The fight was on, with more pain-inducing music blaring over the speakers.
The Ploya Vie Security’s group of competitors charged them.
I really wanted to ask if it was a joke at the end. It had been three to one against Lion Security, but not even ten minutes later every single one of the people that had attacked them were on the ground, while every single one of the L.S. members still stood on their feet. They might look a little rough around the edges, but they had kicked their opponent’s ass without any of their blood being shed.
I stood on my chair, getting a higher angle, and snapped as many photos as I could of their circle with the fallen all around them. I definitely had my next photo for the fluff piece I would need to send tonight. I was not sure if I was still going to pursue Grigori or Ember’s possible love affair. I knew I was not going to mention a damn thing about a possible poisoning, for the main reason that I liked to breathe…and the story was only hearsay, not actually fact.
For now, I would play the good little reporter and do what my editor had demanded.
As I was leaving the arena, I was completely surprised when Ember approached me. I pushed my sunglasses up on my nose and stopped, waiting to hear what she had to say. I was in no mood to deal with anyone right now. Not even whom I had come here to follow.
Ember opened her mouth and slowly shut it. She stared. “Um…”
I waited.
Her eyebrows lowered, and her eyes went freaky as she assessed me. “Never mind.”
She turned to leave.
I sighed, grabbing her arm. I must really look like shit. “What do you want, Ms. Lerrus?”
She stared again with that freaky-deaky scrutiny.
I motioned for her to hurry up. She was a weird one.
Her eyes swung to the people passing by on either side of us where they exited through the arena doors—the doors that I had not made it through quickly enough. She grabbed my hand and tugged me out of the mainstream traffic. When we were on the sidelines, she leaned in, whispering, “I know this is an odd request, but is there any way I can get a copy of that photo you took of Grigori and Zoya kissing at the ball?” She batted her eyelashes. “I want to give it to them as a present.”
I kept my features blank. It was not hard with my current mood, even though I knew she was lying out her ass. I shrugged. “Sure. After it’s published.” I was not going to give it to her before then. How stupid did she think I was? It was a prime shot. Moreover, if she saw what she looked like in it beforehand, she would try to stop me from publishing it.
I turned to leave, but this time she grabbed my arm, stopping me. I sighed and turned back to her. And froze. My eyes went huge. I gulped, my heart rate instantly galloping. I started to tremble, and Ember stilled; her hand dropped from my arm as she glanced over her shoulder where I was staring. Daniil had already glanced away from us, speaking with Zane and Lev, but he stood not even fifteen feet behind her. He had been staring before, right at me with that deadly look in his eyes.
I sucked in a breath and altered my attention back to Ember, who was still staring over her shoulder. I stated quickly, “I’ve got to go.”
Again, her hand snaked out without looking and she gripped my forearm with bruising force, not letting me leave. I yanked, but she held on, slowly turning her gaze back to me. She said the magic words that made me stay in place. “If you go to lunch with me, so I can try to convince you to give me a copy of that photo now, I’ll give you an exclusive interview with me. Any fifteen questions that you want to ask. On the record.”
I stilled, my trembling completely stopped. She never talked to the press, not when Jonah Boydson, her late husband, had died, or when her father had died in the same freak murders. Or even when Brent and Cole, her previous and current boyfriends had come back from the dead. No one had been able to get her to sit down for an interview. This was like the Holy Grail of opportunities. And she was offering it to me. I knew the woman had to hate me from my past articles. It was more than disbelieving.
“Why don’t you just try to steal it?” I had no doubt she was capable of that.
She shrugged, considering me. “I’m not a bitch all the time, just like you’re not.” She stared me in the eyes; the eerie look gone. “You took the photo. That’s your job. I figure we can work something out instead of having to resort to other means. Plus, I need to give an interview soon. The press won’t quit hounding me, so it might as well be you.” She smirked, sort of. “It might keep you from spying outside our gates.”
I chuckled, because that was probably true. “Fine. I’ll go to lunch with you and listen to your spiel, but I’m not promising the photo.” I stuck my hand out. “In return, you’ll give me a fifteen question interview, on the record, in two weeks’ time.” I specified a time frame.
She snorted, and shook my hand. “Deal. Sucks you put that last bit on there.”
I shrugged, taking my hand back. “I don’t like getting screwed by details.”
Lev approached, placing his arm over Ember’s shoulders.
Ember leaned quickly so she could whisper against my ear, “But you can’t tell a soul that I want that photo; if you do, the deals off. Just say you’re going to interview me after lunch.”
I nodded. If that was her demand, then so be it. I’d had worse stipulations before.
She stepped back under Lev’s arm, and rested against him. That was when I noticed others were strolling our way. I did not look at any of the faces moving toward us, just stared at their shoulders. I saw Daniil’s among the bunch of too broad frames. He was wearing a turtleneck, like mine, but black instead of cream and his shirt had sleeves.
Glancing at Ember, I jerked my head toward the doors. “We better go. You guys only have two hours for lunch.”
Ember lifted away from Lev’s side when Brent and Cole came up behind her. “We’ll be eating with my group. You’ll be joining us at a little place in town.”
I peered at the ground as Daniil, Stash, Zane, Grigori, and hell, everyone else in her group stopped behind them. I sucked in a breath, and tried not to puke. I did not glance up, mumbling, “How about we eat somewhere else. Alone. It’ll give us a better chance to talk if everyone isn’t around.” She had said she wanted to persuade me to hand over the photo.
“Ember?” Zane asked calmly, “Is Ms. Forter bothering you?”
I peeked up to glare at him. I was not bothering her. She was bothering me.
“No,” Ember stated slowly. “Ms. Forter will be joining us for lunch today. I’m going to be giving my first interview to her after we eat. It’ll save on time that way.” I had angled my body so I did not have to look at Daniil, and still give myself an escape route. Ember shrugged her shoulders, speaking to me, “I would rather have lunch with everyone else. You have to understand that I would prefer their company over…” She said just enough to let me know that she honestly did not like me. She may not be a bitch all the time, but she could be one. And she was letting it show.
The situation all around was more than distressing. I did not want to be anywhere near Daniil, and I hated when people were flat out rude to me when they had other people backing them, like the in-crowd versus the geeks. My stomach was rolling. I swallowed hard, and adjusted my stance when I saw Daniil’s shoulders move.
I breathed deeply, and tried to keep my face blank as all of these fit, beautiful people stared. My father’s advice suddenly flittered through my thoughts again. I was not exactly looking for trouble, but if I went with them, I would be. Holy Grail or not, I wanted to stay breathing. I shook my head and took a step back. “I’m sorry, Ms. Lerrus. I just remembered I have a previous engagement. Thank you for the opportunity, though.”
I took another step back, and turned to go, ignoring how most of them wore shocked expressions. I was a little stunned myself. I hated that I was turning tail and running.
“Ms. Forter…,” Ember stated loudly. “Twenty-five instead of fifteen.”
I froze in
place. Shit. Twenty-five fucking questions I could ask her.
Brent asked softly, “What are you doing, darlin’?”
“I want her to do the damn article. No one will bother me after she does it.”
I cracked my neck.
Well…hell.
Father was not always right.
I turned, focusing solely on her. “My other engagement can wait. Let’s eat.”
I thanked God my new rental car had been delivered this morning. So on the way to the restaurant, I did not have to ride with them. I just followed all of their expensive rentals into town. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, my new rental’s air conditioning was not working.
I was a sweating mess when I entered the restaurant at the back of their group. I had it in mind to sit as far away from Ember as I could, so that she could not convince me to give up the photo. She was bizarre enough to be able to do so. When everyone began sitting at the huge table in the open and airy restaurant that was painted white-as in everything in the place was white, except for a few splashes of blue here or there-I purposely dropped my purse, giving someone else a chance to take my seat next to her.
Lev hopped onto it quickly. I mentally made a note of that.
When I straightened, slinging my purse over the same arm as my duffle, I stared at the back of Lev’s head in fake surprise, then glanced around the table, playing the part perfectly…until…shit. Until the only fucking seat left was right between Daniil and Zane.
I swallowed, and quickly tapped Lev’s shoulder. “Can I sit next to Ember, please?”
Ember glanced to him, her hooded gaze pleading, just for his eyes. But I saw it.
He shook his head, not even glancing at her. “I don’t think so. She said the interview wasn’t until after lunch. Not during. I’m not going to let you hound her while she eats.”
“It’s all right, Lev,” Ember stated quietly. “Let her sit there.”
He shook his head, still scowling at me. “Find another seat.”
“Lev…” Ember mumbled.
“Honey, I agree. You need to eat without being bothered. Build up your strength for the next event,” Cole murmured quietly, resting his arm on the back of her chair.
Her eyes closed for a second. She paused, and then nodded.
Dammit.
I kept my gaze on my ‘new’ assigned chair and gradually made my way to it. This was possibly the worst situation that could have occurred. That was what I got for trying to renege on a deal. Being sneaky was not my strong suit. I was still learning.
Zane pulled my chair out for me.
I did not say thank you. The asshole had just threatened me a few hours ago. I pushed my sunglasses up on my nose. It was not quite bright enough in here for them, but I still wore them after a quick glance earlier in the rearview mirror had shown my eyes were still horribly bloodshot. I started tugging my purse and duffle off my shoulder.
I paused when Kirill, a Russian friend of the Kozar’s, who was seated across the table from me, whistled loudly. I looked up, and he was staring. Everyone’s attention went instantly from him to me; they all seemed freakily in sync with one another and they all stared.
At me. Or, more precisely, my neck.
I quickly pulled my duffle and purse the rest of the way off, stuffing them under the table, and readjusted my turtleneck that had been tugged down just enough to show my hickie.
Kirill stated, “It looks like someone took a long bite out of you.” His accent was very heavy, and I really had to pay attention to understand.
But I did. It was embarrassing as hell because it was very fucking true.
“Christ,” Chloe, an employee of Lion Security and Kirill’s girlfriend, stated loudly next to him as I slowly took my seat, keeping my hands on my lap, away from Zane and Daniil. “I only thought Russians made those so dark.” Her eyes darted to mine as I kept utterly still, trying my hardest not to gawk at her. “Your man’s not from Russia is he?”
I blinked. My God, this was fucking awful.
She laughed, glancing around the table as some of them snickered. “Artur, Roman, is there something you need to tell us?”
Even worse. She went straight to Daniil’s fucking kids that were right around my age.
“Chloe…” Zane stated quietly, but harshly, as Roman and Artur laughed, shaking their heads. “That’s enough.”
She appeared stunned at the order before her face shut down with nothing showing.
Kirill did not like that much. He stood up sharply. “What the hell’s your problem?”
I held up my hands. “Please, stop.” My hands were shaking, and I quickly put them back on my lap. “There’s no need to argue over this.” I shuddered. I could not take any violence right now. I already felt more than a little faint. Kirill sat slowly when Zane did not meet his challenge, and I looked at Chloe. “Honestly, I didn’t really know the guy. We were drunk, and when the alcohol wore off neither one of us were pleased with the outcome. So if you don’t mind, I would appreciate it if,” I glanced around the table, “everyone would drop it.”
Lev nodded politely, gesturing to my face. “That explains the sunglasses.”
“Yeah. That explains the sunglasses.” I breathed deeply, and grabbed for my purse under the table, leaning Zane’s way, the lesser of two evils since he had just stuck up for me.
I needed more aspirin for this.
A turkey sandwich and coleslaw were placed in front of me. It did not look appealing at all, even though I had ordered it specifically since it was not seafood, which almost the entire menu was. I turned the plate in a circle, being careful not to bump anyone’s elbows, and noticed that Daniil had gotten ribs and fries. That had been my second choice, but I had selected this entree instead. Now, I wished I had not because his smelled delicious.
I peeked under the bread of my sandwich, and miserably saw that it had mustard on it. The menu had not stated that or I would have definitely ordered it without. I was one hell of a picky eater, and if food was set in front of me that was not what I really liked, I would not eat it. I would rather starve. Someone once told me I really did not know what it was like to go hungry then, which was probably true, but I still was not going to eat it. I sighed, letting the bread fall back onto the turkey, and lifted the Bloody Mary I had ordered. This was the best hangover medicine around, my tried and true remedy.
Sipping it, I almost spit it out. Christ! There was no vodka mixed in.
I twisted on my seat, waving the waitress down. When she arrived, I handed her the glass. “I think you forgot the liquor. There’s no vodka in there.” That smidge of vodka was going to help. Without it, it tasted like tomato soup. And bad tomato soup, at that.
She paused. “I’m sorry, ma’am. Our shipment of vodka didn’t make it this morning.”
I stared. The woman had given me a virgin. No tip for her. “I guess whisky will work.”
She shook her head. “We’re out of that, too.”
This place was going to lose a lot of cash from their delayed shipment. “Okay…how about a beer? Any kind is fine.” I had done that few times. It was not so bad.
Again, she shook her head. “Sorry. We’re out of that, too.”
I blinked, and then scanned our table, gradually peering back to her. Half the occupants at the table were having beer with their lunch. They were staring at her as I was. I had figured out before our food was served they were a very nosy group, listening to other conversations.
“You’re out of beer?” I asked flatly. I gestured toward the table. “What’s all that?”
“The last of it,” she stated quickly, handing me back my virgin Bloody Mary. “I’m very sorry for the inconvenience.” She pivoted and walked away.
What the fuck?
I stared after her as the conversation started up again at my table, and I could have sworn I saw someone walk away from the bar with what looked like an alcoholic beverage.
With my eyebrows together, I turned and set my disg
usting drink down. And froze, staring at my plate. It was ribs and fries. I glanced to my right, and saw Daniil’s hand with a fork in it, scooping up slaw from the plate directly in front of him.
I covertly eyed his hand as it moved up, and watched as he ate the slaw-with a tiny grimace. He put his fork down, and lifted the sandwich, taking a bite. Again, he chewed with another frown, but he continued eating it. I looked back down at my plate. My new plate.
When the hell had he done that? More importantly, why?
I heard a quiet chuckle from my left, and I glanced at Zane.
He cleared his throat, taking a sip of his beer. His dark eyes were utterly amused as I stared at him wide-eyed, even though he could not see it behind my glasses. He tilted his beer toward me. “You wanna put some of my beer in your drink?”
Thump.
My head snapped down at the sound, and I saw my virgin Bloody Mary sitting on its side, the red mixture spilled all over the white tablecloth. “No. I guess not, but thank you.” I quickly righted the cup, and grabbed my napkin from my lap, trying to clean the mess the best I could. I had not even realized that I had bumped my new plate against the glass. Maybe Daniil was right. I was being a little klutzy. I was confused as hell about my new plate of food, but the scent was all types of appealing and Daniil was eating everything off my old one. So I dug in.
It was fabulous.
I moaned a little as I ate, my stomach finally settling.
“Ms. Forter…” Ember’s eyebrows came together. “You know, can I just call you Elizabeth?” I nodded, and she continued. “Thank you. So, Elizabeth, you seemed a little uneasy when Kirill tried to,” her hands fluttered, “intimidate Zane earlier. Is there a reason you don’t like fighting?” She gestured at the other members of L.S. “Because we all do, as you’ve been watching at the events.”
I cleared my throat and searched for a napkin. There was one between Daniil’s plate and mine, so I grabbed it, wiping my mouth off, and then my fingers. “Growing up, my parents disapproved of violence. I’ve followed in their footsteps on that point of view.” Christ, the BBQ sauce was hard to get off.
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