Page 81 of No Greater Oblivion

Rian takes a menacing step forward, and Lyss has to all but ram her body into his to get him to stop. She snatches up her coat and seizes his upper arm in a vice grip, leading him out to the hall where the coat closet is. Once they’re finally out of sight, I make my way around the kitchen island and watch as Dahlia attempts to serve herself a glass of water with shaky hands. I take the pitcher from her and fill the glass. She takes it wordlessly and takes several sips.

“That entire situation is a mess,” I warn.

“What situation?” she replies quietly.

“The two of them. He may be as dense as a brick wall but anyone with a pair of eyes and some common sense can see she’s in love with him.”

Dahlia flinches. “What the fuck is the matter with you? She’s not in love with him.”

I can’t help but stare at her. How could one of the most intuitive people I know not have picked up on this already?

“You’re not serious.”

“Don’t ever say that again. Lyss and Rian are friends and they would never do anything to hurt me.”

“You don’t find it suspicious how they were together tonight?” I ask. “Aren’t you jealous?”

“I have no reason to be. I trust them.”

“Well, that’s obvious. Besides, I can’t imagine you have much room for jealousy,” I tell her. “What with my come dripping down your leg and all.”

Her eyes fly open and I take the water from her, drink some, and then refill it with the pitcher. She looks down and realizes there’s a mess between her thighs and grabs a wad of paper towels off the counter.

I catch her wrist. “Don’t ruin it now, I’d like to admire my handiwork.”

“Fuck. Off.”

“I suppose this would be a bad time to ask if you’re on the pill?”

She cleans the mess up quickly and shoves the soiled paper towels to the bottom of the trash. “I hate myself.”

“You know, I’ve been meaning to ask. How exactly did you get involved with Rian and his crowd anyway?”

“I don’t know. Maybe my penchant for criminals stems from you.”

“So much so that you’ve become one yourself?” I lift a brow. “I heard about the gun you swindled out from under Huang’s nose.”

For some reason, my response lights a fire under her. “I am not a criminal. If I got close to Li and all his bullshit, it was to protect you!”

“You what?”

My voice overlaps with someone else’s. I look over and Rian’s standing at the threshold, Lyss close behind.

Dahlia swears aloud. “Shit.”

Dahlia

The four of us sit in uncomfortable silence. Alejandro, Rian, and Lyss wait in anticipation of what I have to say but after several false starts, I fall short. There’s no easy or simple way for me to say this so I settle for the truth.

“All right, well.” I wring my hands. “Here’s how it happened from the very beginning...”

Lyss was a regular at The Empress because one of her ex-boyfriends in finance used to bring her. She went so often she became friends with the bouncer who continued to let her in even after she and finance guy broke up. However, on the night we went early last spring, her friend the bouncer wasn’t there and the man at the front was giving us a hard time. I was having another erratic week of epic highs and lows, arguing with Alejandro, and feeling like my life was falling apart. Right when we were about to leave, Damiano and Rian had arrived.

Damiano had spotted me first and then Rian recognized Lyss. Their relationship wasn’t fully formed yet, existing in that weird place between polite acquaintance and genuine friend. Rian knew Lyss’s ex and he’d invited to them to a few of his parties, both private and at The Empress, finding enjoyment in their company. However, finance boyfriend and Lyss broke up, he moved to Seattle, and Lyss and Rian’s interactions were limited to nights at The Empress when their paths crossed.

Like that night.

We got in and they spent the whole evening with us. The weekend after, we went back. Over and over again until Damiano became my partner in crime and Lyss an occasional third band member whenever she saw fit. When Damiano took me under his wing, his social circle became mine and all of New York City was at my fingertips.