ll kill you.” He pointed at me and Cillian. “It’ll have to be you two, then.”
I sighed. “Sir—”
Conall shook his head. “It’s only dancing for an hour, and probably not even that long.”
He didn’t give us a chance to argue. Opening the door, he waved at us to follow. Cillian finally glanced at me from the corner of his eye, but he quickly diverted his attention again and huffed. We followed Conall inside and walked down a wide hallway with deep red lighting that was supposed to be sexy, but in my current mood it was gloomy.
Music pounded in a hard, fast beat, and the closer we got to another door at the far end of the hallway, the louder it became. When Conall opened the door, the sound blasted my ears and it was like walking straight into a wall of noise. I’d never been the biggest fan of clubs. Pre-Vail, I preferred to find people to fuck in quieter places.
We walked straight into the VIP section, which was cordoned off with thick red ropes and security guards who manned the entrance to it. The guards at the doorway we’d come through nodded in greeting, and Conall patted one on the shoulder, which made me wonder if he knew him. I guessed he did. Conall wasn’t a touchy-feely guy, and I didn’t blame him. Sloan never liked him getting too close to other men.
Conall led us up a set of steel stairs to a wide balcony and took us to a high table positioned near the railing. He sat down on a stool overlooking the dance floor, and we each took one for ourselves.
A bartender with a rich bronze complexion, cute smile, and Ghana braids immediately walked over to us from behind a steel bar. She grinned and swished her hips like she was on a runway, and I could see why. She was all curves and confidence, wearing a short leather miniskirt and a black tank top with the red words Club Bellissimo printed over her big, round breasts.
“Hey, honey bears, what can I get you to drink?” She pulled out a tablet and winked at me. Yeah, if I didn’t have my guys, I would’ve fucked her in the bathroom the first chance I got. But even though she was hot as hell, I had no interest in her, either. My men were all I needed, even Cillian with his bad moods.
I glanced at him and noticed immediately he was staring at me, eyes squinted and lip curled, clearly unhappy with me checking her out. I shrugged because I was still a man with eyes, even if I had no temptation to fuck anyone else.
We each ordered a beer. Before the server left, she made a point of touching my wrist, but I pulled away and smiled to let her know I wasn’t interested. She sighed but nodded to tell me she understood, then left.
Cillian grunted. “Have fun flirting with her?” he snapped, loud enough for everyone to hear. Even though he was only on the opposite side of the table, he didn’t bother to keep his voice down. “Maybe ye should go to the bathroom and fuck that tight pussy, too?”
Conall’s gaze cut to him, eyes wide, while Rowen’s brows dipped in a frown.
I sighed. And this was the explosion. “I wasn’t flirting.”
He leaned forward and slapped his hand on the table. “She had her hands all over ye.”
“And I showed her I wasn’t interested. She understood.” I shrugged. There wasn’t much else I could say to defend myself. He was in the type of mood where he wanted to lash out and it was easier to let him. He fired his insecurities through harsh words. I’d thought he’d grown since dating Vail, but clearly this bad habit was still there.
He grunted.
Conall used his hand to create aTin front of himself. “Time out, fellas. We’re here for a job.” He smiled, but it was hesitant. “Maybe I should come up with another idea.”
