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He shakes his head, reaching out to hold my face. “No can-do, sweetheart. Shit’s hard to come by and expensive as hell, too.” He kisses me again. “But if you want to keep having fun, maybe you can come with my friends and I for a little after party. I’m sure they’d love to have some fun with you, too.” He reaches for me and clutches my knee before his hand travels up to my crotch. I can feel the heat of his palm through my jeans, like he’s running a fever or something.

When I look up, I see his friends have been watching us. Something about the flashing lights makes their faces look sinister. Goosebumps lift on my skin. I want to ask more about Haze, but something is screaming at me to get out of here.

I smile, keeping my breathing steady.

“I have an early morning tomorrow. How about you give me your number, and I can call you?” I slide my hand on his thigh suggestively.

His eyes flash, or maybe it’s the lights. “Nah, I’m good. You can go.”

I open my mouth to placate him, but he’s already looking away from me, clearly uninterested now that I’ve made it clear I don’t want him and his friends to fuck me. My eyes fall on the glass, and I’m tempted to grab the pill I spit out, but that would give me away.

Cursing myself quietly, I give Keller one last tight smile and walk out of the section, keeping my eyes averted from his strange friends.

I weave through the crowd, bumping into sweaty bodies, my mind reeling with the little information I gathered today. It’s not much, but it’s a hell of a lot better than what I had a week ago.

Just as I’m about to reach the edge of the dancefloor, I spot a blond-haired figure standing a few feet away from me. He’s looking down at the dancefloor from a higher step, eyebrows tightly knit whilst his hair all but glows under the strobe lights.

I stop dead in my tracks.

Hayden Vasilyev.

He’s dressed in a finely tailored suit, hair neatly styled, and bright blue eyes seeming to shine. They fall on me, flashing, as his head tilts to the side. We lock eyes for a second, but my brain kicks into gear before his because I bolt, turning and making my way to the exit as fast as I can. I don’t look back, but I feel his eyes following me, their icy grip not letting go until I’m in my car, breathing heavily.

When I get back to my apartment, it’s almost two in the morning, but the neighbourhood is quiet. It’s a nice area, a far cry from Jim and Irina’s house with the musty smell, peeling paint and black mould.

I lock my car, the lights blinking in the dark. I can’t stop thinking about Hayden and the way he looked at me. Haze is being moved inhisclub and inhisterritory. From everything I know about the oldest Vasilyev brother, he isn’t careless. He should know about this. Unless he does, and he’s the one behind it. But why wouldn’t he tell Rowan? Is something going on in The Snake that the rest of Senna doesn’t know about?

As I walk down the stone path to the front door, I get that weird prickling sense at the back of my neck, that undeniable feeling of being watched. Goosebumps lift off my skin and I pause, my key fob midair against the sensor.

I look over my shoulder, half expecting to see Hayden standing there but the street is completely empty. A few cars parked along the streets and the small park completely silent except a few crickets and insects that sing through the night.

My free hand instinctively reaches for my gun, safely stowed in the back of my jeans. I stay still for a second, breathing quietly, like I’m waiting for some monster to jump out of from the shadows. But no monster leaps in front of me. No one is here except for me.

The streetlamp above me buzzes, the shadows of the night creeping up. I let out a quiet sigh, shaking my head. I’m being paranoid. Tonight, has me on edge, that’s all.

I unlock the door and enter the building, making sure the door is closed behind me, and make my way to my apartment on the second floor. After a quick hot shower, I settle on the kitchen table with takeout, opening up any files on the clans that I can access. Someone in The Snake is behind Haze and Rowan doesn’t seem to know about it. Now I just need to figure out who they are before he gets to them first.

Chapter Seven: Rowan

I’m woken up by another one of Hayden’s offensively early morning calls. When I sit up, my bones crack and my neck aches. The reward for spending the last two nights in the front seat of my car. But I’ll take the aching if it means a few solid hours of sleep.

Although, last night I finally came to my senses and left Alex’s apartment after a few hours of sitting in my car like a creep. It was just after he got home at two a.m. and a part of me wanted to demand where he was coming from so late. Had he been with someone else? The thought of it made me unreasonably angry, and that was my sign to get the hell out of there, but instead of coming home, I took Xander up on his offer.

No orgies this time, but there was an excessive amount of alcohol consumed. Now, my head is making me pay for it and my muscles have mutinied because of the awful sleep and the excessive working out I’ve been doing.

“Hello, Hayden,” I answer brightly, “You know if you keep calling me to say good morning, I might start thinking I’m your favourite.”

“Did I wake you up? It’s nearly noon,” he says, not bothering to confirm or deny whether I’m his favourite, although I know I am. I’m everyone’s favourite. Upsides of being so charming.

“Nope, I was up,” I lie. “How can I help?”

“We have a problem,” he says stiffly.

I push away my sheets and step out of bed. My head spins for a second, throwing me off balance. I quietly curse, raking a hand through my hair. “Another one?”

“This one is worse than the dead girl.”

“What could be possibly worse than a dead girl?”