“Cain.”
“Shane. Mason.”
He slid into the booth, his eyes constantly scanning the room. Cain was equally scary, but more in control than Shane. I knew if he wanted to kill me, I’d damn well know.
Shane was still smiling. There was something unnerving about that smile. It reminded me of Dante.
That motherfucker had been the worst of the lot.
“You have information.”
Shane bobbed his head.
“Yeah, sure. Dante wasn’t the killer.”
Cain rubbed his face and gave me a look.
“Yeah, we got that. Where does that leave us?”
Shane leaned back in his seat and stretched his arms out across the back of the booth.
“Don’t get me wrong, Dante definitely signed off on whatever was going down.”
Cain’s gravelly voice was incredulous.
“And you didn’t.”
Shane grinned crazily.
“That’s right.”
“What the fuck are you smiling at? If you have unapproved kills happening behind your back then you have no control over your men.”
Shane’s smile dropped and he leaned forward, stabbing a knife into the table inches from Cain’s hands. Cain didn’t flinch. Neither did I.
“Oh, I have control. There’s some twisted fuck who is challenging me. I’m going to find him.”
The smile was back, even crazier than ever.
“And I’m going to tear his skin off.”
He looked at me, his eyes shining.
“What do you think, Mason? Should I deep fry it? Make him eat it?”
I raised my brows, considering. Shane was serious. And this was some serious Game Of Thrones shit.
“Sounds like something Ramsey would do.”
For a split second I saw real humor in his eyes. Humor, surprise and maybe even a touch of sanity. Then it was gone.
“You are fucking funny, you know that?”
I ignored the question.
“Any idea who it is?”
“Oh, I got ideas. The question is why do you want to know, Saint James?”
“You know why.”
“Maybe it’s that pretty lady you got staying at your house? Or her kid? Or Sapphire. She’s got a little one and another on the way, don’t she?”
Dante used to call Cassie ‘Sapphire’ on account of her bright blue eyes. I didn’t hesitate. I leaned forward, a hard glint in my eyes.
“You listen to me, motherfucker, if anyone even looks at my family, you are fucking dead.”
He laughed, throwing his head back. Deep and way too loud. I glanced at Cain and he gave me a look of sympathy. Shane was off his damn rocker.
“You got nothing to worry about from me. I don’t hurt women or kids.”
It might seem crazy but I believed him. His next words erased all that relief in a heartbeat though.
“But this fucker, he does.”
“We’ve had a couple of club girls carved up real good. Not dead, but wishing they were. They won’t be talking anytime soon. He broke their fingers and cut out their tongues.”
And just like that, I knew real terror.
“You know something. Tell us. We can handle it.”
Shane’s hand came down on the table hard.
“My house. My mess.”
He flipped a switch and the crazy smile was back.
“Nice seeing you, boys. Tell me if something comes up. And tell that Connor to back off.” Shane leaned forward and whispered. “He’s starting to get on my nerves.”
Then he stood up and slowly walked out.
Chapter Nineteen
Michelle
My eyes opened with a snap, taking in the unfamiliar room. Pate snuggled against my side on the thin twin bed. Mason had offered his own bed to me the first night we were here but I said no. It was too much, on top of everything else.
Besides, the twin bed was a lot better than trying to sleep in the backseat.
The sad part was, I would have loved to climb into his bed. But only if he was in it with me.
I blushed at the thought. The kind of filthy thoughts I always seemed to have around him. I wasn’t one for daydreaming about romance. I’d already had enough to worry about most days. But now that I had a good job and a place to stay… well, my unspoken crush was rearing it’s head.
I needed to get a grip on myself, or I would embarrass us both. Mason would fire me and ask me to leave. I wouldn’t even blame him if he did that.
And getting kicked out of this place was the last thing Paton needed.
She was already attached to Mason and adored his pets. Tearing her away wouldn’t do any good. It was too late for that.
But we couldn’t live here forever, even if he had booted my car.
I knew why he did it. We both seemed to understand the way each other thought for some reason. He knew me enough to know I wanted to run. To start over with the money I’d been saving since the first shift I worked at his joint.
But I didn’t want to leave. Not really. Even though I was embarrassed and feeling sad and foolish.
Paton was happy and safe. I was… well, I was safe anyway. And only the precocious girl squished up next to me mattered.