"I'm gonna feed you. I need to ask you some questions first." He puts the pizza in front of me on the coffee table and props his boot on the edge between me and the object of my desire. Of course, this gives me a full on view of his crotch, displaying another potential object of my desire.
No! Bad Foxfire!
"Your friend's been talking about us. I'm here to see how much you know."
"Us? Who's us?" Reluctantly, I raise my eyes to his face. Now that I think of it, he does look familiar. Another neighbor of Amber's? Garrett's whole gang seems to live in the apartment building he owns. "I don't even know your name."
"It's Tank."
Tank. I don't question the weird name. Pot, kettle and all that. Besides, don't gang members all get badass nicknames when they go through initiation? I'd ask him, but I doubt he's up to fielding questions about gang life. And since he's built like, well, a tank, I'm going to let him get his way.
For now.
"All right, Mr. Tank-"
"Just Tank."
"Just Tank," I correct, and he closes his eyes in frustration. Excellent. "What do you want to know?"
He takes a deep breath. "Earlier today you confronted Garrett outside Amber's apartment. You accused him of being a werewolf."
"Yeah? So?"
"I need to know what she told you about us."
"She didn't tell me anything. We were talking about her bad date. You guys were just mentioned in passing."
"What exactly did she say?"
"I can't tell you that. It would break the girl code."
"Miss Hines," he growls.
"Call me Foxfire."
"Miss Hines." His voice gets even more deep and growly, "I don't think you understand how serious this is. Amber learned some things about us, and was sworn into confidence by our leader, Garrett. Because she talked, she could be in trouble."
"I thought you said she was okay."
"We don't like outsiders talking about us. Her level of punishment depends on how much she told."
There was that word again. Punishment. I love it a little too much.
"You motorcycle types are pretty intense." I don't call them a gang because maybe that's offensive. Or maybe it isn't because they definitely are a gang. A bunch of big dangerous guys covered in matching tattoos, riding motorcycles, sticking close together, and following some sort of bro code. Their leader owns a bunch of businesses, and they all work for him. I haven't heard a whiff of criminal activity, but I'm not going to ask.
"Just tell me what Amber told you."
The jingling of little bells interrupts us.
"Is this your phone?" Tank picks it up before I nod. He closes his fist around it and squeezes. When he opens his hand, pieces of cell phone fall to the floor.
"Whoa," I breathe, staring at the pieces.
"You need to start paying attention, Miss Hines. I'm here to find out what you know, and neither of us is going anywhere until I'm satisfied."
~.~
Tank
"That was so cool!" she squeaks. "You crushed my phone with your bare hands." She stops and wrinkles her nose. "Wait… that was my phone."
I can only shake my head. "Yeah, princess. Until I get what I want, you're not going anywhere or talking to anyone."
"Can I have pizza?"
"Talk, first. Then pizza."
"Amber didn't tell me anything about you guys."
"You called Garrett a werewolf."
"Yeah, because that's what you're called."
Fuck. I fold my arms over my chest. "Amber told you we were werewolves."
"Yeah."
"And you believed her?"
"Um yeah. You're in a gang. It's your name. You can call yourself whatever you want, as far as I'm concerned. The Jets, the Sharks, the Werewolves… the Deranged Iguanas… whatever you think makes you badass, crewcut."
I swipe my fingers across my eyes. This chick has no idea how close she is to getting that cute little ass of hers spanked. And my dick thinks that's an awesome idea.
"So that's why you came down here?" she scoffs. "To ask me what I knew about your gang?"
"Tell me what you know."
"I know you ride motorcycles." She ticks off on her fingers. "A bunch of you live next to Amber, my best friend. Your leader tried to seduce her, and failed, miserably, when he abandoned her halfway through their first date."
"Is that all?"
"A bunch of you have moon tattoos on your knuckles." She sneers. "Werewolf and full moon. Very original. You also own Club Eclipse. You stick to a theme, I'll give it to you. There." She throws her hands up in the air. "That's all I got. You came all this way to shake me down?"
"We don't like people digging into our private business."
"Well, I don't like jerks dating my friends. I don't care if Garrett the Wolfman owns half the property around here. He can't treat my friend that way."
I raise a brow. "Or what?"
She scoots forward and sticks a finger in my face. "I will end him."
I bite back a grin. She shakes the finger and I mock snap at it. She yanks her hand back with a yelp. Finally. A little fear.
"Very funny." She folds her arms across her chest, matching my own pose.
"Garrett would never hurt Amber."
"There are a lot of ways to get hurt," Foxfire says. "Only one of those is physical."
I incline my head. "You're right. I can see you're no threat to our organization. We don't want to cause trouble, but as you said, Garrett owns a lot of property, and he doesn't want someone spreading slander about him."
"Well, I'm sorry Garrett got his panties in a bunch. I didn't realize he was so sensitive."
Insulting my alpha again. If she were mine, she'd be over my knee so fast… hell, I'd be dizzy. I've never met someone so in need of a spanking in my life. "Watch it."
"You watch it." She glares at me.