Chase's lip curled as he refocused his one eye on me. "Oh, you've got me handled do you, Darling? Been a really long time since I've had you handle me, but I remember it like it was yesterday." He ran his tongue over his front teeth, and I tightened my throat to hold back the bile threatening to decorate Nadia's pretty tablecloth.
Instead of telling him where to shove his memories, I stood up and gave him a small smile like I was really joining him on that little trip down memory lane. Or nightmare lane, as it may be.
With a well-practiced sleight of hand, I passed the vial of drugs to Zed as I brushed past him to approach Chase. Like Zed and I had just discussed earlier in the day, the Chase Lockhart we both knew had one huge blind spot. It was about time to test whether that was still the case or not.
"I just bet you do," I murmured, stepping right into his personal space and placing a hand lightly on his chest. His muscles twitched under my touch like he was shocked I'd willingly touched him. In fairness, I was amazed I'd done it without breaking out in hives, too.
"What... do you think you're doing, Darling?" he asked in a low voice, his eye locked on my face as I leaned in closer still. "If you think you can play me by reminding me what an excellent lay you are—" He broke off with a sharp inhale as I bit his earlobe between my teeth. It wasn't hard enough to rip the flesh from his head, no matter how badly I wanted to disfigure him further than I already had. Nope, this was one of his erogenous zones, and he loved it rough to the point of pain.
Chase moaned, and my stomach tightened with disgust. And a little bit of fear. His hand snaked around my waist, pulling me hard against his body and showing me just how turned on that one bite had gotten him. Then he released me like I was made of barbed wire and took a firm step back.
"You sneaky minx," he hissed. "You're up to something." He gave a short laugh, but I could hear unease in the way his voice shook ever so slightly. I'd unnerved the hell out of him, and it made my smile wide and wicked.
Chase shook his head, pointing between me and Zed, who was still seated at the table and sipping on his coffee like he wasn't also shaking with rage. "You two think you're so much smarter than me. You're wrong. I've had five years to plan my revenge, and you're just making it up as you go along. Pathetic."
He leaned over and swiped my coffee from the table, shooting me a smug grin before drinking it all. I hated sharing my coffee. Despised it. Chase knew it, too, and used to always steal my coffees just to enrage me.
When I gave no response to that little blast from the past, though, he slammed the mug down so hard it shattered on the tabletop. If the whole café hadn't already been watching our interaction, they sure as shit would be now.
Chase looked around with a sneer. "What a cute little café. I understand that old bitch is your deceased lover's grandmother too. Sure would be a shame to see anything happen to this place. Or her."
One of the big, tattoo-covered Reapers at a nearby table overheard that comment and made a move to come at Chase, but I gave him a short headshake.
"I think you've overstayed your welcome, Chase," I told my ex with a smile as I returned to my seat beside Zed. He draped his arm around my shoulders, and Chase's scowl flickered with violence and fury.
He was smart enough to recognize when Zed was deliberately trying to get a rise out of him, though, so with another sneer at us, he spun on his heel and started toward the door.
As badly as I wanted to wash my mouth out with bleach after willingly touching Chase, appearances were everything. I couldn’t let him see anything but confidence and strength, and washing my mouth out with harsh chemicals would only tell him just how badly he made my skin crawl. Instead, Zed calmly handed me his own coffee and I took a sip as we watched our nemesis leave. Or... he tried to.
He made it within a few steps of the main entrance to Nadia's Cakes, then staggered, swayed, and dropped like a sack of bricks.
No one in the cafe spoke. They all just stared in shock at the motionless man on the ground or at me and Zed sitting there with the smuggest of smiles.
"Oh good," Nadia commented, coming out of the kitchen with a pie box. "You killed him. 'Bout damn time."
I snorted a laugh, standing up from my chair once more. "I wish. Nadia, do you have any cotton swabs or Q-tips or something?"
The old woman just frowned at me in confusion. "No, why would I?"
"I do!" The waitress from earlier announced, diving under the counter. She popped back up with her makeup bag in hand, dug around inside, then pulled out a fresh box of Q-tips, still unopened. "I use them for makeup," she explained, handing them over.
I gave a small smile that was probably pure evil and plucked two from the box. "Perfect. Do you also happen to have a permanent marker and a ziplock bag?"
The waitress bobbed her head and rushed away again, and I headed over to where Chase was unconscious on the floor. Just because I couldn't help myself, I delivered a hard kick to his ribs, and one of the Reaper guys watching hissed a sharp breath.
My gaze jerked up to meet his, and I shrugged. "He deserves worse."
The guy gave a grim smile. "What'd you drug him with?"
Crouching down beside my fallen enemy, I allowed myself the luxury of this small win. "A lady never reveals her secrets," I murmured, rolling Chase over and opening his mouth so I could swab the inside of his cheek thoroughly with the Q-tips.
The helpful waitress hurried back to me, holding a plastic sandwich bag open for me to drop the saliva-wet Q-tips into.
Zed took the sealed bag from her and tucked it into his jacket pocket, looking down at me with an arched brow. "Now what? He's going to know we drugged him for a reason."
I shrugged and took the permanent marker from the waitress. "So what? Not much he can do about it now." I uncapped the pen with my teeth, then went to work drawing a massive dick on the side of Chase's face, complete with hairy balls.
When I was done, I capped the pen and pushed to my feet to admire my handiwork. "Not bad," I commented to myself.
Zed looked like he was on the verge of full-blown laughter as he snapped a photo on his phone. "Some skills never fade, no matter how long it's been."
"You sure you don't wanna put a bullet in his brain right now?" Nadia asked, her hands on her wide hips as she scowled down at the unconscious man. "Save yourself a hell of a headache."
I grimaced. "You have no idea how tempting that is, Nadia." I kicked Chase again, just letting out a little pent-up frustration, then took the pie box from her. "Drop him out into the alleyway or something. He should focus blame on me, but—"
"If he burns my café down, you'll be paying for it," she finished for me with a stern look.
My lips twitched with a smile, equally shocked and impressed that she gave zero shits who she was speaking to with that attitude. No wonder Cass had such respect for women with a role model like her.
"Absolutely," I confirmed. "Best keep some of these boys around for personal safety too." I nodded to the Reapers, who weren't even pretending not to be listening in.
Nadia pursed her lips and gave a tight nod. "I've stayed alive this long; I'm no idiot. You just take care of..." she drifted her eyes to Zed, then back to me with a meaningful look "...of your family. Understood?"