Page 8 of Retribution
“I know enough.”
His ominous answer drew her eyes open, and she was drawn like a magnet to his serious, unreadable expression.
“Tell me. Please.”
There was a crack in his façade. Cobra blinked, then his eyes widened a little bit and he shifted from one foot to the other all the while never taking his eyes off her. She could tell by the way he held himself that he hadn’t expected her to ask so nicely, and something about it caught him off guard.Interesting.Dakota made a mental note and crossed her arms over her chest with a small sigh.
“You’re not gonna like it.”
Dakota made a small finger motion for him to get the hell on with it. He was obviously older than she, and out of all the shit he’d seen in life, she doubted tonight had been the worst or even close, so why he was so tightlipped was something she couldn’t understand. Maybe it was a secret club thing. He didn’t want to betray his brothers and reveal too much to the outsider, even though she couldn’t figure out why a motorcycle club would have anything to do with those two assholes.
“You got yourself into a fuck-ton of trouble by taking that ride today. After putting you to bed, I did some work and found out those bastards drugged you using a liquid method that’s popular on the streets.”
“But I didn’t drink whatever it was they gave me,” she said.
“Didn’t you have a soda?”
She shook her head slightly then cocked it to one side. “Yeah, but I got it from the bartender. Wait … how did you know I had a ginger ale?”
“I’ve got a gift of getting people to open up to me.” A sinister smile whispered across his lips.
“What tactics do you use to get the information?” Her insides quivered and she placed her hands across her stomach.
“Whatever it takes. Anyway, the bartender slipped you some Liquid X.”
“What the hell’s that?”
“GHB—the date rape drug.”
Her hand flew to her mouth as she gasped. “Thebartender? Why the hell would he do that?”
“He gets a kickback from the assholes who gave you a ride.”
“I can’t believe how stupid I was.”
“Don’t beat yourself up. How the fuck could you know the former bartender was part of the scheme?”
“Former?”
“I had a heart-to-heart with Duffy. He didn’t know the SOB was doing that shit in his place.”
“You know the owner?”
“Yeah. I met him at Sturgis a couple of years ago. You’re just lucky you didn’t drink any booze with that shit in it, otherwise you’dstillbe out.”
Dakota rested her head on her knees and took a deep breath. “Who the fuck sells this stuff to guys like them?”
“There’s big money in it, and where the dough is, you’ll have a drove of people lining up to get a piece of it.”
“That’s a pretty general answer. Care to elaborate?”
“I don’t think you’d benefit from getting involved, so I wasn’t planning on it.”
She sat back and stared at him.
“You’re serious?”
“The less who people know about this shit, the better off.”
“So, whatcanyou tell me?”
He scratched the stubble on his jaw and his eyes narrowed, as if he was trying to decide if she could really handle anything he was about to reveal or whether she was too fragile. Dakota met him head on and didn’t look away.
“I found the assholes who did it and it’s handled.” He shrugged. “They won’t screw with you again.”
That’s it. He’d taken care of it, which could be anything from roughing them up to burying the bodies.
“And I’m just supposed to be satisfied with that response? They were taken care of and that’s the end of it? I just go on with my life now?”
The muscle in his jaw throbbed. “Yeah … or you could stay here with me.”
