Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
IVY
I lifted a double shot of whiskey to my lips and downed it in one go, thanking my Irish blood for the tolerance that’d been passed down to me. The bitter taste coated my mouth as fire burned down my throat, but I ignored it. Anything to relieve the pressure in my chest.
After the events of the last few days—reading Athair’s will, a round of fists between my brothers and Aiden Callahan who, it turned out, was my fiancé —I was glad to be back in the States and closer to my friends.
Although, I had to wonder why Aiden had brought me to Philadelphia and not New York, considering his family was mainly based out of there. Furthermore, he insisted this club was the only suitable club for me to visit. It was odd, considering it belonged to the Italians, Priest DiLustro specifically. And then, to make matters even weirder, he let me come alone with a bodyguard he assigned me the minute we touched down in the States.
But I knew better than to complain.
When I told my best friends, they got all excited and insisted I needed a night out. So here I was on the dance floor, getting down and dirty with some thumping club music, tolerating the foul mixture of liquor and sweat.
My gaze landed on my bodyguard, the intimidating man with a permanent scowl who lingered in the shadows, and I gave my head a subtle shake.
“As long as he stays well enough away,” I muttered to myself, letting euphoria fly through me as I swayed to the beat. Here and now, I was okay, the pain of the last week dulled to the point where I no longer felt it.
“What?” Juliette yelled, her worried gaze on me. Wynter and Juliette had been doing their best to keep my spirits high, which included rescuing me from the penthouse I’d been holed up in—one of many the Callahans seemed to own.
I waved my hand to signal it was nothing. Distraction was key to suppressing worries, and I was determined to drink all that I could handle.
“I can’t believe you’re here.” Wynter beamed, her hips rolling slowly, her husband (surprisingly) nowhere in sight.
“I guess there are some benefits to arranged marriages,” I said, flashing her a dry smile. Aiden had been invisible since we parted ways at the tarmac, deepening my suspicions that he wanted as little to do with me as I did with him. Suits me , I thought with a sly grin. “Speaking of, where are your husbands?”
Basilio and Dante hated being separated from their wives, usually lurking close by.
Juliette shrugged. “They have a meeting in the back somewhere.”
I smiled, fighting the temptation to ask if Priest was with them. I knew he traveled just as much as my brothers, but the DiLustros usually moved as one unit. So, my plan was to keep myself good and tipsy in case he was in the city. The last thing I needed was to be blindsided by another run-in—my birthday party was still too fresh.
“We won’t let them ruin our night, will we?” I said, grimacing like an idiot as my gaze darted to the side where my bodyguard lounged against the bar, his expression one of boredom.
“How are you doing?” Wynter asked.
I shrugged. “Fine.”
“You’re not fine.” She knew me too well. “I thought you… and Priest would—” She struggled to find the right word. “We could be sisters. I know I’m biased because he’s my brother?—”
“And my brother-in-law,” Juliette chimed in.
Wynter continued, “But you are perfect for him, and he’d be good to you. Just imagine, all four of us would be best friends and actual family. Our children would grow up as cousins.”
I flashed her an uncomfortable smile. I never told my friends about Priest’s rejections—which still stung—and I had no intention of reopening that wound.
“It just wasn’t meant to be,” I told her. I certainly wouldn’t chase after the arrogant prince. As the saying went, he could kiss my Irish ass, because I sure as hell wouldn’t kiss his. “Besides, I’m engaged.”
I lifted my ring finger as if to prove it, but I completely forgot it was still ringless.
“Don’t tell me you’re into Aiden?” Wynter challenged. “He’s not even your type.” She took my hands into hers. “Priest is just complicated. Just get into his space and demand his attention. He stares at you like it’s his full-time job.”
I rolled my eyes, but I’d be lying if I said that Wynter’s words didn’t make my stomach flutter in all the ways it shouldn’t considering I was marrying someone else.
“I’m engaged to Aiden,” I reasoned, stating the obvious.
“You’re not really going through with it, are you?” Juliette questioned, scrunching her nose. “Aiden Callahan is old enough to be your father.”
It was an exaggeration, though not completely outside the realm of possibility. At forty-one, Aiden Callahan had no business being unmarried—at least not in our world—and I had half a mind to put an ad in the paper and pray that a woman would snatch him up.
Saving me from responding to Juliette’s question and nearly bursting my eardrums in the process, a shriek sounded in my ear, followed by a set of hands wrapping around me. I turned and found a couple smiling down at me, flanked by two guards the size of mountains. I didn’t need to peek inside their suit jackets to know they were carrying.
My face lit up. “Davina!”
She grinned. “Surprise.”
We all collided in a messy, laughing group hug that would’ve ended with us on the floor had Davina’s husband—older than Aiden Callahan, I might add—not steadied us.
“I thought you couldn’t make it!”
She rubbed her growing stomach, her eyes glowing with mischief. “There will be no baby coming anytime soon, so I demanded these two get my butt over here.” She hiked a thumb over her shoulder in the guards’ general direction.
She gave me an extra hug after we untangled from the other girls. “How are you doing?”
“Excellent now.” I squeezed her tight. “I can’t believe you’re here even at eight months pregnant.”
Davina let out an exasperated breath. “I’m pregnant, not dying.”
“I had to bring her or she would’ve murdered me,” Liam added, watching his wife with affection. Beyond his six-foot-something frame, Liam Brennan was one of the best-looking men I knew, aging like a fine wine. He had a heart of gold and treated our girl like the queen she was.
“This brings back so many memories,” Wynter said, a glimmer in her eyes as she scanned the club.
“You mean the days when you four went around robbing people?” Liam, who also happened to be Wynter’s uncle, added dryly.
“Don’t mind him.” Davina linked arms with me and we led the gang over to the bar. “Tell me what the deal is with this man you’re marrying.”
“Oh, he’s nobody,” I said with a click of my tongue.
“Aiden Callahan is hardly a nobody,” Wynter replied.
“He’s clearly nobody to her ,” Juliette explained, her voice clear now that we’d stepped away from the dance floor’s speakers. I glanced a few feet past her, locking eyes with a man who spoke into his earpiece. My friends followed my gaze and glared at him, unimpressed.
Juliette marched over and I shot my friends a confused look. “What?—”
“You need to get lost,” Juliette said, shoving him away. “She needs space. Beat it, or I’ll have my husband deal with you.”
I bit down on a grin when the bodyguard followed her demand, effectively chastised. Why was she being so overprotective? I could handle my own battles.
“Oh my God,” Wynter groaned when her cousin returned to stand next to us. “You’re going to cause a war.”
“If that’s what’s needed to keep Ivy away from those Callahans, then so be it.”
Wynter’s face soured. “We have to tread delicately.”
“We’re too young to become widows,” Davina explained, shaking her head. “So, before you act, use that beautiful head to think things through, Juliette.”
She rolled her eyes to the back of her head. “But I thought we were planning to?—”
Before Juliette could finish her statement, Wynter grabbed her hand and yanked her away.
“What’s that about?” I asked Davina, who was already flagging down a bartender and ordering me a drink.
“Drink up, girl,” she announced once the bartender appeared with the saltshaker, a lime wedge, and a shot of tequila.
I frowned. “It doesn’t feel right drinking alone.”
“I would, but you know…” She rubbed her belly and cocked a perfectly shaped brow. “Bottoms up.”
Before I could slam my glass on the bar top and focus on keeping the contents of my stomach down, another shot was in front of me. Then another. I winced, choking a little as I bit down on the lime, the room spinning.
“I have to pee,” I said, laughing and feeling lighter than I had in a long time.
Davina laughed, glancing behind me. “Perfect.”
I turned to see who she was looking at but couldn’t make anything out in the amber glow of the nightclub. I slid off the barstool, slightly wobbly, and headed toward the restroom signs at the back of the club.
“There’s another bathroom there,” explained Davina, steering me to the left. “That one’ll be crowded.”
I turned down another hallway when my shoulder bumped into a hard body. I started to apologize when I found a familiar gaze sizing me up.
I stole a look at his eyes—these ones the perfect shade of blue—but before I could say anything, I felt a prick in my neck.
“It would seem our last meeting in the dark hallway wasn’t enough for you, angel.”
My world started to spin, his eyes following me everywhere. Blue. Cold. Destructive.