Chapter 34
LEX
The Obsidian
Waiting on Briggs and Ellie to fucking show up.
“Where the hell is she?” I ask, hunched down under the black marble bar at The Obsidian.
I’m shoulder to shoulder with Cade and Haley, personally thanking God that I no longer have to wear that straight jacket Dr. What’s-His-Nuts called a sling. My shoulder still flares from time to time, but at least I’m free of the damn thing.
Everyone else is hidden in velvet booths or under glitter covered tables.
Except for Laing.
He’s standing behind a tiny pillar in the corner like a dipshit in broad daylight with that poor bartender chick, Callie, draped on his arm. Stealthy Triad boss my ass. Man’s built like a threat and hides like a four year old.
I went up to Callie when I got here earlier and told her to blink twice if Tattooed-Dragon-Dick was holding her against her will. Mortal Kombat didn’t find that funny. His auburn-haired, blue-eyed little beauty did, so fuck him.
“Caleb said they were pulling in,” Cade replies, shifting his weight in the dark and accidentally smashing his bony knee into my thigh.
“Ouch!”
“Sorry, babe,” he whispers.
Haley and Cade had this bright idea to throw Ellie a welcome-home-happy-birthday-congrats-on-winning-worlds celebration today. Trying to maintain a sense of normalcy or some shit.
Well happy birthday, welcome home, and congrats Little Whitmore. I love you, but we have bigger fish to fry right now.
Like a missing girlfriend to find.
A psycho foster-uncle to kill.
And a fight night that’ll draw said psycho out to start organizing. Actually, Ellie will probably be a major help with that one.
Jesus Christ, where is she?
The door at the top of the stairs creaks open. A cowboy hat cuts into the light first.
“Finally,” I mumble, pushing up from the bar just as Knox snaps the lights on.
“Surprise!” the room erupts.
Haley’s already moving before the word even has a shot to land. She’s sprinting toward Ellie like she might actually tackle her. Cade’s right behind her, laughing as Ellie lets out this bright, startled squeal that doesn’t belong anywhere near these last forty-eight days.
I hang back a step and let them have their moment.
Haley throws her arms around her. Cade and Cal follow, squeezing their sister tight with wide grins. Knox pulls her in next, murmuring something in her ear that makes her full on cackle.
Ellie turns to me, her ocean-blues a tad softer now.
I hand her the bag. “Happy Birthday, Little Whitmore.”
Her brows lift when she spots the Gucci logo.
“Lex…”
“Blame Haley,” I mutter, shrugging. “She threatened to add my balls to her collection if I got the wrong one and I’m pretty fond of them.”
She laughs and wraps her arms around me.
“Thank you,” Ellie says, her soft voice muffled by how hard her face is shoved into my chest. She pulls back enough to look at all of us.
“Seriously, thank you. This…” She gestures around the room at the pink and yellow, the glitter literally everywhere, the banners, the tulips, and even Laing’s smug ass in the corner.
“This is everything you guys! This is all so great, but…”
Her expression hardens slightly as she takes her focus back to me.
Shit. Here we go.
“Please tell me you didn’t already send out the info for your stupid fight night plan.”
My jaw ticks. “The fuck you mean, stupid?”
She sets the bag down on the table. “Lex, I love you,” she says quickly, holding up a hand. “But another lame-ass fight night—no matter how flashy Knox makes it—isn’t going to drag Luca out of the shadows. Not when he already has you bleeding for him whenever he feels like it.”
“Hey,” Knox mutters, his arms wrapping Haley up from behind. “Leave me out of this.”
Ellie exhales. Her shoulders drop as she reaches out to grab my hand. “You’re thinking too small.”
I glance over at Cade who doesn’t say shit. The guy just watches us like he already knows where she’s going with this. Like this is a conversation they’ve already had multiple times now.
Well, a little heads up would have been nice, babe.
“What do you have in mind?” I ask, my voice rougher than it probably should be but who cares.
???
I hate to admit it, but this spiced banana cake thing that Savannah found at that little bakery off of 46th is actually delicious. And this is coming from someone who normally hates bananas with a passion.
“So let me get this straight,” I say, wiping the last bit of cream cheese frosting off my bottom lip. “You think that throwing this little charity event or whatever the fuck is better than my Donor Fight 2.0?”
“It’s not a little charity event,” Ellie snaps from across the table, setting her fork down not so gracefully. “The Izzy Foundation Gala is a way better idea than your Donor Fight 2.0, Lex. More sophistication, less blood.”
“I’ll tell you one thing,” I grit. “You put my ass in another monkey suit and there will be blood.”
“Lex,” she huffs, rolling her eyes.
“Plus,” I add, reaching across Cade for another piece of cake. “The Izzy Foundation is phony as hell, Jac—I mean Luca, will never fall for it.”
“It’ll be fine,” Ellie says, looking over her shoulder at Knox. “Nothing you can’t whip us up real quick online. I mean come on, how many identities have you made for Project Dylan Missions? Creating a fake website should be child’s play to someone with your Zeke-level skills.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Knox mutters from the seat next to Haley, laptop open and already clicking away. “I can have it up and running in no time. I just need some pictures of Izzy first for the header.”
“Roman can get them to you,” Ellie says, waving her hand toward Roman. She claps her hands once, the sound echoing throughout the club. “Then it’s settled.”
“Almost,” Roman says, leaning against the bar nursing his second scotch of the evening.
“What’s almost?” Ellie asks, annoyance brewing in her tone.
Roman shoves off the bar, strides over, and pulls out a chair. Mom’s spine straightens when the guy takes the seat next to Dad.
“The Izzy Foundation will gain Luca’s suspicion, yes,” Roman starts, grunting when he rubs his chest. “But we need something more to get that dick out of hiding.”
“More than a Gala in the so-called love of his life’s honor,” Ellie says, swallowing hard when Roman flinches at her words. “No offense.”
“None taken,” Roman says, shaking his head. “It’s just that—”
“Rome,” Dad interrupts. “What about adding it to Atrum?”
Mom scoffs, crossing her arms and glaring at Dad. “Darling you cannot be serious.”
“Adding it to what?” I ask, my brow raised.
“That’s brilliant, Dan!” Roman sets his scotch glass down with a clink. “Open it up to the Italians and the Russians.”
“Absolutely not,” Mom interjects, her ice-blues blown wide. “This is not another one of your two’s—”
“Invite the past Hollow Kings,” Dad cuts her off, earning him another cold stare from Mom. “Get some of those high rollers in here.”
“Just like old times.” Roman nods, the two of them completely ignoring everyone else in the room. Whatever beef they had all those years ago seems to have officially gone up in smoke.
“Bring in some girls,” Dad continues with a snap of his fingers.
“Yes!” Roman claps Dad on the shoulder. “He won’t be able to say no to that.”
Ellie shoots up from her seat. “What are you guys even talking about?!”
“Cool your tits, Barbie,” Marisol mumbles from between Sabine and Khoza.
Shit, Marisol’s been so quiet lately I forgot the chick even came back to New York.
“Not now, Mar,” Tex and Nate warn with a glare.
The bitch just blows them kisses.
Laing points across the room, leaning in to whisper something into Callie’s ear that makes her laugh. More like a loud, obnoxious snort.
I narrow my eyes. Fucker’s not that funny. I should probably call Dr. Monroe because this has got to be a serious case of Stockholm syndrome.
Marisol flips Laing off with a smile that’s all teeth. Dragon-dick just winks back at her with his sleazy grin. There’s a story there. One I’ll probably regret asking about later, but what the hell.
“Good Lord,” Cade whispers, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Rein this circus in, babe.”
I nod and shove up to my feet, my hands braced on the table. “Ellie’s right,” I say over the commotion. “What are you guys talking about? What’s this Atrum shit?”
“The Atrum Fortuna is my casino,” Roman says simply. “Underneath The—”
“Oh my God! A casino night?!” Ellie lights up, cutting him off.
“Here we go,” I mumble under my breath.
“That is brilliant!” Haley adds, practically vibrating beside Knox. “Ellie, can you imagine?”
“I know!” Ellie beams, already smiling like she’s ten steps ahead of all of us.
“That all sounds fascinating, dear,” Savannah, the only one in this room who ever seems to have her head on straight, says smoothly from beside Cade’s dad. “However, is a casino night enough to pull this monster out?”
“She’s right,” Roman agrees.
The room goes quiet for the first time since we were all crammed like idiots under tables waiting to yell surprise.
Roman looks over at my mother.
“Irina, do you still have the necklace?”
Mom’s spine straightens. “What necklace?”
“Don’t play stupid,” Roman snaps. “Do you still have Izzy’s grandmother’s ruby necklace?”
“What do you want with it?” she asks, her voice iced over.
“I’m going to auction it.”
“The hell you will. That will—”
“Do you have it?” Roman slices through Mom’s rant. “Because it might be the only thing that’ll get his attention. He won’t risk not getting his hands on something that belonged to her.”
Heavy and thick silence follows.
Mom doesn’t answer him, so Dad does. “She has it.”
“Daniel!” she shrieks.
“Good.” Roman nods once. “Go get it.”
Roman shifts his attention away from my parents and back to Ellie and Haley. “Would the two of you like to go downstairs and see what you’ll have to work with?”
I watch the two of them. The way their eyes light up. The way they both lean in. I can see the wheels turning in those girls’ brains.
“Oh my God yes,” Ellie says.
“Well,” I mutter to Cade. “This shit’s about to get wild.”