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He came right up to Zach and stopped hard. “Who the fuck’re you?”
Seriously wishing he was wearing his kutte, Zach stood up as tall and broad as he could, which made him a little bigger than Fredo Corleone here, and said, “You want to fuck off. Right now.”
Fredo grabbed him, getting a fistful of his shirt, and Zach was ready to rumble.
Before he could, Lyra shoved herself between them and grabbed the guy’s hand. “Back off, Tommy.”
The guido named Tommy backed off. His expression softened somewhat, from explosive violence to seething anger. “Who is this fucker, Ly?”
Well, shit. Did she have a boyfriend? That made her considerably less perfect.
“It’s none of your business. You do not have a say in my life. You never did, but especially not now. Turn around and go back to whatever you were doing. Go away.”
Ah. A jealous ex.
When the guy just stood there, his fist empty now but still clenched, still looking like he wanted to hurt somebody, Zach stepped forward, putting Lyra behind him. “She said go away.”
From the corner of his eye, Zach saw security goons had taken notice, but he had no idea whose side they’d come down on if things got physical. Other than the side of the Cadence.
Maybe Tommy saw the goons, too, but if he did, it didn’t change much for him. He got right in Zach’s face. “I don’t know who the fuck you are, but she is not yours, and I think we both know what happens to fucking thieves. I’ll take your hand, motherfucker, don’t think I won’t.”
In another situation, Zach would have taken the asshole down for that blowhard threat alone, but casino security did not fuck around, and Eight would ride his ass hard for starting—or finishing—trouble so publicly, especially with the handoff so recently in the past. So he held, but he etched this motherfucker’s face into his memory, in case a better opportunity came up.
“Go away, Tommy,” Lyra said. She’d taken a step to the side but was still mostly behind Zach. So yeah, she was at least a little afraid of this guy.
Tommy finally backed off, gave Lyra a look that was pain wrestling with fury, and stormed off.
With a glance in their direction, Zach saw the goons move on. Few casino patrons had noticed the minor altercation. Jay and Michelle, apparently, had not. Jay didn’t have the same sense of awareness for Zach that Zach had for him.
“I’m so sorry,” Lyra said. “I didn’t know he’d be here.”
“Jealous ex?”
She turned and watched Tommy’s retreating back. Then she shuddered. “Yeah.”
He wanted to say that guy didn’t seem like her type, but what the fuck did he know about her type? Instead, he simply asked, “You okay?”
She smiled. “I feel like I just asked you the same question recently.”
He smiled back. “So we have that in common, then. You still want to head to the bar?”
“More than ever.” Before they continued on their way, she glanced back in the direction Tommy had gone—opposite their own, thankfully.
“You sure it’s cool?” he asked. “Are we going to get another visit from the Dark Prince?”
She laughed. “He’s nobody, I promise. Not connected. Just a fanboy.”
“I’m really questioning your taste in men right now.”
Stopping, she turned a pert smirk up and met his eyes straight on. Wow. He really liked that look. The perfect combination of sass and sweetness, nerve and vulnerability.
“If I say I think you’re pretty hot,” she asked, “does that improve your opinion of my taste?”
Zach laughed. Okay, things were looking up. He did the thing he’d wanted to do earlier and hooked his arm over her shoulders, drawing her close. “Immeasurably,” he answered.
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~oOo~
