Page 43 of Ballistic

Chin angled high, Ricky seemed to chew on the thought, his jaw shifting with his brief silence. He shook his head, dropping his gaze from Dax’s. “Nah. I don’t know where it is.”

“You’ve heard of it, though.”

“Yeah. But even I know to stay away from some places in this shit town.”

Dax huffed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Any idea who might?”

“Nobody I’d associate with. Listen, I’ve got some business to take care of here, Dax, but I want you to go out there, have a good time with your girl. Drinks on the house.”

With a slow nod, Dax slid his tongue back and forth across his bottom lip, making my thighs twitch at the sight of it. “You’d tell me if you knew, Rick. We go back a long time.”

“I’d tell you if I knew. But that club isn’t my scene.”

Liar. I could see it on his face moments before, when Dax had mentioned Jasper’s name. The hesitation. The contemplation. He knew about the club, and where to find it.

“Thanks, brother.” Dax nudged me with his thigh, pushed up from his chair, and with reluctance, I popped to my feet and followed after him toward the door, throwing one more glance over my shoulder to see the asshole smirking at me.

“Hey, don’t be a stranger, Dax,” he said as we closed the office door behind us.

“Fuck. Fuck!” Instead of heading back out the way we came, Dax kept on toward the innards of the building. “I need a drink.”

“He’s lying.”

“Yeah. He is. Ricky can be tricky, sometimes. I just need to figure out how to approach him. Need to clear my head.” We emerged through a door into the main part of the club, where the music hammered from oversized speakers set at either side of a stage to the right of us. It overlooked a sea of men, dotted with a few women who sat grinding on their laps.

The scene took me back to a night out with Tesarik, when we’d shown up at a strip club. I’d been with him three months by that point, had established enough time with him that he’d trusted taking me out in public. My job outside of his home was to make him look good. Attractive. Appealing to other women. In return, I was given some freedom in his house. My own room, guarded, but away from the other women. He’d favored me, sometimes, refusing to share me with his men, as the other girls had been forced to do. During the many orgies he’d host in his home, I’d been kept away, often confined to the upper part of the home, where I’d watched from behind the bannister the men and women fucking each other in plain sight.

“Stay close to me.” Dax’s hand swallowed mine as he tugged me after him toward the bar.

The bartender smiled, as he approached and nabbed a glass from somewhere below the counter on the other side. “Disappearing motherfucker. Thought you’d packed up and hitchhiked to Canada, or some shit.”

“Just been keeping it low key. How goes it, Brody?” Dax reached out for the amber drink the man set on the bar and tipped back the shot. “Make it a double.”

Brody nodded toward me. “You brought me a gift, how thoughtful. What’ll you have, sweetheart?”

I stepped forward, taking a seat beside Dax, who didn’t bother to tell the man I wasn’t old enough for a drink. “I’ll have what he’s having.”

“Hard charger. I like this one.” Brody poured the shot, which sat on the bar for two seconds before I tipped it back, letting the burn coat my throat.

Elbow resting atop the bar, Dax turned to me, mouth curved into a rare smile. “That was some crazy shit.”

When the second shot was set in front of me, Dax lifted his to toast, prompting me to do the same. “To fucking liars.”

With barely a smile on my face, I gave a nod. “To liars.” Kicking my head back, I polished the shot and slammed the glass down on the bar. “I have to use the ladies room.”

“I’ll take you back there.” Dax rose up from the stool, but I set my hand on his shoulder.

“I’m a big girl. What are you going to do, wipe for me, too?”

“I’ll walk you to the door and wait outside of it.”

“How sweet. Just like Tesarik’s men used to do.”

A troubled expression flickered across his face, and his brows came together, as usual.

Leaning precariously close to him, I set my hand on his chest and lowered my voice. “I did put a blade through a man who almost shot you. I can take a piss on my own.” True as that might’ve been, I inwardly flinched at the knock to his ego.

Still frowning, he eased back onto the stool, his eyes stealing the opportunity to give me a once-over again. “Just don’t talk to anyone. These motherfuckers are like dogs—they take any sort of eye contact as a challenge.”