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“Shit,” I muttered, my gaze darting from side to side. “What does that prick want now?”
Rafael moved a little in front of me, his hand resting on his concealed weapon. I carried out a brief internal debate and nudged him forward. “Let’s go meet him. If this goes south, I’d rather it happened as far from the actual arena as possible.”
I’d almost forgotten my new escort. The two cops had emerged from the building behind me. As I started forward, one of them made a brisk remark to Niko.
My coach turned to me. “He wants to know if this man is a threat.”
My jaw clenched. The guy undoubtedly was, but not one I wanted the police interfering with if I could help it. That would make things ten times worse.
But that didn’t mean I’d definitely be fine.
“Tell him I know him, and I think it should be fine. But they should keep an eye out just in case I’m wrong.”
Niko passed on the message, and I hustled over to intercept the March Wind’s man with Jasper and Rafael by my side. When I came to a stop by one of the parking lot’s lamp posts, a few feet from the representative, I angled myself to the side so the cops would have a view of the unexpected arrival.
The March Wind’s rep looked me over with a sneer curling his thick lips. I held my posture stiffly, my heart skipping a beat.
This was way too close to the parts of my life I wanted to keep separate from my past. Why the fuck had he needed to approach me here?
Well, I already knew the answer to that question. This was where he’d known he could find me. Maybe that was a good thing. They were finally figuring out I was actually serious about this skating thing.
“We need to have a little chat,” the man spat out, his Australian drawl more pronounced in his apparent irritation.
I crossed my arms and answered his glare with a steely look of my own. “About what? I told you before that I’ve got nothing to do with any of your boss’s business or my mother’s.”
The rep scowled at me. “The March Wind doesn’t appreciate the public comments you’ve been making. The Devil’s Dozen operates behind the scenes only. Any attention brought to it is a betrayal.”
I narrowed my eyes even more. “It’d only be a ‘betrayal’ if I was still one of you. And I didn’t say a thing about the Devil’s Dozen. Or secret organizations or criminal masterminds. All anyone knows is that my mother is friends with some crooks. Sorry if that’s not vague enough for you.”
He bared his teeth. “It’s not up to me what’s good enough. If this is how you’re going to handle your problems, we might just have to eliminate you from the picture once and for all.”
Rafael let out a low growl. “That sounds like a threat. And I know exactly how to deal with threats to my woman. Areyoulooking to get eliminated?”
The man’s stance went rigid, but he stood firm. “I’m just reporting the possible consequences.”
Ignoring the clamminess of my skin, I wagged my finger at the guy. “How about the consequences of your boss’s actions—or lack of action, more like it? I wouldn’t have had to say anything about my mother if he and the rest of the Devil’s Dozen had gotten her under control already.She’sthe one making public attacks that are obviously going to prompt the media to comment. I can’t get away with saying nothing when she’s forced my hand.”
The March Wind’s man let out a scoffing sound. “The thing is, between you and the Deadly Rose, it’s a hell of a lot easier to deal with you.”
He raised his hand from his pocket, a glint of dark metal showing, and my breath stopped in my chest. I jerked to the side instinctively—giving the watching cops an even better view of the goon.
Right—I had official backup here too. I tilted my head subtly toward the officers, holding the rep’s gaze. “Really? Do you think the March Wind will be happy if you get arrested in broad daylight for pulling a weapon on a woman under police protection? Even if you manage to take me out in time before me and my men make you regret trying, you’ll be going down too.”
“But you’re welcome to try,” Jasper snapped, drawing his brawny frame up even taller.
The man’s gaze darted from me to my men to the cops beyond us. He sighed sharply and slid his hands all the way back into his pockets. “I delivered the message requested. You’d better remember it. That smart mouth is going to screw you over someday, bitch.”
Rafael shifted forward with a menacing loom, but the rep was already striding off toward his car. My shoulders sank as the tension rushed out of me with my next breath.
“Good riddance,” I muttered. “What’s next?”
Niko gave a laugh from behind us that only sounded a little strained. “I think now that you’ve dealt with him, next is sushi.”
I managed to recover my smile. “Right. Let’s get on with Mission: Fill My Stomach.”
But despite my casual words, my gut stayed knotted as we headed off toward the restaurant, the cops trailing along behind us.
I was grateful for their presence and how it’d helped diffuse that situation. Things could have gone a hell of a lot worse with that asshole. But the problem he’d presented wasn’t exactly finished.
