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When they all troop down the steps a few minutes later, Lincoln’s got a small bag in one hand. He hands it to me with an arched brow, and I peer inside.
Clothes.
My heart lurches as memories of a night I wish I could forget flow through my mind like a river of poison. The night all four of the kings of Linwood showed up in my room, tossed me a skimpy black dress, and told me to come with them.
“What is it with you guys and dressing me?” I ask dryly, shoving the memories aside as I look back up at him.
His lips quirk up in a smile, and he gives the bag a little shake, offering it to me again. “I think you’ll like it this time.”
I take it suspiciously, setting the bag down on the couch and pulling out the contents one by one.
He’s right. I do like it.
They brought me a pair of dark skinny jeans and a top made of an expensive-looking, iridescent material that has a high neckline in the front and a scooped back with a few straps crisscrossing at the low back. There’s a stylish black jacket to go over it, and a pair of black heels, which also appear to be way out of my usual price range.
This is way better than the super-tight, super-short cocktail dress they made me wear to the strip club where I was supposed to spy on Trent.
This is… me.
I run my fingers over the smooth fabric of the top, and Linc grins when he catches me fondling it.
“Get dressed,” he says, and I realize that he, Dax, and Chase are all dressed in nice jeans, casual but expensive tops, and tailored blazers.
Wherever they’re planning on taking me, it’s obviously got a dress code.
River puts a hand on the small of my back, ushering me into the bedroom. I head into the bathroom to change while he does the same on the other side of the door.
It all fits like a glove. I don’t know how the hell the guys know my sizes so well, but every single thing from the shoes to the top molds to my body like it was made to be there. I didn’t bring a lot of makeup when I packed my bag, but I swipe on some mascara and a little blush, then pull my hair into a high ponytail.
River looks just as drool-worthy as the rest of the guys by the time I emerge from the bathroom. They’re all so damn hot they look good in pretty much anything, but there’s something about this kind of casual elegance that really works on them.
Once we all pile into Lincoln’s car, I lean forward from where I’m sitting in the middle of the back seat. “So, where are we going?”
“Paradise.”
“What?”
I scrunch up my face, and Chase takes pity on me and expands on Lincoln’s unhelpful answer.
“It’s a club downtown. We’re gonna pay Trent a little visit.”
My chest tightens. The echoes between what we’re doing right now and the events of that night make goose bumps break out over my skin.
It’s not the same. It’s not the same.
I repeat that over and over in my head. It’s not like the five of us going to see Trent at a club in Fox Hill will summon the man in the black ski mask somehow—call him out of the darkness like some kind of demon.
But it sure as fuck feels like it might.
Maybe the twins both pick up on the shudder that passes through my body, because they scoot closer to me on the seat, enclosing me between them as much as their seatbelts will allow. I let the warmth of their bodies seep into my skin, closing my eyes for a minute to pull myself together.
Mom’s still in jail, still awaiting trial. A solid case is being built against her, and the only good thing about that is that it means Iris’s killer probably feels pretty safe right now. He has no reason to kill anyone else.
Still, I can’t stop my head from swiveling back and forth as we step out of the car in downtown Fox Hill and Linc hands his keys to a valet. The street is reassuringly packed with people and vehicles though, nowhere near as desolate as the area around the strip club. I don’t know quite where we are, but it’s obviously the social hub of the city.
I don’t think Paradise is an all-ages club, but I see Lincoln slip the bouncer a hefty wad of bills before the large man pulls the velvet rope aside, allowing us all to file in.
Shit. No wonder Trent and his buddies go to the shitty spots on the outskirts of town more often than places like this. That had to be at least a grand Lincoln handed the guy.
