I cast my gaze around the club, taking in how busy it still was for this time of night. Or morning. The patrons were all decked out in the twenties theme that the dress code required, given it was called Club 22. On the main stage, a gorgeous brunette with scars wrapping around her leg was performing a sultry burlesque routine, holding the attention of men and women alike. She wasn’t who I’d come to see, though, so I kept looking around.
Eventually—okay, after about thirty seconds—I got impatient and asked a passing waitress.
“Sabine?” she asked, running her eyes down my body and giving a surprised sound at my attire. “Um, yeah, she’s here, but I think maybe doing a private dance? She’s got some regulars that are typically here at this time. Can I get you a drink while you wait?”
I gave her a tight smile and ordered my usual dirty martini. They’d definitely be pouring Copper Wolf vodka. She left to place my order, and I waited impatiently at the table she’d seated me at. The scarred brunette was an incredible performer, but I just wanted to talk to my friend.
The waitress returned with my drink, and I finished half of it before I spotted Sabine’s honey-blonde hair. She was exiting the private rooms, her polite smile brittle as the dark-haired gentleman she’d been with handed over a thick wad of cash. She tucked it into the pocket of her robe and tightened the sash as she walked away from her customer, swinging her ass as she headed for the bar.
Halfway across the club, she locked eyes with me and gave a small, panicked headshake.
My brows rose in question, but she quickly looked away. When she was close to my table, she waved at one of the security guards near the stage.
“I’m taking a quick break, Steve,” she said loudly. “I need some fresh air.”
The bouncer nodded back, coming closer and handing her a radio from his pocket. “Don’t go too far, alright? Lots of shady characters in this neighborhood.”
Sabine laughed, slipping the radio into her pocket. “I just need a quick cigarette in the back alley.”
She passed by my table without even glancing at me, and I took my time finishing my cocktail. When I was done, I left money for the bill on my table and headed outside. Shivering from the cold, I made my way around to the back of the club and found her leaning against the alley wall with a huge fur coat covering her silk robe.
“You started smoking?” I asked, eyeing the lit cigarette in her fingers.
She cocked one brow, then took a long drag, blowing out smoke before she replied. “You would too, Danny babe, if you had to do this every night.”
I gave a bitter laugh, taking the cigarette from her and bringing it to my own lips. “Trust me, I know.” We didn’t ever discuss our contracts, but she knew where my specialties lay. Just like hers. The only difference was that I usually only fucked my targets once or twice, then killed them. She’d been playing the part of sex worker for three years.
“Do you at least get to kill any of them?” I asked quietly, handing the cigarette back.
She laughed, giving me a genuine smile. “I wish, babe, I fucking wish.”
Damn. Poor girl. “So what’s with the secret meeting?” I asked, looking around at the alley. “I couldn’t play the part of a random customer?”
Sabine wrinkled her nose, exhaling smoke. “Not when the owners know you’re Guild, you can’t. Especially after Leon’s visit last week. One Guild customer is innocent enough, he just wanted a lap dance. Two? Uh-uh. That’s suspicious as fuck. And no offense, Dan, but I don’t wanna die if Hades starts questioning my identity.”
My spine stiffened with tension. “What?”
Sabine froze, then dropped her cigarette and crushed it under the toe of her shoe. “Shit. He didn’t tell you…” I shook my head. “What an asshole. Look, if it helps, he came to question me over whether I’d ever put you in danger or sell you out or whatever. I genuinely think he was looking out for you.”
My blood boiled with fury. “And… you gave him a lap dance?” My hands curled into fists without any kind of conscious thought.
Sabine gave me a hard glare. “I was working, Dan. He came into Timber while I was on stage and played the part of a customer.”
Logically, I knew it made sense. But jealousy and possessive crazy-bitch tendencies were making me see red.
“Okay,” my friend said carefully, “I can see how this doesn’t sound great. And in hindsight, I could have just told him to fuck off until I finished for the night. But I panicked because my assignment was in the club at the same time, and I thought Leon was visiting on official business.”
My teeth ground together as I tried to calm my shit down. This was Sabine, my friend. Why was I acting like she was some trashy slut trying to steal my man? Christ, I must be overtired or something.
Sabine jerked her head to the mouth of the alley behind me. “Speak of the devil,” she muttered. “What is he, Beetlejuice?”
I whirled around to find Leon casually sauntering into the alley like he was invited. “I told you not to follow me.”
He strode closer, his gaze running over me like he was checking I was all in one piece. “No, you told the big dumb fuck not to follow you,” he corrected, sliding his woolen coat off and draping it over my shivering shoulders. “You said nothing about me.”
His smirk was pure mischief, and I glared daggers. If he’d been listening to that, he knew damn well I meant both of them.
“You know what?” Sabine said in a tight voice. “I’m gonna give you two a minute. I’ll wait in the parking lot, then you can tell me why you’re here, Dan.”
She hurried past us before I could disagree, her heels clicking on the concrete as she gave us space. I glowered after her, then threaded my arms into Leon’s coat. It was warm and smelled like him, and that made it so very hard to cling to my anger. Especially when he closed the gap between us and tucked his hands around my waist, pressing his forehead to mine.
“Mon cœur, I told you the Guild can’t be trusted,” he whispered with a growl of chastisement. “Why did you come here?”
I drew a breath, inhaling his calm energy. “Why did you come here, Bunny? You questioned Sabby?”
He brushed a kiss over my lips, soft and teasing, and backed me into the wall. “You’re damn right, I did,” he murmured. “Jude, too. If I could get my hands on Carlos, I’d have interrogated his smug ass, as well. When it comes to your safety, DeLuna, there are no lines I won’t cross.”
Oof, that shouldn’t make me so fluttery inside, but it does.
He kissed me again, harder, and I groaned into his lips.
“I’m mad at you, Marx,” I grumbled, my voice totally lacking the heat of anger.
He hummed a thoughtful sound, his fingers flexing against my back having somehow made it under my T-shirt. “Because I questioned your friends? Or because of that shit with meathead back at the house?”
Anyone else would already know what I had to be mad about, but Leon was genuinely curious about which point had me more upset. Like he was still trying to fully understand how I reacted to the things he said and did. It made me realize how lonely he must have been, after Layla died. He had no friends, no one to really interact with, and every time he was on a Guild job, he was wearing a false identity like a skin suit.