The bastard knew you’d do whatever it took to protect your sister.
The haunted man beside her nodded. “Izzy called me one night. Said the jerk had been staring at her all throughout dinner, and that he’d made some comment about her filling out her sweater or some shit.” A sneer of disgust formed on his handsome face. “She was thirteen. Thirteen. And that fucker tried to?—”
“But he didn’t, thanks to you.” Scarlett took a risk and put her hand back to his arm like before. “You kept your sister safe, Olly.” She gave him a gentle squeeze. “That’s something you should be proud of.”
“I went to prison for it, Red.” The nickname returned. “Spent four years behind bars while Izzy was out in the world without me there to protect her.”
“Is that why you’re here now?” She had to ask. “You have some sort of misguided sense of penance owed to your own sister, so you’re trying to make up for it by saving mine?” A flash of anger shot her way, and she instantly wished she could take back her words.
“I’m here because Rose is my friend, and she’s in trouble. End of story.”
“Okay.” Scarlett lifted the hand away from his arm. “I just…had to ask.”
Another awkward stretch of silence enveloped them both. For a long, tense moment, they sat inches apart without saying a word. Several minutes later, Olly finally spoke up again.
“There should be enough people inside now.” He pulled the keys from his ignition but kept them gripped within his fist.
“Enough people for what?”
“Cover.” He looked back over at her for the first time in a bit. “Bigger the crowd, the easier it’ll be for us to blend in.”
“And the less noticeable we’ll be as we try to scan the club for anyone looking like Rose. And I do know what she looks like,” Scarlett added. “Thomas gave me a copy of her driver’s license.”
“Just remember, she may not look the same now. Her hair color…hell, even the color of her eyes may have changed. So we have to be sure without making it obvious.”
She’d read about cases like that. Young girls, women, even boys getting picked up by traffickers and then being forced to alter their appearance to prevent them from being recognized.
“Check everyone closely without it being obvious that we’re looking.” Scarlett nodded. “Got it.”
“Good. Just follow my lead, and we’ll be fine. But…” He paused, his eyes searching hers as if to verify she was paying close attention. “Something does happen in there…if shit starts to go sideways…you leave me and find the nearest exit.” Olly held out his keys for her to take.
She looked at the keys then back up to him. “I’m not going to leave you if you’re in trouble, Olly.”
“What I say, when I say it. That was the deal, remember?”
“Yes, but you never mentioned anything about leaving you to the wolves.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m telling you right now. At the first sign of danger, your only recourse is to run your ass back to the car as fast as you can, and then you get the hell out of here. Got it?”
She didn’t get it, and she sure as heck wouldn’t save herself and leave him behind. But Scarlett knew if she had any hope of actually getting to see the inside of something other than his car, Scarlett knew she’d have to tell the man what he wanted to hear.
“Fine.” She crossed her fingers where he couldn’t see them. “I promise. Happy?”
“Not even a little bit.” Olly continued to stare. “Nothing about this situation makes me happy, Scarlett. Least of all, the fact that you’re here.”
Ouch.
The man didn’t seem the type to hold back, but even that was a tad harsh.
“Um…wow. Okay.” Scarlett blinked. “Not exactly sure how I should take that.”
“You should take it as it was meant.” His tone was sharp. Unbending. But then his stoic expression softened just a touch when he told her, “I brought you here, which means you’re my responsibility. And I don’t want y—” He cut himself short and started again. “I don’t want anyone else getting hurt.”
That was sort of…sweet, actually. Though he was way off base about her being his responsibility. She’d been taking care of herself for a long time now. And while he seemed totally unaware, this wasn’t Scarlett’s first time in a strip club.
“I appreciate the concern, Olly.” She rested a hand on his shoulder. “But I’m not going to do or say anything to compromise our cover.”
“I’m more concerned with compromisingyou.”