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Amber huffs. “You can’t keep doing this, Dion. Using people and then tossing them aside when they get too close.”
I release her wrists and push her off my lap, standing up abruptly.
“Maybe you’re right, but I never promised you anything else.”
Amber’s eyes follow me as I head for the back door, and I ignore the asshole she yells at me. I’d rather not leave things like this, but I hate the alternative even more. Feelings mess up everything, and I’ve got enough complications without adding a woman into the mix.
Outside, the cool night air hits me like a slap, sobering me up a bit. I take a deep breath and debate whether to go back in or ignore Evan’s orders and go home.
My phone vibrates in my pocket.
Evan: Things changed. It looks like I’m coming to the club after all.
Oh boy. Here we go.
An hour later, I’m settled in the VIP section, seated at a booth with Xander, Evander, and his two bodyguards, Sebastien and Gregory.
The place is full of patrons. For being in the Lower District of Cebrene, a less than favorable area of the metropolis, Academia still attracts a crowd, no matter the day of the week. I’m happy it’s doing well.
“How did the warehouse visit go?” Evander asks us.
“Everything is clear. No disruptions,” Xander replies.
I begin to tell Evan about Cyrus and what happened earlier, but his gaze gets caught on something over on the dance floor, and suddenly, he straightens.
Annoyed that I’ve been talking to a wall for the past few minutes, I try to get his attention again. “Bro, what is up with you right now? You look as if you’re about to pounce on some prey.”
“It’s Angelica,” he responds through clenched teeth.
“Oo skatá,” is all I manage to say.
My gaze sweeps across the sea of dancing bodies to find the Kouvalakis girl. She’s swaying to the beat of the music with a group of girls. I glance over them and— Like a ray of light amidst the chaos, there she is, standing at the heart of the group. A petite, blonde woman with an infectious smile that lights up her face in a way that draws me in effortlessly. With every graceful movement, she commands my attention without even trying. She dances and laughs, waving her hands in the air to the beat of the music, swaying her hips and pumping her chest.
I feel a tug at the corners of my lips as I watch her, an unfamiliar warmth spreading through me. There’s something about her that stirs curiosity within me, like the flicker of a flame igniting the darkness in my chest where no woman has ever set foot. Where I’ve never even let a woman come close.
My heart was ripped away from me years ago and has been closed off to the world ever since.
But in this moment, it’s as if everything else fades into the background, leaving only her and the electricity that crackles in the space between us. Who is she?
I snap out of my daydream when someone steps in front of the girl and I lose sight of her. I turn to Evan. “Did you know Angelica would be here?”
He shakes his head.
Before he has the chance to detonate, I slap him on the shoulder and give it a squeeze. “Hey, please don’t do anything crazy tonight. I really don’t feel like cleaning up one of your messes.” I joke.
Evander grunts, unamused, his jaw ticking as he watches the scene unfolding in front of him.
Angelica is dancing with a man. Double shit.
His eyes darken and he clenches his glass so hard, his knuckles whiten.
“For fuck’s sake, Evan.”
If I don’t stop this right now, Evander is going to shoot that motherfucker straight between the eyes in the middle of his own club. That won’t be great for business.
“And you say you don’t give a shit about her, huh?” I grumble as I stand and head toward the dance floor.
My eyes lock onto the blonde girl, watching her dance, her laugh somehow reaching my ears even across the loud club. I’m unable to resist the magnetic pull she seems to exert as I draw closer and closer.
