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Her apartment is the first one on the right, almost behind the door we just opened. The space is tight to say the least when we try to close the main door so she could unlock the one to her apartment. That doesn’t look very secure either.
“This is a shit show, Ruby,” I chuckle from behind her. “I’m positive that key doesn’t do shit.”
Her shoulders tense defensively, but she doesn’t say anything. Instead, she flips a switch, and the light comes on. It’s a little dim, making me squint my eyes as I look around. The place is incredibly small, with the paint peeling off the walls and a board covering the living room window. But it’s clean and there is no clutter.
She drops her bag to the floor and turns around to look at me. There’s defiance on her face now. Whatever little time we spent making our way in here gave her some much needed confidence.
“Okay, you’re in. What do you want from me?”
I am unable to hold back a smile at the feisty picture she makes. She looks like a ready for battle squirrel. She jumps when I lift a finger and run it up and down her jawline. For some reason, it scares her, despite the fact that it is a fairly innocent attempt.
My eyes move over every single detail on her face, taking in the perfectly arched eyebrows and natural eyelashes. It took me a second earlier to realize that her fake eyelashes came unglued when she started crying.
She has a small nose, with the cutest dip right under, leading to a perfect pair of thick lips. They are pink and soft looking without the lipstick she seems to favor.
My hand stops moving when I see a bruise right under her ear. It looks like what could be a hickey, but I don’t know that I’ve ever seen one this dark in color. It makes me wonder how I missed it earlier. She must’ve covered it with a lot of makeup. Her hair was also down at the club, falling down in waves around her face, helping to camouflage it.
“Too eager of a customer?” I ask as I touch the edge of the bruised area.
She instantly shivers, and there’s a look of pure fear covering her features.
“You could say that,” she whispers.
I stare at her for the longest time, waiting for her to elaborate. I’m not even sure why I care who did that to her. It’s not like I’d go hurt the people who hurt her. After all, this is one of the hazards to what she does for a living. But I want to know.
I squint my eyes as I continue staring at her, a hunch taking over. I’m rarely wrong when I listen to my gut. And right now, it’s telling me that the people we’re trying to take down are the same people who put this bruise on her neck.
“How long have you and Bricks been in business for?”
The shock on her face is obvious. That is the last thing she thought I’d ask. And it confirms what I already know. It will make this mission much easier once she actually says the words.
EIGHT
Ruby
I did not expect to find Hawk standing in front of my house. He was right when he told me it’d been stupid of me to get out of my car like that. Worse yet, I didn’t even have the common sense to dial nine-one-one before stepping out.
Now, he is in my personal space, and there is no way I can get him out on my own.
“I am not in business with Bricks, as you so kindly put it,” I spit at him.
It’s like he smelled blood and now he won’t give up until he finds the body. In this instance, the body would be me. How can he know that Bricks sought me out get information on Hawk’s club?
Then again, how did Bricks know that Hawk would be looking me up for private dances at the club?
My head is spinning as I try to make sense of all this. I don’t understand anything. All I want it to be left alone by all of them.
“Did he give you this?” Hawk asks me just as he touches the still sore spot on my neck. The brutality of Snake’s bite from two days ago still haunts me, and the bruise is still visible even though I iced it and put arnica cream on it, just like JJ instructed.
I pull my head back, not wanting him to touch me anymore. It’s like a burn to my skin. I can feel my pulse beating right in that spot.
“I heard he likes pretty young things just like you,” Hawk adds salt to my wound. “You lying to me about it won’t work in your favor.”
He is basically giving me the same story that Bricks and Snake did, except that he is accusing them of what they accuse him of doing.
On top of that, I have Lala’s voice whispering in my ear how I need to help the Steel Lizards so that she can have Puck.
I don’t know who to listen to, or who to believe. If I went based on my gut, I’d trust Hawk more than I’d ever trust Bricks. On the other hand, Bricks has already shown me who he is while Hawk is playing games with me.
