Page 4 of Luka

“It’s nothing I can’t handle.” Too bad his voice didn’t sound as brave as he’d intended it to. He was terrified of what might happen on Friday, and there wasn’t anything he could do about it.

Luka’s eyes narrowed, and Spencer looked away, trying to avoid the weight of the guy’s stare. He didn’t want to owe anything to anyone—not even Luka. But the way Luka was looking at him made Spencer feel like he knew something, like he could fix it.

If only.

“You sure?” he asked. “Because you look like you’re about to piss yourself.”

Spencer bristled but didn’t deny it. “I just don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me.”

Luka sighed and stepped closer, his voice dropping to a low growl. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“I don’t even know you, but thanks for your concern.” Spencer took a step back. “Have a nice night, Luka.”

He spun and started down the street, forcing himself not to look back. As badly as Spencer wanted help, no one would want to once they found out the real trouble he was in. Luka wouldn’t be able to take on wannabe gangsters, or real ones, or whoever it was Lyle owed.

No, walking away was the best thing Spencer could do. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if Luka was hurt or killed over this. Not that he really knew the guy, but no one with a beating heart would want someone getting hurt, let alone getting killed on their account.

Somehow, Spencer would figure out what to do. If he agreed to pay the two hundred a week, he would be homeless in no time, but that was better than being dead.

Chapter Two

Luka was at a crossroad. On the one hand, he wanted to respect Spencer’s request to leave it alone. They didn’t know each other, and he had no right to pry into the human’s life. For weeks Luka had been going to Shinedown because it mostly catered to humans, and that was a plus for him considering most nights he didn’t want to be bothered with the preternatural world.

He’d also felt a strange connection to Spencer. Luka couldn’t explain it. After spotting the twink the first night, Luka had kept coming back, though he’d stayed to himself. That was because Luka liked to observe. He liked to get the layout of things. Even so, it was uncharacteristic of him to linger in one place for too long.

In a perfect world, Luka would have simply asked Spencer if he wanted to go out on a date. But Luka had a dark past, and getting involved with the human was asking for trouble.

On the other hand, no fucking way was he going to let the human get his ass handed to him. They didn’t live in a perfect world, and so far, Spencer seemed like a really nice, timid human, the kind of person who didn’t speak up for himself, so Luka would speak up for him.

And kill whoever was hurting him.

That was how Luka rolled. He didn’t argue. He didn’t waste words. He either walked away, which was rare, or he ended the son of a bitch. Most of the time for a hefty profit.

Honestly, he wasn’t sure what to do since he’d never had this overwhelming urge to protect anyone. For the first time in what felt like forever, Luka had no answer.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t going to follow Spencer to make sure he was okay. Tonight Luka had something else he needed to handle. Someone who’d hired Luka in the past and now thought Luka was his personal attack dog.

Far from it.

Luka drove to Aiden Bancroft’s estate and parked far enough away that he wouldn’t be seen. On his way, Aiden had tried to call him two more times. Luka gritted his teeth as he slipped through the darkness and entered Aiden’s study where he found Aiden pacing. Aiden didn’t notice him.

As quietly as he could, he moved in behind Aiden and pressed the barrel of his gun against the human’s nape. Aiden froze.

“Didn’t I tell you to lose my number?”

“This is important.” Aiden audibly swallowed.

“It’s always important. What you don’t want is to get on my bad side.” Luka cocked his gun.

“My son was attacked, and I need you to find the son of a bitch who did it and kill him,” Aiden said with a little more attitude. “That’s what you do, right? You kill people for money.”

Luka flexed his jaw. That was true, in a sense. The way Aiden said it made it sound as if Luka was a bad guy. He wasn’t. He just enjoyed taking scum off the street. He loved Ridgeway as much as the wolf shifters and vampires. When a terrible leader was put into place, chaos reigned. When innocent people were kidnapped, he righted that wrong.

“I’m willing to kill you for free,” Luka said close to Aiden’s ear. “Call me again and I’ll remove your tongue.”

Luka slipped out before Aiden had a chance to turn around. The human was a fucking idiot, and Luka wasn’t anyone’s attack dog. He chose who he would take out, and just because Aiden Bancroft’s grown-ass son didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut didn’t mean Luka would jump to Aiden’s commands.

It was high time Luka went into retirement. His number had been used too often lately, and that could cause problems. He was supposed to be a ghost, someone hard to contact, yet everyone seemed to have his number.