Maybe this was something they dealt with all the time from him. Maybe the tension would dissipate, but when his finger whipped toward me and he practically snarled at me seated at the table, I felt the tension in the air thicken. “Or do you think this girl here is best for us?” The man sucked on his teeth before looking to me with irritation in his almost-black eyes. “She so precious that she was worth the body count of those at the club last night?”
More than a few people were looking our way now. Jameson breathed in once before he responded, “Trent, I’ll tell you one time not to look at her.”
He immediately looked away from me. “I’m just saying, it’s obvious you lashed out because of her rather than letting O’Connor’s men have a simple conversation with us.”
Jameson didn’t respond. Instead he stood there, raising an eyebrow, and let the man continue on.
“What? She that good to you?” The man’s eyes held Jameson’s. “Must not just be a nanny then.” He shook his head like he knew he had an audience now, like he was gaining confidence in the way this was all going. He even elbowed the man next to him. “Dalton, can you imagine a woman so good we should give up chances at East Coast alliances? A diamond remains unbroken, and the East Coast will take care of the cracks.”
Something in Jameson’s stance changed then. The whole room felt it enough that the music even seemed to fade away. People whispered. Hades and Archer moved to stand behind him. Cal groaned.
Trent seemed to realize his mistake. He held up his hands. “You know, we can talk about this later. I get sometimes women can cause us to be emotional, right? She’s pretty. I get it. Maybe I’ll pay for her services after you’re done with her.” He chuckled timidly as he bumbled around his words, showing his teeth, yellowed like he’d had one too many cigars.
Trent was a stupid, stupid man to claim that Jameson was emotional. Most everyone in the room could have told him that. I knew then that this wouldn’t end well, not when Jameson was already wound tight from the night before. He cracked his neck, and instantly the room shifted.
I stood to murmur to him, “It doesn’t matter, Jameson. He’s doing it to get a rise out of you, and who cares when it’s just me. Iamjust the nanny. I don’t really belong at your side here—”
“From now on, you always belong at my side, Mia.” He slid his hand to my neck so he could rub his thumb over my cheek softly. “Don’t ever say you’rejustmy nanny again.”
Then he turned and took one step forward. Both men backed up, but they couldn’t go far. Other men were closing in and surrounding them as if they knew what was about to happen.
Everyone waited for Jameson, waited for a command, and I held my breath, not sure what was about to happen.
He leaned down and murmured to me, “Look away if it will give you nightmares, baby.”
And then he told his men, “Veil and clean up.”
The color drained from Trent’s face, his brows slamming down in fear. “Now, hold on, Mr. Knight. Please.”
“Jameson, tonight? Really?” Olive whined as men started to encircle both Jameson and Trent.
Pink whooped just as I saw Jameson pull a gun, and then the men blocked my view.
I heard one shot.
So loud.
So singular and potent, there was no mistaking what it was. Right after, a body dropped, and it only took them about ten seconds to disassemble the circle they’d made. Jameson used a handkerchief to wipe away some blood from his face, and the man was gone.
So clean.
So fast.
“Now”—Jameson’s jaw worked before he turned to the man who’d come with Trent. This man stood there with wide eyes, his mouth opening and closing—“does anybody else want to say something about my date?”
No one said a single word.
He stared at the guy Trent called Dalton. “I’ll giveyoufive minutes, unless you’d like none like Trent?”
“Mr. Knight, I mean no disrespect like he did.”
“Don’t even look her way. You do, and you’ll be bleeding out like him. Use your five minutes wisely. They’ll determine whether you live or die after last night.” He turned to me. “I’ll be back soon. Darling, eat.”
Should I admit that I could have actually eaten and enjoyed the meal? That what had happened in front of me was starting to feel normal, acceptable? That the crawling, gut reaction to that man who had stood before us just seconds ago was completely eliminated by the man I was falling for, and I relished in it rather than feared it?
I sighed as I watched him walk away and took a bite of the food in front of me. Steak and mashed potatoes that melted in your mouth. I wasn’t hungry for food though.
“Well, the night’s about to take a turn.” Callahan sighed as he watched his brother go.
