When Adrian goes there, he plans. When Dallas goes there, people die.
I flip him off, biting back my smile as he chuckles. He slips into the crowd, heading toward the bar, pointedly ignoring the way it parts to let the King through.
Here’s hoping he doesn’t come back with a stick up his ass.
He doesn’t. Less than five minutes later, Dallas returns carrying his glass and my beer. Knowing how I like it, he left the cap on.
I take out my pocket knife. With a practiced motion that has gotten me laid more times than I can count, I use the tip of the blade to pop off the cap, catching it before it hits the table top.
Dallas snorts. “Show off.”
Damn right.
He sips at his booze, guarded eyes still watching the crowd. “Be careful. We’ve got Bait tonight.”
Bait. A term for a woman who is willing to put it all on the line to catch the attention—and the wallet—of one of the Owed. In Harmony Heights, a wedding ring will do wonders to get them into the Order. It’s protection. It’s power.
It’s obnoxious.
“What are you telling me to be careful for?” I tip my beer back, take a gulp. “Shouldn’t you be worried? You’re the King and all.”
“Fuck you.”
Yeah. I should’ve known better than to say that. My smart mouth has gotten me into more fights than I want to admit, and even my friends aren’t immune to wanting to slug me.
Even worse, I don’t know when to stop myself from pushing my luck.
“Sorry, Dal. I’ll fuck anything, but I need a pair of tits and a pussy first.”
Dallas snorts. “Classy as always.”
Well? It’s the truth.
Ever since Caroline Wilson, way back in tenth grade, I’ve realized that I can lose myself in a willing body and forget that I’m the black sheep of the Reynolds family. So it’s been just me and my hand these last few months. Nearly fifteen years of experience tells me that it won’t last.
Huh. I’m not in the mood for any of my regular lovers. Maybe some fresh meat is just what I need to get overher.
“Okay. I’ll bite. What kind of Bait are we talking about?”
“I saw her making her rounds while I was waiting at the bar. Jim Finch said she’s not even hiding it. She wants a husband, and she’s going up to anyone she sees with the Order’s brand to see if they’d be interested in taking her as a wife.” Dallas leans back into the booth. “I should probably find her, put a stop to this. The Court is for the Used, not some Bait.”
“You sure? What if she sets her sights on you?”
Since taking over the Order, Dallas has become the most eligible bachelor in Harmony Heights.
Maybe if he ever gets over Lucy, the women will have a chance. Since there’s a better chance of pigs sprouting wings and flying over the Fortress, I doubt it.
My friends don’t understand how to be chill when it comes to the woman they decide is theirs. Connor is a rabid guard dog who will bare his fangs and snap his teeth at anyone who even tries to get within a few feet of Haven. Adrian… woof. Adrian spent adecadeobsessing over Loni from two states away, interfering with every relationship she ever had from the shadows, and the second he thought he might actually lose her to Desmond St. James, he crashed their Order-arranged wedding and shot the sorry bastard right in front of the altar.
And I can’t forget about Dallas. I feel the worst for him, though I know I’d have his knife to my throat if I ever let him figure that out. Because while Connor and Adrian always knew that, one day, they’d have the woman they wanted—no matter what—poor Dallas had to watch as his Lucy was Offered to another Owed only for him to whisk her out of Harmony Heights, out of his reach for good.
He was the heir. Next in line to be the King, he couldn’t go after her. If he did? His old man made it clear. Just like Dallas’smom, Lucy would have an ‘accident’. The only way to keep her safe was to let her go, which might’ve seemed like his only choice while Jack Collins was still alive. And while he might be dead now, Lucy’s been married to another man for five years, and Dallas… there’s not a damn fucking thing he can do about it.
Sometimes it’s good to be the King. Other times? It sucks so bad, I don’t blame him and Adrian for threatening to overthrow the Order instead of updating it.
Dallas lifts his glass. A sly look my way before he says, “You know, if my dad didn’t fuck up the succession, you could be King.”
No the fuck I couldn’t.
