“Saw you flirtin’ with Garro. How come I never see you waitin’ on me with that pretty smile, huh? I promise I’d treat you sweeter than him.”
“Hands off the merchandise, Mr. Kade,” I told him with a winsome smile because I was used to grabby hands and arrogant criminals.
Quentin wasn’t an unattractive man, slim all over in a way that looked like he’d been compressed between two walls as he grew, he was still mildly handsome if you looked at him in profile. He wore expensive, designer clothes and he smelled rich, musky and artificial. It was obvious that he believed his wealth and reputation would get him whatever he wanted, even human flesh.
His narrow face creased up in laughter. “’Course, there’s always a price for sweet merch like you. Tell me and I’ll pay it, see if we can’t put this ass to some use, eh? Just ’cause you can’t get Garro doesn’t mean you have to go without.”
He and his posse of men laughed like he was a stand-up comedian.
My smile grew strained. “No price. It’s like the Mastercard commercial says, some things are priceless.”
“HA! Got a sweet behind, girl, wouldn’t say it’s priceless,” he snorted.
“No,” I agreed because it was a fantastic ass but I wasn’t that arrogant. “But my self-worth is, and while I don’t judge anyone for doing it, I don’t sell myself for sex.”
The good humor fell through the false bottom of his charm and his mouth grew hard. “You think you’re too good for me, or something?”
Fuck. I hated the ones who made it about their own inadequacies. Couldn’t a girl just reject a man based on her lack of desire to be wooed or taken?
“I don’t.” I smiled again. “Like I said, I just don’t go in for that kind of thing. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got rounds to make.”
“Yeah, showing off that ass to see who’s gonna be the highest bidder,” he sneered, shoving his face into my neck so he could lick a slimy trail up to my ear where he whispered, “Trust me, it’s gonna be me who takes you home tonight.”
I planted my hand in his shoulder and shoved, all politeness forgotten in my haste to get away from him but his hands had curled into my hips like heavy anchors so I couldn’t move.
“Kade.”
The one word echoed through the room like thunder.
It was a warning that the lightning wouldn’t be far behind.
Zeus, the God of Thunder, was finally paying attention.
“Back off, Garro. Get yourself another girl for the night,” Quentin laughingly called over his shoulder.
But his bluff wasn’t good enough. I could see the fear spark behind his eyes and the thin crown of sweat that bloomed high on his forehead.
“Let the kid go, Kade,” Zeus said again, his voice a low rumbling force that had Quentin’s hands flexing anxiously on my skin.
I took advantage of his fright to scramble off his lap and put a huge partition of space between us. It took me a minute to realize that I’d subconsciously come to a stand still beside Zeus.
“A woman tells you to let her go, do it,” Zeus growled, taking a step ahead and to the front of me, shielding me from Quentin’s sight.
I didn’t know or care if he was conscious of the protective gesture, it sent hope fluttering to life in my heart.
“This is a fuckin’ titty bar, Garro. Can you blame a man for trying? Or is that particular girl you got an issue with me taking?”
“Yeah, I fuckin’ well can because this titty bar is property of The Fallen and if you don’t know this by now, Kade, listen close, yeah? You fuck with the The Fallen, you court death. Simple as that.”
Even though I was slightly behind him, I could see the cruel cut of his smile across his face, as if the idea of Quentin defying him, of courting that death, turned him on.
A dark shiver rasped like a calloused finger down my spine.
“Now, if a girl wants your attention, go for it. I hear you try to corner another one of my girls, you’re banned for life. And, Kade, I don’t just mean from this bar.”
I chewed on my lip because I got it. Quentin Kade was one of the biggest drug dealers in the province. The Fallen was one of the biggest producers and distributors of weed in the country. If Kade got cut off, he’d be crippled.
“Yeah, got you,” he said, face twisted with wounded pride and bitter anger. “Just like I got that you don’t give a fuck about getting my business anymore.”
“Just spent way too much of my fuckin’ time tryin’ to get that through your head so gotta say, glad you’ve finally got the message.”
Something feral and nasty slithered across Quentin’s narrow face, something that looked a lot like evil.
Zeus crossed his enormous arms over his chest and tipped his chin up. “I’d say it’s time for you and your boys to move on for the night.”
“Yeah, I’m fuckin’ beat,” Quentin agreed with a grin that was more of a grimace.
As soon as they left, I took a step toward Zeus, eager to thank him, wanting to touch him.
He took a huge step away from me before I could gain any ground and spun to face me. “I’m lettin’ you stay on because at least here I can keep an eye on your crazy ass, you get me? This is what you get when you flirt with dangerous men, little girl. You’re too fuckin’ young to know what you’re dealin’ with here and honest to Christ, I wish you’d go back to your pretty, ordered little world and stay the fuck outta mine.”
“Zeus,” I breathed with what little air was left in my compressed lungs.
“Got two kids already, Louise, you think I got time for a third?” he asked with a cruel raise of one scarred eyebrow.
I opened my mouth to say something but there was no air left in me, only hot blood that coursed through my veins like flames. It was impossible to believe that my saviour could so suddenly have turned into a demon.
“Believe it,” he whispered darkly, and I wasn’t sure if I’d spoken aloud or if he’d read the disillusion fragmenting the dreams at the backs of my eyes.
I watched in mute horror as he turned and walked away from me.
By the end of sixth period the next day, my hurt had calcified into something else, harder and offensive. I was spitting mad and righteous with it. If Zeus Garro thought he could just flick me away like a fucking bug, he was sorely mistaken. I wasn’t a little girl anymore and I’d made it my mandate since my diagnosis that absolutely no one could tell me what to do.
Not even my guardian monster.
Especially when he was being a fucking prick.
“You got fire in your eyes,” Reece noticed, leaning away from his position at my side so that he could push my hair behind my ear and peer at me. “What’s up?”
I chewed at my lower lip as shame swirled in my belly.
Reece and I had never talked about whether or not we were “dating”. It wasn’t so simple as that these days when there was a spectrum of togetherness that ranged from one-night stands, hook-ups, friends with benefits and “seeing each other” to the more serious stuff. I figured Reece and I were the latter of those options but seeing as how we had never rubber stamped it, I tried not to feel too guilty that I’d spent the past few weeks consumed with thoughts of another man.