Page 7 of Smoke

I wipe the sweat off my brow with the back of my hand and slide onto the nearest barstool. I groan as I rub my calves. What I would give for a full body massage. If I could afford one. I sigh and light up a cigarette.

Level Up is not the gold mine I first thought it was. While the markup on alcohol is substantial, the overhead costs of keeping a kitchen and a fully functioning arcade is high. Hence why I don’t employ a single person. But something’s gotta give at some point. I can’t keep burning the candle at both ends.

I’m about three nude photos away from having a nervous fucking breakdown.

And just when I think I can’t take any more hits to my nervous system, a loud bang erupts against my window.

I spin around in the stool, my heart racing, to see that massive blond fucker, Scarrow, pounding his fist against the glass. Hawk and Omen hover next to him, both scowling.

Fuck, I must’ve locked it without thinking. I sprint to the door and can barely get it open fast enough before the three of them come barreling in. “Sorry, force of habit,” I mutter.

They toss curses at me, all while brushing imaginary dirt off their clothes, acting as if I’ve made them wait for hours in the middle of the woods. So fucking dramatic. I roll my eyes at them and stalk back toward the bar to finish my cigarette.

Scarrow and Omen each plop down in a bar stool on either side of me while Hawk slides behind the bar and helps himself to a bottle of whiskey.

“Please, by all means,” I snicker.

He glares at me while pouring three shots. “What’s yours is ours, sweetheart.”

I can feel the sweep of anger rising in my chest. The audacity. Fucking hell. “You can’t just come in here and assume you own the place, Hawk. I know I owe you a shit load but my bar is off limits.”

“Says who, mama?” Omen demands in my ear. He brushes a strand of hair off my shoulder.

I flinch away from him. “Don’t touch me.”

Scarrow pinches the back of my neck. “What is the going rate for cleaning up a triple homicide then?”

The contents of my stomach are swirling, threatening to bubble up. I made them just as guilty as me by involving them. And they had to skip town too. Same as Roxy. It’s my fault. I force people away. “You’re right. I’m sorry,” I murmur.

Hawk snickers. “Giving up so easily? Well, that’s no fun. What happened to the unhinged girl who stole my car?”

I shrug Scarrow’s arm off before blowing smoke in his face. “You didn’t let me finish. I’m sorry that the three of you are so obsessed with me that you can’t even see straight. Last I heard, someone’s been hitting your trucks. Maybe focus more on your own business and less on mine.”

Hawk grabs the whiskey bottle and drops it. I jump as the glass shatters on the floor.

“What the fuck, Hawk?” I yell.

Omen laughs. “What are you going to do about it?”

Hawk grabs another bottle, a top shelf tequila. “It’s a shame you lost all your supply tonight.” He does it again, letting it fall and smashing to pieces. The stench of liquor burns my nostrils as it wafts between us.

I jump up and start to crawl across the bar when they drag me back and slam my ass down in the stool. “You fucking pricks. Let me go.”

“Nah, you’re going to watch until you understand,” Scarrow whispers in my ear. He lets his lips linger a little too long for my liking. The heat from his breath sends a tiny shiver up my spine.

I squirm on the stool, writhing against the hold Omen and Scarrow have on me as I’m forced to watch Hawk destroy six more bottles of my best liquor. The smell is borderline toxic. I could get drunk off the fumes alone.

“Please, enough. What can I do to make you stop?” I beg. Tough or not, this is my livelihood they are messing with. I will get my revenge later, but right now I need him to stop. Or else I’m not going to have anything left to sell to my customers.

Hawk pretends to lose his grip on a hundred dollar bottle of Scotch, nearly giving me a heart attack, but instead he takes a pull off it. His eyes light up as he swallows. “Damn, Cherry. You’ve got good taste. Now let me hear you say it or else this one’s a goner too.”

Scarrow’s grip on my neck tightens while Omen slides his hand across my thigh. I shudder as the heat from both of them awakens an ache I haven’t let myself feel in a long time. And with Hawk’s piercing gaze burning into mine, it’s all I can do to not go into fucking heat.

I want to say something smart so fucking bad, but I bite my tongue. I can’t afford to lose anymore inventory. “Fine. What’s mine is yours,” I grit out. For now.

“Good girl.” He lets the Scotch drop to the floor.

I gasp, my mouth gaping open in shock and disbelief. “What the fuck? I did what you asked. Do you know how much money I could’ve made off of that?”