She’d known going into this that it wasn’t going to turn into a great love story. He’d made that clear. So why was she so hurt?
His words had clawed their way deep. Tearing holes in her heart.
Because you already fell in love with him, that’s why. Idiot.
She watched as one guy stood up from the table, his phone in his hand, texting. She frowned. There was something familiar about him.
“Millie? Are you all right?” Grady asked.
No. Of course she wasn’t.
“I’ll take care of her,” Spike snapped, coming up to stand on her other side.
Right. Breaking her heart was taking care of her really well.
Not fair, Millie.
She took a deep breath in, studying the guy. “That guy there, the one standing . . . he kind of looks familiar.”
Both men tensed.
“You think he could be the guy from the alleyway the other night?” Grady asked, bringing out his phone.
“Maybe. I need to see his face, can we go down there?”
“No,” Spike said abruptly.
She let out a sigh. “He never saw me.”
“She’ll be perfectly safe,” Grady added. “This place is filled with Steele’s guys. No way he could get to her, even if he did know who she was. You can wait up here.”
“No fucking way.” Spike took hold of her hand. He grabbed Mr. Fluffy, holding him in his other arm. She didn’t pull away, despite knowing she probably should. She should put some distance between them, like he’d been doing all this time.
Foolish her, letting her heart get involved.
But she let him lead her out of the room and down the stairs. Grady followed. They walked into the room and towards the bar. She was sandwiched between the two men.
As they stood at the bar, watching. The man turned and headed towards them.
“It’s him,” she said hoarsely. She didn’t know why but her heart started racing. Hard. He didn’t know who she was. There was no reason to be afraid.
His gaze slid over her, no hint of recognition on his face. He gave a nod to Grady, who nodded back.
“Damon is going to be pissed,” Grady said as the man settled in at the other end of the bar. They slowly strolled away to a quieter area. “His name is Regan Jones. He’s been with us for two years.” Grady drew out his phone and tapped off a message.
“That could mean Fergus planted him if he’s working for the Bartolli’s,” Spike said, his gaze roaming the room.
Grady made a sound of agreement. “I’ve got to go speak to Steele.”
“I’m taking Millie home.”
Grady narrowed his gaze at him. “Steele will want to speak to her.”
“I still need to talk to Damon about Luther,” she whispered. She wanted to make sure that Steele didn’t forget his promise to take care of him.
“Another night,” Spike said. “I have a bad feeling. Let’s go.”
She gave Spike an exasperated look. To her shock, Grady drew her close.