“Yeah, well, when you’re being a criminal, the world’s your oyster.”
“I’m just the driver.”
I looked at him dubiously. “You get your hands dirty, too.”
“Not on the job.”
“I’m not oblivious, Flynn, to what goes on.”
He nodded, agreeing. “I know. Hobbs didn’t care you were in the room when we talked business. I have a feeling he’s not usually so inviting.”
“Hobbs is a softie.”
Flynn quickly looked me over, softly muttering, “I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t be soft on you.”
My cheeks heated, but I played it off. “Except Doll. She called me a chihuahua.”
“She did?”
“You were there.”
“I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Well, she did. She called me a chihuahua.”
He shrugged, dismissively. “Doll’s intimidated by you.”
I scoffed in disbelief. “No way. You’ve seen her.”
“Yeah, she’s beautiful, but she tries too hard. You…You’re kind of effortless.”
Okay, this guy was good. Truly, he suckered me in good. He was easy to talk to, he was sweet, and he looked at me like he was trying to figure me out. It was an interesting change of pace.
As I smiled down at the counter, I lightly shook my head. “This isn’t me, Flynn.”
“How do you mean?”
“What you see, it’s…just a pampered, spoiled girl. I wasn’t always this way.”
His smile was lopsided now as he regarded me deeply. “You think I’m looking at your dress and your pink nails, Vix?” When I didn’t answer, he leaned closer to me. “I see you.”
My heart beat faster, but again, I played it off. “You’re smooth, Flynn.”
“Not trying to be.”
“I’m not complaining about it. It’s a nice change. The men that come here are usually over forty, have hit a mid-life crisis, and want a place to dump their cash.”
“Can you blame them? This place looks incredible. I heard what Nixon did, turning it around, bringing in the tourists. You must be proud of him.” When he said that final line, he stared hard at me, gauging my reaction closely.
I didn’t respond straight away. I just looked around, afraid to admit I wouldn’t know what the hell Nixon did because I’d been cooped up in that hotel the entire time.
“You are proud, aren’t you, Vixen?” he prodded.
I pressed my lips together in a frown. “Don’t do that, please.”
“Don’t do what?”
“Be the type that plays with my head. Whatever you’re getting at, just get to it, Flynn.”
He blinked a couple times and then turned his body to me. His knee touched mine, he was so close. I looked down at it, aware it was yet another boundary crossed.
“I’ve asked around about you,” he admitted furtively. “And everyone I talk to look away the second I mention you. It’s like you’re completely off-limits, like…like you don’t exist, even.” I didn’t know what he was getting at. Truth be told, I’d stopped breathing because I was nervous at the direction he’d taken abruptly. “I kept thinking, why doesn’t anyone talk about Nixon’s girl? Then something occurred to me.”
I felt anxious. “What?”
He looked at me squarely. “Are you trapped here?”
Oh, God.
I scanned the bakery for cameras. My head turned to the entrance window, but there was no one there. Paranoia felt like a hot itch at the back of my neck. I brought my hand up to scratch it.
“Because I can help you, Vix,” he added.
I looked back at him, but he was kind of blurry. Was I crying? I swallowed hard and quickly slid off the chair. This was a trap, I realized. Nixon had sent me here. He wanted to test my trust.
Flynn grabbed my arm, stopping me from leaving. He pulled me to him quickly, until my front pressed against his. He lowered his head, so his eyes were at my level. With a sincere look, he said, “Let me help you.”
My chest was moving fast. Fear of being locked back up weighed on my mind. I couldn’t do that again. I couldn’t handle another room – another cabin – not anymore. I liked the fresh air and Nixon was trusting me all of a sudden. I couldn’t blow it ten minutes in.
“Let me go,” I pleaded, trying to take back my arm, but he was gripping me tightly. “Please, Flynn, before he sees us like this.”
“Like what? We’re just talking.”
“You’re touching me.”
“And you’re terrified of that.”
“Let me go,” I pleaded.
But he didn’t fucking let go. He held me tighter still, gritting out, “What’s he going to do to you, Vixen? Hurt you? You’re so beautiful, it hurts. You know Tyrone says you’re Nixon’s property, right? You like being that?”
“Let go, Flynn.”
“You say the word and I’ll take you from here.”
I let out a harsh laugh. “Impossible.”
“No.”
“Nixon would find me, and then he’d kill you.”
Flynn’s eyes darkened. “Not if I killed him first.”
I went still at the sudden change in him. The charming man from before now looked like he was capable of something far more sinister than harmless flirting.
See, I knew it. These guys…they were all fucked up.
They all hid behind a mask.
“You shouldn’t say those things,” I warned, terrified. Nixon had not sent him. He would never have made Flynn say these things to me. “You don’t know how far his power extends to. Nixon’s not to be fucked with.”
“He’s only powerful because everyone’s so fucking scared of crossing him.”
“Because he will kill them.” I wasn’t just saying that. I was speaking truth. Flynn had to understand this. “He is a force of nature. I saw what he’s capable of.”
Now Flynn looked curious. “When?”
I felt suddenly frozen. Memories of snow and blood clouded my mind. Trepidation flooded through me. I spent so much of my time burying our beginning. I couldn’t have it resurface now.
My voice weakened. “You can’t understand, and if you did, it’d only be because he’s killing you.”
Flynn didn’t look alarmed in the slightest. “Vixen, I’m offering you an escape.”
“I don’t want to leave Nixon,” I told him, firmly. “Now, if you don’t let me go, I’ll scream for him. He’s close-by, Flynn.”
That seemed to shake him out of whatever this was happening between us.
“You would scream?” Flynn asked, astonished. “After what I did for you last night?”
His look of disappointment was hard to see, for sure, but it still held little weight to the disappointed look Nixon would give me if he saw us right now.
“I appreciate what you did last night,” I told him quickly. “If you hadn’t –”
“If I hadn’t, he would have killed Nixon,” he cut in, his mouth flattening. “Maybe I shouldn’t have done a damn thing.”