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Thora rubbed her forehead and shook her head. “I thought it was gonna be fun. Just forget it. Maybe she recognized you from the news and made it up…” Her voice trailed off.
You could tell she didn’t believe the lie she had just said. I clasped my hands together in front of my face, breathing through my fingers. That had shaken me to my core. How would Deandra know? Howcouldshe know anything about me or my fears? No. I took a deep, shaky breath in. Nobody was coming for me. Ryzen was not coming for me. She’d probably recognized me from the news and was just fucking with me. It was Halloween, after all, and all the crazies were out.
“OK, next time let’s just skip the fortune teller, K?” I slipped my mask back on and hugged Thora. “Sorry I overreacted for a sec. Let’s go get wasted.”
“Agreed.” Thora laughed, but I could see the wariness in her eyes. Fear was there, as I was sure it was in mine as well. But there was no way I was going to let it ruin my night. It was just a joke. Nothing to worry about.
We spent the next hour dancing to the music and enjoying the whole vibe. Eros and Orin danced with Juliet sandwiched between them. Her face was lit up with happiness and I was reminded yet again that she had been through just as much hell as I had. She deserved to be free and happy. Thora and I danced around them, sweat dripping down my back. Something caught my attention out of my peripheral vision, and we ran over to the balcony as an aerialist swung by over the crowd dancing on the first floor. They were dressed in glow-in-the-dark leotards, and swung around in circles, their legs wrapped around silk sheets hanging from above. One tumbled down, unraveling herself and reaching for an excited crowd, while another climbed back to the top to our level and swung around in a circle. My jaw fell open as we watched them perform. I had never seen anything like that in person, and it was mesmerizing.
The crowd cheered below us, and I caught sight of Cian downstairs. He was standing in a dark corner, the gold devil horns glistening against the candlelight. I waved to him, but he didn’t respond. Hm, maybe he couldn’t have seen me from all the way down there. After a few more minutes of watching the aerialists, I turned around to join everyone dancing and slammed into a hard chest.
“Sorry,” I shouted through my mask and tried to walk around the man.
“How about a dance to show me how sorry you are?” He reeked of alcohol, and I scrunched up my nose. Great. I was like a magnet to drunk idiots. But I had nothing to worry about, because I could already see Valik walking my way. The man gripped my upper arm and tried to drag me close to him, and I grunted at the contact.
Before I even had a chance to respond, Cian slid between us and picked the man up by the throat and threw him back. My mouth fell open at his sheer strength, and I took my mask off as Cian towered over the man, who was visibly shaking.
“Get him the fuck out of here before I kill him,” he barked.
Eros rushed over in his Batman costume, Orin right behind him. They dragged the man up and pinned his arms behind his back as he yelled out a slew of obscenities. Cian’s body was rigid, his fists clenched at his sides.
“It’s OK, love.” I ran my hands over his chest, his body humming with anger under my palms. “You got up here quick.” I chuckled and reached up to take off his mask.
He weaved his hands in my hair, tugging me tight against him as his lips met mine. “I saw him watching you on the security camera while you were enjoying the silk performers. I came right away,” he murmured against my lips. “Nobody fucking touches my beautiful star.”
I sighed into his kiss and rocked my body against his. He led me to the dance floor, where the music pulsed around us. He wrapped his arm around my back, his other hand splayed across my hip as we danced, molded against each other. Our eyes locked, and it was as if the rest of the people in the club ceased to exist as we moved in perfect rhythm. He turned me around so my back was flush against his chest and I gasped as his cock pressed into my ass. Hmm, maybe we could reenact our first time together back up in his office after all. His hands roamed over my body until I was a hot, panting mess.
Our spell was broken a moment later when his head of security came over and whispered something into his ear. Cian groaned and kissed me on the cheek. “They need me upstairs in security. Stay here. Be back in ten.”
I bit my bottom lip and nodded, anticipation coursing through me at what was to come. Eros, Orin and Valik were still gone, so I joined Thora and Juliet on the couch. I wanted to tell Juliet about the fortune teller, but you could barely hear anything over the music, which seemed to grow louder as the night moved on.
Fifteen minutes later, and the men were still nowhere to be found. I pulled out my phone and saw a text from Sophie from a few minutes ago. She was downstairs with her sister, looking for us. They were dressed as the twins fromThe Shining, apparently, and I chuckled. Oh, this I had to see.
“Hey.” I waved over to Thora and Juliet, who were huddled together in a deep conversation. “Sophie’s downstairs. I’m gonna go grab her,” I yelled and pointed down the stairs. They both nodded and gave me a thumbs-up and I glided down the stairs. I sent Sophie a text back asking where she was and made my way through the crowd of people dancing, but I couldn’t see her anywhere. How hard could it be to find a set of murdered twins in here?
I walked over and stood on one of the crates in the corner, looking over the crowd, and waved at Sophie when I finally saw her. She jumped up and down, waving back. There were too many people everywhere, so I pointed upstairs to the VIP section and mimicked walking with my fingers. She gave me a thumbs-up and dragged her sister towards the stairs.
A sensation of eyes on me had me looking around and I found Cian standing in the same corner from before, partially hidden in darkness, just the gold horns of his mask peeking out, letting me know it was him.
“Hey!” I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled, waving to him. Why was he down here when he’d said he would be in the security room?
He stepped out into the light and motioned for me to come to him. I held my finger up, then jumped down, almost tripping over my dress.OK, next year, no big fancy gowns. Stick with something simple and easy to take off.I pushed through the crowd towards Cian, but he was no longer there. He was standing next to the stage by the door that led into the storage room, which I was very familiar with, seeing as we had had many impromptu lovemaking sessions in there in the past.
Oh, you dirty, dirty man.That was why he was down here. Well, hell, I was all for it. Besides, it wouldn’t be a true anniversary celebration without sex at the Hellfire Club.
He crooked his finger at me to come closer, and I followed him down the hall. Only one light was working down the long corridor, making it feel more ominous than necessary. The music faded as I got to the end of the hall and pushed the storage room door open.
“Cian, where are you?” I called out as the door shut behind me. Was he trying to play around? Make me hunt for him? Because I would, and he knew it. The room was enormous, almost as big as the dance floor, with dimly lit rows of tall shelves and access to the parking garage. I passed a row of shelves filled with lighting and music equipment, then the row of cleaning supplies. One row had extra kegs and bottles of liquor, but he wasn’t anywhere.
“Cian, this isn’t funny.” The room suddenly felt like an icebox, and I ran my hands up and down my arms as a chill ran through me. Something wasn’t right about this. “Cian?” I shouted and held my breath, listening for any sign of him. My heart was pounding in my ears as I reached the end of the row. The sound of footsteps coming from behind me had me jumping, my hand flying to my chest as Cian stood at the end of the dimly lit aisle over thirty feet away. “There you are.” I laughed and took a step forward. “Why are you messing me with me, you bad, bad man?” I walked down the aisle, trailing my fingers over the boxes. “Trying to entice me into some fun, I see.”
His head tilted to the side and he held his hand out as I got closer. But something made me stop when I was halfway to him. The air in the room changed and the hair on the back of my neck stood up as I stared at him standing with his mask on. Something was off.
His tie.
It was black.
And I knew one thousand percent that Cian had been wearing a gold one because our outfits were meant to match. My breath became shallow as I stared, frozen, at the man in front of me.
