Heart of Stone

The Knife Game

As Alexander and Julian spoke, Eloise was faintly aware of eyes on them. Eyes from the bar, eyes from other tables, eyes from private booths. Some of them even began to walk by, blatantly sizing up Julian. Alexander had not been bluffing when he said this was a den of Julian's enemies and she suddenly wondered what it was that she had walked him into. But if it would get him to finally leave her alone, she wouldn't feel guilty.

He gripped the back of the chair opposite Alexander, his fingers biting into the material, and the chair scraped backward loudly. He sat down ungracefully, his anger nowhere near as controlled as Alexander's, but when Eloise tried to step away from him, his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

Before Alexander could react, however, someone sidled up to the table, another man in an expensive suit and a Rolex on his wrist glinting in the low lighting.

"Do we have a problem here?" He asked, looking pointedly at Julian's hand.

"No, not at all." He gave a charming smile. "Me and these girls were just having a meeting with Alexander."

"I suggest you remove your hand from the lady before I remove it for you." He said.

Julian locked gazes with the man for a moment, but eventually his fingers released her wrist, and she rubbed it.

Another well-dressed man came up and pressed himself between Julian and Violet, slipping his arm around her shoulders and guiding her away from him. He brought her to the other side of the table and gave a wolfish grin.

Julian swallowed, his jaw tensing, and looked around the room at the gathering people, mostly men, stepping forward with hostility and vulturous smiles. The air was becoming thick, like a hand squeezing his throat tighter and tighter. The man with the Rolex kept his gaze trained on him, silently challenging him.

"What's your next move, Julian?" Alexander asked, his deep voice deadly soft. "Me and my 'little friends' are dying to know."

Eloise could see Julian's confidence cracking, but he straightened his tie and held his head high.

"You're playing games with the wrong person." He snickered.

"Really?" A man in an all-black suit stepped forward, face completely void of any warmth or feeling. "So, who here is going to have your back?"

Eloise made to step away from Julian, but he stopped her by putting his arm out to block her. She glared daggers at him, her brown eyes hardening.

"Julian." She hissed. "You're not winning this."

He met her dark gaze with steel blue, then after a moment he put his arm down.

"Alright, but you haven't won either." He said.

The man in the black suit stepped up to the table and spoke in a low tone. "You think she hasn't? You know, we don't really tolerate men like you who touch what doesn't belong to them."

Julian met Alexander's piercing gaze, his lips turning into a thin smile.

"You don't frighten me. I have worse friends than you do." He said.

The man in the black suit chuckled, drawing Julian's attention again.

"You have no idea what you're talking about." The man said.

As he finished, more well-dressed men and even a few women began stepping over to the table, all eyes on them. Some of them were delighted in a twisted way, some of them were vulturous, and Julian felt trapped.

"So, what do you say?" The man with the Rolex asked, his voice like steel. "Are you going to leave, or are you going to make the mistake of staying?"

Julian set his shoulders, making no move to leave.