Chapter 16 · The Bill Comes Due

"You don't get to look at me like that." Levi's palm was flat against the wall next to my ear, close enough that I could count the rings under his eyes. "Not after you cost me two hundred grand with one bullet."

"Guy had a gun under the table." I didn't move. Moving first meant losing. "You're welcome."

"I had it handled."

"You had a knife in your sleeve and a smile on your face. That's not handled, that's hoping."

His jaw ticked. That was the tell — I'd been watching him three weeks now, and the jaw always went first, before the voice, before the eyes. He hated that I knew that.

The door to the back office slammed open before he could answer. Three of Sorin's men, still in their delivery coats, guns not drawn but hands close enough that it didn't matter.

"Kade." The one in front, older, gray at the temples, didn't bother with hello. "Sorin wants his deposit back. Plus the shooter's head, in a bag, by tonight."

Levi didn't turn around right away. That was the thing about him I'd learned the hard way — he never gave anyone the reaction they came for.