Page 74

“You’re not the king of compliments.”

He takes my hand and places it over his crotch. I don’t look down. I don’t have to. I feel him hard through his pants, thick and shameless beneath my palm.

“Do you need a bigger compliment?”

“It’s big enough.”

He tries to control his smile, but the dimple in his cheek betrays him. I turn toward the window to hide mine.

We park in front of the Moon. Nero gets out first and opens my door. A bodyguard takes his keys. Nero takes my hand and doesn’t let go as we walk past the line. Everyone stares, but I’m high enough not to care. The bouncer greets us with a smile and lets us in.

Inside, the Moon is full. Music crashes through the air, lights move over sweated bodies. The whole place smells like sex, alcohol and desire. It’s nice, almost, to be in a club and not work for once. I know people will ask me for dust, but tonight I don’t have enough to share. Tonight I need it all to survive.

Nero doesn’t release my hand. Like he’s afraid I’ll get lost. Which is funny, because I’ve been here more times than him. Still, I let him hold me. I watch people greet him and others avoid him out of fear. Big bad dog. The whole city knows him now. When he first came back, he was just a dangerous stranger. Now everyone knows he’s Vito Caruso’s right hand.

He leads me toward the VIP room.

I stop.

Nero looks back. “You okay?”

“I don’t want to talk to anyone.”

He studies me for half a second, then nods. “Okay.”

No argument. No forcing. Just okay.

I turn back. He’s still holding my hand.

Or maybe I’m holding his.

We go to the dance floor, where the music is loud enough to not let me think. In the crowd, Nero’s other hand closes around my waist. I move slowly, not really to the rhythm, just drifting. He stands behind me like a wall that refuses to let me fall. I can feel him smelling my hair. His head lowers slightly to brush my earlobe with his nose, his lips, to show me he is close.

What am I even doing here with him? Playing boyfriend and girlfriend in the middle of a club. Like this is a Halloween costume I can take off later. It doesn’t mean anything. I’ve got screwed over so many times by men that this is just artificial play.

The beat changes. Bass hits harder. One pulse. Then another. Then another. Like a heartbeat.

I feel it under my skin. I’m not in Moon anymore.

I’m Julian.

A fist cracks across my face and throws me to the floor. Blood fills my mouth. Silver burns my wrists. Shadows tighten around my throat. The chanting starts again, and pain drives through me in a thousand needles. My chest opens. My heart almost explodes before they carve it out.

I open my eyes and realize my nails are buried in Nero’s forearm.

He turns me around, searching my face. I can’t breathe.

I tear away from him and push through the crowd toward the bathroom, already digging through my purse. I need stardust. Another dose before I lose my mind. Before Julian’s death swallows me whole.

Nero catches up in the corridor and grabs my wrist. I try to yank free.

“Where are you going?” he asks.

I can barely hear him over my own heartbeat.

His gaze drops to the stardust box clenched in my hand. “You don’t need this.”

I laugh, but it sounds broken.