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My eyes closed, and I mentally swore. The last thing I wanted to do, besides flirt with Nix, was talk to Damian Whatever-His-Last-Name-Was. When I opened my eyes, I stared at Zander, who clearly didn’t know what to do, if he should try to keep Damian away from me or not. I hoped I gave him a look that told him it was fine.
I wasn’t going to run, even if I didn’t know that much about this Damian guy.
“Look who it is,” his voice spoke up behind me, and I was slow to turn to face him. “I was hoping you’d be here.” His black eyes ate me up, clearly appreciative of the outfit I wore. The way he looked at me, it was almost like he could eat me up. “And wearing black. Damn, girl, you look good. Don’t know which you look better in.”
I forced out a smile. “Damian, was it?”
“That’s right,” he spoke with a nod. The shirt he wore was full of holes in the fabric, which allowed me to see his plentiful tattoos. A big golden chain hung around his neck. “I thought you wouldn’t remember me.”
I had no idea why he thought that would be the case; if I stuck out in my white dress, he stuck out for the same reason. He looked more like a street thug than someone who fit with the other Black Hand members.
“Of course I remember you. Why wouldn’t I?”
“People like you have a habit of forgetting people like me.” He flashed his pearly whites at me, and it occurred to me that he had very nice teeth. Very, very nice. Blindingly white, perfectly straight… not the kind of smile someone poor would have. Damian might look like someone from the streets, but he clearly had money to spare. “I aim to fix that while I’m here.”
I had no idea what the hell he was talking about. Behind me, Zander spoke up, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Damian didn’t spare Zander a glance. Instead, he took a step toward me, stopping when he stood directly before me, just inches away. Too close to me, and yet I could not move. He oozed confidence. It was almost mesmerizing, in a weird way.
“It means,” he whispered, his voice so low I was probably the only one who could hear him. He lifted a hand, taking a tendril of my hair between his fingertips. Not touching me, but getting damn near close to it. “I’m here for you, Giselle.”
Here for… for me? What—that didn’t make sense.
He let go of my hair the moment I asked, “Why would you be here for me?”
Damian didn’t answer me. He only smirked and took a step away. “I have this feeling about you, and I just can’t shake it. I think you’re—” He pointed at me as he continued to take steps backward. “—exactly who I’m looking for.”
When he turned and left me with Zander, I couldn’t shake the strange feeling that had surfaced in my gut. During that exchange, Nix had wandered back and now sat with the twins and Piper. Luca and Cade had turned their heads, watching the whole exchange with Damian, but I hardly paid attention to them.
Zander asked me, “You all right? That was… really fucking weird.”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I stared at Damian, who’d wandered back to the tables. This time, he got himself a drink and popped it open. When he drank from it, he turned to face me across the way, locking eyes with me and downing the entire bottle in what must’ve been three gulps. “I don’t know what that was about.”
“He said he was here for you, that you’re who he’s looking for.”
“No. Well, yeah, he said that first bit, but he also said he thinks I’m who he’s looking for. Thinks. What does that mean?” I tried to come up with an answer to that question, but I couldn’t think of anything. I didn’t know why the hell someone like Damian would be looking for me, or someone like me.
Who the hell was that guy?
Zander didn’t know. I sure as hell didn’t know. That left us both wondering just what Damian’s game was. Of course, I knew we couldn’t trust him, much like I couldn’t trust anyone here. Everyone might be talking and laughing and drinking together here tonight, but that didn’t change the fact that our parents were all vying for the same position on the Black Hand. There would only be one winner. One. Everyone else would lose… and I bet they would be the sorest of losers.
The night dragged on. Everyone seemed to be having fun. The fire started to die down, and everyone went on a search and retrieve mission for more wood to feed it. There was drinking aplenty—I didn’t drink any more after that first one, though. Some of them were getting quite drunk, and I didn’t know how the hell they’d get home afterward.
Not my problem.
After the fire had been fed, we all gathered around it. I stood beside Zander, and somehow Luca had claimed my other side. Cade stood beside him, and then it was a few of the younger ones. Jett, Dex, Nix and Piper were across from us, and I could hardly see their faces through the fire. Damian was not in the circle around the fire; he held onto another beer, watching us from behind.
I didn’t like it, but I was doing my best to ignore him. I wouldn’t let Damian know just how unnerved he made me.
“Hey,” Damian called out, causing everyone to look at him, “I got an idea.” He lifted his beer. “Why don’t we have a little friendly competition? This night could use some excitement. Who’s with me?” He raised his free hand.
A few of the others whispered amongst themselves, but no one agreed outright to anything. It was Cade who shot back, “And what do you have in mind?” After asking Damian that question, I swore his gaze flicked to me.
I didn’t know about anyone else here, but I planned on denying Damian whatever it was he wanted to do. He could kiss my ass. In fact, all these people could kiss my ass. A competition? There was already enough of a competition with our parents. We didn’t need to add to it.
“Let’s see who’s the best,” Damian suggested. “Mano a mano.” When no one said anything, because no one had any idea what the hell he was trying to say, he added, “Awe, come on. A fight! Let’s make a ring, see who’s the best—”
“Of course you’d want to see who’s the best of us,” Luca shot back. “You shouldn’t even be here.”
