Page 55 of Play The Game

I survey the room and find the guy I’m looking for sitting in one of the booths with two other guys. They’re talking, or more likely arguing as he shakes his head and sneers at them. I jerk my head at Stephen and he nods, grabbing a bottle of vodka and walking it over to the booth. I need the guy to pee.

“This is not what I expected. It’s a lot more… open than I thought it would be,” Avery murmurs, and I shrug.

I smile at Stephen as he comes back over to the bar, the dirty rag slung over his shoulder like it’s an everyday occurrence that he helps out with a hit. Belonging to the Bear, it may well be.

“Stephen belongs to the Bear. He owns this place and is protected by that loyalty so he’s safe to talk to. He got the heads up, and we drink for free. You’ll always drink for free here now, by the way, not that you need the hand out.”

Avery nods and downs the shot, pushing the glass away from herself to signal she’s done for the night to the bartenders. Stephen grins and slides a bottle of water down the bar to her like the sweetheart he is.

While I wait for my mark to break the seal, we get approached by no less than five guys, each wanting to fuck us both. I shut the first guy down hard and Avery sends a blow-by-blow to the group message because she secretly hates me, I’m sure. I wait for her to jump in and destroy the Mounties, but she just watches and assesses my words.

When my mark finally stands as the fifth guy approaches, Avery cuts him off before he can even open his mouth. I’m relieved until I see the evil little twinkle in her eye.

“She has three cocks waiting at home; she doesn’t have any more vacancies to fill.”

Good lord.

The guy smirks at us both and reaches for my hand, “If you like groups, baby girl, my friends and I can show you a good time⁠—”

I snap his hand, then stomp on his foot with my good leg. The thick soles of my Docs make it hard to tell if I’ve broken his foot, but the squeal that comes out of him is disgraceful.

I lean forward to speak directly in his ear, “Leave while you still have hands for me to break because one more word and I’ll cut them off, dickhead.”

He scurries away and Avery gives me her best broken glass and bleeding hearts giggle. I make a note to never give her whiskey again. Apparently even in small amounts it turns her into a smug, shit-stirring siren.

I should get that on a shirt for her.

I wait until my mark moves toward the restroom by himself and I give Avery a stern look, motioning for her to stay put. I catch Stephen’s eye, and then quickly duck behind the bar and into the store room. I’ve been here many times before and when I crouch down by the shelves, holding dusty boxes of red wine no one in the Bay will ever drink, I find my supply bag where I left it back in the summer break. There’s nothing in the bag that could lead anyone back to me, but I’ve never worried about it. Stephen wouldn’t risk having to answer to the Twelve by moving it; he’s just not that stupid. I make quick work of slipping my Docs off, wiggling my toes and centering myself. I don’t have much time to waste, so one last deep breath in and I let the calm Wolf settle over me.

Time to work.

I grab the latex gloves and snap them into place. There’s a plastic jumpsuit in there too, but it’ll make too much noise.

If I need to go home bloody, I will.

I push the false back out of the shelf and squeeze through the small opening, checking to make sure no one is in the toilet cubicle on the other side before pulling myself the rest of the way into the restroom. Another sweep under the stall to make sure there are no witnesses, but the cash I parted with on the way in will keep the room clear.

The men’s always stinks. It’s fucking foul.

My mark is on the phone at the urinal, loud and brash down the line like he’s invincible. I wait until he hangs up and his dick is safely tucked back into his pants before I step up behind him.

His eyes meet mine in the mirror, and I see the exact moment he realizes he’s dead.

The hot spray of his blood over the tiles just confirms it.

I can’t get into an Uber stinking of blood.

The giant hoodie I had in my supply bag covers most of the damage and I scrubbed my legs clean before I’d left the restroom, but the tang of copper is overpowering where it’s stuck to me.

I should have worn the plastic jumpsuit.

Avery is calm as we sit on a busy road in the slums, waiting for the guys to come pick us up. I let my mind wander as my eyes track the cars passing us, on guard as always in the Bay.

She breaks the silence first. “That was surprisingly easy.”

It wasn’t easy; it just ran smoothly. It’s something I’ve done so often, I’ve studied and practiced and executed it hundreds of times, so now it seems simple.

I’m too tired to explain it to her so I shrug, letting the silence fall over us again. Avery fidgets with her phone, distractedly. I watch her from the corner of my eye for a while before she scoffs at me, hesitating a little then slipping her hand in mine.