Page 53 of Play The Game

Harley groans and curses at the ceiling. “Mounty, is there any fucking chance you could stop attracting psychos and serial killers for five fucking minutes while we dig our way out of the mountain of shit we’re already in?”

I shift my scowl over to him, sitting on the couch to rest my leg. “If I knew how I was doing it, clearly I would stop.”

Illi snickers at us both and tucks the box under his arm without a care in the world of its contents. “I’ll deal with this. If the rest of it shows up, we might have more of an idea of who’s behind it. Stay safe, kids!”

He takes two steps toward the door and then swings back to smirk at me, his eyes fucking dancing around like he’s never been happier. Fuck.

“If you decide to indulge in any more public frolicking, please warn me. I’ve had a few threats neutralized already this morning, little Wolf.”

I don’t think it’s possible to blush any freaking harder than I am as he laughs at me and walks out.

As the door clicks shut behind him, Avery comes out of the bathroom, her face still a little green, and slumps down next to me, eyeing the color on my cheeks critically. I tuck my arm into hers to distract her and she croaks out, “Fuck margaritas.”

Blaise is still staring between us all like he’s missing something big. I really hope that when he figures it out, Avery and I aren’t around.

“I don’t like him,” Ash snaps, and I glance up to find him staring at the door Illi just exited.

Harley shrugs nonchalantly. “He grows on you. Give him time to get under your skin.”

Blaise laughs at them both quietly, like his head is still pounding and his usual raucous laughter wouldn’t be worth the pain. “Well, I don’t have a single fucking issue with the psycho. He doesn’t look at Star’s ass even in those booty shorts, he stabs people without her even having to ask him, and he gets rid of decomposing body parts with a smile. Don’t be a jealous dick and just leave him alone.”

Ash’s eyes flare and he fixes them on me. Fuck, what next? “Oh, Mounty, how could I forget? Your name was on that box.”

I tense up and throw him a stern look. His answering smile is a taunt. Fuck, I should’ve gone with a pleading look, but it’s just not my style.

“Yes, Ash, we’ve just spent the last hour discussing her crazed stalker. Have you suffered some sort of brain damage I’m unaware of?” Avery hisses, and he smirks at her.

“I was referring to Lips’ middle name.”

Fuck. I glare at him and Blaise bursts out laughing. Harley looks between them and then frowns at me like this is my fucking fault. Nope, I will not feel bad that he’s practically pouting at me. No. Stay strong, Lips. Fuck.

“Ash, I would appreciate your discretion,” I grit out, overly polite because I don’t want to rage blackout and stab him for digging this hole for me. For the record, it would be justified.

“How does Blaise know it?” Avery asks sweetly, and it’s a total ruse. She might slit my throat while I’m sleeping for not telling her.

“She loves me the most!” Blaise sings and shakes his ass as he heads toward the balcony for a smoke. I stare at his ass for a second too long but, damn, he can move those hips of his.

When I look back at the others, Harley is staring at Blaise like he’s planning exactly where he’s going to stab the fucker. I hold out my hands as Avery scowls at me. “He found out while I was off my head on those pain pills you gave me. I made him swear not to tell anyone because it’s fucking embarrassing, and I’d rather die than ever hear it said out loud.”

Avery rolls her eyes at my dramatics, but Ash stares at me for a second longer. Something in my eyes makes him shrug. “Fine, I’ll keep it to myself.”

Avery also shrugs and smiles at Harley. “Mounty will tell me when we get home. She loves me the most.”

I squeeze my eyes shut so I don’t have to see his reaction to potentially being the only one not knowing the damn name and snap, “It’s Starbright, okay? My name is Eclipse Starbright Anderson. My mom was high and thought the moon was fucking cool and just ran with it. She didn’t give a fuck about how it would affect me for the rest of my life. Fuck, she couldn’t even stay sober long enough to get through her pregnancy or my birth, for fuck’s sake. Okay? Cool. Glad everyone is on the same fucking page. Where’s the fucking whiskey? I’m going to drink myself to death, or until I forget about it. Whichever happens first.”

FIFTEEN

The Boar calls me with his job later that day, and I instantly know it’s going to be fucking messy. He wasn’t lying, it will be quick, but the chances of me getting it done without one of the guys or Avery finding out and throwing a fit is pretty slim.

The outfit requirement alone is going to piss them the fuck off. They’re pretty twitchy about my ass in booty shorts, especially since all of the supervised eating has put a little meat on my bones. Harley in particular can’t seem to keep his hands away from the curve, and I find myself fantasizing about what it’ll feel like to have his big hands spread me open.

I spend my weekend taking a lot of cold showers.

After I get my brief from the Boar, I drag Avery into our shared bedroom at the hotel and give her a very basic and vague rundown of what I’m going to do. Naturally, the evil genius figures it out before I’ve even finished the watered-down sentence.

“So, what you’re trying not to say is you’re going to assassinate the leader of a prominent illegal organization because he pissed the Boar off?”

Right. Well. I can’t really argue with that assessment. “Yeah. I am. Is this going to be a problem?”