“Meh.” Valerian shrugged. “Ask Ash. He’s the one who went in for the final kill. Damn knife got lodged between a few ribs.”
“My favorite knife,” Ash swore. “Damn rats.”
I grinned, loving it when they talked dirty because…hello, how else were we supposed to live this sort of life without having a nervous breakdown?
Normalize it.
Justify it.
I didn’t say it was right. Or good.
It was, however, necessary.
“Get out before we call the cops!”
“I am the cops!” Tank yelled, earning laughter from everyone.
I mean, he wasn’t wrong.
“Above the law, bitches.” Ash fist-bumped Tank. “Badge up, bro. We’ve got your back.”
“FBI, FBI!” Maksim chanted, followed by Junior and King.
I was surrounded by idiots.
“Get out!” the security guard yelled again, and another one joined him.
“Playing by the rules sucks,” I said, mainly to myself. “Hey, does this resort still have that super cheesy club?”
“YES!” Junior pointed at me. “That’s the enthusiasm we need tonight!”
We all rushed toward the shore in a naked blur, grabbing clothes, shoes, and running as Ash yelled out, “Twenty minutes!”
The security guards started reprimanding us, but all it took was one look from Tank as he literally pulled out his badge from his trouser pocket, and both security guards shrugged, nodded, and walked away.
Tank grinned and waved. “Gracias.”
I held my dress to the front of my body while Maksim moved next to me in a drunken blur.
“I’m too drunk...” Maksim stumbled in the sand. “But, hell yeah, twenty minutes… Wait, where are we going?”
“I got him.” King laughed.
Valerian helped King get Maksim to his feet, and off they went while I semi-covered my body even more and shivered toward my hotel room.
“Hop on.” Tank stopped next to me.
I looked down.
He sighed. “Yeah, I meant my back.”
I shrugged. “But you understand my confusion, right?”
He gritted his teeth. “You’re not helping, Tiny.”
“That’s one thing you are not…” I nodded. “Tiny.”
“Get on before I get off from that pout,” he barked.
My knees buckled a bit. “W-what?”
His eyes gleamed. “Ah, so she does have a weakness.”
“And what’s that?”
“Sex.”
“Pleaseeeeee.” I forced a laugh. “That’s so far from the truth that—”
I was pinned next to the beach snack shack in a flash, heat vibrating from every part of Tank. “Oh?”
“We’re going to be late.”
“Mmmm…” He leaned in. “Scared?”
“No.” I gave him a shove. “I just don’t like getting poked in the face with dangerous weapons.”
He smirked. “I’m not that tall.”
“You were an inch deep in my belly button. It got weird. We can both wash our eyes with bleach later.”
“Nice try, Tiny. Nice try.” Tank started to turn around.
I used the opportunity to jump onto his back and hook my feet around his waist. “Question, if I orgasm by rubbing across your back, would that be weird?”
“Answer, if all it takes is my back to give you an orgasm—damn, girl, you’ve been doing it wrong this entire time.”
I gasped and jumped off his back.
And then I was silent as we walked back toward our bungalow.
He didn’t turn around when we got through the front door.
But I did hear the shower turn on.
I was too stunned by his playfulness.
By the fact that he wasn’t backing down despite my attitude, my teasing.
It was like Tank had decided something.
I just wished I knew what.
Furthermore, I wished it didn’t make me think that he might actually have feelings for me that went beyond annoyance.
I took a deep breath and went into my room.
First, a shower.
Second?
A dress that would get me answers. I was the mafia, I could crack—even Tank.
A smile formed across my lips.
He felt like teasing?
I’d be the biggest tease he’d ever seen.
Chapter Seven
Tank
She was killing me slowly with all that dancing, her arms up over her head as she swayed in the middle of the club dance floor. Cheesy techno lights pulsed in time with the beat of the music as the screen behind her showed a music video of some catchy song I’d never heard before.
Most of the girls danced with her.
Ash came and sat on the barstool next to me, whiskey in hand. “I’ve never been more stressed out than in this moment.”
I snorted out a laugh. “Because you just now realized that every single one of your cousins is drop-dead gorgeous, along with your own family, and any guy watching this would probably rub one off on the spot?”
“Stop watching Annie,” he barked with a smile.
“Please.” I rolled my eyes. “I like living, and you know I was never…we never…fuck, stop making this awkward, you dick.”
Valerian snorted out a laugh on the other side of me, only to have Ash peer around and go, “My sister. Slept with my sister. Get me another drink, bitch.”
“I’m a boss. I don’t have to—”
Ash growled.
“But sure, yeah, okay. Good idea.” Valerian shot to his feet and walked over to the end of the bar where two bartenders were working.
“Never gonna let it go,” I murmured.