Page 12 of Creed

“Hell, it’s packed every damn night.”

He wasn’t wrong. From the very first night, the place had been rocking. It was one of the many reasons why Sergei and his brothers had hired the best of the best. Their guards were all either ex-military or ex-FBI, and they all had eyes like hawks and enough muscle to put anyone down before they had a chance to cause a real problem.

Skid glanced around the room as he muttered, “Wonder what they rake in on a night like this?”

“No tellin’, but I’m sure it’s a pretty penny.”

“Yeah, they’re certainly not hurting.”

A couple in the back corner started getting a little loud. Their drinks were sloshing, and their hands were flying a little too wild for my liking. I didn’t move. I just tipped my chin toward one of the guards down front.

“Handle it,” I said low, more to myself than anyone else.

The guard nodded and started weaving through the tables.

Me and Skid watched as he approached the couple and leaned in close as he spoke, making sure not to cause a scene. The couple looked surprised that they were being reprimanded. Thankfully, they didn’t put up much of a fuss and let the guard show them to the door.

The guard gave me a quick nod as he passed. He had one hand clamped around the drunk guy’s arm while the woman staggered behind him. “Looks like someone had one too many.”

“More like three or four too many. Going to need to talk to the servers and have them keep a better eye on things.”

“Surprised Sergei hasn’t already taken care of that.”

I didn’t respond.

There was no reason to. He was right. Sergei seemed on top of everything, and whenever something slipped by him, Preacher would step in. They worked well together, which made this whole partnership thing with the Volkov brothers work as well as it did.

I was still watching the door when Skid leaned in and asked, “So, what about the two assholes from the other night? You think they’re involved in something, or was it just a one-night thing?”

“Hard to tell.” I shifted my stance, still half-watching the floor below. “Seems like everyone’s up to no good these days.”

Skid raised a brow but didn’t say anything. He waited for me to continue, “They haven’t fessed up to anything more than wanting to have a good time with the wrong girl. But something feels off with these two.”

“So, what are you gonna do?”

“Trust my gut and hold onto them for a few days. Just to be sure.”

Skid nodded as he said, “If they’re hiding something, Dad will get it out of ‘em.”

“No doubt.”

I scanned the floor again, and everything looked well and good.

And then something caught my eye.

Not something but someone.

It was her.

At first, I thought it was my mind playing tricks on me or it was just another woman who looked oddly like her.

But then she turned her head.

And everything around me just stopped.

The years had been good to her. Real good. She certainly didn’t look like she was seventeen years older. Not even close.Her blonde hair was down and wavy like she used to always wear it, but she’d shortened her bangs, making it easier to see the spark in those beautiful hazel eyes. She was wearing a short skirt that clung to her like sin with a top that was a bit more revealing that I’d ever seen her wear. But it looked good on her.

Damn good.