Landon told Tori he'd gotten them reservations, but before they got in the taxi he'd ordered, he'd realized she'd assumed he'd meant dinner reservations. Before they got in a taxi, he got them some noodles from a street vendor, then they'd eaten them during the ride across town.

They were dropped off in front of a very nice, exclusive night club. She'd fretted over her outfit – just shorts and a tank top – but his name was on a very special VIP list, so no one blinked at how they were dressed. The velvet rope was simply pulled back and they were led through the club.

“I don't get it!” she shouted over the music after they'd been seated in a cushy private both.

“Get what?” he shouted back, watching while a waitress opened a complimentary bottle of vodka.

“You keep bringing me to night clubs and places that have music, but you don't ever dance.”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Because you like to dance,” he replied, then he took a shot of straight liquor.

The answer seemed to please her, like he'd known it would. It wasn't entirely the truth, though. Night clubs were nice because they were always crowded and loud and there was a lot going on. A lot of nefarious things could happen in a night club.

And after they'd gotten settled and Tori had a drink of her own, Landon excused himself to go engage in some of those nefarious actions.

Landon wasn't so sure about pursuing the drug running business, but he still needed his fix. Withdrawal wasn't ever pretty, and especially not in the middle of the jungle in some foreign country.

He also never wanted a repeat of Colombia – he didn't care how long a shift was, he'd be staying awake this time. The whole time, if necessary. He'd need a supply to bring with him to the camp. So Velez had talked to his boss, gotten the info for some contacts in Thailand, and arranged a meeting between Landon and them.

He made his way to the other side of the dance floor, then entered a long hallway. About halfway down there was a door marked “maintenance” and he knocked on it sharply. A moment later, it opened up just enough to allow him to slip inside.

“Are you the doctor?” a large Thai man asked him.

“That would be me. You talked to my guy in Bali?” he asked in return.

“I did.”

That voice came from behind a large desk. A surprisingly young man was sitting behind it. To his right sat a very pretty, barely dressed woman. She was running U.S. dollars through a counting machine. On his left was a man parceling out lines of coke into small baggies. Behind them stood a couple large dudes with machine guns, who seemed to be guarding a small mountain of cocaine, all wrapped up into neat, square, kilo packages.

“He told you what I'm looking for?” Landon asked, folding his arms across his chest and turning to face the drug dealer.

“Yes, I am Niran. We have a strong relationship with the Saleh cartel, we're happy to help a friend of theirs. I also have a business proposal for you.”

“I'm not interested,” Landon said quickly. “I just want my drugs and I want to get out of here.”

“You are working in the south, yes?” the man asked.

“Yeah.”

“You wouldn't have to do much,” he was assured. “When you do supply runs here to Bangkok, you would only have to drop off on your way back. We can pay you well for your services.”

“Thanks, really,” Landon said. “And if you'd asked me this time last week, I would've jumped at it. But I'm not interested. If you can't sell me anything tonight, that's fine, I'll find someone else. But I'm not delivering drugs for you.”

There was a long pause during which the two men scrutinized each other.

“I suppose I understand your hesitancy,” the drug dealer finally sighed. “She's a very pretty girl, the one you came in with. Sad if she were to get involved in a messy situation.”

Landon was almost across the desk before the bodyguards got to him and jerked him back onto his feet. Once there, it still took three men to hold him in place.

“You don't even look at her,” he growled. “She's not part of this. Talk about her again, and we're gonna have a serious fucking problem.”

“You Americans! So sensitive! So touchy,” the other guy didn't seem at all threatened as he laughed. “I tell you what. Here, here is five grams. On the house. You think about my offer, okay? You think about it and when you come back after a week in the jungle, we see how you're feeling.”

Five little plastic bags were shoved into Landon's hand, then he was let go. He glared at the guards, then shoved the bags into one back pocket while pulling his wallet out of the other. He took out an obscene amount of cash, more than the drugs were worth. He threw the bills at the man behind the desk.

“I don't want your fucking charity, and I sure as shit don't want your fucking job,” he snarled as he headed for the door. “I won't be seeing you again.”

“That is what they all say, doctor!” the drug dealer's laughing voice carried into the hallway after Landon.

He couldn't believe how pissed he was – how upset. He was sweating all over and he was actually shaking, he was vibrating with so much anger. It must have shown on his face because Tori's eyes opened wide when he got back to their table.

“What were you up to?” she asked, then her jaw dropped when he picked up the bottle of vodka and began to chug straight from it.

“Nothing good,” he finally replied when he came up for air. “C'mon, we're getting the fuck out of here.”

“What? We just got here, I wanted -”

She let out a yelp when he roughly grabbed her by the arm and started dragging her behind him. The waitress tried to kick up a fuss about him carrying out the open bottle, but one quick death stare and she left them alone. Soon enough, they were on the street and he was yanking her towards a taxi queue.

“You're hurting me!” she hissed, trying to jerk free from his grip. He ignored her, as well as the line of people he cut in front of to steal a cab. He shoved her in the back seat, then fell in next to her before giving the driver their address.

“Just don't talk right now, I'm not in the fucking mood,” he growled before taking another shot of liquor.

“Clearly.”

God, he wanted to commit murder. To know he was being watched so closely was bad enough, but to hear a veiled threat against Tori had been too much. He'd been fully prepared to launch over that desk and stab that motherfucker in the eye with a pencil. How dare he. How fucking dare he.

Let's get real – you're mad at yourself. Your brought her here. You brought her there. Just you.

He didn't like all these new feelings and emotions swirling through him. Dealing with self-loathing and depression were bad enough, but this? Liking someone, caring about them? What was next, love? He felt like he was going to be sick.

When they pulled up to the hotel, he didn't even wait for her, just lurched out of the cab and stomped across the lobby. Once they got in the elevator, he drank all the way up to their floor. Kept drinking as they walked down the hallway. Inside their hotel room, though, was a different story. When he went to lift the bottle to his lips again, Tori snatched it away from him.

“What the fuck do you think you're doing!?” he demanded as she held it out behind her.

“Stopping you from killing your liver! What the fuck happened back there?” she asked.

“Shut up and give me the bottle.”

“No.”

“I'm not fucking around, Tori. The bottle, give it to me, now.”

“Make me!”

He abruptly lunged forward, startling a shriek out of her. She tried to stumble backwards, but he was too quick and his arms were around her in a second. She stepped all over his feet and jerked around, transferring the bottle from hand to hand. He was so much bigger than her, though, and much too strong. She was obviously going to lose. Instead of giving up, though, she chucked the bottle sideways. It flew into the little kitchenette where it bounced off the cupboards, then shattered all across the floor.

Both of them stood still and stared at the mess, their chests heaving against each other.

“You're cleaning that up,” he informed her, turning to look down at her. She snorted and looked back at him.

“Like fuck I am. Now calm down and tell me what happened to get you so rattled.”

The ridiculousness of the situation caught up to him and the tension went out of his body. He sighed and dropped his head to her shoulder.

“Nothing,” he breathed. “Just some bullshit.”

“Talk to me,” she whispered back, and he felt her fingers combing through the hair on the back of his head.

“Do you remember what you said? In the room in Bali?” he suddenly asked.

“I said a lot of stuff,” she chuckled.

“You said I needed to break something to feel whole,” he reminded her.

“Wow, I said that? Damn, I'm fucking smart.”

He finally laughed, as well.

“Did you mean it?”

“Why?”

“Because ...” his voice trailed off for a second as he tried to figure out exactly what he was trying to say. “I'm really worried it'll happen. I do stupid shit – I did something stupid tonight. Dangerous shit sometimes. I shouldn't have let you come with me.”

“As stupid as you think I am,” she started. “I am actually a real life actual adult. You didn't let me come, I decided to come. And I know you do stupid, dangerous shit, Landon. This isn't news to me. I knew it before I agreed to go to Bali, and I knew before I offered to come here. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. Take your best shot at me, I'm not so easy to break.”

Landon took a deep breath and squeezed her tighter. Held her closer.

Honestly, Tor, I highly fucking doubt it.