“Well, I wasn’t a soldier, so you can stop calling me that.” He lied, hating how easily she could read him.
“Alright, no need to be touchy about it.” She held her hands up in surrender, but there was still a smile on her face that showed she wasn’t upset about his attitude. “So tell mewhat kind of work you are looking for.” She took a drink of her beer; his gaze fell to her throat as she swallowed, noting how long and delicate it was.
“The kind where I can make quick money.”
She licked her lips as her gaze raked over him. Greg had never felt so naked as under those feline eyes. He felt himself expanding his chest and flexing his biceps as if he were trying to impress her. For the job, not because he wanted her to find him attractive. “And why would you think you can find that here?”
“People talk.”
“What kind of people is that?” Her head cocked to the side as if studying him. There was curiosity in her tone. Greg honestly didn’t know if it was common knowledge to find the drugs here or if only a select few knew. That was just a hunch. But judging by the crowd in this place and the drugs being passed out like candy, people had to know this was the place to find it.
“The kind of people who know where to find a good deal.” He hoped he wasn’t laying it on too thick, but if he could get in with her boss, he stood a better chance of shutting this thing down.
The woman seemed to be studying him as if she were trying to decipher his words to see if they were a lie or not. Greg kept his face passive. She was more perceptive than he’d first thought. “Well, I’m afraid your people were wrong.”
“Are you sure about that?” His head tilted to a woman handing out a small bag of pills to a couple. The man handed her a stack of cash and took one of the pills out. The woman he was with held her mouth open for him to drop the pill on her tongue.
Greg looked back at the woman, daring her to contradict him.
The woman didn’t bat an eyelash. “Do yourself a favor, soldier, and leave the way you came,” she said instead of giving him an answer. She wasn’t rude about it; if anything, she was warning him away.
“And what if I don’t want to leave?” He had no intention of leaving until he found out where the drugs were coming from and who the supplier was.
She lifted a slim shoulder up in a shrug as if she didn’t care either way. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She started to walk away, but he reached out and grabbed her wrist. It wasn’t a tight grip, only meant to halt her leaving. He hoped the move didn’t get him killed; she did hang around with crime bosses. Someone was probably watching her and ready to break him like a toothpick if he stepped out of line.
“Wait,” he called softly so he didn’t upset her.
The woman didn’t pull away but looked up at him unafraid. Whether it was because she could defend herself or someone would come to her rescue, he didn’t know.
“Are you at least going to tell me your name?” He wanted to know her name. Had to know her name.
She gave him a saucy wink before pulling away; this time he let her go, and she disappeared into the crowd. Damn, she was probably his in to finding out who was in charge, and he’d lost her.
Greg sipped his beer as he weaved through the crowd, looking for more people with the drugs but also for the woman he now couldn’t get out of his head.
A few people were groaning and heaving against each other. More than one person reached for him to join, but he moved away quickly. Greg had no intention of joining. He was here to do a job, plain and simple. That job currently was to get upstairs—but how?
He’d made soft inquiries to the woman handing out bags about where the drugs were coming from, but she seemed clueless. Her job was only to hand it out. All his answers were upstairs.
He looked around to find a way to sneak up, when he saw the woman and another man laughing as they headed out the side door, their arms linked together. The man was a giant and needed to duck his head to clear the doorframe.
Greg debated a moment with following or leaving them be and approaching when they came back. The guy could probably crush his skull with his bare hands, but he wanted to see the woman again. She was his ticket to getting close to Maxim.
Greg made sure no one was looking and followed, ensuring to keep far enough away that neither noticed him. The side door led outside to the street. It was mostly deserted with only a few people stumbling by laughing and talking loudly. Someone was always on the streets in Vegas at all hours.
Greg immediately saw her. She was leaning against the brick wall of the building, her back to him, talking to the giant who was smoking a cigarette. They seemed to be in a deep conversation, but he was too far away to hear what it was. Neither seemed to notice him standing there with the door propped open and his head poking out.
Suddenly an SUV pulled up to the curb and two men jumped out. They wore normal street clothes and hadn’t bothered to cover their faces. Either they didn’t care who saw them or knew they wouldn’t be recognized.
The giant flicked his cigarette to the ground and pushed the woman toward the door Greg was standing at. The two men from the SUV charged after the giant—which was smart in Greg’s opinion since it would take at least two people to take him down. Each attacker grabbed the giant’s arms and started dragging him toward the car.
“Aleksei,” the woman called out.
“Get out of here, Silver,” he shouted at her, not trying to fight off his attackers.
The crazy woman didn’t listen and instead charged after the attackers like a bull who’d just seen red. She swung her fist at the closest one’s face.
The attacker dodged the blow and released Aleksei to slam her up against the wall and then pulled out a pistol from his hip holster and aimed at her chest. The other attacker kicked at the back of Aleksei’s legs, dropping him to his knees. That attacker aimed his own gun at the back of Aleksei’s head. Despite the obvious danger they were in, Silver looked calm as if this were an everyday occurrence.
