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“I know. I’m sorry. They were just leaving.”
“Like hell we were,” Zade says as Dalton’s hands flinch at his sides, ready to throw down like the fucked-up little violence addict he is.
My heart races, the irritation in Zade’s eyes making me nervous. I don’t know Danny very well, but I’ve seen him effortlessly throw assholes out of his bar, and I don’t doubt that he’s about to try it on Zade and Dalton. Only, I can guarantee that this will end a little differently than what Danny is used to.
Danny strides toward us, and as his stare hardens, I notice Zade reaching around to his back, no doubt going for his gun.
Panic tears at me, and before I even think about what I’m doing, I cut in front of Danny, blocking him from Zade as I meet his ferocious gaze. “Leave,” I tell him with a pointed stare, knowing damn well this isn’t going to go down well. I subtly shake my head, silently begging him not to do anything stupid. “My shift ends in twenty minutes. Cross and Sawyer can walk me back. Please, just . . . go.”
I feel Dalton’s stare flicking between us, but I don’t dare take my eyes off Zade until I see his hand finally relax back by his side and a wave of relief crashes through me. He takes a step toward me, gripping my chin. “Don’t try anything, Lamb,” he warns me, his words like bullets right to the chest.
He holds my stare for a moment longer before finally releasing my chin and stepping around both me and Danny and striding out through the back door. I let out a heavy breath and meet Dalton’s gaze. Unease flashes in his eyes, and he gives me a small smile before following Zade, leaving me with Danny.
“You in some kind of trouble?” Danny questions, his gaze narrowed as he watches after the guys.
“Nothing I can’t handle,” I promise him before forcing an encouraging smile across my face and hoping like fuck he doesn’t try anything stupid. Before he gets a chance to question me, I scurry away, heading back out into the bar to finish my shift. Zade is definitely going to have something to say about this when I get back home.
Chapter 16
OAKLEY
My feet drag along the pavement with Easton on one side and Sawyer on my other. Dalton and Zade walked out of Danny’s Bar twenty minutes ago, and the pumping adrenaline made me feel wide awake, but now that it’s burned out, I’m more than ready to crash.
“You shouldn’t stir Zade like that,” Easton warns as we walk away from Danny’s Bar, a strange sadness growing in the pit of my stomach. I’m certain that Zade isn’t about to let me go back there. Not after how everything just went down.
“I can’t help it,” I tell him honestly as Sawyer scoffs, a breathy chuckle vibrating through his chest. “He makes all these bullshit demands of me, throws me around like a fucking ragdoll, and just expects me to accept it. I get that he had a screwed-up life and dealt with who knows how much abuse from his father over the years, but that doesn’t give him the right to treat me the way he does. I’m getting whiplash from his mood swings. I mean, if the guy is determined to take my life, then the least he can do is put up with every bit of bullshit I throw his way.”
Sawyer looks over my head and fixes Easton with a pointed stare. “She’s got a point, man.”
“I know she does,” he mutters. “But the more she gets under his skin, the more he gets under mine. He’s like a fucking child. I’ve never seen him this irritable before.”
A pang of satisfaction settles into the pit of my gut, only hanging around for a moment before vanishing again. Getting under Zade’s skin was great those first few times. Watching how quickly I could make him squirm was getting me off, but I’m starting to learn that satisfaction never lasts. At the end of the day, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s still going to kill me.
Letting out a heavy sigh, I look up at Sawyer, my fingers brushing past his as he walks by my side. “I don’t think I ever said thank you for getting me out of those cells.”
“Sure you did,” he says. “Kind of.”
I give him a hard stare. “You know damn well that I didn’t,” I tell him. “I was so worked up and pissed at you all for lying to me that I never stopped to consider just how dangerous that was. And even though there will come the day that you march me into Empire’s sacred tomb and take my life, I’m still grateful that you came and got me out of there. Those cells were . . . It’s just not somewhere I was willing to spend another second. So thank you.”
