AllFreeNovel
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I'm not sure what to make of it, but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I open the door, wincing as my poor, abused feet hit the slick, icy ground. As I close the door, I hear the driver muttering something about the Irish. I think that might be why he didn’t take my money. Whatever. I need to get inside. Fuck, it’s cold out here.
Hobbling up the four stone stairs, I key in the employee code and tug the back door open with my good hand. A thudding bass washes over me. I had an early set tonight and was tucked in bed by eleven.
It’s only a little past midnight now, so the place is in full swing. Wincing, I limp down the hallway and into the dressing room, using my elbow to open the door. I need to get to my locker.
“Fi! What the fuck happened to you?” Shawna screams.
Strippers spring out of their seats, squealing and gaping as they coddle me.
“Sit down, here. It’s okay. What happened?” Shawna coaxes, guiding me onto my chair as my dressing table.
“Fire. In my building. It’s all gone.”
“Do you need some water, Fi?” Carmen asks, her eyes wide. “Jolene, get some water.”
Jolene nods, hurrying out of the room. I can’t focus on all their questions, my lower lip trembling as the enormity of what happened crashes over me. I almost died tonight. And I’m homeless. What am I going to do?
The room abruptly falls silent as the door to the back corridor opens so fast that it cracks against the wall beside it. My head snaps up. Ronan strides in, his face like fucking fury, and I relax.
RONAN
We’re gathered in Seamus’s office. Niall was the last to arrive, having dropped Fiona and Mellie home. Sean sent some plans for tomorrow, so Seamus had us congregate here to review them.
Even since Tiggy gave birth, Seamus has wanted us in his house less at night. He doesn’t want to disturb his wife and his wean. Seamus stares at Liam in horror as the lad holds up a little blue baby sailor suit.
“My son isn’t running around looking like a preppy fucking cunt!” he snaps. Liam shrugs, turning the outfit so he can look at it.
“It’s cute! Like he’s a little sailor. You know, a baby Pop-Eye or something.”
Seamus snorts. “Not if it was the last baby outfit in the world and he was at risk of fucking freezing his dick off. Get fucking rid of it.”
Liam mutters something about Tiggy siding with him over Seamus. But before Seamus can do much except glare at him, there’s a hammering on the door and one of the strippers, Erika, shoves her head in the door.
“First-aid kit or ambulance for burns?” she asks without preamble. Burns? Seamus’s eyebrows shoot up while the rest of us shift in our seats to stare at her.
“It depends on how bad they are. Who got fucking burned?” Seamus replies with a frown. Also, how did they get burned in a fucking strip club?
“Fiona’s building burned down. She’s just shown up looking like she walked through fucking fire,” Erika replies, her eyes flickering over me.What? Erika pales at the guttural growl ripping out of my chest.
“Um, dressing room,” she squeaks before her head disappears. I’m on my feet, kicking my chair out of the way as I stride out of the room. My heart is hammering in my chest. I need to get to Fiona.
I kick open the door to the dressing room, and dead silence falls as it crashes against the wall, fourteen sets of eyes flickering over me. There’s only one set that I give a fuck about.
My heart thuds to a stop in my chest. Bright blue eyes, swimming with tears, stare at me from a soot-blackened face. Her hair is messy, and the ends look singed. She’s wearing a T-shirt and panties, her purse resting in her lap, a water bottle in one hand while Carmen cradles a burned-looking right hand, and Shawna and Dawn, two other strippers, have her feet in their laps. Her burned, bleeding feet.
Seamus swears behind me. “Jesus fuck. Lucky, get the fucking first aid kit.”
“Fuck that. I’ll call the fucking doctor,” Connor mutters back, horror coloring his tone.
“Good idea. Tell him to meet us at Ronan’s,” Seamus agrees.
My feet finally fucking unstick from the floor, and I stride across the room.
“Jaysus feck,leannán,” I murmur, sinking to my knees in front of her, gently lifting her foot out of Dawn’s lap to examine it. I wince when I see that it’s blistered and there are shards of glass stuck in it.
Seamus’s feet stop beside me. “Ronan. The doctor’s on the way to your apartment.”
Right. I need to get her out of here. “Leannán.”
