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“Alan,” Gray mutters, speaking my thoughts aloud. “It’s gotta be him.”
“Aw, motherfucker. What the hell does he want?” Declan’s face hardens as he looks at someone over my shoulder.
I don’t have time to glance in the direction he’s looking before I feel Cliff’s presence behind me. He comes around to the other side of the table, shoving his way into an empty seat between Max and Elias while keeping his gaze fixed on me. Max makes a show of moving away from him, as if his bullshit will rub off on her if she’s too close.
“Poor Reagan.” Cliff preens smugly, making a face that I assume is supposed to look like sympathy. “Only takes one time to learn the hard way not to mess with my father. He doesn’t fire any warning shots.” I’m about to tell him to fuck off, when he continues, his lips twisting into a cruel smile. “You know what will happen to her, Sophie? Her ass is going to jail. She’s not coming back, all because she was at the wrong place at the wrong time, trying to poke around in business that wasn’t hers.”
I want to launch myself over the table and wrap my hands around his throat, but I clench my hands and hold myself back. I know the consequences of lashing out at him, and I can’t risk it now, not when everything is so fucking volatile.
“I think we both know someone else who’s been poking around a little too much,” Cliff says, his voice dropping. He leans forward, narrowing his eyes. “And she’s gotten one too many warning shots. Warning shots that end now. Let this be a lesson to her not to fuck around with my business, or my father’s business, because that shit that just happened?” He jerks his head toward the door. “That’s only the tip of the iceberg.”
“It’s too fucking bad the only threat you can throw around is your daddy’s power and money,” Gray says almost dryly, but I can tell he’s seeing red. “Fuck off.”
Cliff’s jaw twitches, but he doesn’t say anything else as he pushes away from the table, jerking his head toward the door as he catches Aaron and Shane’s gazes. They’re standing near the front of the room, far enough away that they haven’t been able to hear anything Cliff just said to us.
Usually, he keeps them around as backup, but I get the feeling he’s been instructed to be a lot more careful about what he says in front of people. Alan is locking things down, plugging up potential leaks so that his secrets will remain buried.
The two men stride over to meet Cliff as he stalks toward the door. They start to follow him out, but as they go, Aaron hesitates. He says something to Shane, then hangs back as Shane and Cliff leave the room.
I glance at Max, who’s doing her best to avoid his gaze, even though he’s clearly looking at her, conflict written in the tension of his body. He finally seems to reach some internal decision, because he crosses over to our table quick and pulls out the chair Cliff just vacated, sitting down beside her awkwardly.
“Can I talk to you, Max?” he says in a quiet voice.
Max squares her shoulders and looks at him dead in the eyes. “Sure, go ahead.”
He glances around the table at the guys and me, but none of us make a move to leave. It’s clear that he’s silently asking us to give them a little privacy, but I know for a fact that my friend doesn’t want to talk to him alone, and none of us are leaving this table.
Aaron clears his throat, lowering his voice a little as he leans closer to Max, like he’s trying to keep this conversation at least a little private.
“Look, I thought things were going well between us. I thought it was real. But then, after that thing with Cliff, I don’t really know what’s going on anymore.”
It takes me a second to register what he’s talking about. There have been so many “things with Cliff” that it’s hard to sort out which bullshit incident he’s referring to. Then I remember the look on his face when the Sinners, Max, and I confronted Cliff about the hooker he hired and refused to let leave his place.
Aaron was the one who told her about that.
“I just…” Aaron grimaces, flushing slightly as he glances at the Sinners and then back at Max. “I don’t know, maybe you were just using me or something, but I don’t… I don’t want things to end like this. You haven’t even talked to me since then, and I don’t get why you’re avoiding me. What’s going on?”
I watch Max as Aaron speaks, trying to read what’s going through her head, but I can’t tell what she’s thinking.
She looks torn, just as conflicted as Aaron was before he decided to come over here. The guys are all tense around me, and a swell of affection rises up in my chest at how protective they are of Max. They know I care about her, and their protectiveness of me seems to extend to my best friend. Almost like she’s a surrogate sister to all of them.
“I like you, Max,” Aaron murmurs softly, and I have to give the guy credit for being willing to say it in front of a table full of people who look ready to bite his head off. “I thought you liked me, but if I was wrong, just… just tell me, and I’ll back off.”
Max looks over at me as if looking for guidance, but I keep my mouth shut. It’s up to her how she wants to handle this. She used Aaron to get dirt on Cliff, and she told me it almost seemed like he knew what he was doing when he told her the fucked up story about Cliff and a hooker. Like he knew he was handing her ammo to use against his friend.
“Why do you hang out with them, Aaron?” Max asks finally, her voice quiet. “Why are you friends with the Saints?”
Aaron blinks, as if surprised by the questions. Then he flushes, dropping her gaze.
“Cliff and Shane…” He trails off, hesitating. “During my senior year of high school, I transferred schools. I was the new kid, and it… it was rough. My parents had just died, and I’d moved in with my grandparents. And the kids at my new school were assholes. But Cliff let me hang with him and Shane. They’ve been friends since they were little, and they called themselves the Saints. He told me I could be one too.”
My gaze drags from him to Max. Her face has softened a little, but when she speaks, her tone is firm. “I like you, Aaron. But if you really want to be with me, to give this a real shot, you need to stop hanging out with the Saints. They’re not good people, and you’re too good for them.”
Good answer, I think.
Aaron’s head jerks up, and he looks surprised by her words. “That’s it?”
“That’s it.” She nods.
