Page 21 of Vow of Vengeance (Destruction & Vengeance Duet #2)

Part of me wants to hide in this space and pretend I didn't see them, pretend I never showed up.

But my car is in the parking lot and my phone is out there, and I left the lights and music on.

I can't pretend I wasn't here at all, and instinctively, something inside of me knows not to let Tony know I found a secret room inside my bar.

I wait until their voices are far away, and then, holding my breath, I creep out of the closet, shutting it softly behind me. My heart is in my throat as I push the storage rack back into place, terrified at the slight screech it makes.

I grab the bucket and gloves, hurrying after them but sure to keep my eyes down so that when someone speaks my name and I jump in surprise, it looks genuine. The fear is, at least, as I press my free hand to my racing heart and let go of a nervous breath.

"Fuck." I laugh, feeling like I might throw up. "Pete."

"Damn, baby." Pete licks his lips, laughing as he takes me in. His tongue flicks at his lip stud thoughtfully. "Goddamn, you look good. Better than good, actually."

I hate my mind for even considering that Pete could be involved in whatever disgusting affairs my husband was a part of, but the truth is, I don't know.

And the way he's looking at me right now has me tense, uncomfortable.

My skin is crawling, but I don't know if it's because of the way he's looking at me like he's never seen me look so good, or if it's because I know he's with Tony.

And Tony, I know, has to be tied up in whatever my husband was.

"Thanks." I laugh. "You scared me! I didn't hear you come in. I was in the back getting supplies and I thought I was the only one here."

"Not anymore." Tony laughs, coming to join us.

He's lowered the music significantly, and I see my phone in his hand as he advances.

"You forgot to lock the door behind you, though.

It's not safe to be here alone, not paying attention to your surroundings.

" He holds his arms open, expecting the hug that I usually greet him with.

I muster a smile and give him one, trying not to wince as he pulls me tight against him.

"And with the music up like that, nobody would hear you scream if something happened."

I feel my spine stiffen at his words, trying to sense whether they were meant as a warning or a threat.

"I... didn't think about that."

"Of course you didn't." Tony laughs, finally pulling away so he can get a look at me. "You do look good, Princess. Gained a bit of weight." He jabs me in the stomach with one stubby finger, and the irony makes me want to vomit all over him.

"Yeah," I bite my lip in an effort to contain myself. "I've been busy, but I'm working on getting better."

"Better?" Tony asks, seeking an explanation I'm not likely to give.

"Yeah." I shrug. "Just, focusing on myself as much as I can. It's been hard, with Marissa being missing and all, but I decided I need to be my best self so that when she comes back, she can count on me."

"Marissa's missing?" Pete asks, turning to Tony to see if he's as surprised by the info as him.

"Yeah." I sigh. "I went on a work trip a while ago. When I came back, she wasn't answering my messages. I reported her missing over a month ago. You haven't seen her missing posters everywhere?"

Pete scratches his head. "No. Fuck. I'm sorry, babe. That's... intense."

"Yeah." I swallow past the lump in my throat as Tony stares at me like he's trying to see inside my head.

"It's fine. I'm sure we'll find her soon.

I just stopped here to check on everything since I've been neglecting it, and.

.." I look around. "Apparently, I'm not the only one. Nika's on my shit list."

"Ah," Tony chuckles, shrugging. "It has been a bit messy around here lately, but it isn't Nika's fault. I fired her a few weeks ago."

I blink at him, wondering whether he really just said what I think he said. "What?"

"I fired her." Tony shrugs. "She was stealing from the till."

I don't believe that, and my face says as much.

"Nika?" I repeat. She's worked here at the bar since it opened. I can't imagine her stealing a bottle from the inventory, let alone stealing cash.

"Yep." Tony shakes his head. "I didn't want to bother you with the details. Your friends said you were out of town. We've just been covering her shifts one day at a time. Guess we let the cleaning fall to the wayside though, huh?"

"Yeah." I swallow back the disbelief and look around, too. "It was a bit messy. I've been cleaning up... still have the bathrooms to go."

Tony glances at the bucket in my hand, appraising it, and then turns his attention to the storeroom behind me— the one he just walked through, where he certainly didn't see me.

"We pay people for that sort of thing, Princess."

It's not lost on me that he's still holding my phone in his hand. I hear it ring and my eyes follow his to his hand, where he looks at it in surprise. That surprise doubles when he flips it over to look at the screen. "Declan Evers, huh?"

His eyes hold mine, looking for all the things I'm not saying. But I'm not about to volunteer anything more than what he probably already knows. "My boss." I roll my eyes pointedly. "I have a deadline tonight, so he's been up my ass lately."

"Mm." Tony nods, eyeing me like he's looking for the lie in the truth. "Up your ass, you say?"

The innuendo isn't lost on me, but it feels too dirty to try and laugh.

For years, Tony's been the only blood family Vin and I had.

His affections were always a bit too much, but it's the way he is with everyone, kissing their cheeks, holding them close, letting his fingers wander a little too far from my lower back.

They never felt gross before. It was just normal; now it makes me feel dirty.

"I should answer that." I say, nodding at the phone in his hand just as it stops ringing.

"He's your boss, not your keeper. Not your master." Tony smirks. "You don't need to answer to him."

I bite my lip to tame the fear rolling through me, and move to pass Tony. "I'd better get those bathrooms cleaned so I can get home and work on my article."

He stops me with a hand on my shoulder, pushing me back until I'm standing against the wall with him in front of me.

There's enough space to run- he hasn't pinned his body to mine.

But if I do run, it will assure him that I know something.

And I don't want him to know that I suspect him in the slightest..

. not when there's a secret room in my bar with God only knows what inside of it.

"Relax." He says, clapping me on the shoulder. I wonder if my tension is really that obvious, but as he takes the bucket from my hand, I realize he meant it in a general sense. "It's been too long since I've seen you. Have a drink with me. I'll get someone to clean the bathrooms for you."

"I..." I glance at Pete, who's behind the bar appraising the dirty shot glasses.

"Things really have fallen apart around here lately." He mutters, shaking his head.

"I can't." I shake my head. "Antidepressants. They don't mix with alcohol."

"Antidepressants?" Tony asks, sounding surprised. "After the last time you went on those, I didn't think you'd ever do that again."

I wonder how much he knows about the last time I was on antidepressants.

I never divulged much about my health concerns with Tony.

It's hard to lose your memory in your early twenties, to wake up without any recollection of the night before, to have times where you feel like a zombie even though you're awake, to be exhausted even though you've slept for the better part of a weekend.

I haven't even leveled with Khan about most of that, only telling Marissa the bare minimum about how my medication was hard on me.

The fact that he seems to know more than he should makes me uncomfortable, but I try to tamp it down.

"I have a good doctor." I assure him. "It's been a good experience, this time."

Tony opens his mouth, but he's cut off by my phone ringing again. I expect that when he looks at it, he'll make some sort of snide remark about Declan being up my ass again. Instead, he raises his eyebrows in surprise and answers the phone without saying a word.

"Ren?" Khan's voice fills the space between us. "Ren, I'm on my way. I'm so sorry I forgot about our coffee date. I'm leaving now, so it should only be ten minutes. You okay?"

I open my mouth now, not sure how to answer that. I'm confident that I didn't have plans with Khan... but I told Declan I did.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I say. "I got tied up at the bar. Meet me here?"

"Perfect." Khan sighs. "Five minutes or less and I'll be there."