with the tip of my forefinger, a habit I’d had since childhood. “Go ahead. Scream. It’s hardly an unusual occurrence in a sex club.”
She cast a fierce glare my direction. “Fuck you.”
I stifled a grin. Her comeback amused me, even if it wasn’t the most articulate of responses. “Come on, Athena. All that money poured into the highest quality college education, and that’s the best quip you can think of?” I tutted. “Dear oh dear.”
“You’re an asshole, Ryker. You always have been.”
“And you’re a spoiled little brat. I guess no amount of money can cure you of that ailment.”
She flipped me off and flounced over to the bed, plunking herself on the end. Head bent, she picked at the skin around her fingernails and whistled.
I smirked. If Athena thought she could best me, she was wrong. If I didn’t get the answers in this room—and I probably wouldn’t stay here much longer in case we were interrupted—I’d get them at the hotel, or on the plane when I forced her to return home, or after we arrived back in the US. One way or another, she’d tell me what the fuck she thought she was doing working tables in a shithole like this, especially as she most definitely didn’t need the money. And if she’d been doing more than serving drinks…
I dug my fingernails into my palms as an uncomfortable prickling sensation crept across the back of my neck. Nope, not going there. I’d kill every son of a bitch who’d laid a finger on her.
My cell buzzed, providing me with a welcome distraction from the thoughts racing through my mind. Removing it from my pocket, I glanced at the screen. A text from Elliot.
Okay. I’ve got her. She’s pretty scared. I’ll see what I can find out.
I rose to my feet, adjusted my cufflinks, then crossed the room and opened the door. I jerked my head toward the hallway. “Out, Athena.”
She flashed me a triumphant smile. Aww, poor little lamb thought I was letting her go. As she drew alongside me, I clasped her hand and played my trump card. “Let’s go see Elliot.”
She skidded to a halt, pointlessly wriggling to try to free herself. “No! Please, Ryker, don’t.”
To the uneducated observer, it would seem as if Athena was scared of Elliot. She wasn’t, though, not in the slightest. They were as close as siblings could be, probably because of their difficult early years. No, what worried Athena was disappointing him. She’d slit her own wrists before upsetting Elliot. I’d known Elliot virtually all my life—unlike the rest of the ROGUES guys who we’d first met in college—and ever since Athena could walk, she’d looked up to him, her respect for the one true superhero in her life beyond reproach.
“You give me no choice. If you won’t tell me what you’re doing here, when Elliot thinks he’s funding your round-the-world trip so you can ‘discover yourself’, then perhaps you’ll tell him.”
She kicked the door shut, keeping us inside the room. “I’ll talk, okay. Just not here. Please, Ryker, I know you hate me, but don’t tell Elliot.”
A dull ache surfaced from deep within my chest. I didn’t hate Athena. She annoyed the fuck out of me with her lack of direction, her tendency to revert to ‘drama queen’ tactics if she thought it would give her an edge in winning the battle—or the war. Her flighty attitude. But hate? No, what I felt for Athena was, unfortunately and uncomfortably, far removed from hate.
And therein lies the problem. So much for avoiding the woman who held the key to my ruin. And now, instead of staying clear of her, I’d have to sort her shit out.
“Okay. I’ll take you back to my hotel where I can keep an eye on you. You get one chance, one, Athena, to tell me what’s going on, or I’ll call Elliot and you can tell him instead.”
I opened the door once more and, with my hand pressed against the small of her back, eased her forward. As I turned to head back into the main part of the club, she stopped, her eyes darting around frantically.
“Let’s go out the back way,” she said.
“Elliot’s busy,” I replied. “We won’t bump into him.”
“But we might see Hiroto or one of the other supervisors. Technically, I’m supposed to be working.”
She had a point. Nodding my agreement, I allowed her to take the lead. We ended up in a back alley behind the club. I gripped her hand