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My cheek rests against hers as my gaze locks with Darian’s, “Touch me again, and you will no longer have hands. Call me a stray or a whore again, and you will no longer have a tongue to speak. I’m done being walked over by assholes like you.”
Darian’s lips twitch as he stares at me, but the proud amusement seems to fall from his face when he looks at her again.
“Dolly, I want to make something abundantly clear.” He says, picking a piece of lint from his jeans and flicking it toward her, “You are no longer welcome here in this building nor any other building I own. Should you appear on our doorstep without invitation you will be killed.”
She gasps and her eyes bulge, “You can’t do that! I work here! He will kill me!”
Darkness flashes across his features and his voice remains lethally calm, “Then my brother and I finally have something in common. Now leave, your employment has come to an end.”
Releasing her with a shove, Lor hands me a generous pour of whiskey as I return to my seat. Dolly scoffs behind me, her heels clicking into the distance as she shouts at people to move out of her way.
“That was impressive, Ray.” Darian’s voice tickles my ear from where he stands beside me.
“She needed to be brought down a notch,” I hear Lor chuckle in front of us, from where he leans over the bar, “Or five,” I add with a shrug.
Lor grins, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more satisfying sight before in my life. Which is saying much, since…” he gestures around him in a broad way and I laugh.
Downing the whiskey in front of me, I chase it with water as the fuzzy feeling of intoxicated begins to spread through my body.
Darian doesn’t seem to notice as he leans closer to my ear, “Come, let’s go back to the apartment. Val is probably dying of hunger by now.”
My skin flushes up my neck all the way to my cheeks, “Don’t we have to text Ilana to tell her we’re leaving soon?” I raise an eyebrow at him.
He grins at me, “Already did beforeDolly showed up.”
Chapter 31
With steaks in tow, we open the doors to see Val waiting impatiently near the kitchen. Darian adds the premium cuts of meat to the rest of our leftovers onto his plate and chuckles when Val dives in with enthusiasm.
With the alcohol fully in control now I spy a bottle of whiskey on a bar table and beam before turning to Darian, “Have you hit your second wind yet or are you down for the count?”
His eyebrow raises, and he glances from me to the table I’m walking toward with a laugh, “Second wind? I’m still sober. Hit me, barkeep.”
I snicker quietly before pointing a finger at him, “Careful what you wish for. The last person I was tempted to hit was on their knees tonight.”
Heat flashes across Darian’s face before he chuckles softly, “If that is me by the end of this night, I’ll die a happy man.”
My body flushes and it takes conscious effort to focus on pouring the whiskey without spilling and then place the decanter down, sliding one of the full glasses to Darian.
Okay, drunk Lara is coming out to play. Everybody, watch out.
Darian barks a laugh.
I cover my mouth loosely with a hand, “Oh shit, I said that out loud didn’t I?”
“You absolutely, most definitely, did.” He chokes out between bouts of laughter.
“Whoops,” I say dismissively before downing half the glass of whiskey.
Darian empties his, and moves closer to refill it, “So where did you learn to do what you did at the club?” He asks while filling his cup, then turns to top mine off.
Filters at this point, have nearly disappeared for me, melted away with the tequila and whiskey we’ve been drinking.
I answer truthfully, without a second thought.
“When I went into university, I was an anxious mess being around frat houses and I was terrified of being taken advantage of or hurt, so I did the only thing I could think of. I threw myself into classes that focus on self defense and fighting. It didn’t help my anxiety much, but it kept my mind busy when I wasn’t doing school work so I suppose it was good for something.”
Darian is staring at me with furrowed brows and I blink, realizing that I’ve said too much.
