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Okay, this is kind of nice.
But as rapidly as the kiss started, it ends as Xavier jerks back, panting and out of air. His eyes are filled with an untamed frenzy as he carries my gaze for a desperate breath of a second. Then he takes a deep inhale and exhale and just like that, he’s returned to the normal, uncaring Xavier I first met.
With a composed expression, he moves away from the car, holding onto me until I get my feet back underneath me. Then he turns toward Ralpho and Tank.
“There, are you happy?” he questions with a crook of his brow. “You got your entertainment for the day.”
Ralpho gaze zeroes in on me and I don’t like the way his eyes glint. “Entertainment, huh? Who said I enjoyed that?”
“Whether you enjoyed it or not is beside the point.” Benton sticks out his hand. “I think you owe us six invites and a six hour break from your perverted bullshit.”
Ralpho’s lip twitches in annoyance as he flicks a glance at Tank.
Tank simply shrugs. “If it was an act, it was a pretty damn good one.” He tosses a sly grin in my direction and I try not to shy away behind Benton.
Grumbling under his breath, Ralpho retrieves a small stack of red envelopes from his jacket pocket and slaps them into Benton’s hand. “There’s seven. Drake invited the girl too.” He turns on his heels and starts toward a sleek black car parked near the front entrance of the apartment complex.
Tank gives me one final smirk before following after Ralpho. When they reach the car, Ralpho turns back at us. “You passed the test for now, but don’t think this is over.” He grins then climbs into the backseat of the car.
Xavier, Benton, and I remain motionless until the car peels out of the parking lot. Then Benton ushers us to get inside the car. Xavier ducks into the backseat and gives me the passenger seat. When the doors are closed, I expect an awkward silence to settle between us but instead, Benton releases a deafening breath. “
“That wasn’t a fucking test.” He grips the steering wheel as he glances at Xavier in the rearview mirror. “Ralpho doesn’t give a shit if we’re dating Zhara or not. He was fucking with us, playing a fucking mind game.”
“Yeah, I know.” Xavier rubs his hand across his jawline. “But I don’t doubt for one minute that he wouldn’t have fucked up Jackson if we hadn’t played along.”
“I know,” Benton agrees, his gaze gliding to me. “It’s a good thing our bad girl over here knew how to play.” His lips pull to a teasing grin. “I officially take back all those sweet, cute remarks. You’re kind of naughty.”
My lips part in shock. “I was just doing what Jett taught me to do.”
Benton’s brow pops up. “Jett taught you how to do that?”
“What! No!” I swat his arm and he laughs. “He just taught me how to take over a situation and not lose character.”
“Well, it was an interesting character you chose. Seriously, who knew you could be so bossy?” Benton’s fingers fleetingly drift to his lips then he blinks a few times and starts up the engine.
“I’m sorry if I messed up,” I feel the need to say as I buckle my seatbelt. “I just didn’t know what else to do.”
“You didn’t mess up,” Benton assures me as he backs out of the parking space.
“No, she didn’t,” Xavier agrees. “She did good.” For some reason, he sounds confused by this.
But hey, at least he doesn’t seem pissed off at me anymore.
I don’t know whether to thank him or not, if getting told I’m good at pretending to be a bad girl is a compliment, so I decide to keep my lips zipped.
The three of us grow quiet as Benton pulls out onto the road, heading toward my subdivision. Benton only speaks one time when he asks me if anyone at my house is home. When I tell him probably not, since it’s Monday, he informs me that Wilder is meeting us at my house. Not wanting my family to see me show up with three guys, I send everyone a text to make sure the house is empty. Relief washes over me when I receive messages back, informing me that everyone is out and about and will be for a while.
After that, silence takes over again. I don’t know whether it’s from the awkwardness of me making out with them, or if they’re worrying about Tank and Ralpho. And maybe even Brook, the weirdo neighbor. I want to ask questions, but I’m uncertain if I’m allowed to or not.
“Am I still supposed to be acting natural?” I whisper quietly as I crack my window to let some air in.
Benton trades another look with Xavier in the rear view mirror and Xavier retrieves his phone from his pocket. After typing a few buttons, he nods his head.
“We’re good,” he tells Benton, putting his phone away. “There’s no bugs around, at least within a three mile radius.”
“What are bugs?” I ask him.
“Recording devices that are usually secretly planted somewhere so that someone can record and eavesdrop on someone else,” Xavier explains, shoving up the sleeves of his jacket.
“Oh, like in the movies?” I ask, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear
He wavers then nods. “Pretty much.”
I’ll admit, I’m a bit shocked, which I guess seems sort of silly considering everything I’ve witnessed and learned over the past week. “I didn’t realize people actually do that in real life. Well, unless you’re a cop or something.” I pause, my gaze skimming back and forth betwe
en Benton and Xavier. “Are you guys cops? I know you said you worked for an undercover detective program, but no one ever said if it was police related or totally separate.”
Xavier catches Benton’s eye and I get the impression he doesn’t want Benton telling me. When Benton ignores Xavier and glances at me, Xavier crosses his arms and slumps back in the seat.
“It’s not police related,” Benton says. “But we do sometimes work to help the police. Like the case we’re working on now. The police handed it over to the organization when they couldn’t get enough proof to make the arrests.”
“Proof for what?” I ask. “That these guys are drug lords?”
He nods. “That’s not just it, though, which is why we haven’t solved the case yet. We have enough proof that these guys are dealing and smuggling drugs, but we need to find out where the drugs are coming from, who makes them, how they’re smuggling them—things like that.” Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, he tensely massages the back of his neck. “There’s also been speculation that Drake has been selling newly created drugs, so we need to look into that more.” I must have a puzzled look on my face because he adds, “Devil’s poison is a newly created drug. It has been around for a little bit, but no one knows the source of where it came from.” He places both hands on the steering wheel, fixing his gaze on the road. “Our organization has shut down a few facilities that were creating new drugs and testing them out on tests subjects.”
My eyes widen. “Human tests subjects?”
He nods without looking at me. “It’s fucking cruel as shit because most of the test subjects aren’t there under their own free will. We’ve been trying to stop it, but it seems like with every facility we shut down, two more are created. And different people are running them so it’s really hard to arrest everyone involved.”
I shake my head, stunned. “I can’t believe people would do that to other people.”
“People can be very cruel sometimes,” he agrees with a nod.
“Yes, they can,” Xavier mumbles from the backseat, staring out the window.
