Page 79

Okay, so fucking Kenji and Niko are cool. Calling a man cute was a problem.

It filled me with a sick sense of joy to know that Caleb didn’t like me flirting with other men. Not that you could call my comment flirting. I sounded like I was announcing the time the way I’d said it.

“Come on, follow me. And ignore my pest problem. I keep trying to exterminate them, but they continue to come back like roaches. Or psycho criminals.” I mumbled the last part as I led them into the space. The apartment looked like a fucking CB2 advertisement. For practical reasons, the floors were sealed concrete. Cleaning up blood would be a bitch on wood flooring, yet the unhinged portion of my brain had decided ordering a white sofa made sense. I’d literally held a blade to the underside of Kenji’s chin when he jumped on it with his Doc Martens still on.

I barely caught the guy’s whisper from behind me. “Why do I feel like she means literally when she says ‘tried to exterminate’?”

“That’s because I did mean literally,” I replied. Several incidents flooded my mind, but I decided against giving examples. Until I got the information from the scans back on him, I didn’t want him to know the relationship between the three guys and myself. He could be an agent or some shit. If he was, though, he’d be undercover because Ryan wouldn’t have shit to do with him. Whatever I found, I’d pass it on to her too. She’d want to know whose dick she was riding because I knew she was riding that.

Curiosity was painted on her tanned face. Questions were burning on her tongue, and with her smart mouth, there was no way she would be able to hold them in.

“Bringing clients home, Scar? An interesting group here; we’ve got, what? Yakuza, Bratva, and…Irish Mob?” she asked, canting her head toward where Caleb stood, glaring. What was interesting was the way the guy with her stiffened at the mention of the mob. His leather cut made it obvious he was an MC member, and his patch said sergeant at arms. Road name Gunner.

I’d thought maybe the reaction was because his girl was in a room full of criminals, but then he locked eyes with Caleb, and the tension in the room reached nuclear levels.

“How did you say you knew these people, Scarletta?”

The tension in my body from the stare-down evaporated, replaced by a burning inferno. The asshole was going to use my full name and a tone that suggested we were barely acquaintances?

Didn’t you just say you didn’t want the newbie to know your relationship with the guys?

My inner voice could go fuck herself. Right now, I wanted to storm over to him and be a bitch.

“I didn’t say, Callahan. Because it’s none of your fucking business. Now, stand there quietly like a good boy. Maybe you’ll get a reward.” His eyes heated at the command. The push and pull for power between us was like a live wire, and I didn’t think I’d ever tire of it. The ticking of his eyebrows told me that the reward he was going to get was teaching me a lesson. One that probably involved his cock down my throat or his fingers shoved in my cunt as he teased the release I would so desperately want. The images caused my nipples to pebble. It was completely the wrong time for such a reaction.

Frustration flooded my body, turning to anger at the irritating sneer he gave me.

“Okay, let’s get down to business,” I called out, turning away from him and moving toward the table that had stacks of papers and photographs spread out across the wooden top. Ryan and Gunner joined me, and my heart sank at the news I was about to share with my friend. Her heart was large, caring, where I was missing the organ entirely. A cold block of ice occupied where mine should be. She’d thawed it all those years ago, and now three more had seared their way into the glacial appendage.

She stiffened when she met my eyes. Damn, I hadn’t been able to hide the pity quickly enough. Those coffee-colored eyes of hers drifted to the table. Her jaw clenched as she absorbed the glossy images. Images I’d wished I could’ve shielded her from. Although I never understood why she continued to have even an ounce of tolerance for Mario.

“How far does this go back?” Barely contained rage shook in her voice. Gunner pulled her into the crook of his body, his hand falling to her hip as he rubbed comforting circles.

“How did you get all of this?” he asked. Something in his tone struck me as off. It was a combination of horror and awe, but there was something off.

Instincts told me to keep the details vague. “I keep tabs on all of my clients. It’s a good security measure to have dirty details on people for when they become…” I paused, searching for the right words so he’d understand my subtle threat. I didn’t give a damn that he was hot or that he comforted Ryan during this hard time. If I found out he had bad intentions for her, I’d rain down hell. “Difficult to deal with.”

“That strategy didn’t go well for Epstein.”

Kenji’s comment caused me to pinch the bridge of my nose to keep from busting out in laughter. If Ryan saw I was comfortable around them, this visit would become a game of twenty questions, and I didn’t want her MC friend to know anything about me. About us.

When I opened my eyes, I caught the grin that was pulling at the corners of Ryan’s mouth. The twinkle of amusement only lasted a second, but it was there. “As I was trying to say, I keep tabs on all the people I work with or may work with. I’ve been watching Los Muertos, the Jimenez men in particular, for years. That’s how I discovered that they had a fellow woman running shit in this toxic paradise that is the criminal world. But I’ve kept a closer eye on Mario since deciding I liked Ryan. I didn’t care for the way he treated her,” I explained, locking eyes with Ryan.

Fucking Mario was always coked out of his mind and claiming all the hard work that Ryan did. But that part didn’t piss me off as much as the way he whored himself out, all while claiming Ryan was his property. Muñeca—doll. His nickname wasn’t some cute show of affection. No, it was meant to prove she was nothing more than an object he owned. Sick obsession always lurked in his face when he was around Ryan. It made my skin crawl and made every warning bell go off.

Ryan knew it was wrong too, but she figured she could outrun the problem. How ironic. I always felt that was a foolish move, yet until I met these men—hell, even at the start of this—I did the same thing. No more. Even if this all fell apart in the end, I’d at least enjoy the affection while it lasted. I shook off the emotion.

“Anyway, some of these go back years. But these,” the glossy film stuck to my fingers as I plucked one from the pile, “these are what I could pull from the last few months. This picture was from earlier this month,” I said, pushing it across the table.

Her body wrenched forward. Betrayal hit her like a physical blow, and her body reacted. Her skin took on a pale green tinge, a stark difference from the normally tanned flesh.

“Fuck. Can we keep these?” Gunner piped up, drawing my attention. He studied another pile of photos, those being from about two years prior.

Why does he want old photos?

“Of course you can. I have my copies.” The words came out harsher than intended as I watched the way the photo shook in Ryan’s hand. Emotions rotated across her face, the revelation putting her through a whole spectrum of feelings.

“He’s selling skin.”