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“It’s called humanity, you freak.” I shake my head, knowing I’m on the verge of losing it. I need to get out of here and away from everything related to Axel Maeiriellie. “Can one of you two crazies give me a ride home? Preferably the conscious one. But at this point, I’ll take just about anything.”
“I’m not unconscious,” Austin says with a shaky moan. Then he shifts, sitting up, his face puffy and bloody, and his nose looks a little crooked. He wipes the blood from his nose with his arm, then winces. “I can drive you home if you want.”
“Yeah, no thanks.” I decide that between the two of them, Amelia is probably the better option.
Plus, Austin’s eyes are so swollen I doubt he can even see.
“Really, I don’t mind.” He reaches up, grasps the counter, and drags himself up to standing.
“No thanks,” I repeat, eyeing him over, the cuts, the blood. Talk about ruthless. “You look like shit.”
“Gee, thanks,” he says dryly. “Honestly, though, I don’t feel a thing.”
“I think that might be the vodka talking,” I say as he unravels some paper towels.
He dabs the paper towels against his cheek then winces. “I barely drank a quarter of the bottle.”
“That’d be enough to make me pass out.” I shrug when he gapes at me. “It’s called building up a tolerance, something I haven’t and probably never will do.”
“Good for you.” He grabs the vodka and takes a long swallow straight from the bottle. Then wipes his lips clean. “There. Good as new.” He flashes me a toothy, albeit very bloody, grin.
I just shake my head.
Amelia chuckles then collects her purse off the counter. “Come on; I’ll take you home. Austin, you can ride with us.” She rummages around in her purse, digging out a set of keys, which she tosses to Liam. “Liam, be a doll and follow me in my car. I don’t want to have to drive back here to get it.”
Liam grunts in response, but I assume that meansyesbecause he walks out the door.
Amelia signals for me to go ahead then has Austin put his arm around her shoulders so she can help him out to his Porsche. After the three of us have piled in, with Austin curled up on the tiny back seat—honestly, I’m not even sure why he has to come with us—she starts up the engine and moves to shift it into drive, but then she pauses.
“Actually, Hadley, do you mind driving back?” She unfastens her seatbelt. “I’ve got a few emails that I need to send out.”
“Can’t you just wait until you’re home?” I ask with zero desire to drive the Porsche.
She shakes her head. “They need to be done ASAP.”
I cast a glance at Austin. “Can’t he drive then?”
“Oh, don’t be silly.” She pushes the door open, swings her legs out, and then hops out. Then she lowers her head back into the cab to look at me. “I know you secretly want to race it home, so here’s your chance.” Then she steps back and bumps the door shut with her hip.
How does she know I like to race? I feel as though I should be surprised, but at this point, I’m not.
I get out of the car, wind around the back, and climb into the driver’s seat while Amelia slides in the passenger side.
She slips the visor down and reapplies her makeup while I adjust the seat and put on my seatbelt.
“Oh, and Hadley, there’s a hundred bucks in it for you if you can get us to your house in less than ten minutes.” She wipes red lipstick from the corners of her mouth, giving me a sidelong glance.
I start to shake my head, not wanting anything from her, but then I realize I really need the hundred bucks at this point, since my current job title is being two mobsters’ little bitch with zero pay.
I wrap my hand around the shifter. “What if I can get us there in five?”
Her eyes dance with delight. “Fifty more bucks?
“How about a hundred?” I say. “So, two hundred total.”
“Make it three.”
“Why did you just raise it?”
