“We need some information,” I began to say, and then gulped because there had been something I didn’t tell the guys last time. “I’m ready to go all in. I want to trace the number back to the source.”
I looked at Teclas, but in the corner of my eye, I could see Grayson’s head snap toward me, and a part of me hated myself for keeping quiet on this. On the fact that I could have found out who was targeting us a lot sooner. I didn’t want to look Grayson in the eyes because I would see the anger in them. He would regret ever trusting me, no matter how frail his trust was to begin with, and now that I was certain I had just lost it again, it made the pit of my stomach sink.
Teclas smiled, and the teenager with a gummy smile and braces was no more. In his place was a teenager with the smile of a psychopath.
He swiveled in his chair and scurried over to grab a device that he handed to me.
“Plug your phone here,” he instructed me. “I’m going to make a copy of your information. Anything you receive, I’ll receive.” He then smirked at us and wiggled his eyebrows. “No naughty pics unless you guys want me to see them too.”
I knew Grayson wanted to scoff at this, or make a nasty retort about sending me anything, but he didn’t. I allowed myself to take a peek at him, and I could see he was biting his lip. Probably to keep himself from snapping at me.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I replied.
I thought it was best to go along with whatever he wanted. In this place, he held all the power.
We waited in silence as Teclas made a back channel into my phone. Once he was done, he told me to unplug it and that he would contact me.
I got up, and Grayson followed. Just as I turned around to walk out of the room, Grayson spoke up. Based on his tone, I knew he was pissed at me. In this moment, I was glad I had driven, or else I was sure he would have left my ass here.
“What about payment? What do we owe you?”
Teclas leaned back and looked Grayson up and down, and then at me.
“When I think of something, I’ll let Cruzito know.”
Grayson’s jaw clenched, and he just nodded at him.
Another thing I should have probably mentioned was that Teclas didn’t always deal with money. He was a teenager who had more than he knew what to do with it. What he wanted were other things that would serve as his entertainment.
18
GRAYSON
Iwaited until we’d cleared the building, out of sight and out of earshot, before I turned on Cruz.
“What. The fuck,” I ground out, getting all up in his face.
He smirked. “Got something to say, Cross?”
I shoved at his chest, catching him off guard, and he stumbled backward, the side of the building stopping his movements. His lip curled as he snarled under his breath.
I didn’t bother to heed his warning. Using my body weight to hold him in place, I planted my hands on the brick wall on either side of his head. I was under no illusion that he couldn’t flip our positions if he wanted to, but I needed him to stay where he was. I needed answers. Now.
Ignoring the heat of the solid line of his body against mine, I pressed my forehead to his. Hard. “Yeah. I do. What the fuck was that?”
His nostrils flared, his jaw working, but he remained silent.
This fucker wassuch an asshole. I pressed into him even harder, and when he exhaled harshly, grinding forward, my breath caught in my throat. What the actual—? “The fuck? This turns you on, Martinez?” I growled.
He shoved at my chest, and it was my turn to stagger back, creating some much-needed distance between us. His gaze dropped to the bulge in my jeans, and he smirked. Again. “I could ask you the same question.”
“Fuck you.”
“Is that an offer?”
“Fuck. Off. Are you gonna tell me what that was all about?” I jabbed my finger in the direction of the building we’d just left. “You had this resource all along?”
His smirk disappeared. “It was a resource I didn’t want to use. It was my last resort. You wouldn’t understand.”
