page17 (2/2)

He grunted and turned to walk to where his bright red Mustang was parked It was a supersexy car for a totally dead-sexy guy Completely not fair

“I’ll be in touch”

He left without another word and I felt like I was going to fold in on le person had li Race into the mix of the mess I was already in the center of felt like there sis to stay stuffed down Everything was cos and ee, refused to fret over, were popping the sea to spill out That wasn’t a spill anyone was going to want a hand in cleaning up when I finally ruptured

I sighed and called Karsen to see what kind of ice creaet for her

Chapter 4

Race

THERE WAS A TIME ininto flesh, the s ht Noas a necessary evil, and as bad as it appeared it was just part of the job

I was in the back room of Spanky’s, the strip club to end all strip clubs in the District The girls who danced here were no run-of-the-eous, professional, and served dual roles as dancers and hostesses when the stage lights were off and the club turned into an illegal casino Spanky’s had been a cash cow for Novak Now Nassir and I both had our hands in the pot and ere currently watching Chuck, the giant African American man as the head of security for the joint, beat the living hell out of a client who didn’t kno to keep his hands to himself

I had uy, who could very easily be anyone’s dad, got the shit kicked out of him He had already spit out teeth, and his face looked like haer, but Chuck didn’t see, and Nassir wasn’t calling him off Nassir had eyes the color of burned caramel and they were focused intently on the scene in front of hiirls orked for hi tricks or not—and Honor, not her real na to put your hands on and get aith it

She was as much a part of the District as Bax was of the Point We had a sordid history, and in all honesty, I was surprised she wasn’t back here kicking the shit out of Grabby Hands McGee because that’s the kind of chick she was The victirunted, his puffy and swollen eyes rolled back in his head as he listed over onto his side in an unconscious heap Chuck gave him one more kick with the toe of his shoe and leaned down to wipe his bloody hands on the guy’s torn and ripped shirt

Nassir lifted a black eyebrow “Feel better?”

Chuck grunted and looked back and forth between the two of us “So in the air Don’t knohat it is, but people keep showing up and pushing limits Had to make a point and make it clear”

Nassir and I shared a look and he shrugged his shoulders He always looked like he was off to so His suits cost more thanhi without any effort I already treated hi to shove a knife inin his dark presence made me keen to make sure I was always on my toes