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Manuel wasn’t evil. He was tortured.
Not one to back down, especially since she was on a roll, Rena opened her mouth to push some more when a couple of giants in leather appeared at their table.
She didn’t immediately recognize the man with the black hair and gray eyes…until Kade stepped up, and then she made the connection. Judging by their hateful stares and the sheer amount of daggers they were throwing at Manny, they had a bone to pick.
“What are you doing here?” the leader asked, his voice low and gruff, almost like a growl.
Manuel met his eyes with the same confidence he carried around like a vest of chain mail that she saw him wear every day. “I’m sorry, is this a private establishment? I didn’t see a sign.”
His comment was met with disdain. “Guess we’ll have to make one then. Slap your picture on it.”
“You know,” Manuel mused, “I don’t remember any phone calls about meeting here today. So either I need to fire my assistant, or you’re interrupting my downtime.”
“What are you doing here, Rena?” Kade asked, stepping to the side and more into view. “He’s not the kind of people you want to be associating with, trust me.”
Embarrassment, shame, and righteous indignation—how dare he judge her and who she chose to spend her time with?—warred inside of her. She knew he was thinking of her sister, as well as Rena’s past, but he didn’t know the whole story. How could he? And she couldn’t explain.
Lifting her chin, she simply didn’t say anything. They might be familiar with each other, but they were hardly friends. Hell, they’d barely shared two words with each other before this. She didn’t owe him anything.
Slipping her hand onto Manuel’s thigh under the table, she expressed her solidarity. He responded for both of them. “Gentlemen, the lady and I are busy. Like I said before, make an appointment.”
The waitress showed up then, and with a nervous glance at the assembled men, set Manuel’s fresh glass of whiskey in front of him and darted away again. Manuel picked up the glass, brought it to his lips and turned it up, emptying it in one shot. Grasping the hand she’d placed on his thigh, Manuel began sliding out from the booth, forcing the bikers to move back and make way without so much as a single word spoken.
The power he displayed with that one action alone impressed Rena more than it should. A man with inherent power was damn sexy.
“I trust I’ll be hearing from you soon,” Manuel said in parting, and the leader with the stunning gray eyes nodded mutely.
Rena followed closely behind Manuel, only glancing back once to catch the disapproval on Kade’s face. No doubt, he was going to go running back to her sister who would read her the riot act the instant she walked through the door.
So maybe she just wouldn’t go home tonight.
The thought reminded her of when she was a kid avoiding punishment. You couldn’t be grounded if you weren’t around to ground, right?
It was crazy how she always felt like a little kid in comparison to Angel, when in reality only two years separated them. But that’s the way it had always been. Angel took on the mother role, and Rena was the out-of-control child. But with Manny, Rena didn’t feel like a kid. He only saw the woman she’d grown to be. He didn’t judge her by her past. With him, all of that wasn’t a factor; she could leave it behind. Which was exactly why coming home had always been a rarity for her. Who wanted to live under constant judgment and ridicule, never living up to others’ expectations?
Outside, Manuel led the way to the blacked-out Mercedes and opened the rear passenger door for her, allowing her to climb in before doing so himself. He wore a mask of contrition, the fingers of his left hand tapping out a rhythm on his thigh as the driver set the car into motion.
He was agitated, as he had every right to be. Kade and his friends had overstepped, confronting him without cause. In a way, despite the already tense air surrounding him, they’d ruined the evening with their bullshit. If Manuel hadn’t been in a bad mood before, he certainly was now.
“Are you okay?” she asked, testing the waters.
“Fine,” he bit out, confirming that he most certainly was not. That was a man for you though. And they called women complicated.
“Right. I totally believe you,” she replied sarcastically. “So, I guess you’ll be dropping me off at home then…”Please don’t take me home.
“Why, is that where you want to go?”
He wouldn’t even look at her. But he was still holding her hand, so maybe there was some hope… “Not really, but—”
“Then you’ll come home with me tonight.”
So decisive.
So commanding.
She loved it.
A small, satisfied smile played on her lips that she tried to hide by turning her head away to look out the window. It wasn’t the time to display happiness when he was so pissed off.
