Obsidian Liquor (Lion Security #1)(16)
Author: Scarlett Dawn

At me. Or, more precisely, my neck.

I quickly pulled my duffle and purse the rest of the way off, stuffing them under the table, and readjusted my turtleneck that had been tugged down just enough to show my hickie.

Kirill stated, “It looks like someone took a long bite out of you.” His accent was very heavy, and I really had to pay attention to understand.

But I did. It was embarrassing as hell because it was very fucking true.

“Christ,” Chloe, an employee of Lion Security and Kirill’s girlfriend, stated loudly next to him as I slowly took my seat, keeping my hands on my lap, away from Zane and Daniil. “I only thought Russians made those so dark.” Her eyes darted to mine as I kept utterly still, trying my hardest not to gawk at her. “Your man’s not from Russia is he?”

I blinked. My God, this was fucking awful.

She laughed, glancing around the table as some of them snickered. “Artur, Roman, is there something you need to tell us?”

Even worse. She went straight to Daniil’s fucking kids that were right around my age.

“Chloe…” Zane stated quietly, but harshly, as Roman and Artur laughed, shaking their heads. “That’s enough.”

She appeared stunned at the order before her face shut down with nothing showing.

Kirill did not like that much. He stood up sharply. “What the hell’s your problem?”

I held up my hands. “Please, stop.” My hands were shaking, and I quickly put them back on my lap. “There’s no need to argue over this.” I shuddered. I could not take any violence right now. I already felt more than a little faint. Kirill sat slowly when Zane did not meet his challenge, and I looked at Chloe. “Honestly, I didn’t really know the guy. We were drunk, and when the alcohol wore off neither one of us were pleased with the outcome. So if you don’t mind, I would appreciate it if,” I glanced around the table, “everyone would drop it.”

Lev nodded politely, gesturing to my face. “That explains the sunglasses.”

“Yeah. That explains the sunglasses.” I breathed deeply, and grabbed for my purse under the table, leaning Zane’s way, the lesser of two evils since he had just stuck up for me.

I needed more aspirin for this.

A turkey sandwich and coleslaw were placed in front of me. It did not look appealing at all, even though I had ordered it specifically since it was not seafood, which almost the entire menu was. I turned the plate in a circle, being careful not to bump anyone’s elbows, and noticed that Daniil had gotten ribs and fries. That had been my second choice, but I had selected this entree instead. Now, I wished I had not because his smelled delicious.

I peeked under the bread of my sandwich, and miserably saw that it had mustard on it. The menu had not stated that or I would have definitely ordered it without. I was one hell of a picky eater, and if food was set in front of me that was not what I really liked, I would not eat it. I would rather starve. Someone once told me I really did not know what it was like to go hungry then, which was probably true, but I still was not going to eat it. I sighed, letting the bread fall back onto the turkey, and lifted the Bloody Mary I had ordered. This was the best hangover medicine around, my tried and true remedy.

Sipping it, I almost spit it out. Christ! There was no vodka mixed in.

I twisted on my seat, waving the waitress down. When she arrived, I handed her the glass. “I think you forgot the liquor. There’s no vodka in there.” That smidge of vodka was going to help. Without it, it tasted like tomato soup. And bad tomato soup, at that.

She paused. “I’m sorry, ma’am. Our shipment of vodka didn’t make it this morning.”

I stared. The woman had given me a virgin. No tip for her. “I guess whisky will work.”

She shook her head. “We’re out of that, too.”

This place was going to lose a lot of cash from their delayed shipment. “Okay…how about a beer? Any kind is fine.” I had done that few times. It was not so bad.

Again, she shook her head. “Sorry. We’re out of that, too.”

I blinked, and then scanned our table, gradually peering back to her. Half the occupants at the table were having beer with their lunch. They were staring at her as I was. I had figured out before our food was served they were a very nosy group, listening to other conversations.

“You’re out of beer?” I asked flatly. I gestured toward the table. “What’s all that?”

“The last of it,” she stated quickly, handing me back my virgin Bloody Mary. “I’m very sorry for the inconvenience.” She pivoted and walked away.

What the fuck?

I stared after her as the conversation started up again at my table, and I could have sworn I saw someone walk away from the bar with what looked like an alcoholic beverage.

With my eyebrows together, I turned and set my disgusting drink down. And froze, staring at my plate. It was ribs and fries. I glanced to my right, and saw Daniil’s hand with a fork in it, scooping up slaw from the plate directly in front of him.

I covertly eyed his hand as it moved up, and watched as he ate the slaw-with a tiny grimace. He put his fork down, and lifted the sandwich, taking a bite. Again, he chewed with another frown, but he continued eating it. I looked back down at my plate. My new plate.

When the hell had he done that? More importantly, why?

I heard a quiet chuckle from my left, and I glanced at Zane.

He cleared his throat, taking a sip of his beer. His dark eyes were utterly amused as I stared at him wide-eyed, even though he could not see it behind my glasses. He tilted his beer toward me. “You wanna put some of my beer in your drink?”

Thump.

My head snapped down at the sound, and I saw my virgin Bloody Mary sitting on its side, the red mixture spilled all over the white tablecloth. “No. I guess not, but thank you.” I quickly righted the cup, and grabbed my napkin from my lap, trying to clean the mess the best I could. I had not even realized that I had bumped my new plate against the glass. Maybe Daniil was right. I was being a little klutzy. I was confused as hell about my new plate of food, but the scent was all types of appealing and Daniil was eating everything off my old one. So I dug in.

It was fabulous.

I moaned a little as I ate, my stomach finally settling.

“Ms. Forter…” Ember’s eyebrows came together. “You know, can I just call you Elizabeth?” I nodded, and she continued. “Thank you. So, Elizabeth, you seemed a little uneasy when Kirill tried to,” her hands fluttered, “intimidate Zane earlier. Is there a reason you don’t like fighting?” She gestured at the other members of L.S. “Because we all do, as you’ve been watching at the events.”