Page 16 of Vendetta
“I try,” Jason said, his voice low and even.
She set the box on her lap and buckled up.“You really didn’t have to do this.”
“I wanted to.”
That was all he said, and that was all she needed.The drive to her apartment was quiet, just the hum of the tires.By the time they pulled into her lot, the pizza box had warmed her lap, and her nerves had settled just a little.Upstairs, inside her apartment, she kicked off her boots.Jason set the pizza on the table while she grabbed two plates and a couple of drinks.There was no small talk or pressure.When was the last time she shared comfortable silence with anyone?
She sat next to him on the couch, eyes scanning his face as she chewed on her bottom lip.But he beat her to the punch.
“So…” he said gently.“What happened earlier?”
Dylan leaned back, blowing out a sigh, and finally let it spill.“My uncle came in with his crew.You know, his Cottonmouths.They were rowdy but… not in a drunk way.Like something was going on.I brought them drinks and overheard one of them mention something I really wasn’t trying to hear when I walked back to the bar.”
Jason wasn’t looking at her, just eating a slice of pizza.It made it easier to get it out.
“One of them said something about a midnight drop behind a lot and…” She paused, watching him carefully.“I don’t know what that means, but it didn’t sound like beer deliveries.”
Finishing up his pizza slice, Jason kept listening.
“And the way they acted…” She shook her head.“They were different with me.Like I was a piece of furniture.And my uncle didn’t say a damn word to stop it.”She looked down, her voice softer now.“Eli doesn’t want me working there.Did I tell you that?When he came to the bar tonight, he wasstilltrying to get that message across.I guess that’s what has me overthinking all this.I mean, I know things go on behind the scenes at sketchy bars.I’ve quit a couple.But it makes me wonder.”
Jason leaned back slightly, his gaze steady on her.“If your uncle doesn’t want you working there, maybe you should listen to him,” he said quietly.
Dylan looked up at him.“You think he’s right?”
“I think,” Jason said, carefully, “that places like that don’t get better just because good people walk through the door.”
The silence that followed said more than any warning could.
Thinking he probably hadn’t come there to listen to her talk about her job, she reached for the pizza box and flipped it open again.Like the silence between them didn’t feel like a loaded gun resting on the table.
“Ham and pineapple,” she said, trying for light.“Don’t judge.”
Jason’s mouth twitched, just slightly.“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
They ate at a quiet rhythm for a few moments, comfortable, but not quite relaxed.He watched her carefully, like he was trying to understand more than just her taste in pizza.“You mentioned your uncle,” he said finally, tone still casual.“You two close?”
Dylan shrugged, swallowing her bite.“As close as you can be when you move back home at twenty-five and ask for a job at the one place he doesn’t want you to work.”
He nodded slowly, waiting.
Dylan took a sip of her drink.“We were close when I was a kid.My dad was his brother, andnota biker.He died in a car accident when I was little.He always kept an eye on me after my mom passed.That was a week before my twenty-first birthday.”
Something flashed in Jason’s dark eyes, but it was gone so fast she wondered if she’d imagined it.
“He’s always been protective, but… this time, I don’t know.It felt different.Like he wasn’t just worried I’d get hit on or stiffed on tips.Like he knew something I didn’t, and he didn’t want me to know.I’ve worked in bars before,” she went on, trying to shrug it off.“College town spots.Rough crowds.But nothing like this.This place… I’m not going to lie, it’s a little scary.”
“And yet you’re still there,” he pointed out.
“I didn’t want to back down just because it made him uncomfortable,” she said, lifting her eyes to his.“I wanted to prove I could handle it.”
He studied her for a beat longer.“And now?”
She hesitated, brushing her fingers over the edge of the pizza box.“Now I’m not so sure.”
Jason grabbed a plate and put his half slice of pizza down.Now his gaze was on her, his voice low but direct.“Is proving your uncle wrong the right reason to stay in a place that feels dangerous?”
The question stretched out between them.It wasn’t judgmental, but honest.Thinking about the answer to that only pushed her anxiety higher.She exhaled slowly.“No.It’s not.”
