Roxy hesitates, unsure where to put her gun, so I lean closer in the booth. “I’ll get you a holster, for now, I’ll hold it, okay?” She nods and passes it over with a, “Thank you.” Our fingers catch as I take the gun and desire surges through me. Ignoring it, I put the revolver in the holster and look away, my face taut.
Ryder sits, unbuttoning his jacket, and grabs the napkin and places it on his lap as he looks around. His back is to the room, another power play, even when we’re relaxing. I nod to let him know I’m keeping watch. Diesel scoots closer to Roxy and leans in. “The cake here is to die for, literally, I killed someone for a slice once.”
She laughs, and I wonder if she thinks he’s joking. “I’ll fight you for it,” she retorts. Ah, so maybe not.
“Whatcha want, boy?” Red asks, passing a menu to Roxy, who opens it and groans.
“Fuck, I could eat everything,” she mutters. Looking down, I run my eyes over her tiny, curvy body.
“And put it where, your attitude?” I snort. Her head jerks up, and her eyes narrow on me.
“I will get my bat on you again,” she hisses, making me laugh. She smiles back, and I shake my head. I look up to see everyone gawking at me in shock.
Eyes narrowing and laughter stopping, I glare at them all as they glance between her and me. Ryder’s lips tip up in a tiny smile before it disappears. Red grins at me. “Good to see you laugh again, boy.”
I want to die.
“Alright, hit me, whatcha want, and I don’t mean just food.” He nods, grabbing a chair and spinning it around to sit on it backwards.
Ryder sighs, leaning back in his chair. “It seems we have become a target. Can you see what you can find? There’s a professional after us, a German, and it seems some sloppy, second-rate hitters now.”
Red’s eyebrows rise. “You’ve been busy. Who’ve you pissed off now?”
“Everyone,” Diesel answers with a grin, and Red releases another booming laugh.
“Alright, I’ll see what I can find. You think they are connected?” he queries.
I shrug. “Could be, someone paid a lot for the German. When he didn’t complete it, maybe they got annoyed and hired some local thugs.”
Red nods. “Alright, now watcha wanna eat, the usual?”
“Please,” Ryder replies, and Red looks to Roxy, who’s threatening Diesel with a knife. Sighing, I pluck it from her hand and pass her my bigger one. “At least use this if you’re going to stab him.”
“Whatcha want to eat, cutie?” Red questions, and I narrow my eyes on him in warning.
“Don’t even think about it, she’s ours,” I snap, jealousy roaring through me. Red smirks, and I know he did it on purpose, asshole.
“I’ll have a double bacon cheeseburger with cheesy fries, garlic bread, and wedges.” She grins at him.
He jolts back, his hand over his heart. “You sure she’s yours? Can’t I have her?”
Diesel’s face darkens, fuck. I reach over just as he goes to throw himself across the table at the man. Laughing, Red stands up. “Alright, alright, I’ll stop fucking with you and get your order in.”
Pushing Diesel back, I shake my head and sip my water. That guy is going to get us killed one day, attacking an assassin like that. Hell, Diesel is an assassin in his own right, but even the bastards here stay away from him because he’s too crazy.
I look over to see Roxy patting D’s chest like a dog. “Good boy, I’ll share my cake if you don’t kill anyone all the way through dinner.”
“But what if they need killing?” he asks, frowning at her.
“Then let Garrett do it,” she suggests sweetly.
D sighs dramatically and slumps. “Fine, Little Bird. Only because you asked so nicely.”
She leans back, looking smug as Ryder just stares at her. How the hell did she get him to do what she wants? We have been trying for years, and I have the scars to prove it. Yet one bat of those eyelashes and he’s behaving like a fucking normal person.
“So, what’s your next move?” she queries, playing with the straw in her water.
“We hunt them down, whoever we can find first, and give them to D.” Ryder smirks, a full-fledged, nasty one. “If we can’t find them, we hunt their families. Their children, their wives. We destroy their lives until they come out of hiding, then we kill them. Make an example of them, remind people what happens when you come after a Viper.”
She nods like she expected that. “If you let me have a phone, I can make a few calls. Those types of people are usuals at Roxers, so someone might have heard something.”
Ryder watches her curiously. “And why are you continuing to help us, love?”
She sighs. “Because it’s better than dying. I’m never getting free of you fuckers, so it seems I’m along for the ride, and I really like being alive. So let me help. I ain’t just a pretty face.”
He watches her for a moment, contemplating her words, before passing her his phone. My eyes widen. He doesn’t even let me touch his phone. It’s like his bible. But he passes it over, and she thumbs in a number and waits as it rings, her fingers drumming on the table. Someone must pick up, because she smirks.
“Is that any way to greet me?” she says, and then I hear a mumble through the phone. “Yeah, yeah, I don’t care how late you were up sucking dick. I need a favour.”
It goes quiet, and she snorts. “Yes, sure. Okay. Right, some low lives had a shootout today near Tiny’s. Can you find out who and where they are now?”
It goes quiet, and I can hear typing in the background before Roxy grins. “That’s your price? Bitch, you know I ain’t going out with your brother again. Last time he took me to a brothel.”
She laughs and waits as we all stare… A brothel? Who is this girl?
“Yes, thanks, girl. See you around.” She hangs up and looks at us, eyebrow raised. “They’re gang bangers, run the Death Eaters on the south side. Small but scary bastards. If they are coming after you, they have been hired for sure, they only work for money. You can find them over at the abandoned newspaper factory near the water. They will have dogs on guard though, and there’s around forty of them.”
She slides the phone across the table and sips her water casually.
“And one of you has to go out on a date with her brother. Probably to a brothel.”
Chapter Twenty-One
ROXY
Diesel laughs so hard at that he has to dab his eyes with a napkin. “I nominate Garrett.” He smirks.
“Fuck off,” the big guy snarls back.
Ryder ignores them all, focusing on his phone like always. I can’t help but watch him, he’s so graceful, so refined…so cold. Like snow. But snow is beautiful, and when it melts…it reveals all that’s hidden underneath.
“Need to piss,” Diesel tells us, before slipping from the booth, and not a moment later, Kenzo slides into his spot next to me.
“He’ll kill you,” I warn him with a shrug, leaning back and meeting Kenzo’s dark eyes. He slicks his hair back, a smile curling those lips, and a flash of heat goes through me, remembering how good they felt against my pussy.