He chuckles, putting his own bet. “Not in my life I ever thought that the boss of La Eme would come begging to me. Admit it and I might go easy.”
My hand twitches to just end his life but I need him alive for now.
Fuck.
“I came begging? There’s a reason you want to come out of hiding after all those years and we both know who is on your side right now, amigo.”
I do my best to feign interest. Let him weight his choices. I may not trust him but she led me here tonight. She trusts him, I see it in her eyes. She doesn’t want to run from his stare as she does with mine. Maybe that’s why I want to give him a chance to prove his worth.
Before he can say something though, she calls with hesitation. When I see what she got, my pulse quickens. Fuck, she’s going to lose if she keeps this up. Even Elijah thinks so as he puts his hands up with a smirk.
“Careful, girly. You’re slipping.” Somehow I hold my breath as he knocks down his cards in front of us. Full house. A King, being on top of them. How fitting. “And, Mr. Martinez, what do I get from this partnership? Everything you owned is gone now.”
Not everything. My eyes find her immediately. Not her. She’s still fucking mine. To prove it, my lips part to deliver a well-revised retort. A mockery maybe? “I have-”
“Information.”
It’s a test of patience that I’m failing miserably. Irritation builds in my bones seeing just how easily she lifts his attention from me to her.
“T-That deal you wanted to make? Extend it to him. I have information and he has resources. Together we can be useful to you.”
He cocks his head with a grin. Shit, he’s interested. “How would you give me information? Are you working for someone? A man came with you, isn’t it? Carter? Last I heard he works for the Bratva.”
She shrugs, still playing the charade of a harmless woman. Only my Queen could be so cruel. As if she knows, her face hardens. “I’m just a woman who arranges all kinds of charities. I meet new people every day, hear things. One just has to know the right words to take notes and if you’re talking about this game-” I see the rather wistful smile on her face as she shows her card, four of a kind with a Queen on top. “Then I’d say I’m on the path of winning.”
Good one, Barbie, good one.
I can almost like this new version of her. For a second, the past is nothing but a nightmare. The games, her, my life in prison, the upcoming war...it’s just a thing in my head. It’s something we can move past. But the scars in my skin says otherwise, the way she looks up to me screams nothing but hatred.
“Fine.” A grunt is my reason for crushing back to reality. Elijah eyes the cards at my hand before he meets my stare head-on. “What did you get?”
What did I get?
My lips break into a smile. Or is it a snarl? Fuck if I know. “I got what I always had.”
A Royal flush. Ace to be exact.
Elijah visibly deflects, his hands lashing out to throw the cards on the floor. At that moment nothing can stop us from sharing a smile. Anything other than a win, it’s not in our blood.
Well, I intend to carve it into my vein.
“Fuck!” He kicks the table this time, forcing me to lean in. If I really saw her shudder, then this idiot is going to pay for it.
“Elijah, you promised.” I grit out. “Do we have a deal?”
He stares back at me, nodding but then again something I missed shows in his eyes. “I’ll help. But she is done here. You lost it, girly. He won the game. Like always.”
Her jaw goes slack as she tries to fight through her growing panic. “I-I didn’t, we all-”
“I can ask you for anything. We had that in a deal, sí?” He nods as I continue. She doesn’t like the interruption but she’ll thank me later. “I am asking for her share of the deal. Whatever she asked from you, you give it to her.”
“You can’t be serious.” He scoffs, rising from the sofa with a scowl in his face. I give him a minute to composure himself before even I stand up along with her.
“I’m one hundred percent serious. If you want to keep your words, these are my terms. She gives you information, I’ll help with the rest. Besides, you don’t want to deal with Bratva now, do you, Elijah?”
He doesn’t.
So it doesn’t surprise me how quickly he makes the papers to have it signed. I even take a step to leave but the newfound guilt makes me turn back one more time before I can help it. “Oh, for the record...this place is about to be swarmed by cops in about twenty minutes. So, if I were you, I’d run with all I have.”
I don’t look back after that. Instead, I brace myself for her questions as we navigate through the alleys. Only when we are far away from the club that I dare to open my mouth.
“You want to ask me something.”
“Who did you hire to follow me?” she asks, her lips curling with distrust. “Was it your brothers? Your men?”
It takes everything in me to not react.
“What? You going to deny it? Of course, you are. Look, Ace, thanks for the help but I need to go now. I can’t be caught outside so late. I need to find Carter so I can-” What she says makes sense, but my hand flexes, already capturing her fragile ones to mine.
“Come with me?”
CHAPTER 10
RAINE
COME WITH ME.
Despite every little cell in my body screaming to not listen to his words, I can’t stop myself. For so long I thought I was over him. Hurt my body all you want, but my heart? My damaged soul? It’s all mine to barter. But tonight? Once again, he proved me wrong.
It’s like I’m competing with someone who can never lose.
Even now when he has nothing, no title, no allies, he walks like a lost King hunting for his next prey. He’s not bothered that I have been staring at him ever since I made up my mind. Then again why did I agree to this? To discuss everything as allies should? Or to give us a closure that we never had?
“You’re staring.”
I nod, refusing to believe that I’m going with him willingly. “Can I borrow your phone? I need to call someone.”
I don’t expect him to thrust a phone in my direction without so much of a warning or threats. Then again, he does things that are always out of my expectation. Grabbing the object, it takes a full one minute for me to remember Carter’s number and another five for him to answer.
“Carter?”
“Shit, woman! Where the fuck are you?”
For a second, guilt leaves me breathless. I have dragged Carter with me tonight only to leave him at the mercy of the wolves. I should have been there waiting for him but instead, here I am.
Running toward my monster again.
“I’m fine. Did you get out?” My voice sounds too hollow to even my ears. So, I force myself to make it sound normal. As if I’m not waiting for rational thoughts to return. To feel that familiar urge to run from this man.
Carter murmurs something before huffing. “Yeah, after looking for you everywhere, I had to. Are you ok? Are you alone?”
Alone? I can never be alone when he’s with me. Not literally or figuratively. I think just to prove that his eyes flash to me in question. What are you going to do now, Barbie?