I nod, opening my arms to hug her and give them all a sad smile.
“Thank you, girls. I love y’all more than you know.”
“We love you too. Now tell us how he was because you got me dying. Seven long years, you probably came in a second,” Addison says, breaking the seriousness of the moment.
I laugh, shaking my head.
“It was freein'. He was...perfect. I mean, maybe it was fate. The tree farm, the gym...is it weird?”
Eden smirks, and I furrow my brows at her, wondering what she's up to. I gauge the other girl's reactions, but they look panicked.
“I know what y’all are thinkin', but...he’s not. He doesn’t have an Italian bone in his body. I really think it was just a coincidence. Maybe...I don’t know maybe meant to be or somethin’.”
“Well, I’m glad y’all got your rocks off as I babysat your damn idiot brother,” Everleigh retorts.
I wince, shaking my head. “I’m sorry, Ev. I should've told you.”
She waves a hand away, draining her glass of champagne.
“He’s an asshat. Good luck to that poor girl that has no idea what she’s gettin' herself into.”
I can hear the hurt in her voice, the longing that’s there, and it breaks my heart that she could never have anything with Luca. Despite their denial, I know there is something there, and it makes me so incredibly sad to never see it blossom.
“Well, did anyone miss the Ethan look-alike that came in with Mr. Tree farm?” Addison chimes in.
“What?” I gasp. “Addy, tell me you brought him back to your room!” I squeal.
Addy rolls her eyes behind the rim of her champagne glass, and I slap her thigh. She's had the hots for her boss ever since she slept with him at The Devil’s Playground.
“Ow!” she furrows her brows, rubbing the spot I hit. "It wasn't Ethan; it was the wannabe that works in accounting."
"So?" Everleigh gasps. "Did you?"
“I don’t kiss and tell,” Addy smirks.
“Do you fuck and tell?” Eden nudges.
Addison laughs, rolling her eyes again.
“All right, all right, let's drop it all for the night,” I mumble.
Eden stands, reaching for the TV remote as she turns on Netflix, and we all settle into the couch, reveling in our weekly tradition. On nights we all dance together, we pick an apartment, put on our pajamas, and spend the night bullshitting and binging on too much alcohol and food. We pay for it in the morning, of course, but we’ve all come a long way, and our weekly celebrations seem fitting for everything we’ve endured to get us to where we’re at.
“Sexy, suspenseful, or sappy?” Eden asks as she flips through the Netflix selections.
We all glance at each other and smile mischievous smiles as we answer in unison.
“Sexy!”
2
Landry
I park my car in the lot of RISE, knowing full well I look like a psycho stalker, but I’m not. I’m a victim. Madam Siren and her entrancing voice and body are the culprits. I wasn't planning on going to the club. I've never been the strip club guy but trying to lock up a business deal with my buddy Ethan Freeman put me on that path.
"Let me look over this proposal; Wilkins will take you out. I'm excited about this, Landry. We'll be in touch," Ethan says, putting his hand out for me to shake.
I grab it, slapping his back as I walk out to the lobby and take the elevator downstairs. I check my phone quickly before a hard slap rattles off my back.
"Laurent? Freeman said I was to show you a good time tonight. Lucky for you, I'm a member of the hottest gentlemen's club in Atlanta."
"Gentlemen's club? I don't know about—"
"Believe me. Once you go RISE, there’s no other club worth it, my guy."
I shake my head, looking down at the gold card Wilkins hooked me up with, and show it to the Rock look-a-like at the entrance of the club, along with my ID.
“This invitation is for Wilkins Anderson,” the gorilla says.
“I know, but he told me he called to switch the names, and Madam Roxie approved the change herself. Please, just ask her,” I say, realizing I sound like a desperate little shit.
The man rolls his eyes, pressing something on his headset as he mumbles. After a few seconds, he nods, moving to the side, and lets me in.
The familiarity of the club hits me, the dark atmosphere, the flashing lights. I glance over to the stage Siren danced on, but it’s empty, the main stage occupied by a few different girls. My eyes search for that blue hair, but it’s nowhere to be found.
“What can we do you for, hotshot?” asks a smooth voice from behind me.
I feel a sharp nail run across my back and turn to a woman with purple hair, a gold mask on her face.
“I um—”
“Am already taken,” someone interrupts from the left of me.
A woman with golden hair and a gold mask comes toward me, tall and muscular and the look she gives me makes me gulp. She looks like she wants to eat me alive, and I take a step back.
The woman with purple hair nods and walks away as I give the gold haired woman a nervous smile.
“H-Hi, I actually am here to find—”
“Madam Siren?”
“Yeah,” I answer, my eyebrows pulling together. How the hell did she know that?
“She’s off tonight. I can tell her you stopped by. Depends on what you’re here for, though,” she says, crossing her toned arms over her generous chest.
“I realized that I left the other night without paying. I’m sorry, I don’t want her to get into trouble.”
The woman's eyebrows shoot up to her hairline, and her jaw flexes.
“Paying? That’s why you came back here? To pay?”
Her tone is angry, and I close my eyes, shaking my head. This is not how I pictured this going. “No. I mean, yes, I wanted to pay, but I wanted to see her again. Are you her boss? I don’t want her to get into trouble. Please. It was my idea. I shouldn’t have pushed her into—”
“You pushed her?” the woman snaps, stepping closer to me.
“No! I didn’t push her; it was mutual, I swear. I just...fuck.” I run my hands through my hair roughly. “Let me start over.”
The woman eyes me suspiciously. “Why are you so nervous?” she asks with amusement.
“Because I don’t do this. I don’t date strippers; I don’t have sex with strippers. I’m not that guy. I date normal girls and—”
“Normal? So we’re not normal?” she grinds out.
“No! You are, Siren is, I just...shit. I just want to see her again. Can you please tell me when she’ll be back? I know you can’t give out numbers of your employees, so just tell me when she’ll be back, dammit!”
My voice is agitated, and the gold haired woman gives me a sly smirk. “Madam Siren is a co-owner of this club, sap. Maybe if you’re used to dating normal girls, you should leave her be.”
“Is there a problem over here, Madam Roxie?” asks another gorilla of a man, this time bald with a beard down to his chest. Next to him is a woman with a dark pink and white mask and dark red hair, dragging her eyes from my feet up to my face.
“This him?” the woman asks.
“Yep,” the first woman responds, popping her p.
“I don’t want any trouble. Please just let me pay for my dance the other night and—”
“Not only is she co-owner of this club, but she is also our best friend. You hurt her, and I will not hesitate to slice your balls off with my whip and hang them from the chandelier over the main stage like a motherfucking decoration. Do you understand me, pretty boy?” the first woman snaps again.
I grit my teeth, hating that they think I’m just some sleazy scum needing to get my rocks off again. “Understood, ma’am.” I reach into my back pocket, fishing out my wallet, and lift my credit card toward her. “You can charge whatever the going rate is for...you know,” I snap back.
She shakes her head, pushing my card into my chest
harder than I anticipated, causing me to take a step back.
“What she gave to you was priceless, sap. Remember that.”
She turns to leave, the gorilla man and the woman with the pink mask following her, and I sigh, shaking my head as I put my wallet back into my pocket. I walk out of the club, back to my car, as my phone buzzes from my jacket.
“Laurent,” I answer.
“We got the go-ahead from Freeman. You coming back to the office to work on this?” Henry, my right-hand man, says through the phone.
I smile, shaking my fist as I jog to my car.
“I’ll be back in a few hours. Let me just check on my sister one more time then I’ll head out. Grab us some coffees, Henry; it’s gonna be a late one.”
I shut my phone driving to my sister’s house, and pull into the driveway. I run up the stairs, fishing out my keys, and open the door to crying. “Ellie?” I ask, walking toward the kitchen.
I see my nephew, Theo sitting on the kitchen island, my about-ready-to-pop sister kneeling in front of him.
“Ellie! Get off your knees, are you nuts?”
“Lamby!” Theo yells, throwing his hands out.
“Hold still, baby. Let me finish cleaning this,” my sister commands.
I walk over, lifting her up from her elbows, and shake my head. “You heard what the doctor said. No bending! Let me see it. What did you do, buddy?” I ask, examining Theo’s knee.
“Boo-boo,” he whispers, his smile from seconds ago gone, and in its place is a pouty little lip.
I laugh, looking down at his knee, and take the cloth out of my sister's hand.
“Were you running like a banshee? Didn’t Mama tell you no running in the house?” I ask, arching my eyebrow at him.
He nods, dropping his chin to his chest, and my sister laughs, walking around to the other side of the island, popping open a water bottle.
“Such a drama queen,” she mumbles.
I clean his small cut before putting on a Ninja Turtle bandaid and lift him back to his feet. Within seconds, he’s running back around toward his playroom in the back of the house.
“I got the call for the app. It got approved, and we have to start working on it ASAP. Are you going to be okay for the next few weeks? I’m gonna pull all-nighters, so it goes faster. Shouldn’t be more than three weeks.”
My sister rolls her eyes, finishing her water bottle.
“I’m fine, LJ. I’ll call you when I go into labor.”
“No, you’ll call me the second you feel a contraction followed by another. I don’t care if they’re fifteen minutes apart—you better call me, Ellie. I’m serious.”
“Okay, okay,” she says, waving a hand at me. “I still have another two months anyway.”
“Have you heard from him?” I ask, glancing at her.
Her jaw tenses, but she gives me a smile despite it. “Yesterday. He tried but...he won’t be able to come home. I did it without him for Theo. I can do it again for Sylvie.”
I walk around to her, pulling her into a hug, and she buries her face into my chest.
“I’ll be there this time, I promise you, El. Please let me, okay?”
She nods and sniffles, pulling out of my embrace as she wipes at her eyes. “I promise. Just...don’t pass out on me or anything. I don’t think you’re ready to witness childbirth.”
I laugh, shaking my head. “I’m not. I will be firmly planted by your side for moral support and will never, ever, ever glance past that sheet. Too many things that will utterly scar me for life.”
She laughs, patting me on the back. “Agreed.”
Magnolia
Seven weeks later...
I yawn, drinking my decaf coffee in the break room, knowing that it’s doing absolutely nothing for my tired state.
“God, I need regular coffee,” I groan.
I remember fully well why I can’t, seeing his face at RISE almost every day for three weeks straight until he finally stopped coming.
“Don’t tell me she’s not here again! I’ll search through every room there is,” Landry growls, walking through the club before the doors are even opened for the night.
I quickly drop down, hiding behind the bar as Danny smirks, looking down at me. I put my pointer finger up to my lips and shake my head.
“Sorry, man, she’s not. Why don’t you give it a rest, huh?”
“A rest? That woman has dug herself into my brain, and I can’t fucking get her out of it. I just...need to see her again. I don’t know what it is but—”
“You’re not the first, and you won’t be the last, buddy, so just...forget about her.”
I punch the back of Danny’s leg, and he stumbles but plays it cool.
“Fuck, what am I doing? God, you’re right. I’m done. I... you’re right. Have a good night.”
I wait until I hear the front door open and close before I stand and push at Danny’s chest. “Makin’ me sound like a hussy!”
“Sorry, but it’s the only way he’ll stop coming around. No one wants the girl that gives herself to everyone.”
I sigh, nodding. “Okay, you’re right, you’re right.”
“Can I ask why you’re avoiding him? He do something to you?” Danny asks, an edge to his voice.
“No, no, I just...it was once, and it was great. I just... can’t do it again.”
“Fair enough. He shouldn’t be back, but if he is, I’ll cover for you.”
“Thank you, Danny.” I lean up, kissing him on his cheek before disappearing to the locker room to get ready for the night.
Little did I know, a week later, I would kill for Landry to come and find me again.
“You know that’s not allowed. No caffeine with your blood pressure right now,” my co-worker and good friend Jolie says from behind me, breaking me out of my thoughts and reaching for a K-Cup.
“I know, I know. Can I at least just smell yours?”
She laughs, opening the fridge to grab her salad, and comes back to her coffee.
“Fine, take a sniff before you go. Grayson just wheeled a woman into your room. Seven centimeters, thirty-nine weeks, and her husband looks like he’s gonna vomit. Good luck.”
I groan again, throwing my head back before I finish my decaf coffee, dumping the rest into the garbage, and wiping my mouth. I retie my hair into my bun and shake my arms out, slapping my cheeks a few times.
“All right, Magnolia. Time to deliver a baby.” I stride out to the hallway, Dr. Grayson grabbing my arm as he pulls me toward my assigned room.
“Triage had her at seven centimeters. Hook her up and get back to me. This is her second; the first was natural. I have a C-section scheduled in two hours; hopefully, this goes fast.”
I nod, walking to the room and see a petite blonde woman in bed, her face contorted in pain as she grips the railings of the hospital bed.
“Hi, I’m Magnolia; I’ll be your nurse. How are we doin’?” I ask, walking over toward the computer.
I briefly glance at her chart before hooking up the fetal monitor to her belly, clipping the blood pressure cuff on her finger.
“I’m...I could...be...better,” she gasps.
“On a scale of one to ten, how is the pain?” I ask, tightening the monitor’s straps around her belly until I hear that steady thumping of the baby’s heartbeat echoing throughout the room.
“It’s about a six. Can I get an epidural?” she asks.
“Let me just check how dilated you are, and then we can figure out the plan,” I say, giving her a smile. I pull the sheet back over her belly, watching the monitor, and nod, seeing that everything’s okay for the time being. I walk toward the foot of her bed, slapping gloves on my hands, and lift the sheet. “Same thing they did in Triage, okay? A little pressure, a little discomfort, but I’ll be quick.”
I spread her legs, feeling around to check her dilation.
“Sorry, I guess you were right, Ellie. My stomach can’t handle this,” says a man’s voice, emerging from the bathroom.<
br />
I know that voice.
I look up, my eyes locking on the man that’s plagued my every thought for the past seven weeks—the man I’ve been looking for. My mouth drops open as our eyes connect, and then his gaze drops to the sight before me.
Oh, sweet baby Jesus in the manger.
I shake my head, snapping out of my daze, and pull my fingers out of Eloise, the irony of all this almost making me laugh. Of course, I would be delivering his goddamn baby.
“I clocked you at seven too, so let me talk with Dr. Grayson, and I’ll be back. Would you like ice chips?” I ask, planting the fakest smile on my face, trying not to let the tears burn behind my eyelids.
“Yes, please,” Eloise whispers.
Landry walks over to her side, grabbing her hand, and moves a strand of hair off her forehead. I bite my lip at the intimacy, turning quickly out of the room and down the hall. Dr. Grayson is at the computer, and I fill him in on the plan, paging the anesthesia team for her epidural.
I scramble back to the break room and place my hands on the counter, taking big breaths in and out of my lungs. I reach into my pants pocket, taking my phone out, and open the group text.
Me: 911. Landry is at the hospital right now!
Addison: Shit! Is he okay?
Everleigh: Is he there because you told him, and he passed out?
Me: I’m helping deliver HIS WIFE’S baby!
Eden: On my way. Since he’s already at the hospital, they’ll be able to stitch his balls back together quickly after I cut them off.
Everleigh: Y’all know I’m ready to cut a bitch. Pick me up, Rox.
Me: Stop it! I’m an idiot. What do I do?
Addison: You have to tell him, Lia.
Everleigh: Not while your fingers are inside his wife’s vagina!
Me: Not funny, and that’s precisely when he walked into the room. Is Ashton Kutcher still doing that Punk’d show? Because I’m on it; I just know it.
Delivered in Sin Page 6
