TWO
It should be a sin to look that good in a dress.
I have to force myself to take my eyes off her and check out the rest of the room.
Old habits die hard. If my eyes aren’t constantly scanning, surveilling the people around us and the exits, I’m jittery as hell. The heavy weight of my gun in the holster pressed against my side gives me a modicum of comfort, but I doubt any passage of time will ever eliminate the need to have it there at the ready.
“Griffin!” The slap between my shoulder blades makes me cringe and grit my teeth. “How you doin’, man?”
Forcing a smile, I turn and examine the man standing next to me. Bobby isn’t a bad guy. He just…tries too hard. He’s one of those nerdy computer dudes who has zero social skills, but his wife is Jade’s new best friend, so that makes me his, by default, I guess.
Time to muster up some small talk.
“I’m good, Bobby, and yourself?”
He shrugs and takes a swig of his beer. “Can’t complain.”
I wait for him to expand, but awkward silence fills the space between us instead. It’s kind of his M.O.
Social interaction isn’t really my thing. My job never necessitated me holding pleasant conversations with people. It was more get in, kill, get out, or get in, torture and taunt, maybe kill, get out, and then a little protection duty and helping with security mixed in. I was paid to be silent, not chit-chat. But things are different now, and Bobby’s social ineptness makes me uneasy.
So it’s time to bail.
“I’m going to grab another beer. You need one?”
He holds up his bottle and grins. “Nope, I’m good.”
Thank God. I don’t need to come back.
A huge island in the center of Bobby and Janine’s kitchen separates me from Jade. I wander around it, keeping an eye on her where she chats in the corner with a few of her new friends. She looks up, and her eyes meet mine. A mega-watt smile spreads across her face and she mouths, “I’m sorry.”
She knows how painful these types of things are for me. Crowds of people put me on edge. Too many unknowns. But after three cities in the last two years, she’s finally found a group of women she really meshes with. And I can’t deny her the opportunity to just be normal again.
I grab a beer from the fridge and pop the cap before taking a long swig. The cool, crisp, hoppy liquid slides down my throat and somewhat calms my nerves and quells my annoyance.
A brunette seated across from Jade bursts out laughing at something.
She must be new. I’d remember her if I had met her before. The hair, the golden eyes, the olive skin…she’s a dead-ringer for Adelina, and just about everyone else in my family.
I’ll never see my sister again. I resigned myself to that when Jade and I decided to leave. Not that we had much choice. He didn’t leave us one. It was either that, or we would both be dead. If we were lucky.
Tarek Morina doesn’t forgive betrayal. Nor does he believe in light retribution. It’s how he’s managed to establish the wide-reaching network that stretches across the Eastern states and all the way home to Albania.
That network is why we’ve been steadily making our way west. There’s no way we can leave the country without using our passports, and that would be like putting a flashing red target on our backs. And all my resources for getting a fake one would rat me out to Tarek in a heartbeat. Fake licenses were easy enough to locate on my own, but the forger was sketchy and I didn’t trust the crap he was offering for other documents. The best bet was to change our names, lie low, and disappear into suburban life far away from anyone who could ever recognize us. And it’s worked for the last two years. I just hope we can stay here permanently.
Rockford made me antsy. Too many people and too close to Chicago and people who know us. Minneapolis gave me the creeps, though I couldn’t put my finger on why. But Denver…it’s felt like home almost from the beginning. The friendly, laid-back vibe has lulled us into a sense of security. I don’t want to be the one to break that for Jade by being paranoid.
So, I’ll tough out the party long enough to appease her, then drag her home and fuck her all night.
If not before…
The way she’s eye-fucking me from across the room has my cock swelling painfully against my zipper. I reach down and adjust it, and those emerald orbs follow the movement, zoning in on my erection. Her tongue darts out and swipes over her bottom lip.
Fuck me.
I need to get the hell out of here.
She returns her attention to her friends while I drain my third beer. When her eyes meet mine again, it’s clear we’re on the same page. She mouths “outside” to me, then excuses herself and disappears down the hallway toward the front door.
Thank God…because Bobby is making his way toward me again, and I can’t suffer through that without using my piece.
And that would definitely draw some unwanted attention our way. We’ve managed to fly under the radar this long, I’ll just need to keep my temper at bay for a bit.
Meeting Jade outside will help.