“Yeah, thanks for that. No mercy for family, huh?”
Family.
“Not when they break in and steal from them. Not to mention stab me and leave me for dead.”
I fisted the back of Drey’s shirt and went to push to the side, ready to give whoever this asshole was a fist to the face. He was the one who’d hurt Drey? Robbed his store?
But Drey stepped back, pinning me between him and the bar.
“You know how it is. That wasn’t personal.”
“Like hell it wasn’t.”
“You’ve done the same things.”
“And I know exactly what it leads to, Damon. You’re nineteen. You still have a chance.”
“I know I do. I got my family. Family’s all that matters.”
Drey huffed.
“So, this your sweetie?”
“No. Just a waitress.”
“Hmmm,” the guy said. “I’m thinking not.”
“She’s not your concern. Back off.”
The guy’s eyes narrowed, and he leaned to the side to get a full view of me. I knew immediately I needed to play along. “Lucky me, right? I drew this dork’s name for the costume pairs. He’s more like a wet rag.” I slapped his shoulder. “Hey, Neanderthal, I have a table waving me down. What was your name again?”
The guy laughed and tilted to the side. Bill lumbered toward us, his face tense, hands fisted at his sides. This was something I didn’t want to be in the middle of, yet I couldn’t walk away.
I soneededto walk away, though. I didn’t need trouble. Any shape or form of it. But this was Drey. I’d never seen him so tense and…sad. And that guy, he’d said Drey’d held up that same convenience store? That didn’t make sense.
What scared me even more, my protective self-preservation instincts kicked in, but not for myself, for Drey.
Damn it. He’d snuck under my skin no matter how much I’d resisted. And now I had to know more about his past.
“Damon. How are ya, kid?” Bill came up beside Drey, making more of a wall between me and this stranger. He furrowed his eyebrows, his telltale sign ofdon’t ask. “Hon, can you go take care of table seven?”
I smacked Drey. “That’s what I was trying to tell this big lug.” I stepped to the side, then walked away. Drey lasered the kid with a deadly stare.
The guy captured my wrist before I even realized he’d moved. I stopped, counting to five while he talked.
“Want to meet up after your shift?”
As if.“What are you, twelve? I’m thinking no, jailbait. And you have about six seconds to let go of me before I break those fingers.”
“Ohhh. Tough one. Nice.”
“Either she’ll break them or I will. There’s no touching our waitresses,” Bill said, stepping forward. “And you know I’ll do it, Damon.”
“I’m leaving.” He released me and put his hands up in surrender. “Just wanted to check in with the brother. Let him know I was alive and well.”
I noticed a mark on the kid’s inner wrist. I’d seen that symbol before, and it wasn’t a good one. This was a gangbanger. No wonder Bill stomped out here.
But he was Drey’s brother?