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Did they send the red-eyed man along with the thugs because they somehow knew I was going to be there? How did they get their hands on that kind of information?
Was the mole responsible? I highly doubt it. After all, I never tell anyone when I leave for the club. And I was sure that nobody was following me. But it’s a definite fact, the red-eyed man’s presence there was premeditated, and someone knew I was coming.
“Something on your mind?” Zayn asks.
I realize I’ve fallen silent and that both Aria and Zayn are looking at me. “No, nothing much.”
The red-eyed man is someone I need to deal with personally before he becomes an even bigger problem. If he’s capable of doing something akin to the horrors I’ve seen, then that’s someone I can’t let anywhere near Aria.
Zayn raises an eyebrow. “Is any of this connect to room two—”
I narrow my eyes at him and he instantly stops. The last thing I want is to mention what we saw in room 204. It didn’t scare me until I imagined it was Aria.
I’d never want her to picture herself in that disturbing, violent scenario.
The waitress arrives, three drinks on a platter, which she places on the table. She leaves, and silence once again descends. Aria’s hand is mine is still tense, her feet tucked in close to the couch as if trying to make herself smaller. Or trying to create as much distance between herself and Zayn.
“Do you have any leads?” Zayn asks, steepling his fingers.
“Not really,” I say. “There’s someone I’m considering, but before I mention anything, there are still a few things that I have to check.”
Namely, Holly. Seeing her rush past reminded me we still haven’t quite finished our talk. There’s a good chance there’s something she knows about the red-eyed man. I suspect the thugs were meant for her.
Zayn angles his head. “Could any of this have to do with the club? Seeing as you work there?”
Aria draws in a sharp gasp. Their words when we first arrived rise in my mind.
I was more focused on diffusing the tension than following the line of conversation, but now it’s reared its ugly head.
And Aria is so tense she looks like she’s going to snap. She tilts her head to gaze at me, looking as if the action might shatter her. “We met at the club,” she says, looking both angry and vulnerable at the same time.
“Which is fine,” Zayn says amiably. “I’m only asking because of your brother.”
Aria shoots to her feet. “Excuse me, I need to use the bathroom.”
I point to a door not far from the couch. “Sure, it’s down that way.”
Aria leaves with barely a glance at the two of us. Frustration churns in my gut. I knew this would be stressful for her. She wasn’t going to trust Zayn easily. It’s understandable she’d be defensive, possibly unfriendly.
But as for Zayn… There’s an aversion there, but why?
“You do realize what she is, right?” Zayn asks quietly.
“A shifter?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Chase. We both know what that club is. You concluded the same when you read the dossier.”
The club being a prostitution ring wasn’t in the file. It was something I discovered myself. “It doesn’t mean Aria’s what you assume she is,” I growl.
“I know very well who she is,” Zayn snaps back. “Her brother isn’t what he seems. She’s just using you to protect him.”
I’ve considered the same thing myself since Aria came clean about what exactly happened to put her in this situation. It doesn’t take a detective to suspect Aria’s using me, but I believe the sincerity in her eyes. I believe her love for me isn’t fake. Which means protecting her brother comes with my intention of protecting her, because like it or not, I’ll be seeing him often if Aria remains at my side.
“Her brother was a gambler, played ball with people he really couldn’t afford to piss off,” Zayn continues. “Then he ran his mouth off at the wrong people, put everything on red and it turned up black. Suddenly he found himself owing a lot of people a lot of money, money he couldn’t pay, money the organization wasn’t willing to lose for nothing.”
“Aria already told me this, what does that have to do with anything?”
“Do you know how she intends on paying them back?”
