House of Cards | Bulletproof book 2 | A BTS Gang AU

06: You Don't Know Me

By the time the night of the auction arrived, I was a nervous wreck. It would have been easier to list the things I wasn't worried about than those that I was. I stood in the alley, switching my weight from one foot to the other and adjusting everything from my baseball cap to my boxer braids as I waited on the girls from Everglow to meet me.

After a nearly unbearable amount of time, I heard a car slide to a stop at the edge of the alley. I leaned away from the wall and looked up to see the window roll down and Mia lean out. Another girl with long black hair was driving and barely turned her head to cast a sidelong glance at me before looking away with a bored expression.

"I trust you know the way," Mia called out in her scratchy voice.

"I think I can figure it out."

"Good. Let's roll."

The window rolled up and the sports car tore off, followed by a couple other girls on bikes like the one I'd borrowed from Minnie. I hopped on the bike and sped down the street to catch up with them, falling in beside a girl whose pink braids whipped in the wind under her neon green helmet.

It wasn't much of a drive to the auction, but I used the time to go over my plan and calm my nerves as much as I could. I would stick with Everglow and Red Velvet as much as possible, but my real mission was Bangtan. I just hoped I wouldn't end up being necessary.

A crowd had already gathered in front of the massive building, but the girls I was with turned down a side street before we hit the line of expensive cars and well-dressed passengers. We parked next to a squat, boarded-up, building with a parking lot filled with street-race cars and bikes even faster than the one I'd commandeered. I slid off the seat and hooked my helmet down before looking around at the crowd of lethal-looking people that had gathered together.

Mia and the other girl stepped out of their car, along with one of the tallest women I'd ever seen. Granted, she was still about as tall as Jimin, but for the women I was used to seeing, she might as well have been an Amazon. The white-haired girl beside her was nearly a head shorter, though she was also in shorter heels.

"So you're the extra Mia decided to let tag along," the white-haired girl said.

"Selene," I replied with a slight bow.

"Jiwon," she said, sizing me up with calculating eyes. "You better not cause any trouble. This is a big deal for us."

"I'm just here to make some money on the side. I won't be any trouble." At least I didn't plan to be. Jiwon didn't say anything, she just turned and said something to the taller girl, who cast a suspicious glance in my direction, before walking off to talk to a tall guy with an enormous smile. He threw his arm around her shoulder and pulled her toward a group of men. A shorter guy with bright red hair and devilish eyes scowled at me for a moment before turning back to his own group. I vaguely recognized him, but couldn't place where I knew him from. The only thing I could come up with was that maybe his name started with a "T".

The tall girl turned to me and bowed slightly, breaking me away from my thoughts. "I'm Aisha. You've met Mia. The girl with the pink hair is Onda and she's Yiren," she said, pointing to a smaller black-headed girl. "Over there is Sihyeon." I followed Aisha's pointed finger to the girl that had been driving the car with Mia. She didn't acknowledge us in any way as she surveyed everything going on around her.

"When Red Velvet arrives," Aisha continued, "we'll follow them inside. They say we're not allowed weapons, but no one ever checks the women. Just make sure whatever you've got stays hidden unless it's absolutely necessary."

I gave her a curt nod. "This isn't my first time."

Aisha tilted her head back. "I know. If it was, you wouldn't be here, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to give you the run down."

"Fair enough."

"Five minutes," Mia yelled over her shoulder. Her finger was pressed to her ear and her mouth tilted down towards her chest. I guessed she was the one with the earpiece.

"Show time, ladies," Aisha murmured before turning and heading toward the auction entrance. I fell in step with the others, making sure to stay where I could see, but not where I would be noticed. My cap was pulled lower over my eyes than those of the other girls, which I hoped would allow me to blend in better even though I was bigger and paler than they were.

As we neared the entrance, I saw a sleek town car pull up to the curb and a group of stylish women in designer clothing step out. Everglow immediately fanned out on each side, creating a cocoon around them. I took up the rear position since it was what I was most used to and because it gave me the most camouflage.

Which was a good thing, I realized, as EXO had already shown up and were standing to the side as they seemed to be waiting for something. Or someone. I glanced around the group looking for anyone I recognized, but the only one I saw was Chanyeol. And that was mostly because he was so much taller than the others. I ducked down behind my group a little anyway, just in case. When the noise of the crowd suddenly grew and people with cameras rushed forward, I knew the men of the hour had arrived.

The ladies of Red Velvet stepped over to the side beside another group of women and craned their necks around us to watch as the men - my men - exited their cars. I couldn't take my eyes off the lead car as Taehyung stepped out first, looking like a million dollars in his midnight blue suit. A smile fought its way onto my lips as I realized that it probably did cost a small fortune considering what I knew about his shopping habits. He looked around the crowd with a detached interest, then turned to the others and waited as they joined him.

Yoongi was the next out, followed by Namjoon and Jimin. I noticed with vague worry that Namjoon had decided to ride with Yoongi and the younger members rather than Jin and Hoseok. I figured that Jungkook had taken his place. It hurt my heart when the four of them walked to the door without waiting for the others to join them so they could all walk in together like last time.

How broken could they be that they weren't sticking together? What had I done to them? If I had never joined their group, none of this would have ever happened and maybe they would still be the close-knit family they had been before I showed up and ruined everything. My heart sank to my feet as Tae led the group with his nose in the air, Jimin followed looking high as a kite, Yoongi couldn't raise his eyes from his feet as he put one in front of the other, and Namjoon stepped forward with a scary kind of determination in his eyes and the set of his jaw. These weren't the men I had fallen in love with. They were just shells of the people I'd known. Caricatures of the men they'd once been.

"God, they look delicious, don't they," one of the women from Red Velvet whispered to the girl standing beside her.

The taller girl scoffed at the one with the pale pink hair. "For fuck's sake, Yeri, you can't screw everyone."

"Just because you're too stuck up to get laid, doesn't mean I have to be, Joy."

The girls on either side of them snickered at their conversation as the boys walked past. I sucked in a breath as I wished with every part of my being that I could be there with them like I had been the last time, but I knew that would never happen again. It couldn't if I wanted them to stay safe.

With a sigh, I tore my eyes away from their retreating backs. As I glanced around at the crowd that was waiting for the rest of the guys to arrive, my eyes made contact with those of another. Eyes that were decidedly not happy.

Kai's stare burned into me from across the walkway. His glare was cold and dangerous and I could once again see what made him so delicious and terrifying the first time I'd met him. He narrowed his dark eyes at me and clenched his jaw and I could tell that there was going to be hell to pay when he got ahold of me.