by Kit Rocha
Lex liked him already.
She offered him a smile as she slid a whiskey shot closer to him. "Cain, right?"
He nodded and accepted the tiny glass, but didn't drink. His gaze flicked briefly to her collar--and no lower. "And you'd be Lex?"
"I would." She glanced at the other two men. "Noelle and I were sorry to miss the trip into your sector. Introduce us to your friends?"
Cain opened his mouth only to close it as Elvis leaned forward and swiped the shot of whiskey. He knocked it back without fuss and grinned. "This is Riff, and I'm Elvis. I guess that kind of makes me a king."
Riff's derisive snort was the only sound he made. Lex longed to echo it as she placed a drink in front of him before sliding another shot to rest near Cain's hand.
Since he hadn't gotten whatever he was clearly after, Elvis tried again. "I've always wanted to meet the infamous Lex Parrino. I caught your show once. Never forgot it, either."
He said it with a leer that left everyone at the table uncomfortably sure he'd spent more than a few nights jerking off to the memory of her dancing. Dallas tensed to the point of anger beside her. Before he could explode, Cain stepped into the awkward pause. "That would make you Miss Cunningham," he told Noelle, managing not to stare at her tits, either.
"Noelle," she corrected with a smile sweet enough to ruin the effect of the wardrobe. "Just Noelle. I'm an O'Kane."
His gaze flickered to Jasper. "Right. I met your man the other night."
"Jas is my right hand," Dallas said in his best lazy voice, relaxed and easy despite the strain Lex could feel in every muscle of his body. "Bren's my left. You'll meet him later."
Riff stirred but said nothing. Elvis transferred his leer to Noelle. "I'm more interested in this little lady here. Not every sector has their own Eden royalty. I heard Jas plucked her out of her daddy's house in the middle of the night and taught her to be bad."
Jasper drew on his cigarette and blew smoke in the man's face. "Maybe she doesn't want to talk about it."
Coughing, Elvis waved his hand in front of his face. "Just curious, man. No judgment. If she's any indication of what they're hiding behind those walls, sign me up for salvation."
Noelle's expression had frozen into that sweet, smiling mask, but her words were edged in frost. "You never know. Eden might welcome a man of your character."
Elvis's eyes narrowed, and Cain slapped him across the arm. "Shut up. We're here to talk business." He arched a brow. "Aren't we?"
Jasper crushed out his cigarette, slid out of the end of the booth, and held out his hand to Noelle. "Let's dance, sweetheart."
Under the table, Noelle wrapped her fingers around Lex's in a brief, encouraging squeeze. She murmured a polite farewell to Cain and smiled at Riff before slipping her hand into Jasper's and abandoning the table without so much as a glance at Elvis.
That only seemed to encourage him. He twisted in his chair, watched Jas and Noelle disappear into the crowd, and whistled. "Tits or not, that is one frigid sister. But I bet it's fun, sticking it to Eden every night."
"That's an O'Kane," Dallas replied mildly as he stroked his fingers over Lex's hair. "And all O'Kane ladies have one thing in common, brother. They don't let you stick much of anything in them if you can't be assed to learn some manners."
"Might even stick something in you." Through the velvet of her skirt, Lex traced the knife strapped to the thigh. "If you know what I mean."
Riff's lips twitched, disrupting his scowl. "If he doesn't figure it out, he deserves it."
Silence fell around the table. Cain stared at Lex, not out of particular interest or even disdain, but almost as if waiting for her to do something.
She refused to fidget, lifting her drink instead. "Yes?"
He cleared his throat and prompted, "Business?"
And that's when Lex realized he expected her to leave.
She froze with her glass to her lips, goose bumps rising on her arms. The reasonable one--the smart one--and he still figured she shouldn't hang around while the big boys talked. "Excuse me?"
The men looked at Dallas. Elvis even went so far as to smile snidely. "Where're your manners, O'Kane? The shit we have to discuss isn't any sort of talk for pretty ladies."
One heartbeat. Two. That was all the time it took for Dallas O'Kane to dismiss her like she was nothing.
He lifted his arm from around her shoulders. "You really don't want to listen to any of this, love."
Maybe he really was trying to spare her, but it cut deep. When faced with ugly words, he'd responded quickly enough, but now, confronted with actual disrespect, he caved. Easier not to argue and risk driving away potential recruits.
So much for being the queen.
Whatever, O'Kane. She slipped her hand under her skirt and drew the knife. She slammed it down on the table as she rose, embedding the tip half an inch into the already scarred wood. "I'll see you boys around."
Without waiting for a response from Dallas--she knew better--Lex stalked off into the throng of bodies, righteous anger driving every quick step. She wanted to get drunk, get stupid, but she had a crowd to manage and work to do.
And goddamn it, she was going to do it.
The knife quivered in the table.
Elvis quivered in his chair.
Okay, maybe that was taking things a bit far, but it figured that now the bastard had decided to shut his fucking mouth. Maybe that was a good sign, after all, one that showed he could learn. He wouldn't be the first O'Kane to learn manners from Lex at knife-point.
Dallas would be lucky if she didn't cut him tonight.
Resisting the urge to sigh, Dallas shifted position, sprawling out on his side of the booth. "I'll tell you straight up, boys. Some things about Three are going to change, and you can roll with me or get your asses rolled over. The way you treat the ladies better top that fucking list, or the boys will bury you."
Cain eyed the knife. "Got it. He'll do better."
Might as well get the ugly stuff out of the way first. "Our women aren't the only ones used to a basic level of decency. Whoring's an honest job, and if the men in Three can't charm their way into sex, they're gonna start paying for it. Maybe it'll inspire people to work on those manners we value so much."
"Elvis might be crass, but he's stand-up when it comes to that shit," Cain shot back.
Dallas lifted an eyebrow and pinned the pretty boy with a look.
"What?" the man snarled, apparently bored of attempting charm. "Jesus Christ, if telling a woman she's got nice tits is a crime, I don't wanna live anymore. And you're awful high and mighty for a man whose club features naked girls fucking each other for tips."
"Consent," Riff muttered. "He doesn't think we know what the word means."
"I think anyone who worked with Trent could use a refresher," Dallas agreed. "Or did you folks forget he threw Six at me like a secondhand couch? I've seen how stand-up his operation was when it comes to that shit."
Cain shook his head. "None of us were involved with that. The guys who were got pretty damn dead. Or did you forget that you killed them?"
"As long as we're all on the same page." Dallas poured another round of shots himself, using the time to scan the floor for Lex. He found her standing with Ace's friend Jared, the dangerously handsome man who was probably the richest free agent in Four.
Dallas had tried to convince Ace to recruit Jared into the fold more than once--mostly because the man earned his wealth screwing rich, lonely ladies behind their neglectful husbands' backs. He knew enough secrets to bring a quarter of the wealthiest families in Eden to their knees.
Dallas wanted those damn secrets.
Jared was laughing now, clearly amused by something Lex had said. She knew how badly Dallas wanted the man charmed. Driving him away would have been a suitable revenge, but petulance wasn't Lex's style. She wouldn't risk the gang and its interests. When the time came for her temper to slip free, Dallas would be the only target. And she'd make him pay.
&nb
sp; It was probably sick to find the prospect a little arousing.
With the liquor served, he turned his attention back to the three men seated across from him. Time would tell if they could learn enough to be useful, but Cain had one point. The worst offenders under Trent's reign had been the men loyal to him, and those sorry bastards were really fucking dead.
Sometimes you had to work with people you didn't like toward goals that were good for everyone. Lex would have to get used to it, if she wanted to be queen. You couldn't force men like these to respect women, and trying would only make you look weak. No, you had to step on them until they behaved, and let them see for themselves how much nicer life got when the ladies were on your side. That would change their minds.
The money and willing pussy wouldn't hurt.
She fucking dared him to walk into her room uninvited tonight.
And yet, that's exactly what he did. The door swung open as she sat at her vanity, removing her jewelry, and Lex was so taken aback that she almost laughed. Almost.
The man really had no sense of self-preservation at all.
Dallas draped both arms across his chest and sighed as he watched her drop her rings into a bowl. "Well?"
"Well, what?" she asked.
"Are we gonna do this or not?"
Lex slid the clip from her hair and reached for her brush. "Do what? Should I whine and complain like the little bitch I am so you can pat me on the head and buy me something pretty to shut me up?"
He pulled her knife from his belt and flipped it over in his hand. "I sorta figured this was an invitation to fight. Don't back down now, honey. Tell me how you really feel."
She turned around and snatched the knife. "I'm not your little bitch. Don't treat me like one, especially in front of potentials. It sets a shitty example, O'Kane."
"I slapped them down good, Lex. Before you left and after. But I can't erase a lifetime of learning in one fucking meeting."
A handy deflection--if it were true. "You're full of shit. You didn't slap them down."
He frowned. "Of course I did. They're untrained puppies, Lex. You rub their noses in it when they piss on the floor, and eventually they learn. I didn't drown them in the river over it, no."
She stared at him, dumbfounded. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"
Dallas was too smart to reply quickly. She could almost see him turning inward, struggling to replay the short conversation and figure out what he'd missed. "The guys made asses of themselves," he said finally, a diplomatic, evasive answer.
"Uh-huh. About...?"
Another pause. "Noelle?"
Lex swallowed past the lump in her throat. It was one thing for Dallas to take the path of least resistance when it suited him, even if it meant shoving her aside as useless and purely decorative, but to not understand what he'd done? That was different. Worse.
She turned back to the mirror and pulled the brush through her hair.
Dallas snarled and slapped a hand against the wall. "Not okay, Alexa. You can shout at me, you can throw things at me, you can do your fucking best to slip that knife between my ribs, but you do not ignore me."
"Are you listening to yourself?" She dropped the brush and the knife to the vanity with a clatter and rose, facing him. "You don't like being dismissed, so what in hell makes you think it wouldn't piss me off just as much?"
"You wanted to stay?" he scoffed. "Shit, woman, Jas didn't want to stay."
"He isn't your partner." Lex lowered her voice. "He also could have hung around without making any of you blink. Not just those assholes, but you, too."
That drew him up short. "Cain. It was Cain, wasn't it?"
To her horror, angry tears burned her eyes. "There's more to respecting the women around here than not groping them or saying disgusting shit they don't want to hear. Way more."
"Jesus, Lex. I know." He took a step forward, but didn't crowd her space. "But I can't reach into the man's head and make him realize you can think circles around him."
"No, I could have done that on my own." She met his gaze reproachfully. "If you'd had my back. But you didn't. You told me to run along like a good girl while the menfolk had their talk. And don't think that didn't tell them something about you, Dallas."
"You're blowing one little thing out of proportion. I didn't even kick you out. I gave you the choice, because listening to them was always gonna suck until we smacked some manners into them. I gave you an out, and you took it."
Sincerity laced the words. Whatever else, he believed them. "Those little things? They build up in the long run."
He shoved his fingers through his hair and exhaled sharply. "I don't want there to be a long run. If they can't come around all the way, things will change. But fuck, Lex. I can't write off every bastard who isn't housetrained from minute one."
Her self-control snapped. "I'm not talking about them, Declan. You asked me to take your fucking ink, and tonight you acted like I was some random girl you peeled off your dick after a cage fight." She stalked to the door and jerked it open. "I'm talking about you."
Dallas whirled on her. "What should I have done? If it's so obvious to you, tell me."
Her anger melted into something else, something determined and insistent. She could do this, make him hear her and understand. "For starters? You could have treated me like I needed to be at that meeting. Like I helped you build this place, because you know what? I damn well did."
At least he was listening. He took in her words, turned them over, and then nodded. "Yeah, but the shit tonight? That's not your thing. You don't sit in meetings with our guys, either. I get that it felt like a snub, but if you hadn't needed to prove a point, would you have really wanted to stay?"
As if that mattered. "It's part of my job now. Isn't that what you wanted?"
He tilted his head. "You wanna come to all the meetings?"
"Yes." She'd taken on a new role, one she couldn't fill without keeping up with everything that happened.
Dallas sighed and rubbed a hand over his arm. "It means change. It means putting a target on your back. I'm not saying no...but can we talk over the danger when we're not pissed and fighting?"
Plenty of things already made her a target--her association with him, her collar--and he wanted her to have ink. The biggest target of all if you wanted to bring down a ruthless man like Dallas O'Kane. "All I need is for you to understand. Don't try to protect me from things I need to do."
"And I need you to give me the benefit of the doubt." He caught her wrist and ran a thumb over the O'Kane ink wrapped around it. "This right here? This is proof I'll listen."
It had taken her six months to convince him it was a bad idea to exclude women from his gang. "You're not bleeding. That's proof I'll listen."
He crooked a smile. "I'm a little disappointed. What's that a sign of?"
Lex pushed away the tendrils of uneasiness still curling through her. He didn't understand, but he would listen. It would be enough. It had to be enough.
She touched his hand. "It's a sign that this just might work out after all."
Chapter Eighteen
Dallas had never been able to bring himself to entirely trust city tech.
The banged-up tablet on his desk was clever enough. He liked the fact that he could speak words instead of writing them and see his notes transcribed into clean lines of text, as if by magic. It was quick to manage and easy to organize. And it could all go away with the blink of an eye.
It had happened before, after all.
The thing was on the fritz again, mangling the words he spoke and locking him out every time he tried to save the file. He tossed it aside and was starting his list of most likely recruits over on paper when a knock rattled the door.
A mass of red curls appeared as Trix stuck her head into his office. "You have a visitor."
Her appearance reminded him he needed to add women to the list of potential recruits--with her at the top of it. "What kind of visitor?"
; She hesitated. "Dressed like she's from Eden, but she seems pretty comfortable out here. She walked in like she owned the place."
Dallas could only think of one person who could possibly qualify--and he couldn't think of a damn reason for her to be in his sector. "She didn't give you a name?" he asked, but he was already on his feet.
Trix shook her head. "I asked, but she didn't answer. Just said you were expecting her. Business."
"Like hell." He followed Trix into the hallway, tugged his office door shut, and locked it for good measure. "Is Lex still out with Noelle and Rachel?"
"As far as I know." She tilted her head. "You want me to get rid of this lady?"
"No, she's for me to deal with." But not in his office, where he had papers scattered about and too much private shit. "Give me five minutes and bring her to the meeting room. And whatever the hell else you do, keep Lex away from there."
Her pale brow creased in a frown, but she backed away with a nod. "Sure, I can handle that."
He waved Trix away as the corridor split, sending her back toward the front of the club as he climbed the stairs to the second floor. The building that housed the Broken Circle was still the heart of their operations, even though the compound had expanded into a sprawl that covered four sector blocks. He was in his element here, on home turf so familiar it lent him an extra edge, a confidence he'd need for this meeting.
It was Cerys, it had to be. Come to take the next step toward whatever endgame she'd envisioned when maneuvering him into a position of greater power. Smart as he was, Dallas had zero confidence in his ability to think circles around a woman who played politics with Cerys's skill and intensity.
But that didn't mean he couldn't use her own game against her.
By the time Trix showed Cerys into the meeting room, Dallas was sprawled in his customary chair at the head of the table, a bottle of whiskey and two shot glasses on the table in front of him. He looked up from trimming his nails with his pocketknife and--like a good uncultured barbarian--kept his ass planted firmly in his seat. "Cerys."