His eyes raked over her. “You lied.”
“Had to get you and the boys down here.”
“Why?” Flynn demanded.
With a chin nod at the stage, both Colt and Flynn turned their attention. The tuxedo wearing Emcee announced Joni and a moment later she took the stage, her hand going for the microphone.
“How much has my sister had to drink?” Colt demanded. “And she better not be performing burlesque.”
“Relax,” I said. “She’s just singing.”
Colt growled and slid into the booth next to me, crowding my space. Flynn sat down close to Barrett and I saw his hand glide under the table to rest on her thigh, but his curiosity won out and he turned his attention to the stage.
I nestled into the crook of Colt’s body, having missed his solid presence and warmth for the past few hours. Though it had been nice to be out of the house, out of Waco, I’d missed him.
As Joni began to croon into the microphone, my gaze wandered around the room. I looked at Zip who was sitting with Bishop and Knight, but his eyes were riveted on Joni’s body.
I couldn’t help the smile that curved my lips.
Knight’s gaze caught mine. He looked at me like he was trying to figure something out, shrewd, calculating.
I didn’t like it.
Turning my head so I wouldn’t have to see Knight, I grazed my lips along Colt’s jaw. “Want to get out of here?”
He looked down at me, smile lines crinkling at the corners of his eyes. “Fuck yeah.”
Colt got out of the booth first and then helped me up. Flynn stood and shook Colt’s hand.
“Thanks, brother,” Colt said. I could barely hear him over the sound of Joni’s singing, but I was still privy to their conversation.
“Sanchez will be in touch.” Flynn then looked to me. “It was good to meet you, Mia.”
“Same.”
Barrett, a lot less formal than her husband, climbed out of the booth and embraced me. “One day, you’ll come to Scotland and I’ll tell you the story of how Flynn and I met.”
“I can’t wait.”
She squeezed my fingers affectionately.
Colt all but dragged me from the club, but I forced him to stop so I could watch Joni as she finished her performance.
The applause and whistles were deafening and the audience was begging for an encore. Colt was finally able to get me out of the club, but not before I caught Knight’s eyes on me again.
A shiver of foreboding slithered down my spine.
There was something about him, something I didn’t trust.
I bit my lip in thought as Colt led me across the marble floor lobby to the elevators. A carriage came almost immediately. “Did you have a good night?” he asked me once we were in the privacy of the elevator.
“I did. I missed you though.”
His grin was arrogant. “Did you now?”
I rolled my eyes. “Did you get to discuss everything you needed to discuss?”
He paused for a moment and then nodded. “We won’t decide on anything until I talk to Sanchez. Won’t touch the product, won’t move the product. Everything stays where it is until I know what Sanchez wants.”
“Barrett says he’s the most powerful man in Argentina. Does that mean he’s—is he head of another cartel?”
Colt sighed. “Yeah, babe, he is. I don’t like the idea of getting another cartel involved to get rid of the one in our backyard, but what choice do I have?”
“What about the Coeur d’Alene Blue Angels?” I fished. “What about Knight?”
“What about him?”
“You trust him, don’t you?”
He frowned at me. The elevator doors opened and then he was dragging me down the hallway to our room. He pulled out a key from his back pocket and then he was ushering me through the open door.
I didn’t have a moment to look around at the gorgeous decadence because Colt was marching me toward a wall, not stopping until my back hit it.
He caged me in. “What aren’t you saying to me, Mia?”
“I’m not saying anything—”
“Bullshit. You don’t think I know how to read you?” He got closer to my face, his brown eyes peering into my soul and knowing things without me having to say anything.
“I don’t like how he looks at me,” I admitted quietly.
“How did he look at you?” His voice was a dangerous purr.
“He was staring at me like he couldn’t figure me out. Not sexual,” I hastened to explain. “Just—I don’t know. There was something in his eyes, Colt. Something I couldn’t decipher.”
Chapter 23
I woke up early the next morning. My mouth tasted like peat and I briefly thought about Barrett’s choice of drink. It lingered on the tongue. I was giving my teeth a vigorous brushing when Colt pushed open the bathroom door. He came in to stand behind me, dropping a morning kiss on my bare shoulder.
We didn’t say anything as we brushed our teeth in companionable silence. Colt was just rinsing his mouth when his cell phone rang. He grabbed a hand towel and wiped his face as he strode from the bathroom.
I heard him answer the call and speak to someone on the other end. When he hung up, he came back, leaned against the bathroom doorjamb, and watched me.
“Yes?” I taunted. “Like something you see?”
“Whole lotta something,” he admitted with a sensual grin.
I was wearing a white lace camisole and a pair of clean underwear Colt had thoughtfully packed in a small bag, as if he’d known all along we’d be staying overnight. It was odd to be with a man who planned, had it all figured out, even a spare change of clothes.
I’d gone to bed with last night’s makeup on my face and I tended to the destruction now. I threw my hair into a messy bun and turned on the faucet.
“Who was on the phone?”
“Boxer. Everyone is already at the clubhouse for the lockdown.”
“Good. I guess.”
Colt raised an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Freedom restricted, everyone on top of one another, barely any privacy. It will get old fast. Joni and I were already going nuts, staying at the clubhouse.” I sighed and reached for a bottle of high-end facial cleanser. “I miss our home.”
“Our home, huh?”
“Our home,” I repeated.
“I need you to be patient, just a bit longer, okay?”
“I know,” I muttered. I splashed warm water onto my face and then grabbed a clean hand towel and patted my skin dry. “It’s just—well, I feel like I’m just along for the ride, you know? I don’t do anything. I just sit and wait and let you protect me. I need to do something, Colt.”
He ran his hands through his disheveled hair, making the muscles of his chest dance. The ink of my name across his pectoral rippled and my heart felt heavy with emotion.
“I’m talking to Sanchez today. That will dictate everything that happens from here on out.”
“Sanchez might not come through, you know.”
He smiled. “He will.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“You’ve met Barrett.”