This time, I really did walk away, but Mo and Jae caught up with me before I could get to the door.
“Come on, Danny,” Jae coaxed, “you’re not seriously letting that grumpy bastard scare you off, are you? We were just starting to have fun!”
“Jae’s right,” Moana agreed, positioning herself between me and the exit. “Stay and have fun. Eli can keep Kai busy, and he’ll probably take off with another chick soon anyway.”
I hesitated like I was uncertain. Like I just needed them to convince me to do something I already wanted to do. “I don’t know, guys… you seem like a tight-knit group, and I don’t want to cause trouble. Besides, it’s late…”
Jae scoffed. “Fuck off, Danny-cat. Come dance with us at least.”
He extended a hand to me in invitation, and Mo nodded enthusiastically.
I glanced between the two of them, then cast a quick look over my shoulder to where Kai still stared at us. He looked beyond pissed, too. Like he was furious that Mo and Jae had chased after me when he’d scared me off.
“Tell you what,” Jae added with a grin. “Come dance with me and Mo, and we’ll tell you what the bets were for.”
I gave a sharp laugh. “Fine. Deal. But I really should go soon…”
“Fifteen minutes,” Mo negotiated, snatching my hand in hers rather than waiting for me to take Jae’s, and dragging me toward the dance floor with her.
Laughing, I let her coax me into dancing with her and Jae, bobbing and swaying to the heavy beat of the music. Professional dancers in very little clothing were dotted through the room in cages, high above the patrons, and it gave the whole place a decidedly seductive vibe. I locked eyes with the gorgeous blonde dancer on the stage, and she gave me a wink. Sabby was a fantastic dancer, but I missed seeing her. She’d been undercover on this mission way too long, but it’d certainly benefited me in getting an invitation tonight.
To my surprise, I actually found myself having fun. Fifteen minutes came and went all too quickly, but I made no attempt to leave. Not with Jae and Mo doing their best to keep me dancing non-stop. I almost forgot all about the dark cloud of Kai lurking across the club, but I couldn’t forget Leon thanks to the small comments he bestowed on me every few minutes.
He was watching from somewhere. I wouldn’t have put it past him to have hacked the club’s security feed or something. Or shit, he might be right there in the crowd with me. Thank fuck my tolerance for alcohol was extraordinary, or I’d have been totally blitzed with how many drinks I’d had.
As it was, after Mo snagged us a round of shots from a passing waitress, I noticed Jae getting decidedly more handsy on the dance floor, and I was buzzed enough that I did nothing to discourage it. An in was an in, and Leon had blown my one chance at Kai himself. So maybe Jae was my next best option.
The small frown tugging at Moana’s brow when Jae cupped my breast as we danced made me hesitate, though. She was a stronger option, Kai’s second-in-command and his sister . If anyone could get me the data I’d been tasked to extract, it’d be her. So I couldn’t risk putting myself on her bad side if she thought I was just using her to chase bad boy dick.
My brain short-circuited briefly as Jae’s fingers edged up under my miniskirt, but the looming shadow of Kai approaching acted like a bucket of ice water.
“I’m gonna go pee,” I announced, giving Mo a pointed look before hurrying away from Jae and Kai. She took the hint and quickly followed me, which reassured me that I hadn’t burned my bridges with her just yet.
She said nothing as we entered the restroom, and I went through the motions in silence until we reunited at the wash basins.
“So… you’re into Jae?” she asked bluntly, a small tilt of disappointment on her full lips.
I lifted my brows. “Uh, he’s fun. Sure. But I’m not here to pick up, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
The relief that flashed through her eyes was palpable. I’d made the right choice in picking her over Jae.
“Okay,” she replied with a puff of a sigh. “Sorry, so many girls… sorry. Never mind. I made assumptions.”
I shrugged. “Fair assumption, Jae’s hot. He strikes me as a wicked player, though. If I wanted to be messed around by an emotionally unavailable asshole that piles on the charm until he gets his dick wet, I’d have gone home with Leon earlier.”
A spluttering curse sounded in my ear, and I didn’t try to hide my smile.
Mo gave a small laugh back. “That was the guy you slapped earlier? Yeah, fair call. He was next level fine, but the way you hit him screamed red flags.”
Leon definitely should have been insulted, but all I got from his end of the comms was a throaty chuckle. Was he flattered ? Psycho.
I was hot and sweaty from dancing, so I pulled my cat mask off again and wiped the mascara smudges from beneath my eyes. “Holy hell,” I groaned, “I should get home. It’s so late, and I have work tomorrow.”
Mo leaned a hip against the vanity, in no hurry to leave. “Fuck that, you can just sleep under your desk or something.” I’d told her I worked in a bank, of all the boring things. “Come on, I’m due to fly home tomorrow, don’t cut the night short yet.”
That was exactly why I’d needed to strike tonight, because this was the only confirmed data extracted from Edward’s files. After tomorrow, Kai and his crew disappeared again.
“You’re such a bad influence,” I said with a laugh. “Where are you staying? My head is pounding from the music, but maybe we can hang out at your hotel?”
“Smooth,” Leon purred in my ear.
Mo crinkled her nose, looking indecisive. Then she gave a heavy exhale. “Yeah. Fuck it, yeah, let’s go.” She grabbed my hand again, but this time her fingers intertwined with mine. Maybe I’d misread why she was frowning at Jae touching me earlier?
She pushed through the restroom door, leading the way back to her group with a determined set to her shoulders and my hand firmly grasped in hers.
Kai was ready for her, though, waiting with his massive bronze arms folded across his chest and a don’t fuck with me expression on his face.
“Danny’s coming back to the hotel with us,” Mo announced, and Jae winced visibly.
Kai’s lip curled. “No, she’s not.”
Moana gripped my hand tighter. “Kai, you aren’t—”
“Something came up, Mo. We need to wrap up business sooner than anticipated.” Eli was peacekeeping, giving Mo a pleading look even as he stood at Kai’s shoulder like a dutiful soldier. “I’m sure Danny needed to be getting home soon, anyway.” His gaze shifted to me, and the silent message was clear: Don’t throw a match on the already volatile situation between brother and sister.
“Eli’s right,” I said, peeling my hand free of Moana’s. “This was fun, though.”
I started to walk away, but Mo hurried after me with a determined set to her jaw. “I’ll drop you home,” she told me, shooting a glare over her shoulder. “I’m not just walking out and leaving you here after all those drinks. Any creep could take advantage.”
Hah. They could try.
Still, it was unbelievably sweet that she cared enough to get me home safely, and my chest tightened with the knowledge that I’d probably be killing her before sunrise. In another life, Moana and I could have been good friends.