Page 46 of Gatsby's Starlet
The hatred in his face wasn’t normal. It was something deeper. Something very personal.
I glanced at Ruby. She gave me a quick look—don’t say too much. “Yeah,” I said. “I met him.”
“I’m gonna kill him,” Drago said, calm and certain. “But not fast. I’m going to torture him for as long as I can keep him breathing.”
A chill slid down my spine.
“Who else?” Kane asked, stepping behind me, his fingers brushing the back of my neck like he had a right to touch me. “Ol’ ladies. That’s where men like them break.”
“Lucy?” Drago cut in. “That bitch still around?”
“Yes,” Ruby answered too quickly.
Drago’s head snapped toward her. “I asked her.” Then his eyes were back on me. “Did you meet Lucy?”
There was no point lying. “Yes.”
“I want you close to them,” he said. “Watch them. Learn their routines. When they’re alone. Where they go.”
“Why can’t you find that out yourself?” I asked, before I could stop myself.
Silence. Then—his hand slammed down on the table so hard I flinched. “Because I have you,” he growled. “And you’ll do it if you know what’s good for you.”
“She will,” Ruby rushed, panic creeping into her voice. “She’s just nervous—”
“Seems to me,” Kane said softly behind me, leaning in again, “you like good ol’ Gatsby a little too much.”
My heart skipped.
“You breathe a word to them about me,” Drago said, his voice dropping into something deadly quiet, “and I’ll end you. And anyone you give a damn about.”
Ruby gasped. “Drago, you don’t mean that—”
The look he gave her shut her up instantly, because he meant it. Every word.
“You better keep her in line,” he said to Ruby, like I wasn’t even sitting there.
“Can I go?” I asked, my voice tight. “Please.”
“I’m not done with Ruby,” he said, already standing. “Wait here.”
Ruby immediately stood and followed him like a good puppy. After everything. After seeing him with another woman. After the threats. After all of it. She still followed him out the door like she couldn’t get enough of the creep.
“Don’t worry,” Kane said, dragging a chair closer to mine, slow, deliberate. “I’ll keep you company.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better,” I snapped, shoving my chair back, putting as much space between us as I could. “Why don’t you go find the girl from earlier? I’ll be fine.”
He smiled. Slow. Amused.
“Nah,” he said. “She’s just club entertainment.” His gaze dragged over me, lingering. “This?” He leaned back, breathing in deep like it meant something. “Just smelling you is better than fucking that bitch.”
I leaned my head back, staring at the ceiling, trying to keep it together and not puke from being stuck with this depraved jerk.
“God,” I muttered under my breath, barely holding it in, “please get me out of this.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
THE SECOND THEdoor shut behind us, the noisefrom the clubhouse cut off clean, dropping into a silence that sat heavy in the room, and I didn’t turn right away because I didn’t need to, not when I could feel her behind me, tight and watching, the hurt already there, already taking hold whether she wanted it to or not.
