“Brian’s not my boyfriend and if you do, you deal with his brother.”
“Wasn’t talking about your ex-boyfriend. I’m talking about Evans. The guy you’re sitting next to.”
Hanging up swiftly, I cried out, “He’s behind us.” Just then a pair of car lights turned on, blinding us from behind.
Tray seemed fine, no reaction showed as he looked in the rearview mirror. He pulled over.
“What are you doing?” I cried. “He’s going to kill you.”
Tray said calmly, “Get out of the car. We’ll be fine.”
“Do you even know Gentley? He said he’s going to put you in the hospital.”
With amusement in his voice, Tray replied, “No, he won’t. He wants to deal, that’s all. He was just getting a rise out of you.”
Seeing that I had no intention of getting out of the car, he said again, “We’ll be fine.”
Reluctantly climbing out, I saw Crispin walking towards us with his two friends, Brent and Hayden right behind him. They were infamous in Pedlam. Tray walked around to the back of his SUV and leaned back casually. I stood beside him fidgeting nervously. I felt Tray grab my arm and pull me against his side. “Relax,” he soothed, stroking my arm with his thumb.
“Evans,” Gentley greeted icily. His eyes raked over my form. “Bitch.”
Before I responded, Tray squeezed my arm and said, “Tsk, tsk, Gentley. You’re insulting one of mine. Not a good beginning for our partnership.”
“What partnership? You took off before we could even strike a deal,” Crispin sneered, rumpling his Ralph Lauren polo as he hunched forward.
“Lanser’s presence wasn’t foreseeable. It added complications,” Tray said smoothly.
God, Tray was hot.
What the hell was he talking about?
“I don’t want her here. Why’d you bring her?”
“Hey,” I said indignantly.
“She’s one of them. She’ll go running to them.”
“She’s one of mine,” Tray promised, a hard glint in his eyes. “So she stays.”
“Whatever. This isn’t how I do business.”
“This is how it’s going to have to be or we won’t deal.”
Crispin stared long and hard at both of us. Jerking a hand out, he ordered Brent, “Give it to him.”
“Dude.”
“I said give it to him,” Crispin snapped, kicking some gravel away.
Brent produced a brown bag and passed it to Tray, then backed away.
“This is the last of it?” Tray asked, looking inside and passing it to me. I held it, slightly unnerved. I didn’t like surprises and whatever this deal was—was a surprise. I didn’t like it one bit. I really didn’t like it that Tray had done a business meeting with Jace, much less Crispin Gentley.
I didn’t look inside, but I really, really wanted to.
“She’ll probably swipe it. That’s what she does, you know. She steals shit for them. She can steal anything. Just ask her what she’s stolen for them.”
I gritted my teeth and snapped, “I wasn’t lying about your daddy’s file.”