Page 119 of Theirs to Ruin

Simone grinned. "Your new Italian roommate is hot, but honestly?” She took a sip from her latte, making a show of pondering her next words. “He’s just too broody for my taste. Every conversation with him feels like wading through fog. I need someone with a hint of danger, a bit of unpredictability, but not the 'may have offed his parents in cold blood' kind of danger."

A rush of defensiveness welled up in me, my grip tightening around my coffee cup. I wanted to proclaim Ty’s innocence but I wasn’t about to open that can of worms. Dante, Kage, and my sister were the only ones who even knew about the boy I’d fallen for in Italy. I hadn’t even told Bianca yet that said boy was my new roommate.

A wave of guilt hit me. Bianca and I had been texting back and forth but our communications were getting farther and farther apart. I knew I needed to tell her about Ty, but I wanted to wait until she was back so she wouldn’t worry when we were so far apart.

At the chime of the café door, I instinctively looked up. Raye, the owner of Devil’s Engine, swept in, her magnetic presence instantly filling the space like sunlight bursting through a cloudysky, or a diva gliding into the spotlight. She was flanked by two men.

The first one was huge, wrapped in tattoos and intensity. He looked as though he could crush a man with his bare hands and not lose sleep over it. His chocolate brown eyes were a smoldering storm. Even without uttering a word, his presence screamed danger and allure in the same breath. Ink snaked up his muscular arms, disappearing into the short sleeves of a black T-shirt that looked like it had seen better days. His black hair was cut short, the edges rough and textured. This was not a man you’d forget easily, not someone whose bad side you'd want to be on.

The other guy was slightly leaner. His sandy hair was cropped close to his skull. If the first man was deadly silence, this one was ferocious energy barely held in check. He wore a long sleeve Henley that molded to his muscular body. Tattoos slid up from the collar of his shirt to hug one side of his neck. His eyes, an unusual shade of forest green, were hard but when they landed on Raye, they softened.

Raye caught my eye and slowed beside our table. "Camille. You’re Bianca’s sister, right?”

“That’s right,” I said. “It’s nice to see you again. This is Simone. Simone, Raye owns a bar in town.”

“Devil’s Engine,” Simone said. “I’ve heard it’s awesome. I haven’t been in, but I’ll be twenty-one soon.”

“I look forward to serving you,” Raye said. She turned to the two men beside her. "This is Talon, and this is Vance."

As she spoke their names, the guy named Vance, the one with the green eyes, extended his hand toward me. I ignored it in favor of glaring at him and the other guy. “You’re the two savages who beat Dante,” I accused.

Part of me couldn’t believe I said it, but most of me celebrated. More and more, I wasn’t holding back from expressing myself. It felt good. Freeing.

So fuck these guys for hurting Dante.

Vance cocked a brow then lowered his hand. He looked at Talon, who just watched me, his expression not changing. “He told you that?”

I raised my chin. “I guessed but your response says I was right. You look like the type of thugs who would do that to a guy for protecting me.”

Slowly, Vance grinned, and I swore I saw the edge of Talon’s mouth tick up.

“Good radar, Sunshine,” Vance said.

“Go fuck yourself,” I said.

Suddenly, Raye burst out laughing. I turned to her, narrowing my eyes, suddenly not sure I respected her anymore given who she hung out with.

“Oh, sugar. Put away the death glare. The biker world is a complicated one. There’s an order to it, and without that order there would be chaos. Dante attacked a senior member of the club. Serpent deserved it, but not how it happened. Dante knew that, which is why he agreed to the consequences. That, and he has a vested interest in staying in the club’s good graces. You might say fighting Vance and Talon was a calculated move on his part.”

The club was that important to him? I couldn’t help but wonder why.

“Fine. Doesn’t mean I like your friends.”

Vance clutched his chest while Talon continued staring at me. “Ouch.”

Talon’s stare was making my skin crawl, but I wasn’t about to let him or anyone else see it.

Staring straight at him, I said, “Where’d you meet Talon? A stone statue convention?”

Raye’s smile disappeared. "Actually, I met Talon the day of my brother’s funeral, after he passed away in an accident."

Vance moved closer to Raye’s side, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into a consoling hug. For a moment, Raye allowed herself to be held, her eyes glassy as they met mine. Then she gave a shaky laughed and pulled away, rubbing Vance’s arm. It was then I noticed that Talon was glaring at me. He had moved closer to Raye, too, and it made me wonder…. Was it possible Raye and these two men weretogether?

“Camille,” Raye said softly, “it hurt my friends to hurt Dante.”

Instead of saying “good,” like I wanted to, I softly said, “I’m sorry about your brother, Raye.”

“Thanks, sugar. See you girls later.”

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