Page 14 of Assassin's Game
Second, if I left, I wouldn’t find out who they were. Which meant possibly facing them again in even less favorable circumstances. Not that I’d mind seeing Beautiful again, but the circumstances…
Decisions, decisions.They’d agreed to talk, but no one was stepping up to the plate.
Fuck it.
“Just who the hell are you guys?”
Redhead ignored my question for one of his own. “I won’t ask you again,dude: where is X?”
I narrowed my eyes on the man while keeping my cocky grin firmly in place. They were underestimating me; they always did. “Wouldn’t we all like to know?” I jiggled the change in my pocket again, distracting anyone who might notice from the movement of my thumb against the remote in my left pocket. The tiny camera hidden in the folds of the hankie in my breast pocket was barely the size of the tip of a ball-point pen, but the images it captured would allow me to get a lead on these guys.
“So, who’s in charge here? You, big guy?” I jerked my chin at Redhead, then the dark-haired guy to his right. Equally tall, the man’s bearing saidformer military, just like Redhead’s. I’d known men like this; I’d killed men like this. I’d prefer to avoid that today if at all possible. “Or maybe you?”
Redhead laughed, shaking his head in a way that said I’d just stepped in a pile of shit. I knew he was right when the two men stepped back and Beautiful moved into the center of their little group. I couldn’t avoid looking at her now, distraction or not. She kept well out of arm’s reach, and if the three of them had been close before, now they tightened the space between them even more. Not enough to hamper them if it came to a fight, but enough to tell me the men were protective of their smaller companion.
I didn’t blame them. Just looking into those brilliant green eyes made my muscles swell, my body preparing to fight off any and all threats to the dark-haired beauty. She didn’t need a weapon to disarm me; her mere presence worked perfectly.
“I’m in charge,” Beautiful said, voice calm and crystal clear. She’d been in dangerous situations before, obviously. That green gaze swept my body. “You don’t look like a lackey, but then, it takes all kinds. Now, if you’re sincere about not wasting agreat dick”—her dismissive gaze and doubtful tone told me exactly how much stock she put in that statement—“I’d suggest you comply. Where is X?”
I’d love to prove it to you, Beautiful.The authority in her voice, the lack of fear was giving me a semi. “And you are?”
Beautiful opened her full lips to respond—with a name or not, I’d never know. The words were cut off by a rattling of the door as someone tried to shove it open. When it stayed firmly closed, they knocked briskly—once, twice, a third time, each hard rap shooting the tension in the room up a notch. I could see it in Beautiful’s eyes, how they narrowed. How the fullness of her lips went tight. Soft pink lips shouldn’t be that tense. I wanted to reach for her, smooth them out, reassure her—
Enemy, remember, dickhead?
Possible enemy, at least. I snapped a pic while she stood in front of me. “You’ve got maybe two minutes before an attendant shows up to unlock that door.” I shrugged. “I’m all for a cozy foursome, but I always know my lover’s name beforehand. What’s your name, Beautiful?”
The green in her eyes darkened to forest, and it wasn’t with pleasure or amusement. “Let’s move this outside,” she told her men.
“Even kinkier.” I shot her a wink just like the one I’d given her earlier, across the dining room.
Redhead growled. Yeah, they were protective all right.
I kept my body relaxed as the second man moved to the door and flipped the lock. Redhead went first. Beautiful stepped to one side, her hand sweeping in front of me to indicate that I should move. I jingled the change in my pocket, snapping a pic of the dark-haired man as I passed him on my way out.
The long hall containing the restrooms intersected a second hall that led toward the back of the restaurant and an alley, probably where they intended to take me. As if. I might be the youngest man in this group, but I wasn’t some wet-behind-the-ears recruit who followed blindly wherever they went—and I sure as hell wasn’t following them into an empty alley where anything could happen. Unfortunately for them, they were counting on me not causing a scene.
When we reached the second hall, Redhead turned right. I turned left, directly into the dining area.
A low, throaty curse behind me made my cock jerk, wondering if Beautiful would sound just like that when she was in bed with her lover, fighting for the orgasm she deserved. I wanted to hear her curse, hear her demand pleasure with a strength that broke through my concentration, it shook me so hard. I willed down the reaction and my dick and kept walking.
Our little procession wound through the tables as my mind raced with possibilities. No way were these three going to let me walk away without some answers. According to them, they were looking for X. So was I. Why? I’d assumed X might be watching me, and they seemed to assume the same. How many teams did the fucker actually need? Was this team working directly for him and snowing me, or were they in the same situation I was in?
The thought caused a hitch in my step. A subtle shove from behind from a broad hand—Redhead, probably, giving away his anger at being outsmarted—got my feet moving again. This time it was my turn to growl.
I knew the minute I saw the valet attendant open the door that he was with them. It was the way he glanced over my shoulder, the tightening of his mouth, the ready way he held his body, as if waiting for me to make a wrong move. “You know that man bun is a weakness in a fight, right? Perfect handle,” I whispered as I passed through the door.
The man didn’t startle, didn’t say,What the hell?No, he knew exactly what I was talking about, and the narrowing of his eyes proved it. I snapped his picture, snickering on my way across the valet area toward the sidewalk I’d come in from.
Beautiful, Redhead, and the other two followed me. By the time I’d reached the bench halfway down the sidewalk, far enough from the door of the restaurant to give us some half-assed privacy, the blond with the man bun had his valet jacket off and the rest were circling like sharks.
“I’m guessing you don’t want to tell me what you know about X,” I said, addressing Beautiful where she stood behind the bench. “My lips are equally sealed. Looks like we’re at an impasse, Beautiful.”
Man Bun snorted. “You like playing with fire, keep calling her that.”
I’d like playing with her, fire or not. Glancing around at the wide-open area filled with potential witnesses, I gave a snort of my own. “Make me.”
The man’s eyes went lethal. Before he could grab me by the lapels and pull me over his knees like the misbehaving kid he thought I was, Redhead stepped between us. “Tell us what you know, and we’ll let you go.”
