Pulling away, she pulls the hood of her coat over her ash-blonde hair and begins to walk away.
“She’s got this,” Syrus says, watching her.
Kyren chews on his bottom lip before he nods and pulls on a ski mask. Izzy and I do the same, while Syrus rolls his eyes and pulls out a black handkerchief that he ties around his lower face before pulling up his hood.
“Show offs,” he mutters, beginning to walk across to the woods.
I really want another pair of eyes on her, but Kyren can’t have his computer with him to hack into the security cameras and also be able to join in the killing.
Come on, baby. Let’s do this.
Silva
Forcing myself to keep breathing, I’m glad my shaking hands are shoved in my pockets as I walk through the automatic doors of this huge hotel.
“Can you hear me, baby?” Harlan asks in my ear.
“Mmhmm,” I reply.
Putting one foot in front of the other is the only way that I get myself from the lobby to the bar on the right side of the area.
While there’s bright lighting in the lobby, everything is muted in the bar as men smoke their cigars and make deals with their scotch and water in front of them. They think it’s a power drink, and I think that the deals aren’t meant to benefit anyone else without high loss to the other person.
“Good,” Kyren breathes as I walk.
Their voices help to ground me. My heart stops sitting in my throat, and I no longer feel as if I may pass out. I want to show them that I can do this.
This place reminds of the Henderson mansion, in some way, from the greed in some of the men’s gazes and the desperation in others. The world preys on the weak, and this place isn’t any different.
Brad sits in the corner, attempting to look cool and confident. Pushing off my hood slowly, I’m aware of the interest I’m receiving as I walk through the room to the bar. Forcing a smile at the bartender, I nod as he inclines his head toward his clients waiting.
I get it. I’m not really here for him anyway.
“What do you see, Spitfire?” Syrus asks. “Is he still there?”
Turning slowly, I push back my long hair that’s dried naturally in waves. In the corner of my eye, I can see Brad lean forward, trying to see me better.
“Yes,” I say under my breath.
I don’t know if I look familiar to Brad, or if I just appear to be a pretty face he’d like to fuck.
The joke’s on him though because I’m no longer eighteen, and I’m a lot more dangerous than I used to be. He and his brother had the hold on me that they did because they promised to leave my sister alone. The gloves are off, puppy.
I’m no longer on a leash.
“Hey. Can I help you?” the bartender asks, pulling my attention back to him.
I’m not very excited to give Brad my back, but I need to make sure he’s hooked enough to follow me. Brad-e-poo doesn’t like to be ignored.
“Actually, you can,” I say, facing the bartender. I know the guys can hear me, and that gives me a small boost of confidence. “Is there any chance that you’re hiring?”
“Do you think you can handle a group like this?” he asks. “The clientele here seem clean cut, but they’re still predators.”
“Not everything that glitters is gold, huh?” I ask, smirking. “I’m allergic to cigar smoke, so you might be right. This may not be the right place for me.”
Lies drop effortlessly from my lips, and I shrug as if it doesn’t matter either way to me. I decided to play this as confident instead of scared and shifty.
Brad will be even more tempted to knock me down a peg or two that way.
