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“Feel better?” I ask, my tone bored as if his handprint isn’t blooming on my cheek.
“You are such a fucking disappointment,” he snarls at me. “Just like your cunt of a mother.”
He wants a reaction. Don’t give it to him. My stomach churns and I fight back the nausea. My father has never said I was anything but a disappointment and despite this, it still punches a hole in my chest each time he spits the words at me. “Well, I’m all you got, old man.”
He glares at me, his mouth down turned. “You have until the end of the week,son. If I don’t have the signed papers by then, I will personally see to it that you do not disappoint me again.”
Our journey home is quiet. My face is throbbing and my rage simmering. I hate my father with every ounce of my being. When I take over as leader of The Daos, I will do things so very differently. But the stubborn old fuck will probably live to a hundred just to avoid handing over the reins.
Brent is scowling at the road, not unusual; he’s a scowly guy. But there is an energy radiating off him that puts me on edge.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he lies to me.
“Bullshit, what is it.”
“Something is bothering me,” he starts but pauses. I wait patiently for him to come out and say it. “How did he know it was a she?”
“What?” I ask, not following at all.
“Sydney, you said that a singer had been attacked and thattheywere healing. He then asked you ifshewas healed yet. How did he know Elle was a she?”
His words are giving me bubbles of apprehension rising from my stomach as I try to justify. Hayden leans forward. “Sydneyhasn’t looked at the club past its location. Maybe he’s assuming thatallthe signers are women?”
I nod, but it doesn’t feel right.
“Maybe,” Brent concedes, but he doesn’t sound convinced.
“What would his motives be?” Hayden continues.
“I don’t know,” Brent confesses. “But I feel it, something is dodgy as fuck.”
41
BRENT
The next day, the thought that Sydney somehow had something to do with Elle’s attack still won’t leave my head. I have a hunch that I will be following but I’m not going to tell Lance just yet. Sure, Lance hates Sydney as much as the rest of us but thinking his father is responsible for hurting Elle would send him into a tailspin, so I won’t be confirming it until I have solid proof.
Today we relaxed. We spent time just the four of us and honestly, it’s been the best fucking day I’ve had in a long time. No one brought up our indecent proposal so I wasn’t pressured into talking about it, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. We sat on our luxury corner sofa, Elle nestled in the crook of my arm, her legs rested over Lance’s lap while he rubbed her bare feet absently as we watched a film. Hayden sat on the floor in front of her, despite there being plenty of sofa space and complained the whole way through. Not about the floor, but about the movie choice. Chicago wouldn’t have been my first choice either, but I was so happy that I couldn’t bring myself to care.
Hayden had made a pretty impressive breakfast and a late lunch as Elle was working this evening. Lance had doted on her all day, bringing drinks and snacks, rubbing her feet or her shoulders, and taking her side when she picked the movie. I had been touching her all day, wrapping her in my arms, holding her hand, kissing her all without feeling the least bit awkward doing so in front of the others. They didn’t seem bothered and I was just happy to have her with me.
At one point, Lance flicked the back of Hayden’s head, trying to get him to shut up and Hayden reached behind him to pull him off the sofa. The two of them wrestled like children, making Elle laugh until there were tears in her eyes. Even I smiled at their antics. When they came to a stop, Lance lying over Hayden, panting and smiling, there was a moment. A look between themthat spoke volumes, a second of searing sexual tension that we all felt. If Lance bent his head just an inch or two, he could have kissed him, and I found myself wishing he would. I wanted a taste of what this life could be, of what intimate moments would be when we were all involved with each other. But that didn’t happen. Hayden twisted Lance’s nipples over his shirt until Lance rolled off him, moaning in discomfort. Elle howled and I laughed.
“What are you? Twelve?” Lance groaned.
“I win!” Hayden threw his fists in the air and then winked at Elle and me. I’m pretty sure he broke the moment for my benefit and though I wish he hadn’t, I appreciate him.
She starts later as it is some sort of special performance, so it is nearly ten o’clock and we are waiting patiently for her to get on stage. The guy I’d seen her with before was currently on the stage, playing a guitar with the band while singing a gravelly rendition of a Bruno Mars song. Women who are making bedroom eyes at him, crowd the front of the stage; he winks and smiles at them. I dislike him immensely. When his song is over, he waits for the cheering crowd to quiet before he speaks into the microphone.
“You guys have been incredible tonight.” The crowd cheers again. “So, I heard that there’s a stag party in tonight?” A group of men at a table just in front of us shout out. “Where’s the groom to be?” The singer looks to the group with his hand shielding his eyes from the stage lights. They all pointed to one guy in the centre of the group who waves shyly. “Hey, congrats man. Have you had permission to get in trouble tonight?” The groom’s friends all cheer in response. “Just as well, as you are in for a fucking treat, my friend. Ladies, gentlemen, and anyone in between, it is my absolute pleasure to introduce to you the ladies of Starlight with a special performance for the groom!”
Everyone raises their hands, clapping, screaming, and jumping with excitement as the lights go down and a silence loaded with anticipation descends. The lights clap back on thestage where Elle and two other girls I recognise from her birthday stand in power poses on the stage. My jaw drops and my mouth waters, causing a little dribble to escape. The three of them are dressed similarly but Elle holds my attention and I know without having to look at them that Lance and Hayden are the same.
She must be wearing some sort of extensions in her hair as what normally falls just past her shoulders now hangs to the small of her back in gentle waves. Her makeup is heavy, deeply smoked eyes, and a dark plum gloss on her lips. Her shoulders and arms are bared, but the light hits some sort of shimmer over her collar and her perfect tits are pressed into her chest by a tight-fitting leather looking corset. Her waist is cinched in almost unnaturally and her arse is barely covered by the matching leather bottoms. Fishnet tights criss-cross over her legs, and chunky heeled leather boots hug her calves. She looks fucking magnificent.
They stand in tantalising silence as the crowd start going wild and they smile. As one, they started stomping their feet, a clap of their hands, and a thump of fists on their chests create a steady percussion. The crowd started clapping the beat and once they are in time, Elle lifts her microphone to her mouth.
