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I turned away and found Brady scowling at the register when I walked up to take the large stack of bills out of his hand.
“It’s almost over,” I reminded him. “You make any money tonight?”
“Of course,” he scoffed. “I always do. It’s just—” He stopped himself and shook his head.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I’m not sure if you’ve been keeping up with hours or not, but I’ve worked over 60 hours this week, Jace. I’m exhausted. I was going to talk to you about cleaning up and clocking out once the last of my guests left, but then those two sat down and…” He paused again, sucking in a breath. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to complain or refuse to do my job. I’m just tired, Jace. All I want is to go home and get some sleep.”
I nodded to that, understanding where he was coming from completely. “Say no more. Grab these guys their drinks and print their tabs. I’ll break down enough change for you to cash them out and then you can send them over to Chelsea in VIP.”
“Are you serious?” he asked, blinking up at me.
“Don’t worry about the cleanup. I’ll be here all night, so I’ll make sure it gets done.”
“Thank you, Jace. I mean it. Thank you.”
“Are we gonna get our drinks or what?” the younger man sneered behind us.
“Sorry about that, Sir,” Brady said, spinning around and offering him a fake, strained smile. “I’m getting them right now.”
Brady rushed to get their alcohol, and as I divided some bills out to break change, I put the remainder of the money back in the register and closed it.
“I’ll be right back,” I said when I turned back to the bikers. “Brady here is in overtime and has to go, so he’ll cash you out and then I’d like for you two to take the stairs up to VIP. We have a separate bar up there with two booths and two private dancers who would love to show you guys a great time. If anyone gives you any shit, tell them to come and see me personally. My name is Jace Reyez.”
I didn’t give them time to speak before I was off and heading back to the office. When I made it there, I sat down behind the desk and got started opening the safe. Once I had what Brady needed, I closed the safe and locked it.
I’d just gotten to my feet when a familiarclickpierced the air, and my spine reflexively bristled when I looked up, unable to withdraw my guns in time before the masked man standing in the threshold withdrew another gun and aimed it at me.
“You’re a fucking idiot.” He bellowed out a maniacal laugh and shook his head, sighing in utter awe. I blinked, having realized I knew exactly who the fuck this guy was once I recognized the leather jacket. This was one of the guys I was just interacting with at the bar, the younger one who’d looked sick.
“If it’s the money you want, here, take it.” I dropped the small stack I was holding on top of the desk and carefully raised my hands, knowing I was a goner if I dare tried to make a play for one of my guns. “You can have it all. Everything in the safe too.”
“The bounty on your head will pay me far more than whatever bullshit you have in that safe.”
His words had my stomach flipping upside down and my heart wickedly sputtering behind my ribs. “You don’t have to do this,” I told him, keeping my voice strong despite its shake. There was no goddamn way in hell I could grab my guns and kill him before he killed me, and it wasn’t like I could launch across the desk and tackle the fucker either. Not with the distance between us.
“Oh, but I do—”
A hard gasp exploded from my lungs when a random set of hands wrapped around the guy’s head and with vehement, brutal twist, snapped his fucking neck. My eyes protruded fifty sizes when the body hit the floor.
“Let’s go, Jace!”
My sight darted to the doorway again, where one of the guys wearing a trench coat rushed towards me, disposing of the cowboy hat and what looked like a hairy as fuck caterpillar stuck on his upper lip.
“Rhett!?Holy fuck, man. What the hell are you—”
“We have to move.” He kneeled beside the body and grabbed the guns, tucking one inside of his coat but holding on to the other. He then approached the desktop and fired a bullet into the monitor and several in the modem. “We have about ten minutes before this place goes up in—”
Something that sounded like a loud BOOM from a cannon exploded nearby, shaking the whole room. Gunfire accompanied it and the thousands of ear-ringing screams flooding through the building.
“—flames,” he nervously muttered.
“Oh, thank God.”
Rhett and I spun at the same time, aiming our weapons at the dead biker’s friend who’d just stepped through the threshold, unarmed I should add, and was staring down at his partner’s corpse with not a whiff of sadness present on his face.
“The name’s Smoke.” His emerald orbs slid away from his dead friend and immediately fastened on me. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Jace. I’d love to stay and chitchat, but seeing as how Hell's gates just opened up out there and you are no longer in need of saving, I gotta jet.”
