Page 20 of Playing Her Game

“It's nothing,” she insists.

“That's what I said about the cut.”

“And look how well that worked out for you.”

I give her a look.

She smiles, but the expression fades quickly. She glances toward the curtain, then back at me.

“Lenzin's on his way.”

“He doesn't need to.”

“He's already in the parking lot.”

Of course he is. “You should go meet him, so he’s not walking down here, throwing curtains open to find us.”

She squeezes my hand and stands. “Be right back.”

I can picture his face when he reads the message, the way worry will settle over his features before anger pushes it aside. Lenzin has always been protective of the people he loves. He'll blame himself for not being there, even though there was no reason for him to be in that corridor.

I need him to understand that before he walks through the door.

Footsteps approach, fast and heavy. The curtain jerks open, and Lenzin strides in with Aleks and Deacon right behind him.

He stares at me, jaw set looking murderous.

“Don’t,” I say.

“What?” he asks.

“That face. The one that says you’re going to do something that will get your Visa revoked.”

He steps closer. “Tell me.”

“Beer bottle.”

He looks less angry, but not less concerned. “Thrown?”

“Yes.”

“Shattered?” he asks.

“Yes.”

“Why?” he says through his teeth.

I smile even though it’s not funny. “Because I was wearing the jersey and you beat up an angry Ukrainian sticking up for your boyfriend.”

“He didn’t beat me up,” an unfamiliar voice says. But clearly that statement could come from no one else. Reznik is here.

“Stop saying shit like that, Anna.” Aleks grumbles

“And security?” Lenzin asks, totally unaware that I’m kind of freaking out that #27, D. Reznik, is here, right here, right now, with them.

“Was there,” Hildy says from beside me. “But it happened fast.”

I fill in the blanks I’m sure he wants. “The bottle clipped the railing and shattered. I caught enough of it to need stitches.”