The fact that she’d admitted she was seeing another guy surprised me. That could be what was causing her off behavior, but I wasn’t entirely sure yet.

I’d find out, though. She was the first woman to grab my attention like this in a long time. Before she’d been off-limits, and now . . . now I’d decided that those limits weren’t relevant anymore. Life was short. You had to take chances to get what you wanted or you’d miss your shot.

I could handle a little healthy competition. Hell, I thrived on competition. I just had to find out who my competition was.

SHE DIDN’T RESPOND. I DIDN’T expect her to, but like a little bitch, I kept my phone close all night. Buying. Selling. Another day in my shadows.

How in the fuck had this woman become the shaft of light that showed me exactly how dark my world was? And now that I knew it, what was I supposed to do about it?

I wanted her in my bed, but I couldn’t take her out in this city like the cop she was with tonight—and that burned. I lived in the shadows and she was the light. We couldn’t coexist peacefully, and yet I couldn’t just leave her alone. Not yet. I wasn’t ready.

The image of her face as she rode out her orgasm rose in my memory. Hottest fucking thing I’d ever seen. Life-changing even.

And she was dating a cop.

That had to end. I would make it end. I didn’t share, and I wasn’t going to start now.

“Yo, Rix. You comin’ or what?”

Eight-Ball waited for me on the far side of the warehouse. Product was supposed to change hands tonight, but Eight had gotten a tip that the cops were on the move, and called it off before even talking to me. Healthy fear of going back to prison made him quick on the trigger with decisions like that, but also made him a good second-in-command.

“Right behind you.”

I surveyed the empty warehouse once again. The cops wouldn’t find a damn thing here thanks to Eight’s quick thinking. When I shut and locked the door behind me, I caught sight of a Jeep across the street, tucked between an abandoned building and a burned-out van. I would have missed it, but since the van was destroyed, I could see through it in sections.

Well, there they are. Hello, Five-0. Nothing to see here tonight.

I climbed into the passenger seat of Eight’s Yukon and watched the Jeep from the side mirror until we turned the corner.

GIRLS’ NIGHT WAS ONE OF those things that women who had a bunch of other female friends did. I’d been a loner for so long that I barely understood how this kind of thing worked, and I felt even more guilty about going because Trinity was still locked up somewhere and I was helpless to get her out. Distraction. This was all a distraction.

While I waited in my portico for the car to pick me up, my thumbs hovered over the screen of my phone. No update from Rix, and no sign of one coming.

Screw it. I needed to know what was going on. I didn’t give myself time to think as I fired off a text.

VALENTINA: Update?

I waited semi-patiently for five minutes. No reply. The car pulled up and Elle threw open the door. I hurried outside, about to shove my phone in my purse when it vibrated.

RIX: You let him touch you?

“Hey, girl!” Yve called from inside the car.

Elle was waving like Miss America before she switched to motioning to the open door like Vanna White. “Your carriage awaits.”

Smiling despite my urge to strangle Rix, I slid inside.

Yve and Elle’s excitement could be explained by the bottle of Fireball in Yve’s hand. “We’re meeting the others at the restaurant, and then after we’re going to a jazz club for a little atmosphere.”

“Okay.”

Yve handed over the Fireball. “We’re doing a little pre-gaming, old-school style.”

Elle laughed. “More like I grabbed the fifth that was on the counter right before you rolled up in this fancy car, and you decided it was a great idea.”

My phone buzzed again and I pulled it out.

RIX: Still waiting on that answer.

I was thinking the Fireball sounded like a great idea as well. Rix was playing games with me, and my patience was shot.

“Feel free to pass the bottle this way.”

Both Elle and Yve looked at me, smiling in approval. “Tonight’s going to be fun,” Elle said as she grabbed the bottle from Yve and passed it over.

I swigged and handed it back, rather proud of myself that I didn’t cough. Other than the shots at the bachelorette party, drinking straight liquor wasn’t exactly normal for me in the last ten years.

The shot of liquid courage had me pulling out my phone to respond to Rix.

VALENTINA: None of your damn business. I want my update.

His response was almost instant.

RIX: I’ll get my answer one way or another.

He wouldn’t be getting an answer out of me tonight, that was for damn sure, especially if I wasn’t getting an update. All I could hope was that Rix wasn’t going to renege on his promise and would keep Trinity safe.

Surprisingly, it didn’t take but one more shot of Fireball for me to get comfortable with the idea. Rix might not live on the right side of the law, but I couldn’t be this fascinated with him if he was truly a bad person, right? And Trinity was innocent in all of this. He wouldn’t let her suffer for the consequences of D-Rock’s actions. I hoped I was right, because I was betting Trinity’s safety on it, which terrified me.

But what could I do about it tonight? Yve passed the Fireball around again, and the only answer to my question seemed to be another drink.

It was safe to say that having our own private room at the restaurant was in everyone’s best interest. Creative cocktails were flowing, and food was eaten defensively to try to soak up some of the alcohol.

“Are we really going to the jazz club next?” Vanessa asked. “Because I’m already hammered. Con’s going to have to carry me home at this rate.”

“I’d let that blond Viking carry me anywhere,” JP, one of Yve’s employees said.

I’d seen him carry Vanessa before, and I couldn’t help but think she didn’t mind it.

“I thought you were crushing on Bishop?” Vanessa asked.

As the newest addition to the group, I didn’t know who Bishop was, and I’d just met the cute, tattooed JP tonight.

“Who’s Bishop?”

JP sighed. “A bearded, man-bunned, tatted-up gift to womankind. And he’s also capable of tattooing me and pretending I don’t exist. Apparently I’m too young for him.”