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“I’m fine,” she answers quickly, too quickly. When he raises his eyebrow questioningly, she huffs. “If this has been going on under my nose, I’ve failed. I don’t fail.”
“You think they were being held in your territory?” Hayden summarises.
She pulls in a small inhale as she thinks about it. “They were at the furthest point away from any of the other territories when we found them, they said they’d been running for days so it’s possible that they’d crossed the border, but I couldn’t say for sure.”
“Tantos?” Preston turns to his cousin.
Brent shakes his head, looking darkly thoughtful. “I guess it’s possible. Rubes is out of the game officially but with the work she did while the Tantos were active, it’s hard to believe something like this would be happening on their old stomping ground without her knowing.” Brent looks to Annika, some of his hard edges softening as his arms drop from their defensive pose to hang at his side. “With your permission, I’d like to tell my cousin about this, she may be able to give us some moreinformation.” He pauses as he seems to try and find the right words. “She’s also worked with a lot of women with traumatic backgrounds. If you want, she’d be happy to talk to your girls.”
I don’t know why but hearing them referred to as Annika’s girls makes my chest clench. When he flicks his gaze between us as though he’s speaking to both of us, because they’re both our girls, I have to swallow down a ball of emotion I cannot quite name that has formed in my throat.
“Ruby O’Reilly?” Annika asks and I look to Brent for clarification. I know the name Ruby O’Reilly, any cop in the city knows the O’Reilly name. I’d dismissed Brent as being part of them because he is working for The Daos but he must have Tanto links too. The Tantos have been effectively inactive since Declan O’Reilly was imprisoned a few years ago, his daughter, who by all accounts was his right-hand, never took over, so the Tantos have apparently disappeared.
Brent nods once and I can feel rather than see Annika’s surprise. But what surprises our hosts is when she turns to me and asks, “What do you think?”
I try not to blink at her like a gormless idiot. She’s askingme?After my suggestion of taking the girls to the police and the subsequent shitstorm of a revelation from Annika, I didn’t think my opinion was wanted, let alone fucking invited. Looking her square in the eye, I say with gentle firmness. “We’ve not got any further on our own. If someone could help, we should take every opportunity we can to find the fuckers.”
She nods thoughtfully and turns back to the bear of a man and says, “Set it up.”
Preston insists that Annika joins them at the bar for a drink and she reluctantly agrees. The bar is busy, bodies packed around each other like sardines in a can but the dancefloor is alive with people writhing and bumping to the music. On stagea young woman in an outfit skimpy enough to rival those at The Diamond Dozen is belting out an impressive rendition ofCandymanby Christina Aguilera. We stand at the bar, facing the stage. Annika orders a vodka tonic, Lance and Hayden each order neat spirits, and Brent declines a drink while I sip a water.
The siren descends the steps to the side of the stage, heading into the crowd, dancing with her fans as she sings. She heads in our direction, coming straight at me.
Singing about lips like sugar cane, she runs her fingers over my chest, the thin fabric of my t-shirt doing little to cushion her touch. She turns so her back is to my front, close enough that her butt rests against my crotch. I can feel my brows in my hairline as I grip the bar behind me. Slowly she bends forward as she sings suggestive lyrics about real big… She flips her dark purple hair, arching her back, and throwing me a wink over her shoulder suggesting I’m her Candyman.
She dances off, back into the crowd and I turn to Annika, wanting to see her reaction. Instead, I’m met with three sets of glaring eyes. I laugh. “Guess that’s the missus?”
“Quite something, isn’t she?” Hayden smirks.
I decide that answering that would be a lose-lose situation, so I just smile and continue watching the performance. After the song finishes, the singer thanks her adoring crowd and disappears only to come back out again a few minutes later to join us at the bar. Her arms fling around Preston first and he smiles adoringly at her before kissing her softly.
“Sweetheart,” his greeting is warmer than anything else I’ve heard him say. “You remember, Annika Wolfe.” He gestures to Annika.
“Of course.” The girl smiles brightly and genuinely. “It’s lovely to see you again, Miss Wolfe.”
“Mrs Preston,” Annika greets without a smile. “Or is it Mrs O’Reilly? Mrs Pullman?”
The dark-haired woman, still wrapped around Preston’s neck, just smiles more. “You can call me, Elle.” A DJ has taken up in place of the band andCry To Meby Solomon Burke starts playing. Elle gasps and turns back to Preston. “I love this song! Dance with me?”
“I’m working right now, sweetheart,” he says gently.
She pouts and turns to Brent; she can’t say anything before he shakes his head. “I don’t dance, princess.”
“You danced at the wedding,” she argues.
“That was a one-time thing.”
She slides out of Preston’s arms and wrinkles her nose. “Boo, you’re no fun.” Sidling up to Hayden, stood next to me, she bats her eyelashes. “You’ll dance with me, won’t you?”
He places his palm over his chest, an exaggerated look of shock on his face. “Third choice?” He shakes his head in disappointment. “Oh baby, you’re gonna have to do better than that. I want to see you beg.”
She raises a single brow and throws down the metaphorical gauntlet by turning to me. “How about you? You look like you’ve got moves, wanna take me for a spin? On the dancefloor that is.” She gives me a flirty smile and I chuckle, shaking my head and trying to think of a polite way to decline when the decision is taken out of my hands.
“Absolutely fucking not,” Hayden growls, throwing her over his shoulder and marching to the dance floor.
She squeals and giggles. “Look who found his dancing legs!” Lifting her head, she winks at me with a smug smile.
I watch as he lowers her to her feet and the two of them draw together until they’re touching as much as possible. They sway to the beat, his thigh wedged between her legs while her arms drape over his shoulders. If I were a little more prudish, I may have blushed at the way they moved together, practically dry humping in front of over a hundred people. I glance to my left tosee Brent watching with a neutral expression. Preston is talking to Annika, but his eyes are fixed on his husband and wife dirty dancing a few feet away. Annika is also watching them, a strange expression on her face. What is she thinking? Does she want three men? The thought has me grinding my teeth.
