Page 63 of Jump on Three

I dropped my hand heavy on my lap. “Jay did not mention seeing you then.”

Her head tilted. “Cue Ball?”

“What?”

“Cue Ball. It’s my nickname for him. His head is as smooth and shiny as a cue ball. I didn’t know his name was Jay when I made up the nickname since we never got around to introductions.”

“If Jay didn’t tell you his name, how’d you know who I was talking about? There are two other bouncers at the door.”

“Buzz Cut and Clipboard. I know.” She shrugged. “I didn’t see them on Saturday. Only Jay. Oh, and you and Marco.”

A steel rod lodged in my spine. She knew a lot more than she should have. What was happening here? My thoughts were whirring, trying to catch up.

“Were you inside the club, Evelyn?”

Her headshake was slow and precise. “I didn’t make it that far.”

Never had I had the urge to shake a woman, but I did then. If I had thought it would have done any good, I might have tried giving her a gentle shake to loosen some answers out of her.

“Where did you see me, Jay, and Marco?” I clipped precisely.

Her thick, sooty lashes lowered, brushing the tops of her apple cheeks. “The alley.”

Blyat.

“Evelyn…” I breathe, leaden with remorse. Not for what I had done, but that she had witnessed it.

“What did he do? Marco called him a rapist. Did he hurt someone?” She kept her voice soft as feathers, no accusation or judgment weighing them down.

I should have kept to myself today—away from her big eyes, busy hands, insatiable curiosity. None of this was going to help me move on from her. Self-preservation had led me to throw myself into the deep end of Evelyn Kastanos, and I was ineffectively splashing around like a little kid.

“Are you worried for him?”

“No,” she replied. “I want to know what someone has to do to make you as angry as you were. I’ve never seen you that way. You were…firm with Felix, but not homicidal.”

I weighed the consequences of being straight with her. Opening up to anyone wasn’t natural for me, but with her, it was even more difficult. However, she might have continued trying to seek an explanation on her own if I refused, and I could not have that.

“That man has been thrown out of the club once before for groping women. On Saturday, he wormed his way in, and a bartender caught him spiking a woman’s drink. We do not know what he put in it, but nothing good can come of slipping drugs in an unknowing woman’s drink.”

Her eyes had rounded at my recounting of events. When I finished, she nodded sharply. “He walked out of the alley.”

“Yes, with Jay’s help. He won’t be back, but he will live.”

“He walked out, though. It wasn’t enough if he could walk out.”

Understanding dawned on me. Evelyn wasn’t worried Marco and I had gone too far. She was disappointed I hadn’t gone far enough. To tell the truth, if Marco hadn’t pulled me back, I would have kept going. And this bloodthirsty little angel would have been fine with that.

“He will remember this lesson, and Marco has sent his picture to other clubs. He will have a lot of trouble finding a spot that will allow him inside.” I tapped her knee with the tip of my finger. “You can’t come back. Do you hear me?”

She stared straight at me, lips rolled over her teeth. Since there was nothing else for me to say, I waited for her to agree with me.

“Did you even like me, or did you just want to have sex with me?”

“What the fuck?” I hissed, never so caught off guard as I was now. “Why would you ask me that?”

“Because I want to know.”

Like it was simple.