Page 31 of Brutal Game

“I got them,” Tovah murmured. “Go handle the other end of the bar.”

I did, making my way toward the two girls who stood at the back end of bar, eyeing Jack and Isaac.

“They’re stupid hot,” one whispered.

The other fanned herself. “I’d happily be in the middle of that sandwich.”

“If youwantto be in the middle of a sandwich, I hear the twins are game…but I’ll take Jack Feldman. He’s enough to handle.”

“What are you drinking?” I asked.

If they were interested in Jack, they could have him. I’d happily let them take him off my hands.

They gave me their orders. As I took care of them, I eavesdropped on the other side of the bar.

“If it isn’t the little journalist,” Isaac greeted Tovah with a grin, dimples popping.

She rolled her eyes. “Isaac Jones, why are you such a pain in the ass?”

He laughed. “I guess a good girl like you probably doesn’t know that sometimes a little pain in the ass is a good thing.”

Tovah glared. “Do you two want drinks, or do you want to be assholes?”

Jack ignored her. “Aviva, come here,” he called.

“I can take care of you,” Tovah insisted.

“I bet you can,” Isaac murmured.

“Aviva’s going to take care of me,” Jack informed her, but he was looking at me as he said it. “Aren’t you, princess?”

Tovah mouthed the word princess, then tipped her head toward me, questions in her eyes. I knew what she was asking.Why does he call you princess?andWhat do you want me to do?

To the first, I had no answer, although I’m sure it was cruel and insulting. I answered the second out loud.

Popping the top off the hard seltzers the girls had ordered, I passed them over, taking their credit card and running it through the machine before handing it back.

“Switch with me,” I called to Tovah, and as I headed the dreaded length of the bar back toward Jack, imagining how good it would feel to pour an entire pitcher of Blue Moon over his head, the girl who was interested in Jack said to the other, “He calls herprincess?”

I had to resist telling her she didn’twantJack to call her princess. Not if it meant putting up with everything he’d done so far tome.

But maybe she’d like it like I did.

Thatthought pissed me off so much, I stomped the last few steps over to Jack.

“Fire in your eyes,” he murmured. “Did I manage to piss you off, sweetheart?”

“Don’t call me that,” I told him, quietly but clearly. “Don’t call me sweetheart, don’t call me princess. Don’t call me little thief or little spy or anything other than Aviva.”

His own eyes went cold. “I’ll call you anything I want to call you.”

I shook my head. “Not in public you won’t, unless you want Alex to boot you out of here and ban you for life.”

Isaac whistled. “Not a great idea to make him angry.”

“I’m going to remind you,once, who is calling the shotshere,” Jack said, also quietly. His hand covered mine, and it might look sweet from other points of view, but I could feel the power and threat of his hand. He’d left fingerprints on my hips; he could do worse, I was sure of it. “It’s obvious you don’t like giving up control, but that’s the game we’re playing here. Got it?”

I shook my head. “My bar, my rules.”

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