Page 71 of PortCity Killers

??T W E N T Y T H R E E ??

I touched her back hesitantly. The corded muscles were tight, like a viper, ready to attack, but she took a deep breath before turning to face me.

“Your brother needs a lesson in manners, I see.”

“He gets it from his father,” I shrugged, “He was an asshole too.”

She huffed, accepting my invitation. Her brown tresses curled around her face delicately, like each one was handcrafted as opposed to the wild mass of snakes on my own head. She immediately headed for my clothes rack, helping herself to nosing through my clothing. I shook my head, closing and locking the door.

“Can I get you anything?” I asked, standing awkwardly to the side while she sifted through, humming and pulling pieces out for goddess knows what.

“What do you have?” she asked, not bothering to look away from her task.

“Water? Maybe Vodka?”

She wrinkled her nose, “Water would be appreciated, thank you.”

Glad to have something to do I grabbed us both waters, guzzling mine down while she judged my lack of personal items. Nearly all of my clothing were uniform compliant, dark jeans, shorts or jeggings and PortCity Bar tank tops and shirts.

If she was looking for personality, she wouldn’t find much of one. I had a few T-shirts and a dress or two, but that was it. Most of my time was spent at the bar or with Bryce, and he preferred me naked anyway.

“Are you looking for something in particular?” I asked.

She pulled away with a sigh, “Perhaps not. I was hoping to get a feel for your style before our date so I might gift you something, but it seems all I will find is that you enjoy black.”

I laughed, “You’d be right, though, if it helps.”

“It doesn’t,” she said, sipping her water daintily.

Unlike my lack of color, she wore a pale pink suit jacket and straight black slacks. With the way her sternum showed underneath it, I didn’t think she had much else on. Not for the first time I realized how thankful I was that Valentina liked suits. They fit her so well that words couldn’t do it justice.

“Sorry,” I said, though I wasn’t in the least. “Speaking of dates…”

“Yes?”

I ignored the hard clunk of her glass, “Remember the information I got for you and Don?”

She lifted a perfectly shaped brow with an impatient look that snaked down my tummy in the most exhilarating way. I cleared my throat, “The addresses and stuff?

“Ah, yes,” recognition lit her eyes to a vibrant cloud of smoky green, “Our clever muñequita.”

“Well, I might not have gotten that information from Collin.”

She laughed, as if I hadn’t just told her I lied to her face, “We know.”

“Right,” I thought back to that night, when she had said as much, but I hadn’t thought she really believed it, “And you’re okay with that?”

“You’re a terrible liar even if you were trying, but you did not seem very invested in the lie.”

I cringed. I knew I was a terrible liar, it had gotten me in trouble plenty of times growing up, but I had certainly been trying. The fact that it had been so blatantly obvious didn’t need to be rubbed in.

“Yeah, okay. That’s fair, I guess.”

She came up to me, her fingers twisting in the little flyways that fell from my face, “We do not really care where the information came from. So long as we were given it. That transaction has passed, you paid your debt for it, and it is done.”

“But I still owe you a favor?” I scoffed; I didn’t imagine I was free and clear no matter how much she liked me.

“Yes.” Her smile was so angelic I almost wondered if she was real. “Principal and all that. But do not look at it as if you have some guillotine over your head. There will come a time when we have need of your assistance, and when that time comes it will be handled. Nothing extreme, I’m sure. You are precious to us after all; what would I tell Don if I came home with a broken doll?”

---