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“I don’t do that anymore,” Onyx snapped, his whole demeanor switching as he barked out the words. “What you see isme. I’m never going back to that other shit—not as long as it’s up to me,” he added, a cryptic response that made me frown.
“What doesthatmean?”
He grunted and shook his head. “Nothing for you to worry about. Hey, what spot are these from?” he asked, gesturing at the noodles again. “These are good as hell.”
“Nobody cares about those fuckingnoodles,” I said, smacking them out of his hand, trying to send the container flying across the kitchen.
“Yo!” He reacted quickly, somehowcatching the damn container, but his expression looked truly hurt. “I got drugged, kidnapped, and woke up in a windowless room because of you. I’m hungry, and instead of going to the buffet, I come check onyou. Andthisis how you do?” He shook his head. “I knew your ass was mean, but this iscold.”
Drugged?
Kidnapped?
A windowless room?
“You’re serious?” I asked, and my anger drained in tandem with his answering nod. “Look…I’m sorry,” I told him, in earnest. “I wasn’t thinking about something like that happening to you, about anything happening to you. I just… I don’t fucking know you, and you haven’t exactly been forthcoming. I saw Alicia’s tattoo, and I’d been working on putting two and two together, and I just...” I stopped, not even knowing what else I could say. What else there wastosay.
“I’ve woken up in much worse situations.” Onyx shrugged. “I can’t blame you for being suspicious. In your position, you can’t just trust whoever. Youshouldn’t.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Including you?”
He shook his head. “Nah, I’m a man of my word. Blue wants the heads of the men who killed his father, and I told him I would help with that. That’s exactly what I intend to do.”
“He’s not the only one who lost his father,” I murmured, thinking out loud.
“He’s not,” Onyx agreed. “I know he’s not the only one affected. I didn’t mean it like that, to leave you out or anything.”
I scoffed. “No, I wish Ihadbeen left out,” I said, with a dry laugh. “It’s a fucked-up crowd to be in.”
He nodded. “I know how it feels.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat as he met my gaze, searching, always searching. I didn’t back down from it this time or look away… maybe not the smartest choice.
Once you gave in when somebody was looking at you like that, it was easy to get lost.
I shook my head, forcefully breaking the connection. “Isthiseven real?” I asked. “Or is it just what you do? This is part of it, right? Make me feel like you can relate to me, get me to trust you. Then you get under my skin, in my panties, in my head. And then what?”
Onyx blew out a sigh, then looked me right in the face. “Itiswhat I do, honestly. But again—that’s not why I’m here.”
“Whyareyou here?”
“In Vegas, or in your house?”
“Both.”
It was quiet, then he looked away from me, scratching his head. “I came to Vegas because I was looking for something,” he said, finally putting the food down. “I spent most of my life at the mercy of somebody else, dipping in and out of characters that were nothing more than illusions. I was looking for something tangible. But I don’t even know if that’s within my grasp anymore.”
I frowned. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Things rarely seem to work in my favor,” he replied, with a wry smile. “I’m feeling a little bit like I should quit while I’m ahead.”
“What does that mean?”
“For you?”
“For thePredators.”
“Nothing. I’ll do what I said I would do.”
