Break the Day - Lara Adrian Page 0,46
her, who cares about attitude? In the end, they all fuck the same. Some like her just need to be slapped around awhile first, show them who’s really in charge.”
Rafe felt his lip curl back from his teeth, a smile that was far from friendly.
Not that the gang leader noticed the difference. He relaxed next to him and drained the last of his beer. “So, you asked about the gig we’ve got coming up.”
Rafe gave a curt nod, still incapable of a reply when disdain for the man had his fangs cutting into his tongue. It took Herculean effort to bring his Breed nature to heel and keep his fists away from Cruz’s ugly face while the guy kept talking.
“Like Fish said, we’ve known it was in the pipeline for some time. I’ve got it on good authority that everything’s almost in place.”
“Good authority, meaning LaSalle?” Hardly a need to ask, and Cruz’s flat stare was confirmation enough. “What kind of job are we talking about?”
“Merchandise pickup,” he said. “The goods are on the move as we speak, heading for Conley Terminal from overseas. They’re expected to arrive tomorrow night. Customs agents will have already been paid off and turning a blind eye, so all we need to do is be there to intercept the merchandise and reroute it to our client.”
“Intercept and reroute. Meaning we’re going to steal it.” Rafe frowned. “Steal it from who? What is the merchandise we’re grabbing?”
“You don’t need to worry about that. You don’t need to worry about where we get our orders, either. You’re getting paid for your muscle and your other Breed skills, that’s all.”
Rafe grunted, about two seconds away from punching the dirtbag in his sneering face. “How much are we talking about on this job?”
“Three-quarters of a mil. Split five ways.”
“Don’t you mean six ways?”
He shook his head. “I mean five. We don’t need Brinks on this one.” The gang leader’s thin lips flattened in a cold smile within his goatee. “Now that we’ve got you to break us into anyplace we need to go, we don’t need her at all anymore.”
Shit. He didn’t like the idea of Devony being mixed up with lowlife criminals like these, but he wasn’t ready to lose his sole ally. She wasn’t going to like any of this, either.
“We’ll meet at Ocho’s tomorrow night and go from there,” Cruz said. “I’ll message you as soon as I get word that we’re on.”
Rafe nodded, but his attention was somewhere else. He surreptitiously glanced Devony’s way, just in time to see her slam the eight-ball into the corner pocket for the win. With Ocho hooting over their victory while Fish and Axel hurried to rack up another game for a rematch, Devony murmured that she was done playing and was going to the bar for something stronger than beer.
Rafe watched her cross the tavern. Her stride was swift and purposeful, but he knew her well enough to recognize when she was upset. No, she was flat-out furious. He had no doubt she heard every word Cruz said.
Bypassing the bar, she headed into the short hallway toward the restrooms.
Fresh beers arrived for the gang as Cruz moved over to the pool table to team up with Ocho against the other pair.
Rafe clapped Cruz on the shoulder as if they were old friends. “I’ll be back in a few. All this drinking is making me thirsty, and there’s a hot little blonde at that far table over there who looks like she’s eager to help me out.”
The gang chortled. Rafe left them behind and swaggered over to one of the human females who’d been undressing him with her eyes since he walked in. She couldn’t get off her chair fast enough when he curled his finger at her in invitation.
Wrapping his arm around her bony shoulders, he ushered her past the bar and into the hallway where Devony had disappeared a moment ago.
A small pack of women stood chattering and applying their makeup in the cramped ladies’ room when Rafe stepped inside.
“Out,” he commanded in a growl, his fangs bared. They fled at once. He mentally locked the door behind them and held it there.
Then he turned to the woman staring up at him with lust-filled eyes under his arm. He put his hand on her forehead. “Sleep.”
She slumped into an immediate trance that wouldn’t lift until he willed it to.
Rafe brought her into the largest of the three empty stalls and seated her ragdoll body on the