I heaved, finally having a grip on my senses. I looked at my hand, clutching the broken bottle, and then at Jas.
"I-Is he dead?"
"He better be."
Suddenly, the door rattled, as if soone was trying to break in.
"Relax."
"Athena, what are you doing?"
She unlocked the door.
"Athena!"
Opening it, a familiar figure stepped in. Isaac.
He kept his eyes pinned on Athena as he ca closer.
"What is he doing here?" I asked with a frown.
"How did you think we navigated the underworld so far without any trouble?"
"Because of him?"
Isaac glanced in my direction. I want to look away, but I don’t. I panicked when he ca towards , but he was simply going for Jas.
He crouched and asked. "You did this?" He eyed the bottle still in my grasp.
"Yes..."
Saying nothing, he pressed his fingers into his neck to check for a pulse.
"I’ll handle it from here."
"I-Is he dead?"
"I said I would handle it from here. Leave."
Still a fucking asshole.
I tossed the bottle sowhere and stord out. I made sure to fix myself along the way, but I was afraid I couldn’t calm myself down. I’m seething. Jas words running through my mind.
Two heirs. Do they seriously believe that Adrian was his son?
I slamd right into a wall. I was quick to step back, ready to pounce on whoever had put a wall right in a way, but I froze when my eyes connected with Reed.
I quickly broke my gaze and masked my expression.
"You should watch where you’re going..." I said more softly to disguise my voice.
I walked past him, my mind reeling on several things. What’s Reed doing here? Does he know it’s ?
No, no... there’s no way he does.
"You go by the na Vixen, don’t you?"
I froze in my steps. Take a deep breath, Catherine. I turned back to him, slowly.
"Who’s asking?" I uttered, my eyes raking him from head to toes in an unimpressive way.
Now that I took a better look at him, he doesn’t look well. He was leaner, and he had cuts and bruises on his face. What happened to him?
"My na doesn’t matter."
"You know mine, it’s only fair that I know yours."
His gaze road around like they were watching him or sothing.
"C-Can we talk sowhere private?"
"Try again..." I turned to leave.
"Please, this is a matter of life and death."
I felt a constriction in my chest, but on the surface, I gave an unreadable expression.
"You should have started with that." I was already walking. "Follow ."
He followed closely as I led him to another section of the casino that was strictly off-limits.
When the guard saw , he was alerted.
"He’s with ..." I said, showing my card.
He gave a stiff nod, unhooked the red velvet rope, and we strolled through.
I pushed aside the beaded curtains and into the dimly lit bar. Few people were enjoying their drinks at booths. As I walked, eyes followed , while so of them raised their glasses, but I didn’t acknowledge any of them.
I picked a booth further away and out of sight, asking the bartender for drinks.
I sat down, crossing my legs, and I observed as Reed took his, grunting as he clutched his side. He was hurt. It was at the tip of my tongue to ask if he was okay, but I couldn’t.
Our drinks were brought, the crystal decanter sat at the center, amber liquid catching the low light.
"I took the liberty of ordering us drinks, if you don’t mind."
"It’s okay." He opened the lid and hastily poured into the rocks glass, but his grip was unstable, and he caused a ss.
I used the ice tongs to take ice from the tal bucket and helped him drop it into the drink.
"Thanks..." he mumbled, chugging the entire thing at once.
"Why did you co to ?" I asked before I started acting concerned, and give myself away.
"Everyone knows who you are. You don’t count your chips. You don’t hesitate when you lose them either. That kind of carelessness only cos from old money."
"You have been observing ?"
"They have been observing you."
"I didn’t realize I had made such a statent. I’m just a simple woman who loves to play gas."
"Is Vixen really your na?"
I forced a smile. "That’s for them to wonder."
"That’s it... the mystery and the deep pockets you have. It gives the hint you co from old money, and everyone wants a taste of it."
"That’s one thing about the underworld, isn’t it?" I said, taking my glass and bringing it to my lips. "Money and power."
"You have that."
I shook my head. "As I said, I just want to play gas, yet they are herding around ."
"They wanna give you power because they know they are gonna gain from it."
"Huh..." I feigned a thoughtful expression. "Then I know just who I’ll get that from..." I sipped from my glass. "Don King."
Reed’s entire body went still, and he looked away, trying to conceal his anger.
"Do you happen to know this Don King and how I can get an audience with him?"
"I ca to you and not the other way around."
"That’s the thing with ... I take advantage whenever and however I can..."
"Don King is not soone you wanna ss with."
"Everyone keeps saying that. They are afraid of him."
"As anyone should be...." He clenched his teeth. "I used to work for him."
"Used to? What happened?"
"None of your business."
I set the glass down louder than expected. "Is that so Mr. Cross?"
His eyes widened. "H-How did you..."
"I have money... and that can get a good amount of information."
"How much do you know about ?"
"Not much, but I was hoping we could get to know each other..." I pointed out. "You don’t look good, Mr. Cross. I’m gonna wager, you have so falling out. And in everything I have heard about Don King... the Devil. No one crosses him and lives to tell the tale."
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