Page 33 of Sweet Revenge
With my back to Alex, I poured half of the powder into each drink. It dissolved instantly. I’d used this drug a thousand times and knew exactly what to expect. It wouldn’t take long at all for Alex to start feeling drowsy. Then, we’d be able to lead him out of here without him causing much of a stir.
“I’m nervous, Daemon,” Cassandra admitted. She kept her eyes straight ahead, as if we weren’t talking to one another, in case he looked over. “What if this doesn’t go as planned?”
“I’m telling you, I’ve got it covered. Listen, I’m a professional. I do shit like this all the time.” I flashed her a smile, which she caught out of the corner of her eye, but she recoiled. Perhaps I wasn’t as charming as I liked to think I was. I ordered my own drink so I’d look less conspicuous, and the bartender brought it right away.
“Wish me luck.” She shook her head again but then picked up the glasses and headed back in Alex’s direction, a fake smile plastered on her face.
Afraid he’d look up at her and see me behind her, I ducked around the corner of the bar, making myself blend in with the shadows.
She sat down, sliding one of the glasses to him, but he didn’t pick it up. Instead, he reached across the table for her hand, starting that obnoxious flirting he’d been doing before, if one could even call it that.
I used the distraction to slip back across the room into my seat without Alex seeing me.
“Well?” Elisa whispered. “How did it go?”
“It went exactly as planned,” I reassured her. “The drug is in both glasses, so whichever one he drinks from, he’ll get a full dose.”
“And how do we know that he’s not going to have friends show up? He might have guys stationed downstairs in the club. In fact, he probably does. My other brothers might be down there.” Panic was filling her eyes again as they went wide.
I shook my head. “We’re good. They’re not going to come up here to watch him get a lap dance. Cassandra said he never brings them up here with him.”
“But if an emergency goes down and he has to run out, he could very well have an entire army waiting for us when we try to leave. My father is going to find out about this.”
Reaching across the table, I took her hand in mine. “Elisa, that’s not going to happen. Your father is in Chicago, and as far as I know, your brothers are, too. Most of them have been spending more time in my city than their own. Alex came back to run things here, remember? He must be letting your father’s capos take the reins because he sure the fuck isn’t getting much done from this club, and according to his friend, he’s here most nights.”
She nodded and let out a sigh. I hoped she’d calm down because I was beginning to get worried myself. Those drinks had been sitting there for several minutes now, and Alex hadn’t so much as taken a sip from either of them.
Cassandra knew our plan wouldn’t work if he didn’t drink. I’d told her to give him some time to see if he drank them on his own, but if he didn’t, she’d need to put a little pressure on him.
“Aren’t you going to even try it?” Cassandra was asking him.
I’d made her order cocktails because it was easier to hide the taste of the powder in the fruit flavoring, but that might be a problem for someone like Alex, who needed to prove his manhood. He picked up one of the glasses off the table. “This is ridiculous, Cass. Look at it. I’m not in some fucking tropical paradise, you know. I’m a man. I need a manly drink.”
I almost laughed at how ridiculous he sounded, but if he didn’t drink the liquid, we’d have a problem.
“Well, if you’re just going to make fun of me, I have work to do. I can go find someone else to spend my time with. Someone who has the same interests as me. Someone who likes what I like, even when it comes to drinks.” She stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. The performance was so realistic, I thought she might need to consider becoming an actress.
“Fine!” Alex’s arms went flailing, his tone full of disgust. “I’ll drink it. For the love of god, woman, stop fucking nagging me.”
Cassandra sank back into her seat, clearly embarrassed. Her eyes darted around to see if anyone was watching. No one was, except for us.
Alex picked up the glass in front of him and chugged down the fruity cocktail. “Are you happy?”
With a pouty look on her face, Cassandra slid her glass over to him, and he swallowed that down, too, like it was water.
My eyes bulged from my head. There was nothing I could do at the moment because Alex was still sober enough that he could call in backup if he saw me. But this was a problem. A really big problem.
“Oh, shit,” I mumbled.
“Did he drink them both?” Elisa asked, her tone full of shock and panic, much like the voice in the back of my head.
“He did,” I said. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“What now?” She looked at me with wide eyes.
All I could do was shrug.
Within minutes, Alex couldn’t sit upright. He swayed one direction and then the other in his seat. That must’ve been the moment when Cassandra realized she’d fucked up. No one had ever said anything about him drinking both drinks. With the same fear in her eyes that I saw in Elise’s gaze, she looked to me.