“Yeah,” Eli says, but his fist tenses on top of his thigh. His phone starts ringing and the name Dominic Stranger flashes across his screen. He groans, swiping it unlocked as I take the next off-ramp to turn around.
“What?” he snaps down the phone. Cold enough for me to notice his change of tone. He sits up straighter, and I try not to pay too close attention to him. I don’t want him to think I’m prying. When I am. “No. I’ll call you later.”
Eli hangs up and runs his fingers through his hair. “Can you hang at Nial’s? We’re not being followed, and I need to go for a few hours.”
I’ve only known Eli a couple of days, but it almost feels as though I’ve known him longer. Like we may have been best friends in a past life. His mouth is in a flat line, his hair an array of curls on his head, and if it wasn’t for his flawless skin, I’d say he had a few lines around the corners of his eyes. He’s stressed, and if I’m not wrong, it takes a lot to do that.
“Yeah, sure,” I say gently, not wanting to add to whatever situation he has going on. “Can I ask you something, though?” Okay, maybe just a little…
He rolls his eyes, kicking out his leg while looking out the window briefly. “You’re going to anyway.”
I pegged Eli to be something the first night I met him. I recognized an air of danger that stuck to him the same way it did The Brothers, but I’ve still got to know… “Why did my brother put you on me? You must be someone for him to trust you enough to watch me?”
“That’s something I still don’t know.” He sighs, and I take a few turns through the busy city streets. We come to a traffic light stop and I take this moment to stare at him, hoping to find a lie.
“But you must be someone…”
“Oh, I am…” His upper lip curls into a sly smile, but then it’s gone. “And your brother knows that, which is probably how I came about this babysitting gig.”
“Soooo… what are you?” I pull into the parking lot outside the café that Nial’s parents own. Well, they own this one, another one up East, and about another twenty more all over the world. They made their bakery houses into a multi-billion-dollar franchise before they were twenty-five. They’re humble, though, not like my rank ass parents.
Our doors open and I step out onto the street, wiggling my brows at Eli. “You some big mafia boss?”
“May as well be,” Nial answers for Eli, nudging his head in that jerk motion boys do. I watch as they both pull each other in to do that awkward hug thing. “Thanks for bringing her back to me in one piece.”
“You know I would.” Eli smirks at Nial, laying a kiss on my temple as he rounds the car. He points to the both of us. “I’ll be back to take her to work. Feel free to tell her all about me.”
“Was going to anyway!” Nial calls out as Eli pulls away from the curb. His arm hooks in mine and he pulls me down the street. “I need alcohol for this. I know where we can sneak in.”
“Nial.” I laugh, squeezing his arm with mine.
The atmosphere feels sedated, like a drug binge on LSD. Tea lights dip low off the ceiling, and there’s a woman playing a guitar on the center stage. Her lyrics drift through the air as I stand paralyzed, watching as her fingers flick through the strings of the guitar. Her eyes meet mine. Then again. And again.
“So you met an Elite King…” Nial waves over a waiter and orders four shots. I don’t bother telling him I won’t be drinking because a what?
“A what?” The woman’s guitar keeps playing and I find my eyes getting heavier. I am sure I got enough sleep last night, or maybe it was the little car chase I almost got into that’s catching up with me.
“Eli Rebellis is part of a cult slash secret society, kind of like your Kiznitch but somehow worse—and trust me—that pains me to say because y’all are fucking bad.” Cult? Whatever I expected him to say, this wasn’t it.
The shots are lined up on our table and the waitress flips her hair behind her shoulders, caressing Nial’s arm. “There you go, honey. You tell me if you need anything else.”
“The Elite Kings are run by ten families. They all have weird little things that they do, and you know what? This would take me all day to scratch the surface. All you need to know is that they’re dangerous and powerful. What are you doing with Eli?”
I circle the edge of the shot glass with my finger. “I—um. Kyrin stuck him on me for babysitting since I got in some trouble lately.”
“Ahhh…” Nial takes the glass that my finger was happily playing with, throwing it back before slamming the glass onto the table. “Makes sense. To protect a monster, one must be a monster.”
I shuffle to the side, readjusting my position. “What did you say this place was?”
Nial hitches his thumb over his shoulder. “I don’t know. I stumbled in here last week and they didn’t card me, so figure, why not try it again, and sure enough—it worked again.”
I look around the place, noting the dim lighting and the soft music that’s playing through the space. The woman on the stage playing a remake of “Tennessee Whiskey” raises her head, her eyes coming to mine. I have never seen her in my life, yet she studies me like she has been waiting for me to walk through the doors.
My phone vibrating in my pocket distracts me, and I grab it out to see Keaton’s name flashing over the screen.
My stomach flips as though I’ve just been caught doing something I shouldn’t have been doing. I squash it down with an iron fist before swiping the green arrow to answer.
“Yes?”