Page 48 of Gemini
“What’s the worst thing you’ve seen?” Leo asked, clearly curious.
I told a few stories, not giving away any details about the victims for professional reasons. I even included Trish’s ex and his unfortunate demise.
A few cursed, shaking their heads.
“I’ve seen some gruesome shit, but it’s definitely not an everyday occurrence like you,” Miranda said. “You got a better hold on that than me.”
“And me,” Leo added, picking up the beer the waitress just set down for him and lifting it in my direction as if to salute me. “Actually, probably all of us. That’s some crazy shit.”
I glanced at Dom who shrugged, and I almost laughed. But then I remembered what he and Leslie had been through and thought,probably not everyone.
I felt more relaxed after, and they were far more willing to talk about their own lives. I learned most of them had been members of the Serpents but had followed the twins to the new faction. Many of them met Dom and Lez through local connections in the car or bike scene, others met them through their ties with various criminal networks. Xavier and Damian had been bodyguards for one of the mafias Dom and Lez had worked for.
“It’s been an odd couple of years,” Xavier said. “With Dom and his bro missing in action for a while there. But we came running as soon as we learned they were back and working in the city full time.”
I wondered how many of them knew anything about what happened or if they were completely unaware.
I didn’t ask and kept the conversation light instead. Some started to meander around the place, a few moving over to the bar top, others taking a smoke break outside.
We remained at the bar for almost an hour. Most were already through two beers and some moving to a third. I was downing my second, watching Dom and a few others play pool, when the roar of engines came rolling in from outside. My heart leaped, thinking it was the Serpents. As I stepped over to the patio door and peered at the lot, I saw a group of bikers. But not like the ones I had seen at The Locust. These guys were riding racing motorcycles.
One biker got off his black and silver bike and took off his helmet. My heart jumped again when I saw it was Leslie. He looked…criminally hot. It was infuriating. He wore a sporty leather jacket with the twin knives on the arm. His hair was styled back in waves, and his green eyes shone like a cat in the dimming orange light from the setting sun. His gaze flashed over to the patio door and caught me standing there. He had a darkly smug expression on his face as he walked up to the bar with his biker buddies.
I turned away, feeling the heat crawl up my neck and face. I heard him greet those out on the patio before the door swung open. Dom and the others halted their game to say hello, but I could hardly move. I peeked around to see the bikers take seats at the same table. They also wore the twin knives which meant they were part of the gang too. Some of them were more intimidating than the first group. One guy even had a long scar running from the corner of his mouth to his ear.
A few of the bikers had women with them who had ridden passenger. They smiled and laughed as they took seats beside the men, one even deciding to sit on her man’s lap. I struggled with the feeling of relief that Lez had been riding alone. As he reclined back in his seat, his eyes flickered over to me again and this time I held his gaze.
We stared at each other for a moment, until Leslie took off his jacket, revealing a dark, long sleeve shirt underneath. Hepulled at the collar of his shirt lazily, until my eyes drew down to his neck. Just below his ear was a smattering of small red marks. Realizing what they were, my face burned even hotter.
Leslie smiled as he caught my expression. A very wicked, shit-eating grin, that made me curse under my breath. I turned away, trying to hide my reaction, hoping Dom didn’t notice the hickeys I had so graciously plastered along his brother’s throat.
I tried to focus on the pool game and ignore Lez and his friends. It wasn’t until Dom won his second game that I pulled him aside.
“Can we go?” I asked, squeezing his arm.
Dom’s gaze flickered over to his brother, whose attention was no longer fixed on me but on a drinking game they’d started at the table. He nodded, putting his hand on my shoulder. As he put the pool stick away, he signed to Xaviar, Damian, and Ricardo that he was leaving.
“Outta here already, huh? See you and your girl back at the club?” Xaviar said, winking at me.
Dom signed something and Xaviar laughed. I forced a tight smile but didn’t say anything as we moved for the patio door.
I braved another glance at the table and caught Leslie glaring as he took a drink of his whiskey. My heart dropped to my stomach and that irritated me. I grabbed hold of Dom’s arm and followed him outside. As we made our way over to his car, I heard the patio door open and close behind us. When I looked around, I saw Leslie and a couple of his friends stepping out. Lez watched us as he took out a rolled joint from his jacket pocket and stuck it in his mouth. Unaware of their presence, Dom led me to the passenger side and opened the door. As he waited for me to get in, I stood there feeling Leslie’s eyes burning into me, certain if I looked over, I’d see that smug expression on his face and I’d know exactly what he was thinking.
“You okay?” Dom signed.
I smiled even as my face burned with annoyance. I thought of those marks on Leslie’s neck and my stomach flipped.
Without thinking, I grabbed hold of Dom’s jacket and pulled him down. I kissed him hard. Harder than I meant to. But I didn’t break it. I felt him stiffen in surprise before his hand reached up to cup the back of my neck and return the kiss. I felt his other hand slip around my waist to settle on the small of my back.
Eventually, I broke the kiss to wrap my arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug, my face in his chest.
“Thanks, Dom,” I said softly.
He stroked the back of my head then gently pulled away. As he moved around me, I looked over to see his brother still watching, a tight smile on his face, eyes shining, as he blew out a stream of smoke. He caught Dom’s gaze first and his brother only nodded to him as he made his way around to the driver side. Then his gaze turned sharply toward me. The look he gave me made a shiver run down my spine. He might’ve been smiling but his expression was anything but happy. It was cold.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The club was packed by the time we returned. Dom had taken his time getting back with a more leisurely drive along the riverside. We stopped at a drive-through and grabbed food before heading across the city to the south end.
