Smolder (Georgia Smoke #6)

• Two •

“I even added a tip for such an entertaining performance.”

Sebastian

I picked up the beer the bartender had set in front of me without taking my eyes off the pool table. It was too damn entertaining.

I’d been annoyed that my dad had sent me here with King and Storm to handle something so simple. I was positive he could have sent my brother to do this alone. The fucker we were coming to collect from wasn’t a big enough threat for all three of us.

But the complete stunner, who I was positive was hustling the two men she was playing a game of pool with, had me transfixed. I mean, I got how they’d be distracted by her looks, but, damn, they had to also be a touch stupid. She was really fucking good at this—I’d give her that. Batting her dark lashes and gazing at them with those ice-blue eyes, rimmed with slate outer rings, was powerful. My damn dick was affected way over here.

It could also be the pouty lips, which weren’t painted, the color natural with a slight shimmer of gloss. My gaze kept zoning in on them—when I wasn’t appreciating her above-average presentation. Seemed I must be the only one in here who was paying attention to this.

“You stare any harder, and you’re gonna mess up her game,” Storm drawled beside me.

I tore my eyes off her briefly to look at him. He was drinking from his glass of whiskey with a smirk on his face.

“You see it too then?” I asked him.

He shifted his eyes to me. “What? See the blonde who’s taking those two morons to the cleaners? Yeah, I see it.”

My gaze swung back to her as she bit her bottom lip and laughed. Fuck, that was a nice sound. There was a sultry lilt to it that made a man want to get closer and soak it up.

“She’s about to turn it,” Storm said with a low chuckle. “Briar would fucking love to watch this.”

Briar was his fiancée, and if any woman respected a hustle, she did.

“OH!” the bigger of the two men said when she sank the ball.

Her eyes went wide and appeared to twinkle with excitement. Someone needed to get this girl an Oscar.

“You two done here? Because I want to get home to my girls,” King said as his hand gripped my shoulder. His girls being his wife, Rumor, and their daughter, Cosette.

“Waiting on the fucker to show. I want to get home, too, but he’s not here,” Storm replied.

“You misunderstood what we’re here for, but y’all are too busy watching the hot little blonde work that table like it’s her job,” King whispered.

Storm tensed. “I’m not fucking interested in her,” he snarled, looking ready to rip King’s head off for insinuating otherwise.

When it came to Storm and his fiancée, he was slightly insane. Just five minutes ago, he’d had his phone out, watching her at their house on one of his cameras.

“I didn’t say you were,” King replied with a roll of his eyes. “As psycho as you are with Briar, you don’t have time for more than one pussy. I was just pointing out where your attention was. Let’s get this done,” he said, then slapped my back.

Not wanting to be distracted, I glanced one more time to see the blonde throw her hands in the air and squeal after she sank another ball. I really wished I had time to watch this finish. She’d lost two hundred dollars to them already, acting like she sucked. But the triple or nothing she’d suggested had her winning that back with four hundred more.

“Dancastle isn’t meeting us here?” I asked, realizing what King had just said about misunderstanding why we were here.

“Nope. Stellan wanted us to handle it gently. Dancastle is a well-loved senator. If this can be done without force, it’s less messy. We saw what we needed. We can go.”

Storm shot him an annoyed glare and stood up. It wasn’t like King to keep things from us. My dad normally outlined the details of a job, but he’d said King would fill us in. What was it we had seen?

I slapped a hundred on the bar and nodded at the bartender before Storm and I followed King to the exit. I was gonna miss the ending of the sexy little swindler’s performance. Her victory cheer just before we reached the door had me grinning as we stepped outside. I wasn’t as hotheaded as Storm. King might have left out shit, but he’d tell us eventually. Just wished we could have stayed in there longer. They might not appreciate the sexy-as-hell blonde, but I sure did.

My focus immediately snapped from the blonde inside to the man standing only a few feet from us.

“I told Stellan I’d have him the money next week!” Nathan Byars blurted.

He appeared frantic, and I hadn’t known he owed us any money, but if he did, he needed to be more than frantic. He owned a dozen dry cleaners and also smuggled some illegal drugs. When he got tight and needed a little to get him to his next payoff, he came to us. Guessed his loan was due.

But what did this have to do with Dancastle?

King sighed heavily. “Well, you see, Nate dog, the thing is, you don’t get to give us a date when you’ll repay your loan. That’s given to you the moment the transaction goes down, and that due date was yesterday.”

The redheaded man backed up closer to his new navy-blue Ford F150. “I need some payments to go through. That’s all,” he stammered.

It was obvious he thought he could get into his truck before we reached him. The sound of the doors unlocking from the key fob in his hand was a careless move. If Thatcher were here, Nathan would already be on the ground bleeding out. My brother had no patience.

“Seems you had enough money for that new, shiny truck,” Storm drawled before pulling out his Glock and pointing it at the idiot’s head. Not that he’d kill him. At least until we had what he owed us.

He paused a moment before reaching for the door handle on his truck.

The silenced shots from Storm’s gun took out his front and back left tires.

“Come on now. Did you really think you’d be able to get away that easy?” he asked.

“Might want to think real hard about where you can get that money,” King suggested.

Nathan had gone pale now that he knew he wasn’t going to be able to get away on flat tires. “Listen, one of my dealers had a bad run-in. Lost some product. He’s getting it back. I just need a couple more days.”

King glanced at me. “Hear that, Sebastian? He just needs a couple more days. Reckon he can run and hide from your brother?”

Threatening anyone with Thatcher got the point across.

“He’d be the first,” I replied. “Crazy son of a bitch. Doubt Nathan here wants to involve Thatch.”

Even if Nathan hadn’t looked back over my shoulder, giving himself away, I’d have known we had company. I’d heard them already. Storm didn’t look at me, but there was the tiniest nod of his head that told me he also knew there was someone behind us.

Sliding my gun out of its holster as I turned to face whoever had been dumb enough to interfere, I heard the click of Storm’s gun and Nathan’s pained cry. He’d shot some part of Nathan’s body.

The two idiots who I’d watched the blonde swindle had joined us. This was Nathan’s backup? Seriously? Could he not have gotten better men?

The larger one’s eyes widened as he looked at whatever Storm had just done behind me, but the other one pointed his gun in my direction. I didn’t wait to see what he planned on doing since he wasn’t very bright. I put a bullet in his forearm, causing his gun to fall to the ground as his knees buckled from the pain.

His friend went down almost at the same time from King shooting the man’s right thigh.

“It didn’t have to get messy. Look what you made us do,” King drawled with a shake of his head. “Damn. Who’s gonna drive the three of you? And now, there is all this blood.”

“I’ll get it!” Nathan cried out. “Tell Stellan I will have it by the end of the week. Just need a couple of days.”

I smirked, glancing at the man as he leaned back on his truck, holding his wrist as blood dripped from it onto the pavement. “Thatcher will come for it next. I suggest you have it ready.”

“I will,” he said, wincing through the pain. “I swear.”

The man that King had shot glared at all of us, then began to limp toward Nathan. I turned my attention to the other man. It wasn’t my business, but I had to make sure.

“Did you pay the blonde inside what you owed her?” I asked.

He narrowed his gaze at me. “I didn’t owe that little bitch shit. She was playing us. I just wanted to fuck her.”

That pissed me off. Again, not my business, but she’d worked hard for that money. I’d sure been entertained.

“I’ll give you about sixty seconds to go back inside and pay her the six hundred you owe her, plus an extra hundred for a game well played,” I told him, aiming the gun at his thigh this time. “Or I’ll give you a limp to match your buddy’s.”

He glared at me. “What the fuck?!”

Storm’s low chuckle only seemed to make the man angrier.

“Just do it!” Nathan barked at him.

“I’d go pay the girl. Sebastian is real big on chivalry. He won’t let this go,” Storm said with amusement.

The guy cursed and held up his arm. “You want me to go inside, bleeding from a gunshot?”

“He’s got a point,” Storm said. “No need to cause us any more annoyance. Just get the money off him and deliver it yourself.”

I stuck my gun back in the holster at my waist as I closed the distance between me and the bastard who was going to walk out without paying up. His eyes followed me warily as I approached him.

Bending down, I picked up his gun, then tossed it to Storm. “Now, you want to tell me which pocket, or do you want me feeling you up?”

The man clenched his teeth as he inhaled through his nose. It was a grimace that was somewhere between pain and anger. Both were battling for first place, it seemed.

“Front right.”

I reached inside as he tensed up even more and pulled out his wallet. Opening it, I saw his license. Calvin Cebourn Edwards.

“Damn, your parents hated you, Calvin Cebourn,” I mused, then counted out eight hundred-dollar bills instead of seven since he had a wad of cash. Might as well tip the girl proper for an excellent performance.

I dropped the wallet to the ground in front of him, right on top of a pool of his blood. “You understand if I don’t stick my hand back in your jeans,” I said, then headed toward the door of the pool hall.

The lit-up sign above the door read RAILHOUSE , but the E was blinking on and off. Someone needed to fix that.

Shoving the door open, I entered the building and scanned the place until I saw the blonde talking to the bartender. She laughed at something he’d said, and I wished I were close enough to hear it. I was almost to her when those unique eyes locked on me. She studied me, unsure if I was headed for her or not.

The bartender said something to her, and she blinked, then glanced at him before turning her attention back to me. The tip of her pink tongue came out to do a quick lick of her lips. I wouldn’t mind tasting them myself. It was a shame I had business to handle tonight.

I laid the money down on the bar in front of her. “This is yours,” I told her.

She frowned, looking at it. “What?”

I nodded my head toward the pool table she’d used earlier. “The men you so beautifully hustled—they left without paying you.”

She still didn’t touch the money, and her arms crossed over her chest as she stared at me, looking offended. It was cute as fuck.

“I didn’t hustle anyone. And I’m not taking your money.”

I wanted to laugh, but I didn’t because I wanted her to like me more. “It’s not my money. Like I said, it’s from the dicks you played and beat.”

Her gaze dropped to the money, and she took a deep breath before looking at me. “How did you get it if it’s theirs? Do you know them?”

I shrugged. “Not exactly. But I swear I took the bills directly from the smaller one’s wallet. I even added a tip for such an entertaining performance.”

Her body tensed, as if my pointing out it was a performance insulted her. This one was feisty. She looked like a fucking angel, but she was swindling men for cash. I respected it. Hell, who wouldn’t? It was hot.

“Why are you the one bringing it to me?” she asked, still not picking it up.

“Because it’s yours and the other men are”—I paused—“indisposed at the moment.”

Her eyes widened and cut toward the bartender, who was watching me as he poured someone a beer. She was young. Not illegal young, but possibly too young for me. Which meant she was sure as hell too young for him. He was several years older than me.

“Do I want to know what you mean by that?” she asked, uncrossing her arms and finally picking up the money.

I smirked. “Probably not.”

She counted it, then lifted her eyes to mine. “That’s two hundred too much.” She held out two bills to me.

I shook my head. “No, Ace,” I said. “That’s the tip.”

Then, I turned and headed for the door. I’d already been gone too long. No need to draw out something with a girl I couldn’t have—at least tonight.

King’s eyes were on me the moment I stepped back outside. The other men had gone, and all that was left of them was their blood on the pavement.

“Storm went to handle the security camera footage,” King said, then cut his eyes back toward the bar. “You give the girl her money?” he asked.

I nodded, not sure what to make of his tense expression.

He took a deep breath. “Well, I guess that settles who is gonna be the one to get close to her.”

My gut tightened. I didn’t like what I’d just heard him say. “What do you mean?”

“She’s why we’re here. Nathan’s men showing up and alerting him was just a bonus. We had been going to see him next. Saved us a trip.” King patted my shoulder, then squeezed. “Sorry. I could tell you were into her, but if it makes you feel better about this, she’s already taken. Dating Dancastle’s son. And I doubt hustling folks at pool is all she does. She is who Stellan wants us to use to find out what Dancastle has his hands in. We already know he’s using Nathan, but we need to know how big and deep it gets. The blonde is our easiest way in.”

To think, I’d already decided to come back and see her when I wasn’t working. Damn, I was real bad at picking out females. Not only was this one taken, but she was also in on some fucking dangerous shit.

I glanced back at the door. “You sure that’s her? Hard to believe a senator’s son is dating a girl who hustles men at a pool hall.”

King nodded. “From what all Stellan had Wilder pull on her, she’s not someone Dancastle approves of for his son. But he’s going through a rebellious stage, it seems. Could be he’s found a way to use her in the underground trafficking and infiltrating drugs nto the colleges around here. If it’s the laced shit that was causing hallucinations and cannibalism that we shut the Miltos down for, then it’s only a matter of time before the Feds step in. Keeping them in our pocket is vital. We have to stop this before it goes any further.”

“Well, damn. This took a turn I hadn’t seen coming,” Storm drawled as he returned from clearing the footage off the security cameras.

“That’s why I had to come then? Dad sent me instead of Thatcher because I’m single. You know Wells is too. Why didn’t he send Wells instead of Storm?” I asked, annoyed.

They hadn’t told me before I got a look at her and thought for a moment that she might be worth getting to know.

“Wells? Come on, Sebastian. You think Stellan would trust Wells with this?” King asked.

I knew this wasn’t a request, and I had no option out.

“You’re the best Romeo we got now that King is off the market,” Storm replied with amusement.

I glared at him, then stalked past them both toward the parking lot before the jokes started up. I wasn’t in the mood. If they’d told me the plan first, then I wouldn’t have been attracted to her, and the disappointment that she was dirty wouldn’t be an annoying sting in my chest.