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“He turned around,” the driver yelled with a laugh. “Whoever it was knew better than to follow us.”
Suddenly, I felt Grim’s muscles relax, and he sat back a bit on the seat. His gun stopped its racket and went still in his hand. I dared to look at him. His face was grinning. It was a psychopathic grin. I’d seen it before, and it threw me now as I couldn’t imagine he wasn’t scared to death at what we’d just gone through.
“Dodged another death wish.” Jesse laughed as he blew out a long breath.
“That, we did,” Grim laughed. Then he looked down at me as a calm expression replaced that frightening smile. “Come here.” He lifted me off the floor and sat me next to him. “They’re gone. They won’t dare come into the city limits.”
“Who’s they?”
“I don’t know, actually.”
“Then how do you know they’re finished shooting at us?”
“Gut.”
“Wanna know where my gut is right now?” That made him smirk, whereas my hands shook as I tried to find my center. It didn’t work. I was a rattled mess, and I could only imagine how I looked on the outside.
The car came to a stop, and Jesse got out and began to tug at the door next to me. I jumped as the metal scraped and squealed as he pulled it open. I was shocked to find we were at the private entrance of Indulge. I could barely process how we got there. As I exited the car, I gasped at the mangled mess that undoubtably had saved our lives.
“Your poor car.” I covered my mouth and knew it was a write-off.
“It can be replaced.” Grim shrugged and took my arm. He guided me toward the elevator without another word.
Once inside, I leaned against the wall and shivered in spite being in a ball of sweat. Grim and Jesse spoke quietly in front of me.
Jesus. I rubbed my head and thought about how much I had to deal with when it came to my clients or my father, but the thought that Grim dealt with stuff like what we’d just gone through blew my mind. His line of work brought him a whole other side of awful. When the doors opened again, I stood with my knees locked, unable to move or form another thought.
“Go downstairs and see what you can find out,” Grim ordered Jesse.
“Kenna,” Grim said sharply, and I snapped out of it. He had stepped out on his private floor. I noticed Jesse used one of the black and gold cards as he pushed lobby and floor fifteen at the same time. Odd.
“I want to go to my own room.” I wanted nothing more than to crawl under the covers of my own bed and shut out the world. Maybe sleep for a week.
“No.” He stepped forward and hauled me out of the steel box. He led me into the living room. His two Dobermans glared at me as he left me to stand next to a chair. I looked around as he removed his jacket and tossed it on a side table. Yesterday seemed so long ago. “Drink?”
“Yes,” I took a step farther into his lair, “please.”
“Leal,” his voice made me jump as he addressed one of the dogs who had edged close to me, “go.”
The dog growled some backtalk to him but moved away immediately while his brother simply watched me from where he sat near Grim. His face seemed a little sweeter than the other dog’s.
“Here.” Grim handed me a glass. The contents had a gold tone to it, and I took a sniff. It was whiskey. “It’ll take the edge off.”
“Thanks.” I downed the drink quickly and regretted it instantly. Second degree burns lined my throat and stomach, and my eyes watered. After a moment, the burn turned into a warmth that spread through me. My shoulders slowly relaxed, and I walked over to his floor to ceiling windows. Zhen, the dog near Grim, stood. I turned and saw his eyes were glued on me. I turned away to look out the window.
“I get the impression your dogs don’t like sharing your company,” I whispered as I watched the cars move along the Strip. I loved how they looked like Hot Wheels toys.
“That’s how they were trained.” I watched him through the reflection of the glass, as he settled into a seat behind me and rubbed the dog’s tall ears. “They’re very loving, but they’re also very protective of me.”
“That must be nice.” I folded an arm around my middle as a vulnerable feeling came over me. I thought of my father and how his work always came first. Protection wasn’t something I was used to. After the trips with my mother slowed down, I was home a lot more, and if I ever shared a concern about one of his clients while they were in our house, Dad just told me to deal with it. Maybe that’s why I loved the Devil’s Reach so much. They were protective of one another even if they weren’t actually blood family. I guess I hadn’t thought of it before, but I craved that safe feeling.
On the outside, I knew I seemed to have everything together, but inside I knew I was often a mess. Alone, frightened at times and often insecure about whether I could really handle the things I got myself into. Not that I’d ever admit that to anyone.
“Don’t you feel safe here?” He hit the nail on the head, and I kept my back to him.
“Safe is an overused and yet underrated word.” I sighed. I was suddenly tired of the topic.
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
