“Because Roslyn was here,” I said, struggling to keep my voice level. “It was bad enough that Benson held her hostage. I didn’t want her to get hurt in any fight I might have with him and his men. Besides, Benson’s magic is a bit . . . troubling.”
Bria snorted again, the sound louder and more derisive this time. “You mean his vampiric emotional mining of his victims? Yeah, I know all about that. I’ve seen it twice now, remember? But you’re an assassin, you’re the Spider, you’re the biggest, baddest bitch in all of Ashland. You’ve said it yourself, more than once. You aren’t supposed to be scared of things like that, and especially not of thugs like Benson.”
I didn’t respond, and I didn’t let any of my emotions show on my face, especially not the anger and hurt that pinched my heart at her words. I’d thought that we were past our issues with my being an assassin and Bria being a cop, but apparently, that wasn’t the case. At least, not when it came to Benson.
Xavier slowly stood up, scraping his stool away from the bar. “Bria, calm down.”
She scowled at him. “Calm down? You know what Benson did, you know what kind of monster he is, you know how long and hard we’ve been working to try to take him down. And Gin just lets him walk out of here and take a dead body with him. Don’t tell me that you aren’t pissed about that.”
“I’d be more pissed if Roslyn and Gin were hurt—or worse,” Xavier countered. “Wouldn’t you?”
Bria blushed again, the expression darker, angrier, and guiltier than before, but she quickly regained her composure. “You’re my partner; you’re supposed to have my back. So why are you taking her side?” She stabbed her finger at me.
Xavier crossed his arms over his massive chest. “I’ve had your back for weeks now, and all you’ve done is bitch and moan about how we can’t find enough evidence to arrest Benson. And now you’re blaming Gin for being smart, for protecting herself and Roslyn, instead of trying to take him out for you.”
Bria shook her head. “That’s not true.”
“Yes, it is,” he replied, his voice much quieter and more ominous than before. “For as many times as you’ve complained about Gin being the Spider, right now, you’re just pissed that she didn’t whip out her knives and carve up Benson. That would have solved a lot of your problems, wouldn’t it?”
Bria’s mouth opened and closed, and opened and closed again, but she couldn’t deny his words. More and more guilt stained her cheeks, turning them an ugly, mottled red.
“It’s bad enough you’ve dragged Catalina into this. That poor girl doesn’t know any better, but you do. You need to rein in this obsession you have with Benson,” Xavier warned. “You keep going after him this way, all reckless, angry, and crazy, not caring who you piss off, step on, or hurt, and you’ll walk right into some trap that he sets for you. Then you’ll be the one we find in an alley somewhere, dead, drained, with a rat stuffed in your mouth and Benson’s rune inked on your forehead.”
Bria shook her head again, making her blond hair fly around her face, the strands dancing like angry bees. “I can’t do that. You know I can’t. Not after what happened to Max.”
Her lips pinched together, and her hand crept up to the primrose rune hanging around her neck, her fingers squeezing the pendant. Bria noticed me staring at her clutching her rune, and she loosened her grip on it. But the pain and guilt of Max’s murder continued to shimmer in her eyes.
She turned away from me and stretched out a hand, pleading with the giant. “You saw what Benson did to Max. You saw it, Xavier. Don’t tell me you can forget that. Don’t tell me you can let it go.”
“No, I can’t forget it, and I can’t let it go,” he admitted, sadness rumbling through his words. “But we need to be smart and take the time to properly build our case the way we always do. That’s how we’ll get Benson, and that’s how you can get justice for Max. Not by charging after him with no sort of plan in mind. That will only get you killed.”
“What are you saying?” Bria asked.
Xavier straightened up to his full, towering height. “I’m saying that we should both take a break, at least for a few days, then come back at this with fresh eyes and calmer hearts. Starting right now. Call me when you’re ready to go after Benson—the right way.”
Xavier held out his hand. Roslyn took it, and the two of them left the bar and walked over to the door at the back of the club, the one I’d left open when I’d forced Silvio out onto the dance floor.
Roslyn didn’t look back at us as she stepped through the opening. Neither did Xavier as he followed her and slammed the door shut behind them.
•
Bria, Finn, and I stared at the closed door, the hard bang slowly fading away.
“Well,” Finn drawled. “That went well, so well, in fact, that I need another drink. Or three. Who’s with me?”
He waggled a lime at Bria and me, then started cutting it up with a small paring knife, his movements quick and efficient. The tangy citrus scent drifted over to me, followed by the sharp smell of the mint he crushed and added to the drink. He pushed the finished product over to Bria, who shoved it right back at him, so hard that some of the liquid sloshed out of the top and spattered against the Ice bar.
“I don’t want a damn drink,” she growled.
“Well, I think you need one,” he said. “Might help you relax some. Xavier’s right. You have been a little obsessed with Benson lately. Even when you’re with me.”
Bria scowled at him. “And how is that different from anybody Gin’s had in her crosshairs these past few months? Huh? Someone makes a move against her, but when she goes after them, knives first, none of you ever says a word about it—not a single word. So why the double standard, Finn?”
“Because you’re better than me,” I said in a quiet voice.
Bria turned her hot glare to me. “And what do you mean by that?”
I gestured at the gold badge clipped to her black leather belt. “I mean you’re a cop, a good cop, and I’m an assassin. You’re right. When someone comes after me, I retaliate, with no questions asked and no mercy given. But you’re supposed to be better than that. You’re supposed to follow the law. You’re supposed to use the law to take down people like Benson.”