35. Snow
Chapter thirty-five
Snow
We pull up outside the Poison Apple club in one of Prince’s company cars, and there I spy a line of frustrated people waiting to get inside.
Hunter bypasses them all with a smug swagger that would be hard to miss even from space, and the people in line shout various cries of protest when we go straight to the bouncer at the door.
It seems Hunter is friends with the man as they fist-bump and do some weird handshake.
I gaze up at Casper, confused. He just shrugs, his face tinged pink as he averts his gaze.
Ever since I came down the stairs in my tight black dress and black fur wrap, the young, shy man has been even quieter, and I wonder if I can bring him out of his shell again soon.
I want to hear that beautiful angel’s voice again.
But it appears that angel has gone back to sleep.
Yet, I know I will get to hear him again.
The bouncer laughs when Hunter hands him a few hundred-dollar bills, then removes the velvet rope at the door, letting all three of us inside.
Unfortunately, a repulsive man at the front of the line sees fit to insult us.
“Fuck you, cunts, and your whore!”
It happens before I can even catch my next breath.
Casper lunges for the guy, punching him hard across the face, and then he shoves him against the wall, twisting his arms behind his back.
Casper comes to life, and it’s not an angel I see this time, but a devil.
A freaking hot devil.
One with gleaming eyes of violet as he breathes heavily through clenched teeth, face speckled with blood.
I can’t take my eyes off him.
All the while, the man whimpers in front of him, and when Casper yanks back his hair, grinding his face harder into the wall, something awakens inside me.
Neither Hunter nor the bouncer reacts. The people in the line step back as far as the rope will allow, and it appears no one is coming to the man’s aid.
I guess that’s what he gets for messing with the Diamante men.
Even the shy one.
“Don’t you ever call her a whore again,” Casper rasps close to his ear.
The man screams when Casper near breaks his arm, and if he’s not careful, he’s going to dislocate it from his shoulder.
I peer at Hunter, but he’s just smiling at his cousin proudly, arm wrapped around the bouncer as he, too, looks on at Casper with pride.
“Say you are sorry…” Casper growls, tugging the man’s head back so he can face me.
There are tears streaming down his bloodied face, and I’m surprised when I feel no empathy. I thought I had a good heart, but when I gaze into that sorry excuse of a man’s beady eyes, all I feel is revulsion.
And pride.
Pride in Casper for putting him in his place.
This man does not deserve my sympathy. I guess I’m more like my father than I realized.
Lilith Snow taught me how to be gracious and kind, true, but Leroy taught me how to be ruthless when I needed to be.
Seems this world had a way of catching up with me in the end, but instead of chewing me up and spitting me back out like stale gum, it has merely embraced me.
Awakened some part of me that was buried deep beneath piles and piles of Snow.
But I feel her, the raging tempest.
One who is going to wreak havoc on her enemies…
In that moment, it’s Regina’s face I see at Casper’s mercy, and a small smirk comes to my lips.
“That’s enough, Casper.”
My heart seizes when I recognize that voice, and then I peer up to find Prince of all people dressed in his usual business attire.
He looks so out of place in this urban scene, a line of girls in tight cocktail dresses waiting just behind him.
Prince yanks the phone out of one girl’s hand who had been recording the whole altercation with Casper and the prick, and then he drops it onto the asphalt, breaking its screen with the heel of his designer shoe.
He’s all business again as he hands her the cracked phone. “If you know what’s good for you, sweetheart , then you won’t record me or any of my brothers ever again. Do I make myself clear?”
His green eye flashes in warning, and the girl barely spares her phone a second glance as she takes it from his hand, grabbing her friend quickly to scurry off.
I may have been sheltered my whole life, but I still know what social media is, and I bet that girl was planning on posting that video of Casper to her millions of followers.
Prince brushes down his suit, then steps up to Casper, wrenching him away from the man.
The guy drops to the ground then scrambles away, having lost all interest in getting into the club now.
Once he’s gone, Prince turns on Casper, that green eye flaring with anger.
Casper meets his cousin’s glare, his own eyes beaming brightly as he grits his teeth.
Prince’s face softens next, and then he turns to Hunter, cocking a brow.
“So, this is what you two get up to on your nights out? Interesting…”
Hunter crosses his arms. “Not usually. But then, Casper doesn’t normally attack random guys on the street. Seemed something ticked him off.”
Prince glances back at Casper. “Well?”
Casper is still seething as he whispers. “He called Snow a whore...”
Prince’s green eye flashes even brighter this time, and there’s no missing the anger.
I don’t get it. He has called me a whore a few times, so what is the big deal when someone else does it?
Prince’s gaze settles on me, and I think I spy concern for a few sweet moments. But then he schools his features before putting on his business hat again.
The bouncer continues letting people inside the club, girls, mostly.
“Why are you here?” Hunter asks, scowling at his brother.
Prince wipes lint off the shoulder of his suit. “Is it wrong of me to want to join my brothers for a night on the town?”
Hunter snorts. “Well, yeah… you’re normally too important for this scene.”
Prince smirks. “You’re right. I am , brother, but it’s in my best interests to ensure you both behave tonight.”
His eyes land on me.
Hunter growls. “We don’t need you babysitting us!”
“Oh, I think you do. Casper was about to break that guy’s arm.”
Casper blushes and once again, he’s that shy baby deer who can barely meet my eyes. I step closer, brushing his hand with my fingers just to let him know that I see him.
After all, he stood up for me. And I’m deeply touched.
Casper’s breath hitches, and then he brushes my hand back.
My heart flutters.
“Also, I need to ensure the pair of you don’t let Snow out of your sight.”
“We won’t!” Hunter argues.
Oh, I get it.
He thinks I will do a runner and make my way back to Regina. He really is a big fool.
Prince still doesn’t trust me, no matter how many times I have to tell him that Regina doesn’t care about me.
She sentenced me to die!
Prince waves his hand toward the door of the club. “Well, let us proceed.”
Hunter is still seething as he leads the way inside the club, and this sucks.
Here I was, hoping for a real night of freedom. One where I don’t feel like a sheltered princess or a prisoner.
Not even Daddy allowed me this kind of freedom.
The club is heaving when we step inside, and I can hardly hear myself think above all the music.
It’s so loud.
And it’s perfect… everything I dreamed it would be.
There’s a sea of dancing bodies on the dance floor, strobe lights blinding me at every angle, and the more I watch the people swaying to the music, the more I want to join.
It looks so fun.
My eyes fall on a group of laughing girls, and something aches inside me.
They look so free.
Not like I was.
I’ve never had a night out with the girls; I’ve never even had a group of girlfriends.
We go up to a VIP area, and now I watch the dancers from a lofty window.
Smoke pours into the crowd, and there I spy those writhing limbs rising above the mist, occasionally silhouetted by the strobe lights.
They look like deep ocean fish in that moment. The way they glow in the dark sea below…
It’s awkward in the VIP box as we all sip our drinks, gathering around a cluster of red suede seats.
Hunter won’t stop scowling at Prince as Casper goes into his shell.
It seems they’re too afraid to even breathe around him.
That’s when Prince loosens his tie, grabbing another champagne bottle from the bucket of ice on the table as he pours us all a glass each.
He even hands me one, and I meet his mismatched eyes.
“Drink, Snow.”
My heart pounds, and I peer at Hunter and Casper.
Hunter shrugs, swilling his back, but Casper doesn’t touch his.
Well, when in Rome.
I sip my glass of bubbling champagne just as a pair of beautiful women tumble into the VIP box.
Damn, they are glamorous, and I feel my confidence wilting when I get a look at them.
They look like they just walked off the set of a reality TV show, one about rich sisters doing their rich, mundane things.
Both blonde. They remind me of Barbie dolls.
For a moment, I think they are twins just like Angel and Saint, but upon closer inspection, it appears they’re not.
They just wear identical makeup and have the same nose job and lip injections.
To my relief, Hunter and Casper barely look at them.
Good.
Because I was about ready to throttle them.
Prince raises a brow. “Can I help you?”
One of them eyes him up and down, licking her lips, and I nearly crush my glass in my head. “You can help me by taking all your clothes off…”
They both cackle at her blatant audacity, and I’m ready to throw my glass at their bleached blonde heads.
I grind my teeth, and Hunter looks up at me, hiking a brow with a knowing smile.
But what do I care?
They can have Prince…
Still, I remember how his tongue felt inside my mouth, and I don’t care if I sound likea selfish bitch, even to myself.
Prince is mine .
Prince chuckles. “I don’t think so, girls. You’re not my type.”
Thank goodness.
Then, what is his type?
The girl scoffs. “We’re not your type? Do you know who we are?”
Prince smirks. “Do you know who I am?”
The girl places her hands on her hips. “We’re the Perrault Girls. You know, the hottest sisters in the city? We have millions of followers.”
“That so?” Prince’s face darkens, and Hunter beams, lounging back in his chair.
“Yeah, the name doesn’t ring a bell. Sorry, love.”
The girl stomps her heeled foot. “We are not leaving. This is our box!”
“Tough shit. Now unless you want a bullet in your pretty head, fuck off.”
Prince moves his jacket aside, showing her his gun, and she gasps, grabbing her sister as they both rush off.
It's only then that I notice the third sister, and I hadn’t even realized she was there.
She’s not like them at all. Still beautiful, but she’s reserved and afraid to look anyone in the eye. I know that look.
That’s how I looked for years when I lived under Regina’s reign.
I don’t know how I know. But those girls. They were her stepsisters…
She’s even carrying their purses, and it looks like her sisters mistreat her.
“And you are?” Prince asks, his tone clipped.
The girl bows her head. “No one important.”
“Elle! Our purses, now!”
I jump at her stepsister’s shrill tone, and Elle hunches her shoulders, scurrying away. “Sorry to have disturbed you, sir.”
Hunter and Casper look after her with troubled expressions, but Prince just sips his champagne.
“Wait…” I say.
Elle stops, too afraid to look at me.
I smile. “You can stay.”
The guys all look at me. Hunter’s brows jump in pleasant surprise.
But it’s Prince’s gaze I find. “I think she should stay. After all, I’ve never had a girlfriend before.”
The girl peers up at me at that, and I meet those periwinkle blue eyes. I smile as best as I can to reassure her.
Hunter slumps back on the red seat. “Well, Prince? Are you really going to deny Snow her female companion?”
The VIP box falls quiet. Then it’s broken by Elle’s annoying stepsister again.
“What the hell is taking so long, bitch?”
Prince rolls his eyes, then steps toward Elle, ripping the purses from her hands.
Elle cries. “No!”
But Prince ignores her, going to the top of the stairs outside the door as he throws the purses down at the evil stepsisters.
“Get your own fucking things for once.”
Then he shuts the door, and now it’s just the five of us.
Elle shakes her head. “No, I can’t stay.”
I step toward her, taking her hand. “You can. They’re not the boss of you.”
“But… my stepmother will punish me…”
“Well, fuck your stepmother,” I blurt next, handing her a glass of champagne that Prince had ready made. “You’re drinking with us for the night.”
Elle stares at me for a while. “Why are you doing this?”
I meet her ocean blue eyes. “Because I have a wicked stepmother, too. One who likely thinks I am dead.”
Elle’s eyes expand.
I go on, meeting Prince’s eyes. “But that’s okay because I plan to kill her. I have a score to settle with her, and one day, I will make her pay.”
Prince’s green eye burns. Is that pride I spy?
Hopefully, by now, he has realized I am not in league with that woman, and if my bold declaration to Elle just now doesn’t make him see that, then I don’t know what will.
Hunter laughs, stepping up toward me. Then he takes my hand, spinning me around. “Come on, let’s dance.”
We leave the VIP box and head down to the dance floor, and I make sure Elle comes with us.
Before we exit, I turn back to Prince who remains in the VIP box, a king looking over his subjects from his throne.
His gaze has softened slightly as he watches me with Elle.
I couldn’t help myself. I guess I saw myself in Elle, and I just had to help her.
If she can believe that she has at least one friend in this world who cares about her, then maybe she won’t feel so alone.
I felt alone for most of my life.
Well, until I met seven mafia men.
Maybe things can turn around for Elle, too.