03-12-2019, 08:19 PM
![[Image: carmen.jpg]](http://thefirstage.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/carmen.jpg)
The stranger didn’t take a hint. Vadim bristled, eyes swivelling to the intrusion. Carmen saw his fists clench and fought a sharp sigh of irritation. She knew her patrons. It was her job to know her patrons. She knew the mouthy ones and the violent ones and the harmless ones, and most of all she knew how to protect her girls without damaging business. Carmen took the situation now in with a wary gaze, hands slipping to her hips. The pinch of her mouth suggested a weight of disapproval, but for the time being she held her silence.
Words flew. The big man flinched like unseen hands roamed inside his clothes, until the other man stepped close. Suspicion furrowed Carmen’s manicured brows as she looked at the American, unswayed by his glib tongue and easy charm. She’d been around enough channelers to read between the lines.
A moment later Vadim shouldered his way through with a scowl. It was all over in a second.
She watched him leave, then turned to square against the stranger. Her brows rose like she awaited an explanation. Probably not the thanks he was expecting, but then she hadn’t asked for him to interfere. “You think that’s going to do my reputation any good, kid? To have him think I needed your help?”
Words flew. The big man flinched like unseen hands roamed inside his clothes, until the other man stepped close. Suspicion furrowed Carmen’s manicured brows as she looked at the American, unswayed by his glib tongue and easy charm. She’d been around enough channelers to read between the lines.
A moment later Vadim shouldered his way through with a scowl. It was all over in a second.
She watched him leave, then turned to square against the stranger. Her brows rose like she awaited an explanation. Probably not the thanks he was expecting, but then she hadn’t asked for him to interfere. “You think that’s going to do my reputation any good, kid? To have him think I needed your help?”