Page 80 of Falcon's Prey

I turned to face her then. She was hurt but quickly masked it.

I saw Zeke come our way with his security right behind him. He glared at Ren, obviously still remembering the humiliation.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he spat.

I gave him a smile dipped in poison. “My board cut me off again, and I need some cash.”

“I don’t take charity.” He dismissed it right away. “I want them escorted out, and teach him a lesson.”

Zeke was about to turn around, but my words halted him.

“So, you’re saying you don’t want to fuck me?” My tone was bored.

When he didn’t say anything else, I walked up to him, putting my hand to his chest. He watched me with avid interest. Slowly, I let my fingers trail up his chest. Since he wasn’t much taller than me with heels on, I pressed up against him and then leaned into him so I could whisper in his ear.

“I want at the table today. I win, I get the cash. I lose…” I let the words hang in the air. “You get me.”

I pulled back, looking up at him, hoping it had worked.

“Take them away. She can stay.”

“Sorry. Then no deal.” I shrugged it off like it was no big deal. “My dog goes where I go.”

Zeke gritted his jaw for a second but ultimately nodded. “And who are you?”

Before I could speak, Pam was shaking his hand.

“Pamela Escalante.” She spat my mother’s name like it was nothing. “I’m Ember’s cousin.”

Someone tell me this bitch didn’t take a name I hold sacred and turn it into a pawn in her game.She smiled at Zeke, and I watched as she charmed him and led him away from us.

“What did I say?” Ren barked out angrily behind me.

I turned around, hitting him in the chest. “Did you know she was going to use my mother’s name?”

Something like surprise shone on his face. “No, and I don’t care.”

My heart skipped a beat. Not from elation or happiness but from a small stabbing pain. Of course he didn’t care. I’d always been a pawn in someone’s game. It’d been that way since I was fifteen, and it would probably continue to be that way for the rest of my life.

“And I don’t care what you said either.”

I tried to walk away, but Ren pulled me back. He dragged my arm and pushed me against the rails.

“What did you whisper in his ear?” Ren demanded. His tone was harsh, and his jaw was rigid.

“Are you…are you jealous?” The words left my lips before I could process them.

They were laced with hope. I’d been jealous before of the people who had mothers and fathers who doted on them, but never for someone of the opposite sex. And my feelings toward Pam were just that. I was jealous of her. Of the connection she had with Ren. At the fact that while I was imprisoned, he was with her. She had his respect, his trust, and I had scraps of him.

“No,” Ren said, low but steady, and my stomach dropped. Of course he didn’t care. “Remember who owns you.”

“Maybe you should remember that while there’s a price on my head, the only person who owns me is Death.”

I stepped away from him to find…I don’t know. Fuck. Some drugs? It wouldn’t be hard. Now that the thought crossed my mind, it didn’t want to leave. Ren put an arm out to stop me, his fingers digging into my waist.

“Then, I guess I have to take care of that little problem, don’t I?”

I shook my head. “I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere last year. Whoever wants my head was the only one who noticed.”

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