Gemma
“What are you going to do?” Zina asks me again.
The whole world has fallen out from under me. I don’t know what
to do.
I never thought Cassian would hurt my mom by taking her off the list for medicine that could save her life.
That’s on me for not expecting a criminal overlord to be evil.
I spend the next several hours wracking my brain for some kind of solution, but there isn’t one.
I feel like a tea kettle, with pressure building and building until the only thing I can hear inside me is one long high–pitched scream.
Finally, I shoot up. Zina comes running out of the kitchen. I don’t know when she went in there or how long it’s been.
“What is it?” she asks.
head to my room. I just need a mental break. To clear my head so I can actually think. “I need to blow off some steam. Want to come along?”
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Zina grins. “Absolutely.” Then, her grin fading a little as she looks at me, she says, “You… probably shouldn’t go out alone.”
*****
We walk into the night until I find a nightclub that spills blaring music and bright, colorful lights out onto the sidewalks.
“Uh. This is a male strip club run by one of the seedier wolf packs,” Zina says.
“Yeah,” I respond. “It’s perfect.”
We go in, and it is perfect. Everything is so loud and flashy I can hardly think. We sit at the bar and I down drink after drink.
Things get warm and hazy, just how I want them to be.
This place is great. It’s filled with women having a night out, and I think one table is a bachelorette party.
The waiters are half–naked muscular men. My senses are sharp enough that I can scent that they’re all wolves. Several of them have given me long, meaningful looks.
The drunker I get the more I like it. I start winking at them. When one brushes my arm, I touch his back.
Chapter 56
It feels so good to flirt with someone who flirts back.
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The guy leans in and says, “You know, for our prime customers, we have private rooms. Endless drinks. And dances from our best guys. You can choose from a few different packages…”
“Give me the most expensive one,” I slur. Then I dig out my wallet and hand him a little black card. “It’s on my ex.”
***
Cassian
The house is dark and quiet without Gemma.
Even more ridiculous, it doesn’t smell as good. She ordered candles and air fresheners from somewhere that were incredible.
Now they’ve all run out, and none of the servants know where she got them.
I sit in my study, but I’m not working.
I can’t focus, and nothing helps.
My phone rings, and I look down at the screen.
Chapter 56
It’s Gemma’s number.
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I answer immediately. Before I can say anything, a rough man’s
voice comes across the line.
“Is this Gemma’s ex?”
My claws are out, and my voice drops into a low growl. Zephyr snarls inside my head.
Who is this man?
I can hear noise in the background. People shouting, music, glasses clinking. Is she at some kind of club?
“No,” I say in a low, dangerous voice. “This is her husband. Cas
He cuts me off, and I squeeze my phone so hard the glass creaks ominously.
“I’m the manager at the Harvest Moon Nightclub. She racked up a massive bill and her card was declined. You’re her emergency contact. If you don’t come figure this out, we’re turning her over to our boss.”
Harvest Moon. That’s the club run by one of the smaller packs in the underworld. Small, but hungry and bloodthirsty.
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Abruptly, I’m glad this guy is such a dick and cut me off before I
could tell him my name.
If he realizes who I am, and who he has, Gemma would be dragged into some back room before I can get to her.
“I’m on my way.”
*****
Gemma
I giggle as all my cards fall around me. We’re in the nicest VIP room this club has, which is not that nice, but I’ve had enough alcohol not to care at all.
“Whoopsie,” I laugh.
Zina gives me a look. If I wasn’t drunk, I might recognize it as exasperation. “Didn’t you say Cassian cut you off? Are all of these cards linked to his accounts?”
“Shhh,” I say, giggling again.
I stand up and trip, and one of the dancers catches me. He spins me around and pulls me into his arms.
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It doesn’t feel right that it isn’t Cassian. Something in me howls
that it’s wrong.
I don’t care. Cassian betrayed me…
And then, speak of the devil, the door to the VIP room flies open so fast and so hard it hits the wall. The fogged glass shatters.
Standing there, framed in all his dark, enraged glory, is Cassian.
He moves for me, but I stagger out of his way. He glares at the man who was holding me two seconds before.
“What the hell is this?”
“You!” I shout and thrust a finger at Cassian. The lights are spinning. The world is fuzzy and slips in and out of focus. “You asshole! You bastard!”
He steps right up to me and growls something that cuts through the alcohol haze.
“If you ever want to set foot in your precious Seaside Manor again, stop this now.”
B
