J.R. Ward the Black Dagger Brotherhood Novels 1-4 - J. R. Ward [516]
Shit. He was such a sap.
Except, man, she’d been so lovely. For the short time when she’d seemed to be attracted to him, he’d hoped they might get something off the ground. But then she’d up and disappeared. Which of course proved she was smart. He didn’t have much to offer a female like her and not because he was just a human. He was treading water on the fringes of the Brotherhood’s world, unable to fight at their side because of what he was, unable to go back to the human world because he knew too much. And the only way out of this deserted middle ground was with a toe tag.
Now was he a real eHarmony contender or what?
With another rush of happy-happy-joy-joy, the group next door let off a fresh buckshot of hilarity and Butch glanced over. At the center of the party was a little blond guy in a slick suit. He looked fifteen, but he’d been a regular in the VIP section for the past month, throwing cash around like it was confetti.
Obviously, the guy made up for his physical deficiencies through the use of his wallet. Another example of green being golden.
Butch finished his Scotch, fingered for the waitress, then looked at the bottom of his glass. Shit. After four doubles, he didn’t feel buzzed at all, which told him how well his tolerance was faring. Clearly, he was a varsity alcoholic now, no more of that training at the junior levels thing.
And when the realization didn’t bother him, he realized he’d stopped treading water. Now he was sinking.
Well, wasn’t he a party tonight.
“The Reverend says you need a friend.”
Butch didn’t bother glancing up at the woman. “No, thanks.”
“Why don’t you look at me first?”
“Tell your boss I appreciate his—” Butch glanced up and clapped his mouth shut.
He recognized the woman immediately, but then again, ZeroSum’s head of security was pretty damn unforgettable. Six feet tall, easy. Hair jet-black and cut like a man’s. Eyes the dark gray color of a shotgun barrel. With the wife-beater she had on, she was popping the upper body of an athlete, all muscles, veins, and no fat. The vibe she gave off was that she could break bones and enjoy it, and absently he looked at her hands. Long-fingered. Strong. The kind that could do damage.
Holy hell…he would like to be hurt. Tonight he would like to hurt on the outside for a change.
The woman smiled a little, like she knew what he was thinking, and he caught a glimpse of fangs. Ah…so she was not woman. She was female. She was vampire.
The Reverend had been right, that bastard. This one would do, because she was everything Marissa wasn’t. And because she was the kind of anonymous sex Butch had had all his adult life. And because she was just the sort of pain he was looking for and hadn’t known it.
As he slipped a hand into his Ralph Lauren Black Label suit, the female shook her head. “I don’t work it for cash. Ever. Consider it a favor for a friend.”
“I don’t know you.”
“You’re not the friend I’m talking about.”
Butch looked over her shoulder and saw Rehvenge staring across the VIP section. The male shot back a very self-satisfied smile, then disappeared into his private office.
“He’s a very good friend of mine,” the female murmured.
“Oh, really. What’s your name?”
“Not important.” She held out her hand. “Come on, Butch, a.k.a. Brian, last name O’Neal. Come back with me. Forget for a while whatever makes you hammer those shots of Lagavulin. I promise you, all that self-destruction will be waiting for you when you get back.”
Man, he really wasn’t psyched about how much she had on him. “Why don’t you tell me your name first.”
“Tonight you can call me Sympathy. How ’bout that.”
He eyed her from bangs to boots. She was wearing leather pants. No surprise. “You happen to have two heads there, Sympathy?”
She laughed, a low, rich sound. “No, and I’m not a she-male, either. Yours isn’t the only sex that can be strong.”
He stared hard into her cast-iron