Ink & Bone (New York Crime Kings Book 5) by Skyla Madi

her.
    “Twenty-five.”
    She’s a pretty girl, innocent looking in that mousey kind of way. I don’t know how she ended up here with Skull. The way she looks at him unnerves me. Her eyes smile and glisten, like a girl in love. What did he do to her?
    “I’m twenty-two.”
    Laura opens the zip lock bag and fishes out a small blue rock. I swallow hard. I’ve seen the rock before…I’ve tasted it…felt it take control of my body.
    “You’ve met this little guy already.” Laura puckers her red lips at it before opening her mouth and dropping it on her tongue. It sticks immediately and begins to dissolve in her saliva. She closes her mouth. “Your turn.”
    Reaching into the bag with her pretty pink nails, she plucks out a second rock. I purse my lips. The last thing I want is to buddy out with these two psychopaths, especially under the influence of this crazy sex drug.
    “Open wide,” she cheers, smiling gleefully, leaning in closer, and I turn my head away. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
    I keep my head turned. She’ll have to pry my lips open. There’s no way I’ll do it willingly.
    “Suit yourself.”
    “Ahhh!” I scream as pain radiates from my gunshot wound. Dropping the drug on my tongue, Laura twists her finger in the flesh, and I hiss as tears well in my eyes. It feels like fire.
    The drug dissolves immediately, leaving a metallic taste at the back of my throat. Within seconds, just like last time, there’s a hum at the back of my head and a lag in my vision. My bones vibrate, and I shiver as I slip into a dreamlike state. Laura takes away the pressure on my wound, and I close my eyes, willing my body to fight against the chemicals that suffocate my brain, but it’s useless. No amount of willpower is going to stop this drug from taking me over.
    Behind my lids, colors gambol, and the stress that has been weighing me down becomes light… meaningless.
    “Oh,” Laura utters. “I miss those first few highs. They’re the most potent.”
    I shake my head, swallowing hard, unable to control the rush of heat that tears through my body. “I don’t like it.”
    “Because you don’t know how to appreciate it.”
    I open my eyes as Skull rips open the bedroom door and exits the room, slamming the door behind him. “What’s his problem?”
    “Jai Stone.” Her lips twitch.
    A pretty azure swirl spills from her lips at the mention of his name, and my heart doesn’t know if it should flutter or sink. “Jai?”
    My head spins like I’ve downed an entire bottle of vodka as more color dances in front of my eyes. Laura nods, and she slips off the bed. Smiling, she reaches around to her back and, with a quick pull, she unzips her dress and pushes it off her shoulders, exposing her small, perky breasts. I drop my stare to the mattress. Why is she undressing?
    “I shouldn’t be telling you, but the word on the street is that your lover boy joined the Twisted Sons.”
    My eyes widen. “He joined the gang?”
    She kicks her dress out of the way and crosses the room. “Yep.”
    I try not to stare at the ample curves of her backside that sit so nicely with her black lace thong as she plucks a small, white tube off of the vanity table. It’s the stuff Skull uses to clean my wound.
    No. Jai wouldn’t. He’s a natural born leader who refuses to take orders from his own brother, let alone someone like Joker.
    “I don’t think so,” I tell her, and she arches a brow as she saunters toward me.
    Like a lazy cat, Laura climbs onto the bed and stretches out, daintily resting across a bunch of soft mahogany throw pillows. “I can assure you the information Skull receives is one hundred percent accurate.”
    Even so, there has to be an explanation as to why he’d do something so drastic. Hope ignites in my chest. Jai is coming for me, and he’s bringing an army. “One hundred percent? I doubt it.”
    “Does Jai know you can’t have children?”
    Her question punches me in the gut.