Page 38 of Vow of Vengeance
"Yeah." I swallow back the disbelief and look around, too. "It was a bit messy. I've been cleaning up... still have the bathrooms to go."
Tony glances at the bucket in my hand, appraising it, and then turns his attention to the storeroom behind me— the one he just walked through, where he certainly didn't see me.
"We pay people for that sort of thing, Princess."
It's not lost on me that he's still holding my phone in his hand. I hear it ring and my eyes follow his to his hand, where he looks at it in surprise. That surprise doubles when he flips it over to look at the screen. "Declan Evers, huh?"
His eyes hold mine, looking for all the things I'm not saying. But I'm not about to volunteer anything more than what he probably already knows. "My boss." I roll my eyes pointedly. "I have a deadline tonight, so he's been up my ass lately."
"Mm." Tony nods, eyeing me like he's looking for the lie in the truth. "Up your ass, you say?"
The innuendo isn't lost on me, but it feels too dirty to try and laugh. For years, Tony's been the only blood family Vin and I had. His affections were always a bit too much, but it's the way he is with everyone, kissing their cheeks, holding them close, letting his fingers wander a little too far from my lower back. They never felt gross before. It was just normal; now it makes me feel dirty.
"I should answer that." I say, nodding at the phone in his hand just as it stops ringing.
"He's your boss, not your keeper. Not your master." Tony smirks. "You don't need to answer to him."
I bite my lip to tame the fear rolling through me, and move to pass Tony. "I'd better get those bathrooms cleaned so I can get home and work on my article."
He stops me with a hand on my shoulder, pushing me back until I'm standing against the wall with him in front of me. There's enough space to run- he hasn't pinned his body to mine. But if I do run, it will assure him that I know something. And I don't want him to know that I suspect him in the slightest... notwhen there's a secret room in my bar with God only knows what inside of it.
"Relax." He says, clapping me on the shoulder. I wonder if my tension is really that obvious, but as he takes the bucket from my hand, I realize he meant it in a general sense. "It's been too long since I've seen you. Have a drink with me. I'll get someone to clean the bathrooms for you."
"I..." I glance at Pete, who's behind the bar appraising the dirty shot glasses.
"Things really have fallen apart around here lately." He mutters, shaking his head.
"I can't." I shake my head. "Antidepressants. They don't mix with alcohol."
"Antidepressants?" Tony asks, sounding surprised. "After the last time you went on those, I didn't think you'd ever do that again."
I wonder how much he knows about the last time I was on antidepressants. I never divulged much about my health concerns with Tony. It's hard to lose your memory in your early twenties, to wake up without any recollection of the night before, to have times where you feel like a zombie even though you're awake, to be exhausted even though you've slept for the better part of a weekend. I haven't even leveled with Khan about most of that, only telling Marissa the bare minimum about how my medication was hard on me. The fact that he seems to know more than he should makes me uncomfortable, but I try to tamp it down.
"I have a good doctor." I assure him. "It's been a good experience, this time."
Tony opens his mouth, but he's cut off by my phone ringing again. I expect that when he looks at it, he'll make some sort of snide remark about Declan being up my ass again. Instead, heraises his eyebrows in surprise and answers the phone without saying a word.
"Ren?" Khan's voice fills the space between us. "Ren, I'm on my way. I'm so sorry I forgot about our coffee date. I'm leaving now, so it should only be ten minutes. You okay?"
I open my mouth now, not sure how to answer that. I'm confident that I didn't have plans with Khan... but I told Declan I did.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I say. "I got tied up at the bar. Meet me here?"
"Perfect." Khan sighs. "Five minutes or less and I'll be there."
nineteen
Declan
Evengoingninetymilesper hour the whole way there, by the time I pull up outside the bar, Khan has already beat me here. I see his shiny black car close to the back door entrance. His isn't the only one here. Soren's blue car is parked between two others. As I walk by them, I see that the van to the left of her parked so close she wouldn't even be able to open her driver's side door.
I break into a run, not letting my mind entertain the ideas that are trying to surface.
The back door was left open, thanks to Khan, who called me the minute he was off the phone with Soren. I pull it back so hard it slams against the hinges before closing with a thud behind me. I blaze a path through the back room and erupt into the main bar, ready to commit murder with my bare hands.
Soren leans back against the counter, her hands braced on the surface behind her. Anxiety is written all over her, even though she tries to hide it behind a smile as Tony prattles before her.
My heart's been beating in my ears since Khan called to tell me Tony was with her, so I haven't heard a word of what he's sayingto her, but it's clear she's unamused. Khan stands at her side; he's the one who spots me first. Relief spills across his face, but he schools it quickly before Soren or Tony can follow his gaze to me.
