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“Looking forward to it,” I said. “Now on to shit that matters. Roan, did you find out who those guys were that hijacked that party?”
“Nah.” He flopped down next to Cairo. “I asked around. They’re not from Bedlam. No one knows who they are, or they’re not saying.”
“Think they’re connected to Foundry?” Legend asked.
“I’ll assume everyone is until we root those bastards out.”
“These guys are smart,” he said under his breath. “Who knows how many people they got to before we heard their name. We’re running out of money, but if we up payments in retaliation, it’ll just drive more people to them. We can’t do this on our own.”
“We have to, sweet cheeks,” Roan said. “She’s not going to help us.”
“Arsenio,” Legend began.
“No,” I said. “Don’t bother asking. She’s opting for plausible deniability. As long as she doesn’t know shit, she can’t get taken down for it. Besides, she’s blaming us for letting the problem get out of hand in the first place. These guys moved in on our turf and we didn’t know a fucking thing. Ruckus Royale is further proof we’re losing our grip.
“Those guys knew to find us at Westchester Drumlins. They knew who we were and what we do, and we can’t dig up their damn names.” I leaned back against the counter, folding my hands across my stomach lest they found something to punch. It was times like this I needed stress relief. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on who you asked, Quinn was out and the new girl wasn’t ready for me. I didn’t do the breaking.
My methods were outlawed.
“We’re on our own,” I said, finally stating what we all knew. “Ideas?”
“We can’t up payments?” Legend asked.
“No.”
“We’re locked out of the databases.”
“Yes,” Roan confirmed. “Oooh, nice bikini.”
He plucked a photo from the album, unzipped his pants, and fisted his cock. I slid to Cairo as he jacked off.
“Then, it’s simple,” Legend said. “If diplomacy doesn’t work, we switch to violence.”
“We would’ve chosen that option a... long time ago, sweets— ahh.” Roan tossed his head back, moaning. “But, we don’t know who to take the fight to.”
“The fight’s coming to us now.” Jacques finally added his opinion. “Don’t have enough information to say if those guys from the party were with Foundry, but they have it in their head they’re taking over our town. While they’re happy to come to us, we start with them.”
I nodded. “The sheriff,” I said to Cairo. “He’s questioning the crashers about Cavendish. We need to know what he finds out.”
“We will.” He dropped his feet on the floor. “In the meantime, we have a guest. Our focus is on making her stay as comfortable as possible.”
Again, I said nothing as he headed up the stairs. There was no point getting in Cairo’s way when he had that look on his face.
***
Rainey
One week.
One week since the Bedlam Boys brought me back to their frat-boy home. One week I’d been kept in Cairo’s room with minimal contact with any one of them. My food was placed on a tray they set just inside the door. Jacques stopped by every day to check my shoulder, ignoring questions of when I’d be let out and my demands to go to class.
All I got was a, “your classes have been taken care of,” and nothing else.
Cairo didn’t come to me. Arsenio didn’t so much as cough outside my door. Roan stuck his head in once when delivering my tray. Licking his lips, he blew me a kiss and ducked out.
I snuggled into Cairo’s pillow, watching a Golden Girls rerun on TV. It was losing the smell of him and starting to smell like me. Even though I was bathing with Cairo’s body wash. It wasn’t the same.
Roan came in with another tray. “Uh-oh.”
“What?”
He pointed. I followed his line of sight to my sling, lying innocently at the foot of the bed.
“Just as well,” he said. “We were starting to get impatient.”
I snatched it up, though it was far too late.
“Impatient for what?”
“For you, Rainey de Souza.” He grabbed my neck, yanking me to him. Roan’s hot, wet tongue licked my cheek. “I’ve been waiting for my taste.”
“Yeah.” I flung away from him. “I’ve been told I’m your girl now. So far, that looks like lying around and being waited on hand and foot. That’ll teach me to listen to small-town gossip. Your reputation is blown way out of proportion.”
Cardinal curls danced with his laugh. What I mistook for a slender body from a distance, transformed into the hard, discrete muscles of a swimmer.
“You don’t ride a wounded horse, sweets. Now that you’re all fixed up, you’ll take your rightful place with the guys. Me, on the other hand, I’m a bit choosier about my playmates. Hold out your hand.”
“Why?”
“Why not?”
Cautiously, I raised my hand, palm up. Roan moved quicker than I could react.
