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Eyes fall to me with slow smiles, until their gaze lands on the mark that is on my shoulder. PROPERTY OF DREX is like a tag they seem to be quickly moving away from. It held some power before, but they actually look terrified now, as though they can’t get away from me fast enough.
Not sure what’s going on with that. A few guys actually bump into each other when they try to clear a path for me as I move into the room a little more. No one is even breathing in my direction.
I spot Snake off to the side as he devours Sarah’s neck, and I walk up to them when Drex seems to be missing. I hope he isn’t in his room with a girl. I… I can’t even think about that right now.
I tap Sarah on the arm, and she turns to me with an annoyed expression until she realizes it’s me. “Eve! You’re back!” she squeals excitedly.
Snake’s head jerks my way, and surprise fills his face.
“Where’s Drex?” I ask, ignoring the way everyone seems to be acting weird at the sight of me.
“I think I saw him playing pool,” she says, motioning with her head toward a set of doors that are wide open.
I know where the pool tables are, but I don’t point that out. Axle is already walking in there when I move that way. As soon as I walk in, my eyes drink in the sight they’ve been starved for, and that void that has been growing starts to slowly fade.
Drex is smoking while studying the table, and he puts down the cigarette as he lines up a shot. No one is around him. Two of the other tables have people playing together, but Drex is playing alone.
He makes a shot, slapping the cue ball into a red one, and it smashes into the corner pocket. Just as he leans up with his cigarette back in his hand, his eyes fall on me, and he goes stiff.
Almost immediately, his posture relaxes, but he doesn’t react. He cuts his eyes toward Axle, tilting his head. “Could have warned me,” he says coldly.
That warmth in his gaze is gone. The Drex that I got all to myself is absent. In its place is the Drex everyone else gets: the cold, hard, impassive Drex.
What the hell happened?
“Tried to. Your phone must be off. Kept going straight to voicemail,” Axle says unapologetically.
Drex eyes me coolly, still smoking that damn cigarette, then he puts it out in an ashtray before taking a sip of his beer.
“What’s going on?” he asks Axle, looking away from me. “Something happen?”
He sounds casual, but the grip he has on the pool stick makes it seem like he’s pissed and holding it back.
“Yeah,” Axle tells him, motioning with his head for everyone to walk out.
As soon as the doors shut on the music and the three of us are alone, it gets really suffocating in here. And quiet.
“What happened?” Drex asks, still keeping an even tone, but his jaw is ticking.
“Feds showed up. She made a video of their conversation. I haven’t had a chance to view it yet.”
“And you couldn’t have just sent it to me?” Drex asks.
The pool stick whines in his grip, and Axle frowns. “She asked to be brought here.”
Drex still doesn’t look back at me. “I told you she couldn’t come here. Last I checked, I was in charge. Not her.”
“I’m right here. Feel free to acknowledge me at any point,” I bite out.
His shoulders stiffen at the sound of my voice, and his knuckles turn white from the even tighter grip he has on the stick. He still doesn’t look my way.
“She’s stubborn,” Axle says with a ghost of a smile. “She threatened to take the bus here.”
Drex doesn’t react, but he does cut his eyes toward me. “You can go home now.”
Home. That word again. It used to be a simple word with one simple meaning. Now… Now the complexity of that word could have Einstein buried under contradictory equations for a lifetime.
“I want to talk to you,” I tell him, stepping closer. He stiffens again, and I start to feel sorry for that poor pool stick.
“I’ll view the video and you take her home,” Drex tells Axle, once again ignoring me.
He takes the phone away and walks through a backdoor, disappearing. I start to go after him, but Axle steps in my path.
“Trust me, he needs a few seconds. He wasn’t prepared to see you.”
“Why does he have to be prepared? I just want to talk to him.”
“Leave it, Eve. Give him a second. You don’t want to do this when he’s surprised and pissed.”
I glare at him. “He’s not going to hurt me, jackass.”
His eyebrows go up in surprise. Maybe being away from this place long enough has helped me get my backbone back, or maybe I just finally don’t give a damn what they can do to me, but I’m not scared. Not right now. Clarity. That’s what I’ve gotten. A little clarity.
