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“Hopefully you can drink top shelf scotch without making a weird face.”
He made a face. Always had been more of a beer drinker, despite the wide assortment of alcohols set out in front of him. “Wait two or three minutes before coming in after me to deliver the drinks.”
I gave him a faux salute and held off on pouring the scotch. The bloody Caesar could sit out and get gross and lukewarm. That asshole didn’t matter to the business dealings and I would enjoy my petty, mini revenge. A few of the other tables needed attention before I went back to the bar and whipped up the drinks. They’d left the door cracked, so I didn’t bother to knock, pushing it open and slipping through.
“Took you long enough,” the young one muttered when I placed his drink in front of him.
“Jude, I hate to say that you’ve wasted the trip, but I’m not looking to take on partners at this time,” Mattie said to the older one, completely ignoring my presence.
Something about the name Jude was familiar. It took me a second to realize that was the name of the man Shan had gone to see at Bloodshed Brewing. Was this man working against Kylan? Or was he simply the contact point between Shan’s team and the cruelest criminal enterprise in the city?
“We’re hoping that we can convince you otherwise. It would be a mutually beneficial arrangement,” Jude said.
I placed down their drinks in front of them, and Mattie took a sip first. His lips didn’t screw up from the flavour. I was proud of him. When I turned to make my way out of the room, Jude stopped me. “What’s your name? We need a bartender like you at Bloodshed.”
“I’m not looking for a new job, unfortunately.”
“Are you sure? Mr. Jitara would compensate you handsomely. And you as well, Matthias, for stealing away one of your valuable employees.”
My hands shook with rage and I held them in front of me, refusing to turn around. Maybe I should take the offer. It could be my chance to get close enough to kill Kylan. More likely, they were trying to trap me and I would never make it within thirty metres of him without magic-dulling shackles chaining me to a wall. “Take my card. Consider it.”
“I don’t appreciate you coming here and poaching my staff,” Mattie said, voice low and dangerous. “Freya isn’t something you can buy off me. Just like you can’t buy your way into my club.”
“No offense intended, of course. Freya is special and I just know he would adore her shining personality.”
He would adore my designation and the money I’d bring him if he whored me out. Or the pleasure he’d feel from knotting me without my consent, if the rumours were true. I doubted Kylan adored any living, breathing person. Still, I slowly turned around and took the business card off the table and put it into the pocket of my apron. “I don’t plan on taking you up on the offer,” I said.
His eyes flashed black and he nodded as if accepting the challenge in my posture. “Of course not. My apologies for asking. Matthias, let’s continue talking business, shall we?”
I was dismissed. Silently I escaped from the room, trying not to breathe in the lingering scent of Jude that now hung around me. He wasn’t the worst one I’d ever scented, but his heavy whiskey and cinnamon scent was cloying and choked me. I needed the business card as a potential in, but carrying it around with me was less than ideal.
I’d resumed serving the other tables in VIP when I noticed a man on the bottom floor making a beeline for the bar. The unseen weight lifted off my chest when I realized it was Shan, with Caspian not far behind.
Chapter 23
Caspian
Myskinitchedandmy bones ached as I sat in the passenger seat of the SUV, Shan sitting tense on the driver’s side with his jaw set. I was desperate to see her, but his damn pride had forbidden me from going. He’d kept me plenty busy checking out pointless leads, too. Shan had known I would disobey him, but I wouldn’t ignore my work. When he’d tried to send me out on another bullshit goose chase tonight, though, I’d put my foot down.
I needed her.
Irritation with Shan boiled in my mind too. He was the one who’d fucked her, pissed her off, and insisted on avoiding her to get some ‘clarity’. I had my fucking clarity. It was crystal clear that she would be my mate and she deserved to be trusted before she gave away secrets that might end her life.
“You can be mad all you want,” Shan said without looking at me. “Being away from her was a good thing.”
“For you,” I snapped. “Because she would have bitten your fucking head off if you tried to talk to her, and you didn’t want to be rejected. She’s got nothing against me right now.”
“You’re blinded by her tits and how good her magic tastes. And her pussy.”
I wasn’t. He was projecting. Truly tempting me with the flesh was difficult because I could have anyone I wanted. People of all body types flocked to me, responding to my natural charm. If I wasn’t fundamentally opposed to using my magic to lure people in, I could have an army of people begging at my feet. Freya’s personality drew me to her. Her secrets, her strength, her hidden vulnerabilities she’d finally started to show.
That is until Shan went and fucked it all up.
When we pulled into the parking lot beside the club, I slipped out without waiting for him and headed to the front door. The bouncers recognized me by now and I didn’t have to pay a cover, Matthias giving us free rein to come and go. One stopped me anyway, grabbing my arm and pulling me to the side long enough for Shan to catch up. “Careful in there tonight, guys. Mattie’s got some vamps from Bloodshed Brewing here. Thought you should know.”
Shan had pushed ahead of me before I could process what those words meant, but I was hot on his heels. He shoved through the crowd until he got to the bar, glancing back and forth and not seeing Freya anywhere. We did, however, see Gemma. The woman who always worked VIP. Which meant that someone else was working VIP for the club’s dangerous visitors.
Looking up at the balcony, I locked eyes with Freya, and my breath left me in relief. She was safe and now we were here to protect her. Ignoring Shan, I made my way up to the VIP area and found an empty seat at a small, private booth. She didn’t waste time coming up to me and Shan didn’t follow me. He would observe from a distance, pretending he wouldn’t do anything to keep her safe.
