Beyond Pain (9 page)

"Interesting." Ed could probably get his hands on some damn good shit--if he managed to stay alive. "Anyone else I should know about?"

"The blonde on stage?" She nodded toward the thin rectangular block that thrust out between the tables. Calling it a stage was generous, but it had a pole on one end that was currently occupied by a nervous-looking dancer dodging gropes. She was young, with bright pink stripes standing out in her platinum ponytail, and Six watched her twist around the pole before continuing. "She should be managing this place. She's got some kinda perfect memory or something, and she can do math in her head. Any math. I kept telling Trent to let her handle the paperwork, but he said tits like that were wasted anywhere but the stage."

"He would say something like that." The man had had no appreciation for proper resource appropriation.

Six shifted, her thigh pressing against his. "He was stupid. This sector's a mess, but it doesn't have to be as bad as it is. He had to crush anyone successful before they could threaten him, though."

Which meant the place had always been limited by Trent's dubious abilities. "Who else?"

Her gaze drifted over the crowd before snagging on the table straight across from them, one equally hidden in shadows. "Word must have traveled," she said quietly. "Scarlet's here."

All Bren caught was a flash of white hair, the glint of metal. "Scarlet?"

Six gripped the edge of the table. "Riff plays in her band, so he pretty much answers to her. She's got a lot of pull."

"Then why wasn't she at the meeting with Dallas?"

"Didn't see the point. She's not big on answering to men." Six exhaled and resumed her slow strokes across the whetstone. "And I still didn't know Dallas that well. I wasn't sure if he'd have to take her down a few pegs, just to prove he could."

"Yeah." Except Lex probably wouldn't have ended up stabbing tables at the Broken Circle if a woman had accompanied the men. "How does Cain feel about her? He seems to be firmly rooted in some fairly archaic notion of proper gender roles."

"Cain..." Six's jaw clenched. "Honestly, I don't fucking know. But considering what he thinks about me, it can't be good."

"Well, he'll have to wise up if he wants to make it in this brave new world." Bren rose and nodded to the other table. "Shall we?"

The white hair turned out to be a bleach job, pale bangs flowing over the rest of Scarlet's deep black hair. A plume of smoke curled up from her lips, and she watched their approach silently.

Bren nodded to an empty chair. "May I?"

"Nice manners." She shrugged one shoulder. "What's up, Six?"

"Scarlet." Six spun a chair and straddled it, folding her arms across the back. "How's the band?"

"Not practicing for shit, not lately. Things are in a shambles." She eyed Bren. "I guess you're here to fix that, huh?"

"Depends."

"On?"

He mimicked her one-shouldered shrug. "If I can figure out where to start."

"He's solid," Six said, her voice raw. "I know my word doesn't go far, but give him a chance."

The woman's gaze hardened, but her words were gentle. "You sure?"

"Give him a chance."

"I am." Scarlet gestured to the table. "What does this look like? We're talking."

Six's lips twitched. "Yeah? Well, he's about as talkative as you are. But since you both stick to saying what's important without any bullshit, you'll get along fine."

"Uh-huh." Scarlet snuffed out her cigarette. "If you two promise not to make life harder for folks around here, I'll make sure you get the information you need.
All
of it."

"All right." Bren leaned forward. "Who backed Trent's play to blow Dallas O'Kane off the map?"

She shook her head. "That, I can't help you with. Trent took the secret to his grave--if he ever knew at all."

An anonymous partner. It made a twisted sort of sense. A man like Wilson Trent might not have considered that anyone who wouldn't reveal his identity had his--or her--reasons. He would have taken the money and counted himself lucky, not convenient. He never would have wondered if maybe he was meant to take the fall.

"He got reckless near the end." Six rested her chin on her folded arms. "Overconfident. A couple of them wanted him to kill me outright, but he couldn't resist shoving my face in how worthless I was one last time."

He's dead.
A reminder, one Bren needed.
Dead.
"So we trace the money and the explosives. Everything leaves a trail."

Scarlet opened her mouth only to close it again. After a long moment, she lit another cigarette. "There might be a way. If I can find him."

Six straightened. "You mean Noah? Is he still around?"

"I said
if
, didn't I? Who the hell knows with that crazy bastard."

Bren reached for Six's hand. "Who's Noah?"

"He's this genius out of Five or Six, no one's really sure." Her fingers curled around his, warm and strong, and she smiled. "Scarlet's right. He's crazy, but he's also some sort of tech genius. He can get into Eden's systems and find or change things."

"Where does he live?"

"Who knows? Sometimes he surfaces to meet people for jobs. Otherwise, he makes them crawl underground to him, but never in the same place twice." Six glanced at Scarlet. "If we put it out there that I want to talk to him, he might show up. We got on okay."

"I'll shake some trees," the woman allowed. "See if he falls out. Where will you two be?"

"Home," Bren told her shortly. "Time to report back to Dallas, see what he wants to do next."

"Riff knows where to find us," Six added as she rose. "You should be proud, by the way. He's the only one who hasn't opened his mouth and said something stupid to one of O'Kane's women."

Scarlet smiled. "He knows better."

Bren laid his hand on Six's elbow as they headed for the door. "Do you need to stick around here tonight?"

"In Three?" She shook her head. "No, I want to go...back. Unless you're staying."

If they left immediately, they'd make it back in time to give Dallas his report before morning. "You can ride with me if you'd feel safer."

She stopped next to his bike and pivoted to stare up at him, her eyes considering as she studied his face. "Won't that make it harder for you to maneuver?"

He could handle the machine in his sleep, so the only danger was to the remaining bike. If it got lifted, Dallas would be pissed, but Bren figured it'd be worth it.

For a few minutes in that warehouse, Six had been open to him, soft and trusting in a way that kicked off a chain reaction of protective instinct. He'd destroy anything or anyone that hurt her, but
her
--

Gentle. Careful.

He wanted it again, the feeling that she would gladly put her body in his hands because she knew it'd be all right. This time, it wasn't about sex. It was about her faith in him, her confidence that he wouldn't let anything bad happen to her. Not now, not ever.

"Ride with me." He pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. "I can handle the bike."

"Okay." She hugged him, squeezing too tight and then springing away after a nervous moment. Still awkward and uncertain, but she made up for it once she was behind him on the bike. She wrapped herself around him, chest tight to his back, thighs riding alongside his hips.

"Hold on," he murmured, then revved the engine.

Three o'clock in the morning was too damn early--or too damn late--for high-pitched, squawking giggles.

Apparently, no one had ever informed the curvy blonde hanging off Ace's arm. Jared sighed and pushed the door wide. "Come in and introduce me to your friends."

Ace grinned and prowled inside, dragging the woman with him and leaving the other man to trail behind them like a silent shadow. "Jared, this is Sally--"

"
Susi
," the blonde squealed, smacking Ace's shoulder with a delicately beaded clutch that could only have come from Eden. She reeked of the city, of
money
, an adventurous socialite slumming on the arm of a dangerous sector gangster.

Not Ace's usual type, so it was no surprise when he waved a hand at Jared. "Susi, then. Susi, meet the man of your dreams."

Terrific.
Jared forced a smile and kissed the back of her hand. "I don't suppose you have a driver waiting for you downstairs, do you, love?"

She beamed up at him, bright and breathless and so very, very drunk. "Yes. Would you like to go for a ride?"

She had a pleasant face and curves that wouldn't quit. Entertaining her wouldn't be a hardship--if she were sober enough to appreciate him. "Another time." He pulled a card from his back pocket and pressed it into her hand. "Saturday night at seven?"

Within minutes, he had her tucked safely into her vehicle, his card still clutched in her hand. It hadn't taken long, but he still returned to find that Ace had kicked off his boots and was rifling through his stash of liquor. "Sorry, brother. It was cold, and the only way she'd give us a ride was if I promised to introduce her to you."

"I see," Jared said absently. His attention was on Ace's other companion, who sat at the far end of the couch, silent and decidedly less bubbly than Susi had been. "Hello."

"That's Cruz. He's one of the new-- Aha!" Surfacing with the whiskey in hand, Ace threw himself back down on the couch and didn't quite look at Jared. "Cruz just took ink, but he's from the city. Bren's friend. Cruz, this handsome bastard is Jared. If you ever met a rich lady in Eden who looked sexually satisfied, it was probably thanks to him."

Jesus, maybe Ace was drunker than he'd thought. "The former MP?" Jared asked.

"That's me," Cruz said, offering him a small smile. "Nice to meet you."

"And you, as well." Jared sank into his favorite chair and eyed the two men on his sofa. Last he'd heard, Cruz had snaked Rachel right out from under Ace's nose. So either his friend was playing one hell of a dangerous game, making nice with a sexual rival...

Or things were even more complicated than they seemed.

Ace twisted open the whiskey and took a swig before offering it to Cruz. "I've been showing Cruz around the sector, now that we're partnered up. I took him to one of Gia's parties tonight, and she wanted to eat him right up."

The larger man shifted uncomfortably, the liquor bottle clasped loosely in his hands. "She was very...friendly."

"She was sizing him up for her harem, is what she was doing." Ace nudged Cruz with one foot. "Shoulda seen her pout over Dallas getting to him first."

"I believe it." The man was huge and built, the way Gia liked. "Were you two working security, or merely out for the night?"

"Purely recreational. I was
trying
to get this sorry bastard laid--"

Cruz groaned and dropped his head forward.

"--but he's like that old fairy tale. You know, the one with all the bears. This girl's too nice, this one's not nice enough. And I'm over here telling him that all you need to do is get your clothes off, and it doesn't matter where your dick ends up. As long as everyone's having fun, it's always just right."

The longer they sat there, the more surreal it all got. Jared cleared his throat. "What happened to the bed Goldilocks here
was
sleeping in?"

Cruz blindly shoved the bottle back into Ace's hands and rose. "Can he stay here? I didn't want to leave him alone, not this drunk, but I need to get back."

Jared's first instinct was to apologize, but he bit it back. Better for him to leave than to hear difficult words meant only for Ace's ears. "I'll take care of him. Be safe on the streets."

Cruz leaned down to pat Ace's shoulder awkwardly. "Enjoy the hangover, buddy."

"O'Kanes don't get hung over," Ace replied grandly, but he let Cruz leave without protest, despite his earlier complaints about the chilly weather.

The first thing Jared did was reclaim the bottle. "What are you doing, man?"

"I
was
drinking." Ace sighed and twisted, swinging his legs up onto the couch. "It's not what it looks like. I swear."

"I don't even know what it looks like, so you may as well enlighten me."

Ace stared broodingly at his feet for a solid minute. "Rachel dumped him," he said finally. "I don't know why. He's fucking stupid over her."

Jared had seen the woman look at Ace, her dark eyes covetous and hungry. "Maybe she dumped him for you."

The weirdest part was that Ace didn't even argue. "Maybe. Don't know if that'd be a good thing."

"What, you don't want her anymore?"

Ace shot him a glare--and a middle finger. "Yup, you figured me out. Got it out of my system. Clear skies, bring on the pussy."

Defensiveness and irritation--Jared could work with that. "Hey, I figured there must be some reason you were out drinking with the ex instead of making your move. It's not like you."

"He fought for her."

So had Ace, in his own way. He'd watched Rachel, held back when he wasn't sure what to give her or how. "He's a great guy, big deal. You are, too."

"You're not listening." Ace sat up and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "She dumped him on his ass, and he still risked everything to drag me into the cage. Not to win her. To
protect
her."

No hint of humor or denial colored his words, just a grim certainty that shadowed his eyes. He wasn't joking around, and he wasn't playing a game.

He was stepping aside.

Jared took a swig from the bottle. "What's your plan? You turn him into the perfect lover, shove them together, and...what? You go back to your cold bed alone and think about what a good, noble thing you did?"

"Stop twisting shit," Ace snapped. "I may not have turned out as fancy as you and Gia, but I got all the same training. You can't play me."

"I don't have to," Jared shot back. "Because I've known you for years, since way before Ace ever existed. And I know all Alexander Santana's secrets."

"Yeah? Well, it goes both ways. Look me in the eyes and tell me you know how to love someone. Not for a few hours or a night. Not for a
gig
. Tell me you know how to really fucking love someone."