“No,” I said, “but I think you know who might’ve.”
For a breath, neither of us moved. His gaze dropped, flicked to my mouth, then back to my eyes. My heart slammed against my ribs, the tension so sharp, it almost felt like a blade.
His eyes narrowed. “What exactly do you want me to do, Lucy?”
“I want you to help me.”
That earned a bitter smile. “Help you do what? Get yourself killed by asking questions you’re not ready to hear answers to?”
“I don’t care,” I said. “He was my brother.”
“And he was my best friend,” Jay said, the edge of pain slicing through his calm exterior. “Don’t you stand there and act like I didn’t love him too.”
The words hit harder than I’d expected. For a second, the silence between us was heavy. Then, Jay stood fully, taller and broader than I remembered, and far more dangerous.
“You want my help?” he asked. “Then you play bymyrules. You don’t go around asking the wrong people questions. You don’t flash this”—he tapped the report—“like a badge. And you sure as hell don’t come here again without backup.”
I nodded, the words‘I have backup’right on the edge of my tongue, but my gut told me pulling out a gun in the middle of a biker bar wasn’t a good idea.
Jay exhaled a long breath that looked like it had been waiting years to be released.
“I’ll look into it,” he said at last. “But if you’re gonna dig, Lucy, be ready to find bones.”
I was about to fire back when the sickly-sweet scent of perfume slid in between us. The same brunette from before, with dark red lipstick and a smirk that didn’t reach her eyes, sauntered behind the bar. She wrapped her arm around Jay, and pushed her body up against his. Her nails tapped the wood like she owned the place.
“Well, well,” she drawled, looking me up and down like I was a stray dog she’d found in the kitchen. “Didn’t know we were letting civilians drink here, Reaper.”
Jay didn’t look at her, he kept his eyes on me. “She’s here for Caleb.”
“Guess you’re the sister,” she went on. “Caleb’s little shadow. You’ve got his jaw... and his bad habit of sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
My fists curled in my sleeves, but I kept my voice level. “And you are?”
Her smile widened, all teeth. “The one who’s been keeping the President here warm at night.”
I forced a smile and tilted my head. “Oh, you’re a mattress with lipstick. Got it.”
A laugh broke from one of the bikers, and her expression flickered, just for a heartbeat, before settling back into smug superiority. She straightened, brushing her hand along Jay’s arm like she was marking territory.
“Careful, sweetheart. This place eats girls like you alive.”
I leaned in, smirking at her, and was about to reply when Jay stepped in and barked, “Enough, Gabby.”
“Some people in this place don’t like Kane blood hanging around,” Gabby snarled.
It wasn’t only jealousy in her eyes. It was something sharper, like she knew more than she was saying. Gabby’s smirk returned as she turned away, hips swaying as she headed towards a group of women in the corner, laughing loud enough to carry.
“She fits right in, doesn’t she? Leather, lipstick, and legs wide open.”
Jaysmirked without humour. “Jealous? Don’t be. You’re not my type.” Although his eyes trailed down to my chest and stayed there for a beat too long.
“Good, because you’re not mine either.”
Jay exhaled slowly, eyes locked on mine. “You ready to make enemies, Lucy?”
“I thought I already had.”
Chapter 6
