I kicked up. My knee connected with something, but he only held on tighter.
“Fucking bitch. We knew you would all get stupid about this.”
“All?”
“All you girls. Come on, we need to get upstairs.”
Before I could protest further, he dragged me through the crowd. By the time we made it to a set of steps, I could see Evie and Harper being manhandled by two other men. The three of us were forced up a narrow staircase, the music and lights of the club fading into the background as we were taken to a back office.
The room was dimly lit, with plush furniture and a large window overlooking the dance floor below. The men shoved us inside and closed the door, standing guard with menacing looks.
My heart pounded in my chest as I took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. I glanced at Evie and Harper, who both looked annoyed.
“I already called Rook,” I whispered. “They’re on their way.”
Evie grinned up at the guys holding onto us. “Oh, you’re fucked,” she said.
An older guy came into the room, and Evie scowled.
“Cross?” Evie said, stepping back. “Why did you grab us?”
“Now you know these guys?” Harper asked.
She gave a tight smile, leaning over towards us. “The guy I kind-of dated that mixed business and pleasure was Asher. He’s a competitor of this guy, so I inevitably know all about them.”
“How are they competitors?” I asked.
“They are both drug lords in Valeport and hate each other,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Cross hates us.”
“I hate you,” Cross interrupted, “because you sided with Asher when you shouldn’t have.”
“I don’t know. I think it worked out fine for us.”
“Wait,” I said, surprised I was saying anything. “What does that have to do with us?”
“I need your guys to look into the theft of my drugs, and they aren’t responding,” Cross said, not meeting our eye now.
“Then get the hint,” Evie said. “They don’t want to talk to you or work with you. You’re a snitch, and a pig.”
“They don’t exactly have a choice now. They have to come here to get you and then we can talk.”
“Asher isn’t going to love this, either,” Evie mumbled.
“Fuck Asher.” Cross sat back, looking us over.
“Can I get that on a recording?” she asked. “Just want to keep him in the loop.”
“Asher can go fuck himself. We all have shipments going missing and he doesn’t? You can understand why he is quickly moving up to the top of my list of who did it.”
“Like he would want your shitty ass drugs.”
“Shouldn’t you…I don’t know, be quiet or something?” I whispered to Evie.
She rolled her eyes again. “Seriously, don’t worry about it. He can’t kill us. He wants the guys to help him figure out what’s happening, and no one has the connections like we do. Rook and Aiden have been trolling this city for information for nearly ten years. They know exactly where his shipments are and he knows it. If we are dead, he’s dead with no information. Right, Cross?”
His lips tight in what I could only assume was supposed to be a smile. “This is a friendly meeting.”
I yanked at my arm that was still being held by Victor. “Then get your hands off of me,” I said, pulling again.
