Thug and Idol: 10X Rewards Second Identity System

"Evelyn."

Although Tristan said this, what he really wanted to say was, "What the hell are you doing here, bitch?!"

He was still in public, though, even if there were only a few people around. So all Tristan did was burn her with a glare.

Even through the shock and anger he felt, Tristan noticed how much Evelyn had changed since their last meeting.

Mostly because the last time Tristan saw her, he had cut her face into strips.

Now, several months later, those wounds have healed, leaving behind angry red scars that utterly ruined Evelyn's previously beautiful face.

But one still couldn't call Evelyn ugly. She dyed her hair purple, and was wearing a long-sleeved black dress that hugged her curves extremely tight. The cleavage of the dress was enough to distract most men away from Evelyn's face.

Tristan stared only into her eyes, though, and saw them full of timid joy, cautious hope, and familiar fear. Her entire pose, with hunched and tense shoulders and hands gripping the hem of her skirt, showed the same.

"Tristan. I—"

"Hey, aren't you just Mr. Vargas's girlfriend, Evelyn? Why are you speaking so disrespectfully to the boss?" Sam cut her off.

Tristan raised his brows and nodded, silently asking the same question.

Evelyn lowered her eyes.

"I apologize. Mr. Hayes… Please come in so I can explain. I promise that this isn't a trap of any sort."

Tristan pursed his lips.

On one hand—what was that with these women? He scared them away to the best of his ability, but they just ran faster back into his life! Will he have to beat them all with a baseball bat?

On another hand, Evelyn didn't go against him. He told her to scram and never return to his city, and she did. Their meeting today would've been a pure coincidence if it didn't start with Evelyn and someone else helping Tristan's men out.

Which brought Tristan to the point that she was helping him. And not only her, from what Sam told earlier.

Tristan let out a long breath to regain some clarity of his mind.

"Alright. Lead the way."

Evelyn smiled slightly and gestured them in. Tristan didn't miss that the workers of the restaurant pointedly and somewhat fearfully ignored the woman and all the people with her.

As if they were her subordinates, or as if they knew she was a gangster, but were paid to ignore that kind of activity… Be a front.

Evelyn led all three of them to what must've been a staff lounge room inside the restaurant: a spacious place with a few fake leather couches, a drink dispenser, a coffee table, and some assorted posters and photographs fixed on the walls.

At the moment, the only person inside was definitely not some waiter.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

He was a muscular but lean black-haired man in his mid-twenties, with scars on his hands that pointed that he did a lot of street fighting. Some of them were fresh. He was dressed in a black shirt and jeans, and had an earring with a silver upside-down cross in right ear, but no other jewelry.

Tristan immediately knew he was at the helm of this place and saw similar recognition in the eyes of the man.

"Thank you for fetching them, darling," he said to Evelyn with a smile, then stood up and offered Tristan his hand for a handshake. "I'm Hector Vargas… but the locals know me as the leader of Rose Street Gang."

Tristan shook his hand, unsure if he liked the man for his personality or disliked him because of his poor taste in women.

Either way, he knew Vargas was almost certainly the same person he sent Cutout and Sam to. Find your next adventure on m_v l|e-NovelBin.net

"Tristan Hayes. But you clearly knew that already, and not even from my men."

"Yes. Evelyn told me some things… Mostly that we should stay on your good side." Vargas flashed a toothy and dangerous smile. "Although I honestly had my doubts about it…"

He sat down and offered Tristan to do the same with a gesture. Evelyn snuggled next to Vargas without being told to. The way they sat slightly turned to each other looked like they were ready to protect each other from the world.

Tristan scoffed inwardly as he sat down on the opposite side. Without having to be told, his men moved to stand behind Tristan.

"This all sounds like an awfully fascinating story," Tristan said. "I'm surprised how far up you went since our last meeting."

Evelyn smiled bitterly.

"It wasn't easy… And I was lucky to meet Hector. You don't have to mince words—I told him our story, and although he was angry at you at first, he understood that I… I can only admire you. But not in THAT way…" She turned to smile at Vargas. "I only love Hector. But you, Mr. Hayes—I can truly understand what you felt back then.

And I'm deeply sorry for my actions in the past."

Tristan frowned.

Was that genuine remorse? Not some half-assed, self-centered version of it Jane showed?

It looked awfully like that, and it made him feel things he didn't like. But the presence of all the people, some of them subordinates that looked up at him, made Tristan keep his emotions in check again.

"So let me see… You wanted to apologize to me? That doesn't mean I have to forgive you."

"No," Vargas said. "But it's not her who will offer you a deal today, Mr. Hayes. When I first heard about your appearance in Los Angeles and the exploits of the King Lion Gang, I wasn't sure what to think about it. But Evelyn's words convinced me we can work together. Helping your men out was just a lucky coincidence, but I hope it will help us start on the right foot."

Tristan nodded.

"It… will. Either way, I wanted to offer you an alliance from the start. Los Angeles is ruled by too many disjointed gangs who fight each other more than they turn profit. And there's a lot of profit to make!"

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