Page 101 of Underground Prince

His question cascaded across my skin, a centipede stretching its legs. “Who do you work for?”

I dared to catch his eye. “W-what?”

He anchored an arm on each side of me. “I saw you that night. Watching me. Noting what was being brought into the bar. And as we’ve already concluded, you’re not an idiot. So. Answerme. Before I truly do get mad.”

“I don’t—”

“FBI? DEA? ATF?Who?”

“No one—none! I don’t work for anyone—”

His hand was on my throat and then torn off before I could gasp. I briefly registered the door crashing open, the crunch of a fist meeting bone, the growl of pain.

Wide-eyed, I witnessed Theo grab his brother by the shirt collar and throw him into the wall beside me. Theo didn’t pause or wait for Trace to crawl back up from the floor. He held his hand out to me. “Come here. It’s okay.”

I was just another fixture among a treasure trove of valuables displayed in this suite. No one could get me if I was made of glass.

“Scarlet. You’re safe. I’m right here. Come. Please.”

His tone was soft, warmer than I’d ever heard, and it was the beacon guiding me out of the tunnel I’d crawled into.

Theo’s hand wrapped around mine, gentle then solid. He shook with rage.I’m fine, my squeeze said. He pulled me to him and tucked me against his side.

Trace rose from the ground with a moan, wiping his mouth. “Ouch, brother.”

“You knew the consequences,” Theo said. “You touch her, I fucking rail on you.”

“Your recently acquired blindness, Theodore, really doesn’t suit you.” Trace pulled a handkerchief out of his suit pocket and dabbed at the corner of his lip.

“When I say I have it under control, I do. We don’t involve ourselves in each other’s business so please, let’s not begin now,” Theo said.

“Yes, but that’s the problem.Mybusiness has become affected. Your lovely companion here has seen things she shouldn’t. Is doing things she is better offnotdoing, for reasons I can’t get to the bottom of becauseyouare standing in my way and putting our entire establishment at risk.” Trace tucked the handkerchief back into his pocket. “Care to inform him, sweetness, or should I?”

“Call her that again,” Theo said.

Trace didn’t flinch. “Lady Luck has been learning the trade, little brother. Playing at other game rooms, befriending clientele, becoming close with one of our best dealers, asking questions she shouldn’t be asking and she seemsparticularlyinterested in you. And you wonder why I become curious, when it should be you orchestrating this interrogation.”

“That isutterbullshit.”

Both brothers were surprised at the sound of my voice coming out from under Theo’s arm.

“You don’t have to say another word to him,” Theo said to me. “Stay away from her,” he said while glancing back at his brother. “I warned you with my fist once. The next time, I’ll use metal.”

“Oh-ho,”Trace said. “You are such a pussy, bro.”

Theo let me go and whipped around so fast I held my hands out for balance. He stalked over to his brother, slamming him against the wall with nothing but a hand to Trace’s chest lodging him there. Theo wrestled, not with his brother but with some internal force, before releasing a frustrated scream and letting Trace go.

He showed his back to Trace, rubbing a hand across his face before looking at me.

The sorrow, the pain, the extreme finality with which he accepted his fate penetrated my heart more than his words ever could.

“Oh.” A smile crept along Trace’s features, feral and quiet as he took us in. “I see.”

“We’re done here.” Theo was beside me in an instant, a hand at my waist, and directing us out of the room. I was only too happy to comply.

We said nothing when we passed the two “guards” who hauled me up here in the first place, nor when I yanked my shoes out of Thing Two’s hands, and still no words were exchanged when we entered the elevator, though Theo’s hand would not leave my waist. I leaned into his chest, and whether he was thinking about it or not, he held me closer.

We bypassed the third floor and I was grateful he wasn’t expecting me to maintain an appearance at the gala. I was fairly certain he was putting me in a car home and I had to contain myself from falling apart with gratitude.

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