The VIP Room(38)

His break was pathetic, leaving half the balls clumped at the far and of the table. Without comment, without even looking at Feliks, she walked around the table, surveying the placement of the balls. Then she struck, leaning over to sink the first ball, a stripe, with an efficient, direct stroke of the cue. It was almost as beautiful as the sight of her top gaping down to display her breasts, creamy and lush, spilling out of the black lace bra she wore.

My dick went rock hard so fast my head spun. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I planted my feet on the concrete floor and glared at every other man in the pool hall, aware I couldn’t kill them for staring at her breasts. And I couldn’t force her to leave. She had to do this, and I had to let her. I reminded myself of that about fifty times between her first shot and her second.

In the minute since Chloe had bent over the table the two nearest games had stopped, the players coming over to watch Chloe and Feliks. My glare intensified until I was surprised laser beams weren’t shooting from my eyes.

She rounded the table to stand in front of me and bent over to take her third shot. The sight of her gorgeous ass in those tight jeans almost made me groan. I had a very brief fantasy of f*cking her over the pool table at my house before I dragged my attention back to the room.

Her job was to play the game so we could talk to Feliks and then leave. My job was to keep her safe. Thinking with my dick was not going to keep her safe. I could imagine all the ways I was going to f*ck her later. Resolved, I kept my eyes off her lush body and kept them on the room.

The other men stayed back. They must have sensed that I was on a hair trigger. It was early, and the crowd wasn’t drunk enough to ignore their danger. Or they were struck dumb by the beauty of Chloe running a pool table. She missed her fourth shot after leaning over at a side angle that sent her shirt sliding off one smooth, golden shoulder.

I swore again silently, trying to watch the room without registering the hungry eyes of her observers. Feliks sank two balls and missed a third, but she got her fifth and a very tricky bank shot on the sixth before the Russian got his turn again. The sight of her was murder. Those spike heels, her curvy legs, her perfect round ass. When she planted her feet and spread her legs to shoulder width as she bent over to shoot, I shuddered. I was in hell and she had no idea what she was doing.

Finally, after Feliks sank one more and missed the next, Chloe finished the game, sinking the eight ball on a bank shot that was so precise and cleanly executed I almost wanted to cry.

When the game was done there were a few calls for next game, but Chloe cut them off herself, sending the room her shy smile and saying, “Sorry, that was a one-time thing. But thanks.”

Only Chloe could send a bunch of rough guys off with little more than a smile. I think they were all so confused by what a girl like her was doing there in the first place, no one thought to push her. That or they were very sure I’d shoot them if they did. The sweet drained from her face as she turned to pin Feliks to the wall with a glare of her own.

“Okay. We played. Now tell me where my brother is,” she demanded.

“Hey, hey,” Feliks said, backing up a few steps and raising his hands in front of him. “Keep your voice quiet. I don’t want to talk to the whole room.”

“Fine,” she said in a lower tone. “Where is Nolan?”

“I don’t know where Nolan is. I can only tell you what he’s been doing.”

“And?” I cut in, getting pissed at this guy. He’d gotten what he’d wanted. Now it was Chloe’s turn. “Spill it so we can go.”

Ignoring me, Feliks looked at Chloe and said “you brother, he used to play some pool with me. I found out what he did, and I hooked him up with my cousin for some work.”

“What kind of work?” Chloe asked. Feliks shrugged and mimed typing on a keyboard.

“Hacking stuff,” he said. “I don’t know what it was. Sergey put him to work.”

“Sergey?” I asked, my gut turning to lead. What were the odds this was another Sergey? I’d never been a big believer in coincidence. Feliks’s eyes sharpened on my face and I realized that most of his attitude had been an act. He was far sharper than he looked. In a voice so quiet I had to strain to hear, he said,

“Her brother is smart. And not so smart. Like the sister. She should stay home and let the brother find himself. Lot of people looking for him. All bad. Word is, he stole from my cousin.”

“Did he?” I asked. Feliks shrugged as if he didn’t care or didn’t know. “Sergey looking for him, too. A pretty woman should stay home. Out of the way.”

He raised his grizzled eyebrows, asking me if I understood. I did. We were getting the f*ck out of there, and I was going to do my best to convince Chloe to leave the rest of this in Axel’s hands. If Nolan was working for Tsepov, I wanted Chloe nowhere near him.





Chapter 13





Chloe





Sam’s jaw was tight as he drove back to his house. He looked pissed off and I couldn’t tell if he was mad at me, Nolan, both of us, or the whole situation. Probably the last. I wanted to tell him he didn’t have to worry about it, that I appreciated his help, but I could handle this on my own. I wasn’t stupid. I could imagine what might have happened if I’d walked into Balls and Sticks alone. I needed Sam’s help.