bar. A man stood up from a stool. She

against the wood. She

r of fries. The

then looked away. He started mixing

h together. She opened

stale beer and sw

is face was red. Ray Kowalski. He leaned ag

n at her chest

hurned. She slid he

ed out and put his thick, ro

pped his hand away. Her e

and I will bre

his friends standing beh

Axel Carrillo stood perfectly still.

ocked onto the woman in

ark jazz club in Brooklyn. She was drinking

xel held out a

's see if you can tame

he side of his glass. His jaw ticked. The bet was a convenient excu

laughing. He reached out

of ice water from the bar. She thre

ed down his chin. The people around th

ut a roar. He shoved both of his h

ckward. Her stilettos s

ound. Her elbow slammed into the tiles

s. His eyes turned black. He made a sharp, almost imperceptible gesture to Silas, his head of security, who

p. The heel of her right shoe was stuck in the gap

ward. He raised

lled her arms over her head and

ncers crashed t

They slammed him face-f

hest heaved. She stared at the

ack. A path cleared

er the music. The air in the ro