by Kali Brixton
“Wooo?” Her lips form a tiny “O” as she forces out the syllable.
“Mhmm.” I tip my head back, letting loose a louder wolf call. “O-O-wooooooooooo!”
Her long red hair falls further down her back as she closes her eyes, tips her own head back, and mimics my sounds. “Woooooooooooooooooooo!”
Good Lord, she’s too adorable. “We’ll make you a wolf cub yet,” I jest with a wink as she does it again. Rian Greene would be elated right now, which reminds me… “I’m going to dinner at my parents’ house tomorrow evening. Would you all like to join us?”
Greta and Rory are no strangers to the Greene family and have dined with us often since Drea’s passing. Mom and Dad are crazy about Rory and they both think the world of Greta.
The wolf can stand on its own, yet its true strength is within the pack—within its family.
“We wouldn’t want to impose…”
A quick nod to my phone cuts her off. “Mom already asked if you could come when I sent her a pic of her drawing. You know she’ll be offended if you don’t. Besides,” I add as I adjust Rory on my hip, “Dad said he’s got a surprise in store for someone.”
Greta makes an exaggerated surprised face, which Rory tries to mimic, garnering giggles from us both. A smile of gratitude eases some of the tension on her face. “Tomorrow it is, then.” She collects the crayons that Rory had gotten out of the bucket and returns them while Rory and I gather her papers and she gets in a few last howls for the evening.
I may or may not have just created a monster—but at least it’s a cute one.
We walk out the door, Rory on my hip once more and Greta’s arm linking with mine as we ease down the few steps near where they’re parked. A little settling and a few snaps later, Little Red’s ready to rock and roll.
Greta gives me a big hug. “Thank you for being so good to us, Everleigh. Drea would love that Rory’s so taken with you.” I beam, just happy I could lighten their spirits a little bit. “We’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
Her purse settles into the passenger seat and she waves as she pulls away from the parking lot, a small hand waving wildly in the slightly tinted back window.
When I arrive back in my room, I take in the quiet that has now settled into its bones. Rory’s black wolf picture sits on her desk, which gets me thinking about Lia and Aliana. I’ve never seen her so over the moon as she was when Aliana came into the world.
I always thought I’d be married, teaching, and have a couple of kids by the time I turned twenty-six. Standing on the cusp of another birthday, maybe it’s time to change the game plan a little.
With all that happened the last time I told a man I loved him, I doubt marriage will be in the cards in the next few years, if ever. A career and kids, though? Teaching has already been checked off the list and I’ve always wanted to have a family of my own. A sobering thought dawns on me I haven’t allowed myself to have before.
If I can’t have the total package, maybe I can have a little gift wrapped in a red bow instead.
18
Everleigh
“Earth to Ev!” Eden calls out, dragging me from my thoughts with a couple of snaps of her fingers.
I still my right hand, Osiris’s blades swing and close. “I’m sorry, what were we talking about?” Our office meeting has already passed the fifteen-minute mark, but I can’t get the talk I had with Greta this afternoon out of my mind.
“What’s goin’ on with you tonight?” Lia squints through her mask, all decked out for a night of fun with Landry here at the club.
I shrug my shoulders, hoping they’ll think it was just a long day at work.
“I’ve known you forever. You only do that”—she says, pointing to Osiris, who is now nestled safely in my grasp—“when you’re trying to work through something in your mind. Spill it.”
Looking around at the girls and seeing those determined stares, well-hidden beneath layers of heavy makeup and jeweled masks, I can see that the meeting is at a standstill until I come clean. I exhale, the words on my tongue ones they’ve never heard come out of my mouth. “Do you all think I’d make a good mom?”
Lia gasps and puts her hands over her mouth, teary-eyed. “Are you…”
Addy’s perfect pout is parted in disbelief, while Eden gives me a smirk and a knowing look.
Well, not too knowing. “I’m not pregnant.”
“I was getting ready to ask who the lucky bastard was,” Eden laughs. “And when you’ve had time to make that little badass bun in your oven.”
Addy looks down on her half-drunk bottle of water and sniffs it. “Is something in the water? First Lia, now you?” Disgusted, she screws the lid back on top and sets it aside.
Lia’s hopeful gaze centers on me, an excitement I’ve never seen in her before. “Are you thinking about doing IVF or going through a surrogate?”
My smile is melancholy because Rory wouldn’t be coming to live with me under the best circumstances. That is, if she ends up coming home with me. “Nothing like that…” I go through the conversation I had with Greta and explain the situation.
Addy’s eyes tenderly tear up. “Oh my gosh, that’s so awful.” Seeing as how she’s the lone survivor in her family, I can imagine how much she identifies with Rory.
“Poor Rory! And Greta too,” Eden’s voice quivers just the slightest bit. The only caregiver she had after her parents died was her Uncle Vince—may he burn in the hottest nook and cranny of Satan’s anus—so knowing Rory has a good one and is going to lose her must resonate deep within her heart. The Good Book says it rains on the just and the unjust, but she, more than anyone, knows how unfair it is that a good person suffers while so many dregs of humanity live to see another day.
This was what I wanted to avoid until after our shift—the large damper I knew it would put on the evening. “I haven’t mentioned anything to her yet, but they’re coming over for dinner tomorrow with my parents and I wanted to bounce it off y’all and them first.”
A genuine smile spreads over Lia’s face. “Ev, your mom and dad will lose their minds! They’d be such awesome grandparents. Look how great they are with Aliana and the kids at Hope House.”
“To be honest, I’m shocked Kieran hasn’t already made them grandparents. Y’all know how he is…or at least was,” I chuckle and roll my eyes.
Eden and Addy’s gazes meet and they shake their heads. There’s an almost guilty look that passes over Lia’s face, but it goes as quickly as it comes.
“So, what would you have to do to become her guardian?” Eden asks, the cogs turning within that studious mind of hers.
“To be honest, I really don’t know. I came straight from school to the apartment, then to RISE, so I’ve not had a chance to research anything yet.”
“It’d be good to ask someone who handles legal matters. Someone like…” Lia trails off, leaving the name of that legal mind suspiciously off at the end of her statement.
My stare frosts over. “Absolutely not. I don’t need his help nor do I want it.”
Addy gives me a sympathetic smile. “I’m not gonna lie, Ev. It would be good to bounce things off a lawyer you know before you get too far into it.”
I’ve successfully avoided Luca for the past eight months with the exception of twice when we had something going on with Lia’s family, which meant he couldn’t be avoided. Gia was absent at both events as was her father, so that was helpful, but every now and then when I’d look up from talking to someone or coming back into a room I had just left, there was a hazel gaze fixed on me without fail. I wanted to tell him to fuck off and quit being a creeper, but considering the mixed company we were in, I erred on the side of politeness. Well, that is, if avoiding him and giving him icy glares when I caught him gawking, which typically caused him to quickly redirect his eye contact, counts as politeness. I didn’t lodge my knife in his skull or tell him to take a long walk off of a short pier, so I think that was being mighty generous.
“Greta is alrea
dy meeting with a lawyer next week, so I’ll just go through the legal team there.”
“Well, I’m just gonna go ahead and tell you…” Eden shimmies in her seat as she props her hands under her chin. “No matter if you adopt or have kids of your own one day, I can’t wait to see those little assassins-in-training wreak havoc on any unsuspecting motherfucker who tries to push them down on the playground.” The fiery contacts and gold wig Eden wears matches her persona as Madam Roxie well. I have no doubt that one day she’ll have a little hellion or two of her own to pass her inextinguishable torch to, and I sure hope the man she has them with is ready to break through that ironclad exterior.
“If only Hallmark made greeting cards like that for baby showers…” I muse, a large grin spreading on my face as the other three giggle. “I may or may not have stumbled upon a rubber training knife when I was shopping online last weekend.”
“See? I already know what I’m getting the kid for her third birthday. You girls will have to just use your imagination,” Eden says with a wink.
“I can’t wait for her to have playdates with Aliana,” Lia adds. “But no pointy objects…yet.”
Addy plays with her phone for a moment. “Annnnd added to the cart.” She flips her phone around to show us the Ken doll collection she just found, a self-assured air in her aura. “It’s never too early to teach her that men can be fun little playthings,” she adds with a wink.
Eden cackles as Lia shakes her head. ”I thought that was my line, Ember.”
“Y’all are a hot mess,” I laugh.
Addy tucks her phone away, never losing that satisfied look on her face. “Emphasis on the hot part.”
With my revelation out of the way, we steer the meeting back toward club matters and the usual points of business we discuss each week. After finishing up, Eden and Addy go to chat with the girls who are getting ready in the locker room as Lia and I make our way out. A question burned in the back of my mind all meeting long and the one who can answer it is adjusting her blue wig as we walk. “Hey, what was up with that look you had when I mentioned Kieran and grandparents?”
Her hand stutters before she resumes her adjustments. “What look? I didn’t have a look.”
“Lia…” I say, giving her a helping hand.
She finds an interesting dot on the wall past my head to fixate her stare on. “That wasn’t a look.”
I stop what I’m doing and slink around to stand face to face with her and purse my lips. “Magnolia Marie Laurent, do you know something?”
“I was just thinking that Kieran as a dad paints an interesting picture. For the future, you know. Not now, of course,” she smiles but there are little flecks of panicked fear floating around her eyes. I’m not totally convinced by her answer, but I’ll let it slide for tonight. There’s been enough to think about today without adding Kieran’s formally rotating bedroom door into the mix.
Not when I have more pressing matters to attend to at the moment.
19
Everleigh
I knock on the security office door before walking in, Washington and Zeus giving me a nod as I make my way to check on the other guys currently manning the screens. “All quiet on the western front, gentlemen?”
Colt shakes his head, his eyes transfixed on one of the girls’ rooms. “Yes, Madam Isis.”
I look over his shoulder and notice a few of the girls making their way into the rooms with a couple of the regulars and a man I’ve not seen before. “Guys, who’s that?”
Washington bends down and peers at the screen. “Isn’t that Nate Hansel?”
The name registers as one of the new applicants we accepted for membership a few weeks ago, but I don’t recall seeing him around much. Some club members only come sporadically, so maybe he’s just busy and likes having the option of being entertained when the mood strikes him. Most of the men who frequent RISE would never even miss the annual membership dues, being independently wealthy captains of industry as well as some regular Joes who own their own thriving businesses. If the $65,000 wager on who will finally get me, or should I say Madam Isis, to take them to her Tundra room is an indicator about the kinds of wealth that patronize this place, Mr. Hansel may just be another guy who has more money than time.
Satisfied that everything’s going as planned for the evening, I nod to Washington and Zeus to come with me to another room where we can discuss my reason for being here. Closing the heavy door behind us, the guys go to the blinds to keep watch on the monitors—and the ones monitoring them.
Washington chuckles. “That poor kid’s going to be in for some heartbreak if he’s not careful.”
I come to stand between these two mountains of men and watch another large creature fixate on one screen in particular. “I thought he was watching that screen a little too closely.”
Zeus clears his throat. “I talked to him last week about keeping his distance, and what a bad idea it can be to get involved with people you work with.” He and I both level a look at Washington, who’s made his fair share of trips to Madam Roxie’s room of pain—and is currently sporting a tell-all grin as he avoids our gazes. “But I think that little blue-eyed filly’s caught his attention.”
The little blue-eyed filly in question being Greer Davis, one of the newest girls at RISE and a wisp of a person. Her frail frame was worrisome, and she always looked so lost, with her big doe eyes and the fact that she tried to stay under the radar with the clients, always choosing to dance on the stage rather than to entertain guests on the floor and in the private rooms. Like she didn’t mind being in a glass dome for all to see, but for none to touch.
I know full well what that feels like because my time at The Devil’s Playground wasn’t much different…
“Miss Greene, is there a reason a loyal patron of this club is raving about a dancer who nearly castrated him?” Vince Perelli stares at me from his throne, or office chair, looking every bit the magnanimous prick he is.
Believe me, your royal highness. If I had wanted to, “nearly” doesn’t cover what I’d do to that asshole. “Is there a reason that piece of shit felt the need to grab at me?” The Devil may have dragged me to the fiery pits, but he had promised that his demons would keep their mitts to themselves.
My tone doesn’t settle well with him, noticeable in the slight flaring of his nostrils. “You are aware that I own this club, and all that’s in it, correct?” I give him a slight nod unwillingly because you can’t argue with a king whose kingdom you’ve willingly entered and chosen to stay in. Although his blackmail tactics brought me to the gate, I willingly crossed the crocodile-infested moat to keep my family safe. “So, it stands to reason that I also own you.”
That stubborn Irish defiance that my dad jests about me having starts to trickle down my veins and into my spine. My mouth twitches with the need to tell this cretin to go fuck himself with his own pitchfork, but he cuts me off before I can utter the first syllable.
“Now before you go shooting off that pouty fuckhole you call a mouth and get your family in a world of hurt, I’d advise you to phrase your next words very carefully.”
Okay, fuckface. I can play the long game. My face clears of all malice, even though it brews beneath the surface, and I plaster on the calm demeanor of a hostage negotiator. “Mr. Perelli, there were certain things you agreed to when I came here. One of them was that no one can touch me without my permission, which he did not have. I’d like to think you’re a man of your word.”
Judging by the look in his eye, he didn’t care too much for that last comment. “Are you questioning my sincerity?”
“No, Mr. Perelli. I just would feel much more equipped to perform my…duties if I felt safe.” Bile rises in my throat. A job. Pfft. A sentence without the possibility of parole is more like it.
He looks me up and down, taking in the mask that has more fabric to it than the near-nothing we’re forced to wear, and quirks his head. “I’ll speak to Mr. Rittenhouse about his behavior, and you’ll go b
ack out there and entertain our guests.”
I nod as he gets out of his seat and comes to stand in front of his desk, crossing his arms and looking down at me in every way you can look down at a person. “Now, what do you say?”
Go straight to Hell. Do not pass go. Do not collect two-hundred dollars. “Thank you…sir.”
“That’s a good little birdie.” His slimy mitt comes up to pinch my chin. “Send Eden in for me.”
I stride out of there with the urge to scrub my chin with a Brillo pad. Magnolia and Addy are dancing on the stage, somewhat safe away from the masses poured into this dump, while Eden is talking to her bodyguard Marco. I tap her shoulder, causing her to startle. “The king has requested your presence in his throne room,” I grouse with an eye roll.
Even beneath the makeup and the mask, one of the only kindnesses Vince extends to us, I can see the fear settle in. “W-Why were you in there?”
An exasperated breath escapes. “Because I pulled Osiris on the dickhead who tried to stick his hand down these.” I snap the elastic side of my barely-there bottoms for effect.
She gives me a curt nod before looking to Marco, who just bows his head. Eden’s heels sparkle under the club lights as she walks toward Vince’s office, defeat in every step she takes.
I glance at Marco, who’s now watching her walk away, his fists clenched tight. “Marco?”
He cuts his angry eyes to me. “Go back to your station. You have a customer waiting.” He moves off the wall and goes toward the exit, a tightness in his stride.
I go back to working my assigned section of the club and find one of the few men here who never tries to touch me when I perform for him. Gerald smiles brightly, a stark contrast to the grimy looks I typically get from other patrons. “Hi, Gerald.”
