Chapter 16
Gabriella
I don’t know who was to blame—I was blaming Rachel—but somewhere in the evening, shots were introduced.
And they were used as payment for everything.
Wanted to go to the bathroom? Pay the shot tax.
Needed something to eat? Shot.
Wanted to play darts? Shot, shot, shot, for every turn.
It wasn’t long before the room was spinning, and I wasn’t sure which way was up.
When I’d first entered the clubhouse, I was drowning in a sea of faces, all of them blurring into one. The shots hadn’t helped with that at all. I’d simply resorted to referring to every man here as “cut”.
Cut, bring me another shot.
Cut, I’m hungry.
Cut, hold my hair, I’m about to be sick.
That last demand had ended with Vienna shoving the poor man in the chest, warning him not to put his hands on me.
I’d giggled at that.
My Vienna was very possessive when he wanted to be.
Somewhere along the line, Rachel had decreed that she was too important to walk.
“These legs are not made for walking,” she’d slurred. “They must be protected. Dante! Protect me!”
She’d jumped on his back, only for him to shrug her off like a toddler.
“Dante, my legs!” she wailed.
“Unless they’re opening, I’m not interested.”
“Well, they won’t be opening for you any time soon.”
“We’ll see,” he smirked, turning away from her.
And so now she was on Darwin’s back, brandishing a snooker cue at anyone who dared get close enough.
Especially Dante. Whom she had declared as ‘Enemy Numero Uno’.
“Fancy making this interesting?” Vienna asked, making me jump as he appeared from nowhere.
“What do you have in mind?”
He downed his shot and grinned wickedly at me. Then, crouching down low, he tapped his back, indicating he wanted me to climb on.
I laughed, the alcohol having waved away any of my inhibitions and wrapped my arms and legs around him.
“Hold on tight to this,” he said, handing me a snooker cue. And then he was running through the crowd, not caring who he banged into.
“Sorry!” I called out to one of the prospects—I think Pivot—who was now on the ground muttering expletives.
“Do not apologise to those not worthy!” Vienna boomed, putting on his best circus barker voice.
“Oh, no,” I giggled, realising he was in peak chaotic mode.
“Rachel King, keeper of the non-working legs, owner of this fine establishment,” he called out.
Darwin turned in slow motion, taking Rachel with him, and Vienna bowed, almost tipping me off his back.
“For Christ’s sake,” I muttered, scrambling to stay on as he lowered himself even further, and then screamed as he bucked back up rapidly.
I grabbed hold of his beard, using it as reins, and held on tight.
“For what do we have here?” Rachel muttered, looking down her nose at us.
“Silence!” Vienna roared, stumbling slightly and knocking over a chair.
I was beginning to think climbing onto his back had been a big, big mistake.
“We challenge thee to a duel,” he declared loftily, grabbing my wrist and brandishing the snooker cue at Rachel and Darwin.
“You what?” I hissed down Vienna’s ear, giving his beard a hard tug.
“A duel,” she laughed. “And hast thou been practicing one’s jab?” she asked, jutting her own snooker cue forward until it stabbed Vienna in the side.
And, of course, he almost fell over.
“We hast not yet been defeated-eth,” he replied.
“Your old English sucks,” I whispered.
“I learned it from Shrek. Shut up, you’re making us look bad,” he hissed back, slapping my thigh.
“I accepted-est your challenge-est,” Rachel replied, proving her old English wasn’t much better. “Taketh up thou position…eth.”
Good grief.
Vienna scuffed his foot on the floor like an animal getting ready to pounce and growled at Rachel and Darwin. Then he was walking us backwards, the rest of the club clearing the floor to make space.
And, funnily enough, the thing that confused me the most wasn’t the fact that I was in the middle of this nor that Vienna was challenging someone to a human-horseback duel. It was the fact that the rest of the club thought this so normal that they just laughed and went along with it.
“And what shalt be one’s reward for winning the duel?” Rachel called out.
“The winner shalt be decreed leader of the hair, and-est all hair buddies henceforth and evermore!”
“Roll up, roll up!” Imogen called, standing up on the bar. “I decree a minor interruption!”
“Get down!” Ant hissed at her.
“Fuck off!” she snapped back.
Ant muttered and grabbed hold of her—or at least attempted to. She scrambled away, sending pint glasses flying.
“I am taking bets for the winner,” she squeaked, giggling as Ant lashed out at her ankles. She grabbed hold of the wooden beam and swung herself up, dangling out of his reach. “Give-eth your gold coin to fair maiden Jade,” she called out, passing the burden onto Jade.
Jade jumped up in her booth, taking her top off and holding it like a sling to accept donations. The crowd erupted in cheers at her actions, and Tools immediately got to his feet.
Seemingly he knew better than to try control his old lady, but he did stand guard, his arms folded, his glare menacing as people placed their bets.
And then I looked and saw Dante in the corner, shaking his head but doing absolutely nothing to stop any of this. He caught my eye and mouthed, “He’s your problem now,” pointing first at Vienna and then at me. Then gave me a very dramatic, sympathetic face.
“Now that the Jade-eth Boob-eth Bank has had its generous donations, may we proceed with the duel-eth?” Vienna asked.
“You know there’s more to Old English than just adding “eth” to everything, right?” I asked him.
“You, fair maiden, are wrong-eth and stupid-eth. Please desist-eth with your distractions… eth.”
I laughed because there was no arguing with the drunken idiot.
“Taketh up thy positions!” Imogen belled out, pointing a bottle of vodka at us.
“Rachel, ist thou ready?”
“I am ready.”
“Vienna, ist thou ready, also?”
“One is also ready.”
“I’m not ready,” I said, but of course, no one listened to me.
“Let the duel commence. On my count. One… two…”
Vienna bucked his foot on the floor again, tipped his head back, and neighed.
Fucking neighed.
“Three… Take off!”
The lights flickered on, making us all groan and protest. The snooker cue dropped from Rachel’s hands as she brought them up to shield her eyes, and Vienna ran forward, snatching it up and smacked Darwin with it repeatedly.
I didn’t know what else to do, so I joined in, bonking Darwin on his head, just as Rachel slapped him for letting her loose.
“What in the actual fuck is going on here?” Heather hissed from the doorway, tightening her dressing gown around her body.
“I—”
“Don’t you start,” she warned, waving her finger at Vienna. “I am trying to get Bee and Axel to sleep. Do you think it’s going well?” she hissed.
“Probably not. You are being very loud,” Vienna said, his face straight and his voice deadpan.
“I am being loud?” Heather said, almost shaking with rage. “I suggest we call this party quits and everyone leaves for home—their own homes. I’m not having a repeat of last time.”
The club groaned their protests, and I whispered in Vienna’s ear, asking what happened last time.
“The club said this was their home and took a stand, staging a sleepover in the bar. Heather nearly committed multiple murders that night.”
“Were you going to be her first victim?”
Vienna slapped my ass in response.
I took that as a yes.
But eventually, we all did as Heather demanded, either leaving the bar through the front doors or going upstairs to our rooms.
Vienna continued carrying me, and the vicious little fuck grabbed my ankle and made me kick out at Heather as we passed her.
“Oh my God, I am so sorry—”
Heather responded by grabbing Vienna’s beard and tugging with all her might.
Except that might have been funny had he not been drunk. And had I not been on the back of him. We both went spilling forward, becoming too top-heavy to stay upright.
Just before we fell to the floor, two large hands clamped around my waist, holding me midair as Vienna collapsed into a heap.
I turned my head just as Dante lowered me to the ground, shooting me a small wink before he followed Rachel upstairs.
“I feel betrayed!” Vienna whimpered from the floor. I heard a giggle and saw Dante jog down the stairs, encouraged by a still cackling Rachel. His hand pushed through the banister, knocked over the table, sending the vase of flowers crashing on top of Vienna’s head.
“Bed!” Heather snapped at Dante’s retreating form. “And you!” she nudged Vienna with her foot. “Get off the floor and up to bed. You, too, Missy!” she warned me.
I didn’t need telling twice. I ran up the stairs, giggling and stumbling, collapsing in a heap outside my door.
I had barely managed three steps before I heard another exaggerated groan from somewhere behind me.
“Oh, for God’s sake,” I laughed, turning around.
Vienna was sprawled dramatically across the top of the staircase, one arm thrown over his eyes as though he’d just survived some great battle rather than having his beard tugged by a woman half his size.
“I’ve been mortally wounded,” he announced to absolutely nobody.
“You’ve had your beard pulled.”
“Exactly.”
“You deserved it.”
“I was an innocent victim.”
“You made me kick her.”
“I merely assisted. Eth.”
I shook my head, unable to stop smiling as I wandered back down towards him. “You’re unbelievable.”
“I’ve heard rumours.”
“You’re a menace.”
“I’ve heard those as well.”
He held one hand out towards me, looking for all the world like a damsel waiting to be rescued, and despite knowing full well he was perfectly capable of getting up by himself, I sighed dramatically and took it.
“You’re lucky you’re pretty.”
“I know.”
The second my fingers wrapped around his, he grinned.
“Got you.”
“Oh, no—”
He gave my arm a sharp tug, not enough to hurt me but enough to throw me completely off balance. I squealed as I stumbled forward, my knees colliding with his chest before we both toppled sideways into an undignified heap across the stairs.
“Jesus, are you okay?” I said, my hands wandering all over his body as I checked his stitches to make sure none had come back open.
Vienna just grinned, looking down at my hands on his skin.
“What do you think?”
“You’re impossible!” I said, slapping his chest.
He grabbed my hands and rolled me again.
Somehow we ended with me on my back and Vienna lying next to me, looking down at me.
“Hi,” he murmured.
“Hi back,” I said, not feeling half as drunk as I had a second ago.
Vienna simply smiled, staring at me, looking happier than I could remember.
And then my head was lifting up, my weight balancing on my elbows as I moved my upper body closer to him.
Vienna didn’t move, letting me make all the decisions. I closed my eyes and pursed my lips, wanting to kiss him, wanting to reestablish that connection.
Only the second my eyes closed, I no longer saw Vienna—the man I wanted to kiss with a desperation I had never felt before.
Instead, I saw my mother. Cold and alone, and dead.
And I was about to kiss the man responsible for it.
It was almost like a bucket of cold water had been poured over me. Instead of kissing his lips, I placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. And Vienna didn’t say a word. He simply nodded, got to his feet and held his hand out to me, helping me stand up as well.
“Goodnight-eth, princess,” he whispered, opening my door and pushing me inside.
“Goodnight, fair knight,” I whispered back, earning myself a wide grin from him.
“It’s been a pleasure,” he said, tipping a pretend hat at me.
And suddenly I was eleven again.
“We mustn’t do this again sometime,” I said, finishing our age-long traditional goodbye.
And then he was closing the door, leaving me alone with my thoughts, and a hell of a lot of confused feelings to unpack.
But sleep didn’t come easily that night.
I was filled with regret for pulling away from Vienna. Then came the shame for regretting it.
I couldn’t help it, though.
It was Vienna.
My Vienna.
And every time I closed my eyes, I found myself drifting backwards, lost in the memories. They weren’t of Nico or even my mother.
My thoughts drifted to him. To an easier time. To another night.
One where we had been happy and in love. Blissfully drunk, and laughing with him had seemed like the easiest thing in the world.
One where he reminded me exactly why I had chosen him for my own.
Where everything had been so effortless.