Daring Devlin (Lost Boys #1) - Jessica Lemmon Page 0,11

myself up as best I could, washing with hand soap and tenderly mopping at the cut by my eye. I had butterfly bandages at home, but since the jerk-offs who beat me up stole my coat with my house keys in the pocket, I was going to have to call a locksmith.

If I got there. The call I’d made to my ride had gone to voicemail and I hadn’t bothered with a message.

A thought about getting anywhere made me wonder for a fleeting second how I got here. Not here as in Rena’s too-small bathroom, but here as in at this juncture in my fucked-up life. Bloodied, freezing, after my friend turned on me for his own gain. Hands braced on the porcelain sink, eyes focused on my busted knuckles, I considered how I hadn’t chosen this life. Choice never factored in.

I snapped out of my moment of contemplation and bandaged the cut, mainly so my hostess wouldn’t faint from seeing the size of the gash across my eyebrow. There wasn’t much I could do about my eye other than ice it and pray for the best.

There was no way I could work the front of house of Oak & Sage until I healed. Sonny wouldn’t appreciate his bettors seeing me looking like this—like I’d had my ass handed to me. A certain amount of respect was lost when the guy who was there to take your money looked like a brisk wind could knock him over.

Shit. What a mess.

And what was I supposed to do about Paul? Seriously. I couldn’t believe he jumped me. Having his kneecaps bronzed and dangling from the rearview mirror of my SUV crossed my mind, but the revenge fantasy faded fast. My job was to collect his payment, not his kneecaps. Moreover, I wasn’t sure what to tell Sonny. And, yeah, I was conflicted. Despite what happened tonight, Paul had been the one who’d taken me in all those years ago. I owed him.

Who said there’s no honor among thieves?

Maybe the kneecap thing was an optimistic thought on my part. Sonny might have Nat do far worse if he found out. Sonny didn’t take kindly to his employees being beat up and, even though I didn’t need it, he was protective when it came to me. Up until tonight, Sonny and Paul were the only two people in my life who hadn’t died or bailed.

Now that Paul had officially bailed, Sonny was all I had.

I decided, despite what Paul had done to me, to keep this incident to myself. I needed to find out what he was up to. Now that I knew the lengths he’d go to, I could handle him myself. He’d had the element of surprise tonight. It wouldn’t happen again.

I cleaned myself up, wiped down the sink, and dropped the soiled towels in the tub, my mind on this evening’s events. Who were those huge guys with him tonight? Why would Paul clock me, then have me dumped on the side of the road over five hundred bucks? Unless I was right about the drug thing and those giants were his dealers.

Possible, but it didn’t feel right. I leaned against the sink again, frowning at the mirror. None of this felt right.

I heard a light tap on the bathroom door and watched as a small smile lifted the busted corner of my reflection’s lips. My eyebrows dipped in confusion. Why this girl intrigued me so much was a mystery. Why she’d let me inside, a bigger one. Sure, she knew me from work, but she didn’t really know me. Maybe she felt charitable since I’d shadowed her into the fridge and offered to give her a hand with the butter.

Why had I done that? A rare moment of benevolence on my part?

Tonight, when I’d rolled to my hands and knees on the shoulder of a road a mile west of here, I hadn’t set out for Rena’s apartment. I’d intended to walk to the restaurant and break in to use the phone, but then realized that would have set off the alarm. I knew plenty of people in this neck of the woods, all of them bettors. I couldn’t risk being seen in this state. How much confidence would they lose once they saw proof that I couldn’t protect myself, or their money, for that matter? At least I had protected my own money. My wallet hadn’t been stolen, and was sitting safely in my front pocket. But if a