To Die For (Joker's Sin Book 2)

by Davidson King

  “No. Nolan is dog-sitting for me. He has my key and will take him to my place and hang there until I get home. Seth works overnight tonight, and he hates being at his place alone without him. I live in a safer building.”

  I nodded and followed Sparkles out. He handed Tank over to Nolan, we said our good-byes, and Sparkles and I left.

  “I gotta say, I miss the bike,” he said once I started up my truck.

  “Don’t get me started. I was going to bring it, but I got cornered by the Viper Squad.” I pulled out onto the road in the direction of the bistro I’d chosen for our date.

  “Viper Squad?”

  “Ma and Frances. Maria was there, but she was at least quiet. But she stared at me. You know?”

  Sparkles chuckled. “Stared?”

  “Yeah, like she was silently ninja chopping my mind with her opinions.”

  Sparkles laughed so loud, I almost jerked the wheel. “It’s not funny. I’m the only man there. I’m defenseless. At least when my brother-in-law is there, I have some backup.”

  “Who is your brother-in-law?” Sparkles asked, and I spent the rest of the drive telling Sparkles all about Barney and Teresa and my nephew and niece. He didn’t ask about my dad, and I was sort of glad about that. I wasn’t ready to talk about him with anyone, really.

  “Brighton Bistro?” Sparkles said as we stepped out. “I’ve actually never been here.”

  “Yeah, it’s fairly new. A buddy of mine opened it, and I kept promising I’d come in. You gave me the perfect opportunity.” I held the door to the place open, and Sparkles stepped in.

  I immediately loved the look of the restaurant. It was rustic with its dark wooden floor and tables. There were exposed beams and twinkle lights all throughout the place, giving it a magical glow. Every table had a candle, and it was quaint. Not some huge, busy, loud place. I wanted to be able to hear Sparkles talk.

  “Max! Goddamn, I thought I’d never see you!” Biggs Brighton was a former linebacker, but a bad hit took him out of commission only two years into his contract. He’d always loved cooking, so he went to culinary school and pursued his second dream of owning his own restaurant.

  “Biggs, great to see you. This is Lane. Lane, this is Biggs Brighton.”

  If Sparkles recognized him, he didn’t let on, just shook his hand. “Good to meet you, Biggs.”

  “You too, Lane. When Max said he was definitely coming tonight, I nearly had a heart attack. He’s busier than any ten people I know.” He smiled, his white teeth perfect and straight. His light-brown skin and bleached blond hair making him even larger than life than he already was.

  “Well, I for one am starving and can’t wait to eat.” Sparkles smiled at Biggs, but I was glad to see there wasn’t that interested look that so many people got when they saw him. Biggs was married anyway, and I need not worry, but still. This was new, and I wasn’t even sure it would work. I just hoped.

  “Let me take you to your table, then.” We followed Biggs to a small area that almost looked like it was set inside a cave.

  “I call this Lover’s Cove. I reserved it for you tonight when you called.” Biggs pulled out Sparkles’s chair.

  “Thanks, man,” I said as I took my own seat.

  “How about I get your server to come on over and get you some menus?”

  “Sounds great,” I said, and as soon as Biggs left, silence descended upon us. One thing I didn’t want was to have even a second of awkwardness tonight.

  Our server brought over bread and menus. I ordered whiskey, and Sparkles ordered a sea breeze. We talked about the food, which was easy enough, and after we ordered and our drinks came, Sparkles looked at me with a small smile.

  “It feels weird,” he said.

  “Do you regret going out with me?”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  “Why not?”

  He chuckled. “Am I supposed to feel weird about this?” He sipped his drink.

  “No. It’s just…I was curious. We haven’t exactly had a relationship that has been all roses and sunshine.”

  “True. But I’ve also never known anyone quite like you either, Max. I thought you were one type of person, only to discover you aren’t.” He traced his finger around the rim of his glass as he spoke. “My whole life, any guy I have ever been with made me feel scared, dirty, or it seemed wrong. I never felt weird.”

  I wanted to ask him so much about his past relationships, but I decided to just focus on us.

  “And weird is okay?”

  He smiled at me. “Weird is what I always thought a first date should feel like.”

  I matched his grin and leaned in to whisper. “You said ‘first date.’ Does that mean there’ll be more?”

  He shrugged and sipped his drink. “I have no sudden urge to run away screaming, so I say your chances are good.”

  The blooming warmth in my chest and the flip in my stomach was like a spark. I couldn’t hold back my grin as I took in his words or how his happiness mirrored my own.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Lane

  The weirdness changed fairly quickly, and I found that I enjoyed talking to Max even more than I thought possible. He told me how being a bartender was actually his dream, which shocked me. But when he talked about what he did, it was like I could feel his passion in every syllable. His love for mixing drinks was how I felt about dancing.

  “So tell me, what sort of dancing do you teach?” he asked as he handed his card to the server. I protested, but he said he’d asked me out, so I had to shut up.

  “I teach just about everything. Alexandra and I are the instructors. Nolan is pretty much the office manager of sorts. He has hidden talents of his own though, which you saw at that charity show.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I have to say I was surprised to see it was him.”

  “I have found people shock me more than I thought they would.” I met Max’s gaze, hoping he understood he was one of the people I had misjudged.

  “Yeah. Happens.” He shrugged, and the server brought the receipt over. Max signed it and stood. “Ready for part two of our date?”

  That surprised me. Most people I’d ever been on dates with would feed me and then want to fuck me. “And what is part two?”

  “Ahh, come, my little pink-haired dancer, and I will show you.”

  I laughed as I followed him to his truck. He waved at Biggs as we left, and the bubbles of excitement was a wonderful feeling. I never felt dread with Max—in fact, the complete opposite. Whenever I was with Dorian, years ago, all I felt was a suffocating fear. Max’s laughter wasn’t sadistic, it was joyful. There wasn’t a hidden agenda with Max…not like with Dorian.

  Max wouldn’t tell me where we were going, and I found I didn’t care. He’d probably make sitting in a junkyard fun. We drove for about ten minutes, me talking about dancing and Max asking me a million questions about it. He pulled into a lot which was filled with a ton of cars.

  “What is this place?” I asked. I had lived in Haven Hart for a long time, and I never knew this was here.

  “I don’t know whether to be happy you don’t know of this place or appalled you don’t since you’ve lived here so long.” He tapped his chin. “I’ll say happy. I’ll enjoy showing it to you.” He hopped out of the truck and rushed over to my side to get the door.

  “You’re quite the gentleman, Max Fazio.”

  He bowed dramatically, making me laugh. I took his offered hand, and he helped me out of the truck, even though I didn’t need it. It wasn’t often I was treated with such respect from guys I’d gone out with. I knew he was doing it out of respect and not because he thought I was weak, but it was how he was raised, so I was happy to oblige. I was surprised when he didn’t let go as we headed toward what appeared to be an opening.

  “Is that a trellis?” I asked.

  “Yeah, sort of. It’s all flowers and vines. In the spring, it’s bright flowers and smells amazing.” We walked up to a man, who smiled at Max.

&
nbsp; “Good evening, Max, so glad you were able to make it this year.”

  “No way I was missing this. I know Ma came by last night, have my sisters?” Max talked to the guy who was sitting there, clearly knowing him, and it was becoming apparent there was a crazy amount of people Max knew.

  “Yes, they came with your mother last night.”

  Max handed the guy a twenty. “Well, Phil, I bet it’s going to be amazing this year. This is Lane, and he has never seen this, so it’ll be a treat.”

  Phil smiled, exposing yellow-stained teeth, but the grin brightened his entire face. He was easily in his seventies, but he looked younger when he was happy.

  “I do love new people. Enjoy yourselves.”

  Max hadn’t let go of my hand, and I followed him under the trellis. He kept walking and it was dark at first, but after a few feet I saw a faint glow.

  “What is that?” I asked in wonder. Max chuckled but didn’t say anything.

  We made a left, and my eyes widened at the sight before me. Lights…millions of them probably. They were strung on the trees, bushes, food carts. There was a gazebo also covered in blue lights and a band setting up. They were wearing suits that were all different colors and glow in the dark. To the right of them was a Ferris wheel. It was like a circular rainbow with each cart lit up a different color.

  “How have I never seen this place?”

  “This is the Night of Lights.” Max waved his hand. “It used to be one night, but now they have it for a couple of nights. But you can’t change a name once people get used to it.”

  I smiled and followed as Max dragged me along the grounds. The band started playing, and people gathered. We watched them for a few minutes until he asked if I wanted to go on the Ferris wheel.

  “Yeah. It’s huge. I really don’t know how I never knew about this event.”

  “One thing I’ve learned about Haven Hart is that just when you think you’ve figured it out or seen it all, something new pops up,” Max said as we stood in line for the ride.

  “Very true.” My mind wandered to Dorian showing up. An unpleasant surprise—but sometimes that was what you got in this town.

  “Next,” the guy shouted, and Max led me to our cart.

  Once we were secured, it started to move. We were going slow as more people were getting on. I watched Max as he took in everything around him. I could see the boy he once was, and I didn’t feel resentment that his life was probably good all the time. Many times I hated hearing how great life was for others, knowing mine wasn’t. But I wanted Max to have had a good life.

  “Here we go,” he said as the Ferris wheel moved, and I chuckled at the delight on his face.

  “You’re such a kid.”

  He turned to me and gave me an unforgiving smile. “And maybe you need to be a kid a little bit more.”

  He wasn’t wrong. There was a carefree feeling to childhood and I figured, while I was on a Ferris wheel with Max, I’d be that carefree person. If just for tonight.

  “You’re right.” I lifted my hands when we reached the top and shouted at the top of my lungs. Max laughed and followed suit, yelling with me.

  When we got off the ride, we were laughing like loons. I felt amazing, like there wasn’t a care in the world.

  “Come on, now we need cotton candy.” Max pulled me along, and I went without question. He ordered a blue and a pink one. “We can share.”

  We sat on a bench, listening to the music. It was chilly since autumn was making itself known. We ate the cotton candy and enjoyed our company and the songs. I didn’t feel like I needed to say anything to Max in that moment, and it was perfect.

  “Here I’ll throw these out.” I handed Max the paper cone and he walked to throw them away. I was so lost in my happiness, I didn’t realize someone stood in front of me until he spoke.

  “Having fun?”

  I looked up and into the eyes of one of Dorian’s men. I couldn’t remember his name, but I’d seen him with Dorian every time.

  “Yes, what the hell do you want?”

  He smirked. “Mr. Birch just asked me to keep an eye on you, and if I saw an opportunity to remind you to speak with Atlas, I was to do so. I’m following those orders.”

  I peered over to where Max went and saw he was speaking with an elderly couple.

  “And you couldn’t come to me when Max was around, why? Afraid he’d kick your ass too?”

  He narrowed his eyes and leaned down. “I could next time if you’d like, Lane. Maybe spill a few of your secrets while I’m at it. Would that be okay with you?”

  “Tell Dorian I don’t need reminding.”

  He smiled and stood straight. “No way to know if you had a fucked-up mind like your mother.”

  Without thinking of the consequences, I stood and pushed him. He didn’t move far, but the move got Max’s attention and he rushed over, immediately putting himself in the middle of us.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” Max said to the guy, likely recognizing him.

  “Nothing. I was just talking to Lane here. Didn’t realize I’d struck a nerve, is all.” He moved away, his expression indicating he knew exactly what he was doing. “You two have a nice night.” He then turned and walked away, and Max didn’t take his eyes off him until he was out of sight.

  “Are you all right?” he asked me, his gaze traveling up along my body, assessing.

  “I’m fine.”

  He met my eyes; I could see the millions of questions swimming there.

  “It’s late, you ready to go?” I knew he wanted to question me but was grateful he didn’t.

  “Yeah. I have an early class tomorrow.”

  I followed Max out of the grounds and to his truck. It was the most perfect night of my life until my past, once again, came back to bite me.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Max

  It had been two days since my date with Sparkles. We had the most perfect night until the very end. I knew it soured the evening for him, and while he mustered a smile and a kiss that curled my toes, I knew whatever the guy said to him wasn’t good. I wished he’d talk to me, but I also knew pushing Sparkles never ended well.

  I was behind the bar a couple of hours prior to opening with Shane helping me organize everything when Ciro approached.

  “Where’s Atlas at?” he asked.

  “Office, I think,” Shane answered as he poured olives into a clear canister.

  “He doesn’t have his earpiece in, and Sparkles is here to talk to him.”

  I furrowed my brow. “Sparkles?” I looked over his shoulder as if the man would be there, but he wasn’t. “Just let him in. He can sit here, and you can go see if Atlas is free.”

  It was odd that Ciro wouldn’t let him in. I mean, it was Sparkles. He was the least threatening person in the world.

  “Yeah okay, something’s up with him though, for sure,” was all Ciro said before going back to the doors. I looked over at Shane, who shrugged and moved around the bar filling everything.

  Ciro returned with Sparkles in tow, and I knew the second he entered that Ciro was right. He was devoid of all makeup, not even the foundation that was signature for him. He wore gray sweats and a T-shirt. Nothing about him was very Sparkles to me.

  “Have a seat, I’ll see if Atlas can talk.” Ciro left, and Sparkles sat on the stool. He wouldn’t meet my eyes, and it felt weird.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey.”

  I grabbed a glass and filled it with ice water and handed it to him. “What’s going on?”

  He shrugged, took the glass, and drained it halfway. “I just need to talk to Atlas about something, is all.”

  “I tried calling you. Was our date so horrible that there won’t be another?” I asked, and he finally looked at me. Under his eyes, it was all dark shadows. He was shocked by my words while I was shocked by his appearance.

  “Oh, no! Max, that was the best date I’ve ever been on.”

  “Great. Then when are we doing
it again?” That was what I asked, but I wanted to ask him what the fuck was going on.

  “Um…I have some things to work out but, soon, I promise.”

  I was about to ask more but Atlas approached. “Hey, Sparkles. Ciro said you needed to talk to me. Come into my office.”

  As soon as Sparkles walked away, Atlas shot me a questioning glance I could only shrug at. I had no idea what was going on, but I was damn sure going to find out.

  I tried to occupy my mind by getting everything done. Ledger kept doing sound checks, Ciro and his guys were walking the floor, making sure everything was in order. Toby stood at his podium, reading what I assumed were the work schedules for the night, and Shane and the other bartenders were cleaning up. All the servers were sitting around waiting since everything they had to do was done, and I was about to go out of my skin when I saw Atlas and Sparkles heading my way.

  “I’ll see you later, Sparkles,” Atlas said to him, and Sparkles shot me a quick glance and left. It was so strange. I knew he wasn’t mad at me, but it was more like he was worried or embarrassed.

  “Max, can you come to my office for a minute?” Atlas asked and walked away, not waiting for me to respond, assuming I’d go.

  “I got this, go on.” Shane nodded and I went to Atlas.

  In Atlas’s office, I sat across from him, and he creepily stared at me for a good twenty seconds.

  “Dude, what’s going on?”

  “Do you know why Sparkles came to talk with me tonight?”

  “No, and it’s sort of pissing me off, if I’m being honest.”

  Atlas sat back. “I know you’ve wanted in his pants for a long time. I also know you went on a date, and you’ve even been acting different. I sort of like the new Max, even if he does punch dickwads in the face in my restrooms.” He chuckled and while I wanted to share in the laugh, I was worried. Something was up. “You said your date was great, and you were going on another one.”

  I had talked to Atlas after my date and yeah, I was optimistic. “Yeah…so?”