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“Someone pushed him down at the very least,” I hissed at Luke.
“He got spooked and tried to punch me,” he replied. “Chance jumped in and pushed him to the floor.”
“Figures,” I sighed.
“It’s not like I knew who he was,” Chance defended on the way out into the hallway, “and even so, I don’t know shit about this dude and he’s coming at my friends.”
Ice Man led us in a single file, as we ascended the stairs to the executive suite. Ian wouldn’t even look at me as he paraded to his office. His shoulders rolled back with his fists clenched at his side. The way he carried himself around the club reeked of power, but tonight, he was on edge, and ready for a fight. He unlocked the door, then pushed them both open, stepping to the side. We entered first, and he followed with Ice Man, who closed us in the room.
Ian strode to his desk, taking his pack of cigarettes off the surface and lighting one with his back turned. He inhaled a deep drag, roaming the room behind his desk in front of the wall of tinted, ceiling-to-floor windows.
Finally, he came to a stop, pinning the cigarette between his lips. Raking his gaze over Kieran and me and back over Kieran again, he shook his head. Blowing out a cloud of smoke, he lowered the vice to his side. “I want answers and I want them right fucking now.”
I glimpsed Luke, who seemed unbothered by the biggest secret of my life. And if he stayed with me after I came clean, I’d do everything in my power to spend the rest of my life with him. Chance propped on the arm of the couch, enveloping his arms across his stomach.
“Kieran or whatever your name is,” Ian lifted his chin at the sitting area, “you look like you’re in pain, so you should sit down.”
He didn’t offer it to be nice. It was a power move. Ian often told people to sit while he remained standing. It made his already tall stature and broad shoulders look more dooming to those beneath him. But a part of me told me he was actually being nice in case what I was saying was true.
“I’m just really confused,” Kieran replied as he moved over to the sofa, perching on the edge.
Sighing, I tried to gather my thoughts. Ian hated when people rambled, and I wanted to make sure I was able to say enough before he interrupted me, ordering me to be killed or firing me on the spot. Something as little as having a different name wasn’t that big of a deal to some people, including me. However, since he found out about it on his own and had met my mysterious brother I’d never mentioned, I was sure to face consequences before the night was over. I’d never lied to Ian or Luke.
“I was born Melanie Con?—”
The door opened and Tyler marched in with the bag of ice and a bar towel, handing it to my brother. He then laid several bandages, alcohol wipes, and a bottle of peroxide on the coffee table in front of him. Taking a seat in the chair next to Kieran, he propped his ankle on his knee. Fist over his mouth, he remained quiet, staring at me.
“Continue,” Ian growled.
“I was born Melanie Connolly. It wasn’t until after Dante got sentenced to prison that I changed my name to Jade Sinclaire.” I flashed my palms at Luke and Ian. “Which, by the way, is my legal name and has been since then. I didn’t lie to you guys when we met. I also did a complete name change where I was issued an amended birth certificate, so the documents you have on file aren’t fake.”
Not that false documents would’ve mattered in their world. It was quite common, but I didn’t think they’d appreciate me providing them with false records if I was working so closely with them. It would’ve broken their trust.
“I’d been Jade for quite a while the night you came into Highways, Ian.”
It was then I realized I was referring to him as his first name, and not Mr. Knight, as I was supposed to do in front of people outside our circle. But Kieran was family, and I hoped he wouldn’t flip out. I brought my arms into my chest, holding myself tightly, suddenly feeling insecure about my lack of clothes, which was uncommon.
“Kieran’s quite a bit younger than me, and when he turned eighteen, he had a falling out with our father’s strict Catholicism practices and completely disowned the family.” I twisted to him. “And I was mad at you back then, but I’m not anymore. I’m just glad you came here.”
Though I understood why Ian hurt him, it angered me to see my brother beaten up. Suddenly, my bravery returned, and I was quite upset, feeling the need to stand up for my family. Gritting my teeth, I whirled back around, crossing my arms high on my chest, glaring into his eyes. “I know this is your club and I know you can do what you want, but if you beat his ass after he told you he was my brother, then we need to have a different talk.” I jerked my arm out, pointing at Kieran. “He looks exactly like me and?—”
“They didn’t do this,” Kieran interrupted.
Startled, I whirled around. “What?!”
“They didn’t hurt me, Mel… Jade.” He glided his fingers through his hair. “God, it’s so weird calling you that.”
“Why are you at a strip club if you knew your sister was on stage?” Tyler asked flatly.
Chance’s eyes widened, and he snorted. “Are you serious right now?”
Tyler shrugged. “Okay, but my sister’s married to the owner.”
“Haven’t seen her for years,” Kieran replied, pushing his blonde hair back out of his eyes. “And I found out she’s worked five minutes from where I live for the past two years. We’ve probably literally passed each other a million times. I walk my dog by this club every day.” Picking up the bag of ice, he pressed it to the corner of his lip, wincing. “It didn’t ever register with me that she was a dancer until I saw her on stage. All I thought about was finding her. I didn’t give a shit what she did with her own life,” he looked at me, “she can do whatever she wants. She always has anyway.”
My mouth pressed into a thin line as I tried to hold back a smile because there was one question that remained. “Kieran, how did you find out I worked here?”
“The guys who did this,” he pointed to his face, “asked me a bunch of questions and I didn’t know the answers since we haven’t talked in forever. But they didn’t like that. They even thought they had the wrong guy at one point because I was clueless, and I think they started to understand I didn’t know what they were talking about. But one of them said I should know you worked at Euphoria. They did this shit yesterday, and I came here to see if it was true tonight after I knew they were long gone and may not follow me.”
