“Ignore my brother,” my new friend told me in a drawl. “He’s on some kind of personal quest to catch as many STDs as possible tonight. I could use some female company, though. Someone not trying to suck Kai’s dick under the table.”
Well, that might make it awkward to cozy up to my target. Truthfully, I had no idea if this backup plan was going to work or not… but it was the best I had now that Leon had fucked my chances of pretending to be an easy, no-strings lay.
“Kai?” I repeated, sounding confused.
Lara Croft nodded. “My little brother, but also my boss.” She extended a hand to me. “I’m Mo, by the way.”
I smiled, taking her hand. “Mo? Unusual name. I’m Danny.”
She tipped her head back to laugh. “Mo is short for Moana, but, you know… since the movie came out, it’s easier to introduce myself as Mo. Danny isn’t exactly the most common name either.”
Grinning, I shrugged. “Suits me better than Danielle.”
I could have sworn I heard a faint laugh from Leon in my ear, but I ignored it. Asshole.
“Come on, it’s just a drink,” Mo coaxed when I made no moves to join her group. “If you’re not having fun at the end of your drink, I’ll personally send you home in one of our cars.”
I wrinkled my nose, a small smile on my lips. “I don’t have a drink, though.”
Mo barked a laugh and slung an arm around my shoulders. “I think I can remedy that.” She indicated to the bartender again, then escorted me over to her group without waiting for the drinks to be made. No doubt they had table service, and she’d just come over because I’d been standing there looking lost.
One of the big-breasted women fawning over Kai had taken Mo’s seat, and I watched with interest as my smiling companion flipped her bitch switch and scared the other woman off with nothing more than a hard glare. I was liking her more with every passing second. Especially when she ousted a second woman to make space for me to sit with her on a velvet sofa.
It was going to suck when I had to kill Mo.
14
I ntroductions were easy, considering I already had all of the key players in my mind from my research notes. There were seven in the god of war’s inner circle, and they were a multinational crew. There was Jae-Hwa from North Korea, who told me with a flirtatious wink to call him Jae; Cyryl from Poland; Mauricio from Venezuela; Elimu—or Eli—from Tanzania; and Sam from England. Then Moana, and her brother Malachi—who was only introduced as Kai—both originally from New Zealand.
Kai barely gave me a glance when Mo introduced him, then seemed to totally dismiss me as the woman in his lap whispered in his ear. A moment later, he smirked and let her lead him away from the group.
The second they were out of sight, money started changing hands between his crew, and I tipped my head in question.
“We like to take bets,” Jae told me with a broad grin, handing several hundreds to Cyryl.
I gave a short laugh. “I can see that. What are you placing bets on?”
Sam scoffed, glancing in the direction Kai had disappeared. “What do you think we’re betting on, pussycat?” Something about his British accent actually made that not sound like an insult.
I bit my lower lip, thinking. Then I shrugged. “I have no idea. How long does it take him to prematurely ejaculate all over that nice girl and ruin her night?” As soon as the words left my lips, I cringed. Insulting their friend was maybe not the best way to stay close to them all.
But a moment later, all five of the guys busted up into peals of laughter, and even Mo snickered into her drink.
“Oh, ho, pussycat has claws,” Eli chuckled, his voice a deep rumble.
A waitress arrived with drinks for everyone, diverting the conversation before anyone could explain to me what they were actually putting bets on. Mo had ordered a round of Long Island Iced Teas, and handed me one first.
“To vacations,” she announced, holding her drink out for her crew to cheers her. “And new friends.” She winked at me, and I smiled back.
The guys all clinked glasses, and I joined in.
“What’s your angle here, DeLuna?” Leon muttered in my ear, but I ignored him. He’d done enough tonight, and I wouldn’t risk him sabotaging this any more.
For half an hour or so, I worked on becoming friends with Mo and the guys. I carefully avoided mentioning Kai at all, seeing as Mo had made it clear she had no time for the women hanging off him. Instead, I just bided my time with his inner circle and tried to think of another way in.
Nothing said I had to seduce him to get the information the Guild had been contracted for. That was just the most obvious route. Especially now that I’d seen firsthand how easily he was led by his dick. But there was more than one way to skin a cat, and I might have found mine through Mo’s obvious need for a friend.
When Kai returned, he was in a bad mood. Money changed hands between his crew again, which Kai seemed not to take any notice of as he barked a drink order to the waitress. I quirked a brow at Jae, who was the chattiest of the guys, but he just smirked and shot me a wink.
Damn it, now I really wanted to know what the bet was on.
Eli shifted closer to talk with Kai, but the boss didn’t seem terribly interested in conversation. He just glared at anyone who came near the group and drummed his fingertips on the arm of the chair he sat in. Sure as shit didn’t have the relaxed air of a man who’d just blown a load.
I did my best to seem like I was ignoring him, despite keeping him firmly in my peripheral vision, and it seemed like the more I ignored him, the more he stared at me.
“Remind me again who she is and why she’s sitting here?” he eventually asked, not even slightly lowering his voice. His glare was hard and full of dislike. Either he didn’t like blondes—probably a fair assumption based on the girls he’d had earlier—or he didn’t like being ignored. My money was on the latter for why his panties were in a bunch now.
“Cut it out, Kai,” Mo snapped back, her dark eyes fierce. “I invited Danny to join us. You don’t dictate who I can make friends with.”
He grunted. “You sure about that, Moana?”
In response, she flipped him off and gave me an apologetic look. “Ignore him,” she said firmly. “He’s just bitter because he can’t—”
“Mo!” Sam cut her off with a sharp voice. She glared at him, and he gave a firm shake of his head.
She rolled her eyes, shooting her brother a scathing look. He just continued staring at me, not paying his sister any mind as he sipped his drink. It probably would have been unnerving, if I were just an innocent slightly drunk girl Mo had met in the bathroom. Seeing as how I was a mercenary with more blood on my hands than Kai’s whole crew, it was just a little amusing.
Still, I played the part of seeming uncomfortable and made a lame excuse to try and leave. To my delight, it wasn’t only Mo who protested when I made to get up. Jae, Cyryl, and Sam all voiced their reasons for me to stay. Eli remained silent, his dark gaze on Kai like he was curious to see what the boss would say.
When Kai simply continued to stare at me with narrowed eyes, I gave a small sigh. “Sorry, guys, this was fun, but I can see when I’m not welcome. Enjoy the rest of your vacation.”