Chapter Nine
Darya Volkova. Knox must have silently rolled the name around in his head at least twenty times since she’d dropped the truth on him and his family an hour ago, and every time it fit a little better. Way better than JJ or Jeannie, neither of which had sat well with him. She’d been white as a sheet for the first thirty seconds after she’d shared. A reasonable response considering the tension that had whipped around the table and the seven laser-focused men staring her down.
“I haven’t harmed anyone,” she’d said and quickly looked to Knox for support. “My past is behind me, but I wanted you to know the truth. To give you some token that any chance you give me is valued.”
Silence crackled and snapped, amplified by the white noise of reality around them, but eventually Jace had shifted his focus to Knox and lifted a questioning brow. A non-verbal You got this? that Knox had promptly answered with a nearly undetectable dip of his chin. No matter how much his family had taken it in stride and acted like it was NBFD, it was a big fucking deal. One he’d dig into as soon as he got reconnected to his sources. That was unless she opted to pony up the details when he took her home.
The lady working the vendor stand delivered two platefuls of barbecue ribs and pulled pork, dragging him back to the present. He slid a twenty across the counter. That was another thing he’d learned about the cute little skip tracer now known as Darya. Where some women picked at their food in an attempt to watch their weight or look delicate, Darya openly savored what she liked—and she liked barbecue and vodka. In abundance.
Turning from the counter, he stepped forward and nearly ran into Seth.
Rather than step aside, Seth glanced back at Knox’s table then jerked his head in that direction. “You got a minute before you head back?”
He did, but he wished he didn’t. The last few hours had been some of the most relaxed he’d been outside of Haven in months, so spending time juggling whatever had put a calculated look in Seth’s eyes didn’t give him a whole lot of warm and fuzzy. Still, Seth worked for Otter, and Otter was a key factor in keeping dangerous drugs out of Jace and Axel’s clubs. Key factor meaning he got exclusivity in peddling all the weed he wanted at Crossroads, so long as he didn’t get caught doing it and kept all the other heavy players out in the process.
Knox shrugged and motioned to a side table set up with napkins and condiments. “Sure. You talk. I’ll load up.”
He’d barely set his plates down before Seth kicked in. “Didn’t realize you’d taken an old lady.”
Pausing with his hand midway to the napkin dispenser, Knox frowned back at the guy. “Come again?”
“Your friend. JJ, right?”
Knox blinked. Then did it again. Frankly, he was surprised his body managed that much considering the pleasant surge vibrating through him at the thought of Darya being his. Except she wasn’t. His place was to teach her and look out for her. Nothing more and nothing less.
He shifted his attention to the napkins and shook his head. “Nah, she’s a friend.”
“No shit?” With eyebrows hiked high enough they gave his hairline a run for their money, Seth glanced at the brotherhood’s table and locked his sights on Darya. “Man, you’re out of your mind not grabbin’ on to that.”
A sentiment his thoughts had echoed at least fifty times since he’d woken her up a few days ago, but it didn’t change reality. “She’s long-term material. I’m more the multiple-choice type.”
Seth grinned huge. “Still not up for an old lady, huh?”
“Nope. Not in the cards.”
Seth nodded, shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and slid his attention back to Darya. “What about the rest of your crew? She tight with any of them?”
Oh, hell no. Knox straightened to full height and pushed his shoulders back, a whole lot of unexpected fury whipping a firestorm in his gut. He knew that hungry look. Had cast it on a slew of women himself. And while Darya might not be his, he’d be go-to-hell if a player like Seth got his hands on her. “JJ’s a free agent, but if you’re anglin’ to get laid, pick someone else. She’s better than that.”
Completely undaunted, Seth chuckled. “Man, I got that with one look.” He lifted his beer in salute and turned to leave. “You might have a problem with long-term, but I don’t.”
Knox stayed rooted in place, the plates all but forgotten as he tracked Seth’s path back to the rear table Axel had set aside for Otter and his crew. Nursing his anger was stupid. Totally out of character. But in the space of two seconds, he’d gone from laid-back and happy to ready for murder, which was hands down not his thing. Fists and head-to-head was Beckett’s gig. Knox was more the cut-your-nuts-off-on-the-sly-and-smile-while-doing-it type. So, why the fuck was he so uptight?
Convinced Seth was going to keep his ass at a distance, Knox headed back to his crew. If there’d been any lull in conversation while he was gone, it didn’t show by the time he got back. If anything, Darya looked like she’d been friends with his brothers and their women for years instead of hours.
He settled into his chair and passed the plate he’d gotten for Darya two seats over. Somehow Beckett and Danny had lured her between them all of twenty minutes after her info bomb and hadn’t stopped talking her ear off since. More than once he’d caught her giving one or the other a light touch. Her fingertips on Danny’s shoulder, or leaning her head against Beckett’s shoulder as he pulled her into a side hug. Funny how the simple affection looked right with his brothers, but he’d wanted to rip Seth’s head off for just looking at her.
She lifted her gaze to his, smiled an unspoken thank you and picked up a rib.
He picked up his own rib and dove in.
“She’s pretty,” Viv muttered low beside him.
Pretty was an understatement. Her eyes alone were the kind of shit people wrote poems about, a mixture of ice and a clear spring day. Added to her winter-blonde hair, she was nothing short of otherworld regal. “She’s smart. Driven.”
“Mmm hmm,” Viv said. “I’m sure it’s the smart and driven part that’s got you watching her like a hawk, too.”
Fuck.
He tore his attention away from Darya and wiped his fingers. “Just trying to get a handle on how she ticks. I’ll teach her better if I understand her.”
Jace swiveled his head and cocked a shit-eating grin. He might not have actually joined in on the conversation, but his look said he’d heard every word and was crying bullshit foul right along with Vivienne.
Danny barked a resounding laugh and Darya stood, a tiny smile playing on her lips as she scanned everyone around the table. “I’m making a drink run. Anyone need a refill?”
“Me.”
“Me, too.”
“I could use another scotch.”
This from Beckett, Danny and Axel as they stood and reached for their wallets like synchronized swimmers. In the space of ten seconds, all three had bills outstretched and wavering in the soft summer breeze.
Gaze moving from one hand to the next, Darya giggled. “I think I can cover the expense of four drinks.”
Vivienne propped one elbow on the table and rested her chin on her palm. “You’re sitting at a table overloaded with testosterone. If you don’t let them pay, you’ll wound their male egos.”
“She’s right,” Nat said. “Take the money. You have no idea how bad these guys can pout.”
Darya rolled her eyes, eyeballed Axel’s, Beckett’s and Danny’s outstretched hands, then snagged Axel’s hundred-dollar bill. With a playful mew aimed at Beckett and Danny she said, “You two can pick up the tab next time.”
Axel snickered, reclined against his seat back and crossed his arms like he’d just trounced his brothers in a world class debate. “The lass has taste.”
“Hardly.” Gabe curled her hand around Zeke’s bicep and grinned. “More like she figured out you’d pout the longest.”
With a quick woman-to-woman smile, Darya side-stepped between Beckett and the table and headed toward the bar. “Something like that.”
Zeke waited only long enough for Darya to make it out of earshot before he shifted into serious mode. “Big play, her sharing her real name. If she’s runnin’ like you think she is, that’s a huge vulnerability. Takes guts. I like her.”
Trevor nodded. “Me, too.”
Axel and Danny chimed right behind him.
“Yep.”
“Agreed.”
Beckett shrugged in a classic I-told-you-so move and pinned Knox with a superior look. “I never misread people. I told you she was good.”
Jace shifted enough to give Knox his full attention. “You wanna take her on, you’ve got the all clear from us.”
“And if that past of hers comes calling,” Axel added, “you let us know that, too. She might not be one of us yet, but we’re not lettin’ her swing alone.”
With his focus squarely centered on Darya’s swaying ass as she made her way to the bar, Knox’s brain lagged at least five seconds before Axel’s quip registered. “What do you mean she’s not one of us yet?”
Trevor grinned over the rim of his longneck. “He means the way you’ve been eye-fucking her all night, he thinks it’s only a matter of time before you’re callin’ rally and throwin’ down.”
He opened his mouth to tell Trevor to stop with the bullshit then promptly lost his train of thought.
At the bar, Seth ambled up beside Darya and leaned his elbows atop the makeshift surface as if settling in for a long chat.
Cock sucking no good son of a bitch. Which part of she deserves better did the asshole not get?
Darya ducked her head at something Seth said, laughed and tucked her beautiful blonde hair behind her ear to reveal a pretty blush. A blush another man had put there.
Beckett’s sharp voice cut through his thoughts. “Knox?”
He whipped his head around to face his best friend. “What?”
Smirking, Beckett cocked his head. “Asked when you’re gonna put her to work. We need to get her prints scanned in if she’s spending time in the office.”
Knox let his gaze slide back to Darya. She’d put some distance between her and Seth while she placed her order, but what little she’d created, Seth gobbled up with a sly advance.
Beckett chuckled. “I’m so winning this bet.”
“Calm the fuck down. I’m lookin’ out for her. Nothing else.” Only taking his attention off Seth long enough to cast Beckett an annoyed scowl, Knox chin-lifted toward the play going down not thirty feet away. “She’s not into him. You think I’m gonna leave her without an out if she needs one?”
Trevor swiveled in his seat to check things out for himself. Grinning, he spun back around, wrapped his woman up in the crook of his arm and zeroed in on Beck. “Any chance I can get in on this action?”
“Jesus.” Knox snatched his beer off the tabletop and planted his foot on the rung of the empty chair next to him. “Stop thinkin’ with your dicks and look at her. She’s tried to head back this way twice and he’s cut her off.”
“I don’t know.” Vivienne pursed her mouth in a considering way, but it didn’t do enough to hide the smile behind it. “She seems like a sharp girl to me. Pretty sure she can shut Seth down if she wants to.”
Darya handed Axel’s hundred dollar bill to the bartender, but Seth wrapped his big paw around her wrist, pulled it back and offered his own cash.
Motherfucker.
He stood, slammed back the rest of his beer and plunked the empty bottle on the tabletop. “She wants to go for it, that’s fine, but if she wants an out, she’s getting one.”
“Oh, I’m thinking she’s getting something,” Zeke said as Knox walked away.
Not to be left out, Axel’s and Jace’s razing comments trailed right behind it.
“Probably has a mind to show her his oversize hard drive.”
“Go get her, tiger.”
Knox flipped them all the bird without looking back and kept moving. He stepped in behind Darya and laid a possessive hand on her shoulder. This close, her scent hit him hard, barely there roses and crisp winter even while the summer heat pressed around them.
She shivered beneath his touch, her body going from relaxed to full scale alert in a second.
He squeezed in what he hoped she’d process as a comforting gesture. “Everything okay?”
Seth turned from the counter and tucked the change in his pocket, open annoyance written all over his face.
Darya twisted as much as she could with him crowding so close, her gaze resting briefly on his hand before she lifted it to his face. It was a look, nothing more, but he’d swear it sparked with an electric current. But was that for Seth, or for him? “I was just talking with your friend,” she said to Knox before she faced forward again. “Seth, right?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Seth’s gaze dropped to Knox’s hand then shot Knox a knowing smile. “There a problem?”
“Nope.” At least not one he was willing to analyze. Not now, tomorrow or any day after that. “JJ just looked like she could use a hand with the drinks.”
Fuck, he hated that name. Now that he knew the real one, it felt wrong on his tongue, but risking the bogus identity with anyone outside of family wasn’t an option either.
“You didn’t need to do that,” Seth said. “I’ll give her all the help she needs.”
Yeah, Knox knew exactly what kind of help Seth had in mind. “No need.” He forced himself to release his grip and handed two drinks off to Darya. “You grab these, and I’ll follow you with the rest.”
She hesitated only long enough to study his face, way too much scrutiny moving behind her stunning blue eyes before she turned back to Seth, all poised politeness. “Thank you for the drinks.”
Seth moved in close, cupped the side of her face with a gentleness that shocked the shit out of Knox. “Darlin’, anything you want, I’m happy to give. You just say the word.”
Not going to happen.
Knox cleared his throat.
Darya took a big step backward. “Right. Well, thank you.” With one last piercing glance at Knox, she wove her way back to the table, Seth’s stare rooted on her ass the whole way.
“How much are you out for the drinks?” Knox asked.
“My treat.” Slow, like he didn’t have a care in the world, Seth leaned one arm against the bar. “Any chance any of those are for you?”
Knox snatched the last two drinks off the bar. “Nope. You just shucked out a handful of cash for a no-go and drinks for Axel, Beckett and Danny.”
“Too bad.”
“I know. Sucks when you crash and burn.”
“Not what I meant.” Seth pushed upright, his holier-than-thou smirk firmly anchored in place. “Meant it was too bad one of the drinks wasn’t for you. You’re gonna need something strong when reality kicks in and you realize you’re a goner.” He jerked his chin up in a manly see-ya-around. “You got a good thing with that one, Torren. Try not to fuck it up.”