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Clearly, he never forgot that rejection.
After he left, Mom fell into despair, she fell deeper into drugs, and one day—she just didn’t wake up anymore. I did my best, but I couldn’t wake her and there was only so much food for me and Ivy. A friend found us—a guy who would turn out to be one of the best people in my life. He went by the street name of Vandal.
I always called him Mickey. But Vandal rescued us from that house where Mom died and eventually, I ended up in the system with Ivy. In the system, I met a raggedy collection of orphans who were just like me. They’d either lost their parents, been abandoned, or worse, grown up in their own horror shows before they were rescued. There had been seven of us—not counting Vandal himself or Ivy.
The seven of us were determined to stick together, we had each other’s backs. I let go of Ivy because I wanted her to have a better life and I thought she’d found it with the Sharpes.
I was wrong.
But even when I was in prison, another choice—one I’d made to protect them—my Vandals had looked after Ivy. They’d kept her safe.
So there was life before Ivy and after.
There was life before Vandal rescued us and after.
There was life before I went to prison and after.
Looking at Mayhem’s shining face as the show unfolded on the stage and the women sang, danced, and moved—I was utterly captivated. There was life before Mayhem and this here? This was life after.
This birthday at a burlesque show, a half-formed wish I’d shared with my best friend when I’d been a horned-up teenager who wanted to experience some part of this deviant history with its erotic dancing, songs, and performances made real, was not something I could have imagined.
Not really.
The fact there was a damn aerialist out there, riding that diamond inside a hoop like she was fucking it and it was every bit as beautiful as it was erotic, wasn’t lost on me. Not one single person out there performing was as fucking gorgeous as the woman sitting next to me.
Not a single one.
She got one of those fuckers to tell her a secret—though if I had to bet, it was Ivy who had gotten the secret out of them and then told her. She got a secret about a dream of mine, and she made it come true.
The corner of her mouth curved upward and she stole a glance up at me. Busted. So busted. When she leaned a little closer, I kissed her. The hints of wine on her lips added to the sweetness of her taste. We’d enjoyed a good meal, but it could have been burger and fries and I’d have adored it just as much. I savored her because she was quietly yet steadily wrecking her way into my life and my soul. My mayhem.
Fuck, that name suited her. She shifted in the seat, a little wiggle of movement and I lifted my head as she settled something in my hand. The cloth teased my fingertips as I closed my fingers around it. Lifting my head, I glanced down at the scrap of lace panties in my hand and then over to her siren’s smile as she took a sip of her wine.
“Mayhem—” Before I could finish the thought, the music hit a crescendo and the show ended on a stellar note. Still holding her panties, I rose with her to applaud and I really couldn’t help dipping my gaze down to the length of her legs and the boots she was wearing.
Goddamn, she tempted me. The lights were coming up, but they were still comfortably dim so I stole another kiss before we sat again. She leaned into me and I let my hand skim along the edge of her skirt. It was shorter in the front. Movement flickered from the corner of my eye and I lifted my head as Karagiani glanced inside.
“Problem?” The guy had become something of a fixture these past few weeks. I wasn’t a huge fan of him always being there, but I wouldn’t argue against it because he would put himself between Mayhem and danger.
“There’s someone here to see you.”
Me? I frowned and glanced at Mayhem. She looked puzzled but only shook her head. I slid her panties into the pocket of my jacket as I stood. “Stay here?” I kept it a request, but she still frowned. “I won’t be long.”
Mayhem didn’t like it, but she nodded once.
“Thank you.” I brushed my knuckles to her cheek then moved to where Karagiani stood. Both of us blocked the whole opening and he pushed the curtain wider so I could see who it was that wanted to join us.
Frankly, I half-expected it to be Ezra. The man seemed to thrive on pushing in everywhere, whether he was welcome or not. Or Adam. Despite my misgivings where he was concerned, his interest in Mayhem seemed a vital part of him. Hell, I would have taken Bodhi. As crazy as he was, he wouldn’t have surprised me by showing up, no matter how unexpected.
The man standing there, Jeff Hardigan aka Julius King aka my deadbeat father, didn’t even make the bottom of the shoe on my list. “What the fuck do you want?”
“To speak to that young lady right there.” He nodded past me, his polite smile striking a match to my temper.
“I can pretty much guarantee she doesn’t want to talk to you.” While I shouldn’t speak for Mayhem, I didn’t doubt her disdain for him any more than I did my own dislike. He abandoned me. He abandoned Ivy. He’d used her friends and family.
And apparently, he’d tried to have her killed or at least endangered her enough shecouldhave died when she was still a child. I’d wanted to find him the night she’d revealed to me what Ezra had told her.
Bastard had tried to kill Adam for even proposing to my sister and it didn’t have a damn thing to do with Ivy also being his child. No, it had to do with her being a “Sharpe” and having Sharpe money. Selfish prick.
