“My frothing saved her, did it not?” Flynn bit back as he relaxed back into his chair. Then he looked to Nixon, his confidence mirroring his. “I’m not calling her Vixen because that’s not her name, but your girl was at a bakery last night, and you want to know what’s fucked up? She’s been here two years and it was her first time stepping foot in that place.”
What in the fuck was Flynn doing?
Where in the fuck had this come from?
My heart was beating so fast, I was going to have a heart attack. My eyes never left Nixon’s face. I was terrified of his reaction. I stared at him, pleading silently not to do something stupid. Nixon’s jaw went tight. I felt his body stiffening. Flynn was successfully getting to him. Darkness pooled in his eyes.
Oh, no.
“Nixon?” I whispered, worriedly.
“Shut your face,” Tyrone shouted.
“What’re you gonna do?” Flynn challenged, turning his attention to Tyrone. “You gonna show up at my door and threaten me? All because I fed Nixon’s girl from the palm of my hand. She really loved that Nanaimo bar, Nixon, you ought to buy her a box –”
Chaos erupted suddenly. Tyrone had rounded the table and lunged at Flynn, tackling him off the chair and to the ground. But just as he prepared to beat on him, Tiger shouted in alarm and immediately intervened.
“Back down, Tyrone,” he told him, effortlessly pulling him off Flynn. “This isn’t the place, man.”
But Tyrone looked rabid. He tried rounding Tiger to get to Flynn, but it was no use. Tiger kept stepping in front of him. Flynn stood up, dusting his pants off with a cool smirk on his face. At this point, Doll and Rowan were standing as well, moving closer to them to stand in their way. Immediately trying to diffuse the tension while casting cautious glances at Nixon.
But Nixon wasn’t budging. His face remained clear, but I knew better than to believe he was calm. He turned his head to me, meeting my eye, quietly asking me among the chaos, “Is that true, baby? Did he feed you from his hand?”
I was so stiff, I knew he felt it. My lips trembled as I whispered, “Please, Nixon, we can talk about it afterwards.”
“Is. It. True?” he repeated slowly. He was so quiet, yet he was all I heard, that murderous edge present in his tone. The screaming had become background noise. My heart was in my ears. I felt sick with terror.
He read the answer in my expression. If I thought his eyes couldn’t look more dead, I was wrong.
I was in deep shit.
The door of the room slammed open. I turned away from Nixon’s frosty gaze.
“What the fuck is going on?” Hobbs suddenly bellowed, stepping into the room with a furious gaze.
“Flynn started it!” Doll shrieked, rushing to Hobbs. “He started saying shit about Nixon’s girl –”
“I had to break them apart,” Tiger explained, panting. “Tyrone tackled Flynn –”
“He deserved it, though!” Doll cut in. “He was winding Tyrone up –”
“I want him out of here,” Tyrone growled, still trying to get past Tiger. “Hobbs, this kid is a fucking snake!”
Doll nodded heartily. “I agree! Hobbs, you should have seen it. If Tyrone hadn’t tackled him, I think I would have.”
“Doll, shut up,” Rowan said, rolling his eyes.
“Fuck you, Rowan,” she retorted. “Where the fuck were you, anyway? You all team Flynn now?”
“Fuck no. What the fuck?”
“Would you settle the fuck down?” Hobbs said, approaching them. He glanced briefly at us, eyeing Nixon before turning back. “Everyone needs to back the fuck down.”
But it was pandemonium. Tyrone wouldn’t stop cursing, pushing aggressively past Tiger as Flynn stood still, smiling haughtily. Rowan had to also step in, grabbing at Tyrone’s arm while Hobbs began to threaten to shoot him if he didn’t stop. It made little difference. Exhausted, Hobbs looked at Nixon and pleaded, “Would you tell him to stop?”
Nixon didn’t say a thing, though. He just watched, eyeing the scene with that dead expression.
“That’s it, I’ve fucking had it,” Hobbs yelled. “Everyone needs to take Tyrone out of here and send him on a fucking walk!”
Tiger and Rowan forcefully walked Tyrone out of the room. Hobbs opened the door for them, threatening all kinds of hell if Tyrone returned in the same manner. Just as they left the room, Doll furiously began to lose it at Flynn. “Take that fucking smirk off your face,” she seethed. “You’re in deep shit, Flynn. Once this job’s done, you’re done.”
“Doll,” Hobbs warned, impatiently. “Enough. You need to take a walk.”
Doll didn’t argue. She stormed out of there, leaving the four of us left. Now Hobbs’ attention turned to Flynn…and us. Much like me, he looked wary of Nixon’s silence.
“Flynn,” he started, “you’re not winning hearts here.”
Flynn crossed his arms. “Thought we were just doing a job, Hobbs. You act like I joined a family.”
“When you enter a crew for a job, how everyone gets along is very similar to a family.”
“Well, I wouldn’t know. I don’t have a fucking family anymore, Hobbs.” Flynn spoke sourly as his expression tightened. “I made a comment about the girl, and Tyrone flew off the deep end. I didn’t touch him –”
“You don’t make comments about Vixen,” Hobbs interrupted sternly. “It’s that simple.”
Flynn glanced at Nixon. “Why? Because I’ll be stepping on his toes?”
“You’ll be stepping on everyone’s toes, you little shit.”
“Doll can make cruel comments to her –”
“Doll never takes it seriously. She’d take a bullet for Vixen if she had to.”
Flynn gritted his teeth and slapped a palm to his chest. “Didn’t I do that already? So, don’t I get the chance to have a say about her too?”
“You’ve been here fuck all days –”
“This girl is trapped here, Hobbs. I can’t look past that.”
Hobbs tightened his jaw. A look of worry crossed his face as he flashed another look at Nixon. “You need to take a walk, too, Flynn.”
“Hobbs –”
“I’m not asking,” he bit back. “Take a fucking walk.”
But Flynn didn’t move. He stood taller, determined not to budge. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Hobbs was growing red with anger. “You are making enemies fast, kid. I’m starting to think hiring you for this job was a mistake.”
“You’ll never find a driver like me.”
“Used to have one like you, actually.”
Flynn’s nostrils flared. “Try finding one before tomorrow.”
Hobbs gritted his teeth. “Flynn, take a fucking walk!”
“I’ll take a walk.”
“Good.”
Flynn tipped his head in my direction. “With her.”
Silence filled the room. Hobbs looked astonished and out of his depth. He didn’t know what to do. He looked at Nixon, a plea in his expression to fix this mess, but Nixon was so still, so cold looking, it was worrying.