“Nah. I should come to the shop. I will one of these days—we’re just busy.”
Tobias basically has a stronghold on the underworld of the Northeast, so it’s not surprising he’s busy. “I’ll come more,” I assure him. “Just wanted to get things settled.”
“And how are things?”
I almost lie and say things are great, but that’s not why I came here. “I met someone recently. Not in a good way.”
It’s cryptic, and I know I should say more, but I’m still gathering my thoughts.
“From our past?” Tobias asks. He means the pedophiles who served as the Kays’ clients. We didn’t get all of them that night, but we did get a lot.
“No, someone completely unconnected to the past. He’s…well, he’s kind of important and—”
My throat closes, thinking about the dream I had with Felix. I close my eyes and tug on my jacket to help ground me in the here and now.
“Here.” I look up, and Tobias is handing me a bottle of water.
“Thanks,” I take a sip and force myself to continue. “I saw someone who made me feel like I did the night we killed them all. I don’t know why, but it fucked me up. I’ve been a wreck ever since, and I don’t know what it means.”
Tobias looks at me with concern. His eyes trail down to my hands, then back up to my eyes. “Is he older?”
“No. Younger. He’s nothing like the men. He’s young and beautiful and—”
I can feel my heartbeat in my temples. My eyes close, and I fill my lungs with air, trying to calm down. Just thinking about Felix makes my inner world quake. The tension inside tightens, and my anxiety spikes.
“You like him.” It isn’t a question. Tobias knows me too well.
I shake my head, “You know I don’t get that way with people, but—”
“This one is different,” he finishes.
I nod in defeat. Felix isn’t just beautiful. There’s a playfulness to his bratty ways that I find irresistible.
“What are you afraid of?” Tobias asks.
I sigh, looking at the desk that separates us, feeling like I’m a million miles away from him. “I’m afraid I’ll slip up—let him get close, and—” my voice trails off for a beat, before I add, “do something.” Thesomethingdoesn’t need an explanation.
Tobias stands and goes to the window, looking out into the grey sky. “How important is he? Hard to make disappear?”
Tobias and I would do anything for each other. If that meant cleaning up the other’s mess, so be it. “Very important, and I don’t want anything like that to happen. I just don’t know who else to talk to. Nobody else would understand.”
He looks at me, and my heart swells. Tobias is ruthless, and I cherish the fact that he shows me his sympathy and compassion. “You’re going to be okay. It’s just a feeling. You didn’t act.”
“But what if I do?”
“You won’t. I know you won’t.” Tobias closes the distance between us and takes a seat on the desk, and rubs my shoulder. “Go to the club. Get it out of your system.”
Kitty Cat Club.Maybe he’s right. I just need to let it rip for a night—purge whatever is rumbling inside me with some willing participant. “You’re right.”
He gives me a meaningful look, examining my face and trying to sense if I’m really okay. “Stay a while. Have lunchwith me.”
I’m about to agree when we hear a clamor outside. The double doors swing open, and two Hellcats drag a man inside with Trixie, a sex worker who lives here, following behind. “What happened?” Tobias yells as he rises and approaches the three men.
“This asshole choked Trixie—almost fucking killed her.”
My eyes land on Trixie. Her body shakes with fear, and her hand covers her neck. She has beautiful blue eyes, and they shimmer with tears. She’s on the smaller side, and this motherfucker they dragged in is big. Really big.
Suddenly, a bead of blood trails down her nose. Tobias is screaming at the man, but I zero in on Trixie and close the distance between us.
