Page 7 of Savage Vows

A door clicks shut behind the far curtain. Private access. Staff hallway, maybe. I move toward it and press my palm flat to the wood. Cool. Quiet.

I don’t knock.

If Serrano’s trying to avoid me, I’ll make sure he regrets it. I open the door and step through.

The door swings shut behind me with a soft click. The hallway is darker here, narrower, quieter. No music. Just the sound of a struggle that stops too quickly the moment I turn the corner.

Serrano has a girl pinned between a low table and the wall. His hand is on her hip, his other gripping her wrist. Her dress is off one shoulder. Her hair’s a mess. She’s frozen the second she sees me.

He doesn’t notice me right away.

“Come on, baby, don’t be shy now. You came up here with me, didn’t you?” He leans in to kiss her, his voice all smooth poison.

I clear my throat.

The effect is immediate. Serrano jerks back like someone snapped a wire. The girl stumbles free, pulling her dress back up as she scrambles for her heels and clutch. Her hands shake.

I look at her, not Serrano. “What’s your name?”

Her eyes flick between us, like she’s still deciding whether this is going to get worse. “Julie,” she says, barely above a whisper.

I nod once. “You’re alright now, Julie. Go.”

She hesitates, then rushes out past me, clutching her things to her chest like armor.

I wait until the door shuts behind her before I turn back to Serrano.

He straightens his jacket with a dramatic sigh. “I would’ve come down eventually.”

I step forward, just enough to make the space between us feel smaller. “I don’t like waiting.”

Serrano rolls his eyes and moves to the corner cabinet, pouring himself another drink like I didn’t just catch him assaulting someone.

“She was a tease,” he mutters. “You know how it is. They come upstairs, they act like they’re into it, then they get shy.”

I say nothing.

He takes a long sip and finally looks at me over the rim of his glass. “You came for the file?”

“I came for what you owe me.”

“And you’ll get it,” he says. “Relax, Dante. It’s not like I was going to break the girl.”

I hold his gaze for a long second. “People like you always think you’re in control until you’re not.”

He smirks, but something behind his eyes twitches. Just enough for me to know he heard me.

I sit down, slow and calm, and rest my elbows on my knees. “Now,” I say. “Let’s talk.”

Serrano drains half his glass in one go and tries to pretend that little scene didn’t happen.

I give him nothing.

He picks up his drink again, but this time doesn’t sip. “You don’t waste time,” he says, settling into the armchair across from me.

“I don’t have it to waste.”

He huffs a laugh, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Alright. You want the shipment moved or just cleared?”