Page 28 of Four Cards Exposed

That’s not what Milena would do.

“Are you right-handed?” a voice behind her asked. Susan didn’t need to turn around to see who it was.

James.

“I am,” the man said, laughing loudly. He didn’t let go of her hip. If anything, his fingers pressed deeper, and Susan knew she’d be bruised there the next day. “What’s it to you?”

“I suggest you touch her with your left hand, then. That way, you won’t be jerking off with your weak hand once I break the other one.”

It took a moment for the insult to penetrate the drunk’s mind. When it did, he let go of Susan, pushing her aside violently. She would have fallen, and probably upended the tray of drinks all over herself, except James held her and the tray upright, giving her a chance to regain her balance.

The drunk’s teeth were bared. “Who the fuck do you think—“

It was one of the man’s less drunk friends who recognized James as one of the bare-knuckle fighters and quickly pulled his friend back. “Ah, Rog, let’s not. We meant no harm,” he added quickly.

James’s blue eyes blazed with barely restrained fury.

“I’ve thought better about it. Touch her again, and I’ll break both hands,” James said, his voice eerily soft. “Then I’ll start on your friends’s hands.”

Susan placed the drinks on the table and held the tray vertically against her chest, hoping nobody would be able to see how much her hands were shaking.

“We meant no disrespect,” the smarter man said. “We’ll finish our drinks and go.”

“Good. Don’t forget to leave a nice tip for the lady,” James grunted. Keeping an eye on the men, he followed her as she moved away.

“Are you okay?” he asked quietly. “Did he hurt you?”

Am I okay?

Her heart was still pounding inside her chest, even though she’d known the man wouldn’t really hurt her in public. She felt a migraine coming.

Am I okay?

If she said no, she had a feeling James would put her over his shoulder and walk her out of there directly—send her straight back to Sharp’s Cove.

“I’m okay.” She licked her lips, glancing at the bar where Pia was trying to get her attention. “Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden? You've always been an...” She left the word unsaid.

“An asshole?” He asked wryly. “I may be an asshole, but I'm an asshole who doesn't want to see you get hurt.”

“Is that why you're drinking more?”

“Who says I'm drinking more?” James’s fingers grazed the spot where the drunk had held her. His touch didn’t so much erase the pain as magically replace it with pleasure. Susan’s breath shook.

“Some of the other girls. They said you’ve started coming to the bar more often since I arrived.”

“Maybe I like looking at you. Why wouldn’t I want to spend my nights looking at you?”

Susan gasped. She knew they were pretending, but at times like these she was having trouble telling James apart from Jay.

What game is he playing?

“What the hell’s going on here?”

Susan jumped back and stared at Guerrero. She’d been so focused on James, she hadn’t even seen him get up from the corner booth.

“¿Te ha tocado, esté cabrón?” Guerrero said, pulling himself up to his full height. James didn’t react to the words, but reacted to the tone, his hands clenching into fists.

“He didn’t touch me, Guerrero. We were just talking,” Susan said, walking calmly between them. She didn’t think Guerrero would hurt her.