Chapter 16
EVE
After a rather uneventful week which was mostly taken up with college assignments and tests—keeping me busy and out of trouble—I found myself dressed to kill and standing in the front entrance on Friday night, Lacey and Nina by my side.
“No, absolutely not.” Andrew, for all of his progress in treating me like a person and not an annoyance, was reverting to his old ways as he blocked the doorway.
Lacey cleared her throat. “Need I remind you that Evelyn is a grown woman and is more than allowed to go out for a night of dancing.”
“Exactly,” Nina said, leaning forward. Her rapid movement had her tits almost falling out of her tiny black dress, which was both short and cut super low. “She’s been in college for months, and I’m fairly sure all she does is hang out in this creepy-as-fuck house.”
For some reason that rubbed me the wrong way.
I’d grown to love Bluebell House, with its eccentricities.
Especially as Haze continued to modernize it, somehow, with very little help from the rest of us.
“It’s not that I need to get out, but it would be nice to blow off some steam,” I said, my expression hopefully pleading with Andrew not to make this a big deal.
“I know you’re worried about me, but the main gunman is dead, and I won’t be alone out there.
We’ll catch a ride there and home. As safe as we can be.
I can’t stop living my life forever because my dad is an evil asshole. ”
Before he could reply, the rest of my housemates filed into the room, coming in from cleaning up dinner and whatever else they’d been doing. “What’s going on?” Ethan asked, noticing the tension in the room. “I thought Eve was heading out for a girl’s night?”
I’d already told Brodie and Ethan, who’d expressed concern but hadn’t tried to stop me. I got the sense that one of them planned to tag along in the shadows, but maybe that was just me being paranoid.
“It’s not a good idea,” Andrew said, but his tone was less firm this time.
Connor leaned back lazily against the doorframe, his massive body all but filling it. He spent a lot of time pretending I wasn’t even in the room lately, so it surprised me when he added his two cents. “Let her go. Lacey can look after herself, and no one gives a shit about Eve anymore.”
That felt like a physical blow, and when I flinched, I thought a brief flash of what might have been regret crossed Connor’s face.
When I looked closer, though, he was once again a gorgeous, passive-faced asshole.
Ethan reached out and wrapped his hand around my waist, dragging me closer.
“Don’t listen to that jealous fuck,” he said, not quietly. “And you look stunning, by the way.”
My dress was not quite as short or low cut as Nina’s and Lacey’s, but it was certainly still a mini.
It was deep purple, similar to my recently re-colored hair, which I’d curled and left down around my shoulders.
My make-up was slightly heavier than usual, to fit the nightclub vibe, and I was ready for a few drinks and dancing with my friends.
“Thank you. I promise to keep my phone on me and be home early. You don’t have to worry.
I know the emergency button now, and I’ll use it if needed.
” Haze had installed a button on my screen that I could press and it would send out a distress signal to all their phones.
I hadn’t even argued when he’d insisted on installing it, and I felt that was more than enough.
Brodie stepped in on my other side, uncharacteristically quiet. He pressed his lips to my cheek. “It’s okay, Evie babe. You go and have fun. We’ll be here waiting for you.”
To my surprise, with no more than a heavy sigh, Andrew also leaned in to press his lips to my cheek.
“Phone on you at all times,” he ordered, but he did step away long enough to grab his wallet, returning with a credit card that he slipped into my push-up bra, his fingers draping over the swell of my breasts, heat trailing each touch.
“This is yours to use for whatever you need. Drinks, cab, security.”
“Wait, no.” I tried to fish it out, but he was already strolling off. “I don’t need your money,” I called, only to find the others grinning at me.
“If you don’t take his, you’ll have to take one of ours, Evie babe,” Brodie reminded me. “You’re one of us and you need a credit card, especially if we’re not there with you. For safety if nothing else.”
A subtle reminder that they were letting me out against their usual over-protective judgment.
Which, actually, did seem like this was all going far too easily. Haze hadn’t even made a peep, and when I met his gaze he shrugged. “I’ve already hacked their cameras. I’ll keep an eye on you.”
For some reason, that actually made me feel safer and not like I had a stalker. I mean, I did have a stalker, but I liked him.
Lacey patted my shoulder. “Okay, the psycho-boys have you covered from their end, so let’s head out. We’re wasting the best drinking and dancing hours.”
It was barely eleven, but we also weren’t there yet, so she had a point.
A black car was waiting out the front when the guys kissed me goodbye, and I slid into the back with Lacey and Nina.
No address was given, so I had to assume it was already all organized by one of the two ladies with me.
Rich people never seemed to have an issue finding a ride or getting where they wanted to go.
Fishing around in my bra got the credit card out, and when I turned it over, I blinked at the fact that my name was on it. My fake name, but my name, nonetheless.
“That’s a claim if I ever saw one,” Lacey said, noticing where I was staring. “You’re listed on his bank account.”
I slid the card into my purse with my own bank card—which, granted, didn’t have much money on it but would get me a few drinks. Whipping out my phone, I shot a text off telling Andrew Knightsbridge that we’d be talking about this later.
These men and their domineering, controlling ways. I must have muttered something about it, because Nina laughed. “I’m seriously surprised they let you out of the house. I was prepared for way more of a fight.”
Come to think of it… “That was weird. Maybe Haze’s video footage is enough for them.”
But it still didn’t really make sense, since they always wanted one of them within arm’s reach of me in case someone tried to murder me again.
Lacey shook her head. “They’re scheming for sure. Never trust them when they’re compliant. That’s legitimately the most dangerous time to be around them. Especially Connie.”
That was a fact I couldn’t disagree with, but I wasn’t about to let it ruin my night. If they were following in the shadows, they were going to get a nice eyeful of me dancing the night away with my girls.
The street was packed with people around the club entrance, and there was a long line spanning down past where we were dropped off.
Lacey, of course, didn’t even look at that line as she linked her hand with mine and started to drag me toward the main doors.
“The line?” I said, stumbling on my heels.
I wasn’t used to wearing them, but they weren’t that high, which would hopefully get me through the rest of the night.
“I don’t wait in line,” she said simply, and sure enough, when we reached the entrance the security on either side took one look at her and stepped aside, waving us all in.
“Does everyone know you, girl?” Nina chirped, looking rather pleased to sashay in without standing in line or paying cover charge.
Lacey’s grimace said it all. “Unfortunately, yes, and not for the reasons you might suspect.”
Her family and Connor’s were tied up in some shady shit. They pretty much owned this town, if the gossip was to be believed. At least there were some benefits to being a mafia princess.
The music grew louder as we headed inside, the club full and pumping, the dance floor almost impossible to navigate through. Lacey managed it though, and while she wasn’t overly tall or broad, her presence seemed to be larger than life. People just got out of her way.
“How did your family take your breakup with Connor?” I found myself asking as we crowded beside the bar. I got jostled a few times, but eventually we ended up next in line to be served.
“Not particularly well,” she said, her expression falling. “We’re still working through it, but they know neither of us will change our minds about it. We can’t give them what they want, and they need to figure out how to deal with it.”
Another shove sent me even closer to her, and I used the proximity to shout my next question near her ear. “They’re not going to hurt you for refusing this, right?”
She shook her head. “Nah, they’re assholes, but they don’t kill family. We’re safe.”
That didn’t sound particularly reassuring, but there was nothing I could do to help them, so I had to let it go.
When the bartender showed up, I gawked at how gorgeous she was.
With short blue and pink hair, which was spiked around her face, her eyes were heavily lined, and her lips were so pink the color was almost neon.
It wasn’t a look I could pull off, but she was catching attention from a lot of the men and women in her vicinity.
“What can I get you, ladies?” she shouted, as she wiped down the sticky bar top.
Lacey ordered three hurricanes and three tequila shots.
“That’ll warm us up,” she said when the hot bartender moved away to make our cocktails.
I rarely drank, so it would more than warm me up.
If I wasn’t careful, I’d be passed out on the floor, and every guy in Bluebell House would yell at me.
Which could be worth it for a little make-up sex from a few of them.
We downed the shots first and then headed into the dance floor with our cocktails.
It was a fruity, sweet mix, and I thoroughly enjoyed my first hurricane.
When the song changed, it was one of my favorites, and my hips were already moving to the beat.
Lacey and Nina pushed in closer to me, and the three of us danced until our feet hurt and our drinks were long gone.
At times I felt eyes on me, but I could never really spot anyone and was having too much fun to really care. Whoever was out there could look all they wanted.
When we were a couple of hours in, and I was almost ready for water and another drink, a group of guys moved closer to us.
They were restrained at first, kind of dancing to the beat, but not pressing closer.
Eventually, one decided to shoot his shot, sidling near me, and when I felt the graze of his hand on my ass, I moved myself right out of his reach.
“No,” I said firmly, turning to take in the tall, preppy dude. He wore a Polo shirt and slacks, his dark hair perfectly coiffed. He was moderately good looking, but nothing compared to the men who shared my bed and my house. “Not interested.”
He shook his head like he’d never heard the word no before, reaching out for me once more. “Come on, pretty,” he said, just the slightest slur in his words to bely how much he’d had to drink. “Just one dance. Don’t be a bitch.”
Yeah, there was literally nothing that got me more worked up than when men called me a bitch because I turned down their advances.
But he was also much larger than me, and clearly drunk, so I had to be careful about how I extricated myself from this situation.
An unfortunate reality for women everywhere.
“I have a boyfriend,” I said, and since it was the truth, I hoped he’d hear it in my voice.
“Two, actually,” Lacey murmured, thankfully low enough that this dickhead hadn’t heard.
Three? I said inside my own head, thinking of Andrew.
He reached for me again, lunging this time, so he got a hand around my wrist before I could back away. “I’m sure he won’t mind one dance,” he said, tugging me toward him.
Lacey snarled from my side, but before she could smack him in the face, a huge shadow appeared over the dickhead’s shoulder. Connor’s face was wreathed in fury, but his stance was casual as he pressed his gun into the guy’s neck.
“You have two seconds to walk away or you’ll never walk anywhere again.”
His voice was calm and conversational, and as the panic washed over the drunk fuck’s face, I tried not to get turned on by this little rescue mission. One, because he was not supposed to be here, and two, Connor was an asshole too.
An asshole with a gun and no qualms about using it.