Page 238 of Intense
I nod.
“Yes.”
“Okay. Reggie, get through Enzo. Find out who the fuck touched my drink. Steph, I need you to go to the car with Rowan. In the trunk, there’s a bag of medical supplies. I’m going to the bathroom to get this shit out of my system. Meet me in there.” He points to the door behind us.
I hand him the salt and he crashes his lips over mine.
“Don’t let Rowan out of your sight. I’m going to be fine.” My bottom lip trembles as he turns to Rowan.
“Protect her with your fucking life. Be quick.”
I link my arm through Rowan’s as Finn stumbles into the bathrooms with Reggie close behind.
“Pass me your purse,” Rowan tells me.
“There’s a, um, gun in there,” I whisper, eyes wide.
He nods as I slide the chain off my shoulder and hand it to him, and he shoves it under his armpit and pushes open the double doors to the stairwell with the side of his body.
My head is spinning from fear, nerves, all of it. Everything is unfolding so fast, and I can’t catch up.
Chapter 85
FINN
Ibrace my hands on the porcelain sink, my chest heaving. The salt water I forced down is clawing its way back up, mixing with bile as I shove two fingers down my throat. My body convulses, retching until my ribs ache, until sweat is dripping down my back.
Poison. Fucking poison. Whoever slipped it to me knew what they were doing. I spit again, rinse my mouth, and look at the stranger staring back from the mirror. Grey skin, pupils blown, jaw tight enough to snap.
Not tonight. I’m not dying tonight.
“You good, Finn?” Reggie asks from behind me.
I spit again. Fuck. There are stars in the corners of my vision.
The door creaks open, and my hand goes straight to my gun before I see Theo step in, his expression unreadable, tailored suit pristine against the filth I’m dragging up out of myself.
“Jesus Christ, Finn?—”
“Save it.” My voice is hoarse. I slam the tap off and grab the edge of the sink again as another wave of dizziness slams through me. “Where the fuck is Arthur?”
Theo stiffens. “Enzo said he’s only just arrived. He ain’t even in the building yet. This wasn’t him.”
This doesn’t make sense. My head is pounding. I check my watch. It’s been four minutes since Stephanie left with Rowan.
“Someone else is here.” My throat feels scorched, but I force the words out. “Man with a scarred face. One working eye. I barely saw him—Stephanie did. Tell me you clocked him.”
Theo’s frown deepens, and for a second, he looks like he’s about to lie. Then his jaw works and he shakes his head.
“No one that matches that description is on my guest list.”
“Exactly.” I spit into the sink, my hands shaking, fury burning through the weakness in my veins. “Then find him. Now.”
“I’ll get my brothers on it. Arthur’s gonna be here any minute, Finn. There’s no one on our list that would try and hurt you,” Theo tells me.
This anger might keep me alive long enough. Whatever I’ve been spiked with wasn’t to kill me. It was to throw me off.
I slam my fist against the counter, the crack ricocheting off the tiles. “I don’t give a fuck what game Arthur’s running or how clean you think your list is. Someone just tried to put me in the ground. I want that man with the mangled face found and in front of me before this night ends. You hear me?”
