And Kieran would be above us on the mezzanine, if I had to guess. Near the stairs, watching the exits and calculating angles. Accounting for things that haven’t happened yet.
They don’t approach us or interfere with mine and Roo’s plan.
They hover.
Protective hovering. Theyou can play, but we’ll kill anyone who touches youkind.
And weirdly?
I like it.
It’s hot.
I sip my drink and lean back into the booth while Roo scans the crowd for someone to maim or make out with… Or both. I wouldn’t put it past her to stab someone while she’s kissing them.
“Remind me why we stopped doing this?” she comments.
“Because we had a job that I took too far, and then there were stalkers,” I say lightly. “And before that, you fell into a two-month situation-ship with a man who thought NFTs were a personality trait.”
She gags. “Don’t say those letters. I’m still recovering.”
I smirk into my glass. “And he’s still my favorite of your exes.”
And then Roo’s hand shifts ever-so-slightly, catching my attention and pointing me toward the bar.
The atmosphere of Spire feels wrong now that I know he’s breathing the same air as me. He feels like bugs crawling down the back of my neck. And I know I’m not the only one who gets the ick from him when the woman to his left looks at him and leans away.
Daniel.
He doesn’t enter like a villain; he oozes in like smoke from the vents. The biggest red flag isn’t his appearance, though. He’s objectively a handsome man with a thick head of perfectly styled hair and immaculately ironed clothes. But so goes a narcissist, yeah? It’s that practiced confidence most read as charm instead of the test or threat it really is… That’s the biggest red flag.
He takes his drink, turns his back to the bartender, and scans the crowd as if he’s shopping.
I cant my head, facing Roo as I watch him in my peripheral vision.
And then he sees me. I clock the exact moment, his grin growing as he stands a little prouder. It’s the look of confidence melting into satisfaction.
His demeanor says,There you are.
As if I ran from him and just came back like an obedient dog.
I set my glass down. “Roo?”
“I see him,” she replies, sliding her purse into her lap. “Do you want loud or subtle?”
I stand from our booth, smoothing my skirt as I hold out my hand to Roo. “Let’s wait and see what flavor of stupid he picks tonight.”
Daniel starts toward me, but I don’t acknowledge him. It’s not time for me to step in yet.
What he doesn’t see is the way the surrounding shadows adjust on cue.
A man near the bar straightens, gripping his bottle of beer tighter, ready to use it as a weapon.
Another peels off the back wall, stretching his neck as he stiff-arms his way through the crowd like he’s been waiting for a fight.
A third appears at the top of the stairs, casual in his descent near the side exit.
Mine.
And if Daniel doesn’t realize he’s just walked into a den of wolves…
He’s about to.
