by G. Bailey
Tris always had to deal with Dad ignoring him when we were younger. He always made it clear he didn’t like Tris, but I never understood why he stayed when we got older. We both have quite a bit of money in the bank from our grandparents, who passed away not long after I was born. Enough to easily live on without a job, and we both got it all when we turned sixteen. I try not to touch mine unless I have to, for general things. A lot is in shares, and I live off what I get back from those. My university course was paid off by my dad. I think it was a way of making sure I did the business course when I didn’t want to. In my life, I tell everyone what I want, and I do what I want, but not now. I never knew how controlled I had been until tonight. I know my dad has been controlling me for a while. I’m his silly, little girl.
"Tris, this . . . this isn't fair," I say with a sob when I'm out of the car. I go to stand next to him in front of our old home.
"It has never been, but we have each other. You’re my family, Allie, and I won’t let him hurt my sister. I am sorry about Elliot, but there will be other guys," he says as he wraps a massive arm around my shoulder, giving me a side hug before opening the door. I pack the rest of my clothes and things from my old home. I know I won’t be coming back here again. Dad can make me lose the man I want, but he won't have the family he clearly wants.
65
Elliot
"Shot, shot, shot," is all I can hear, as we all take another shot at the bar of the strip club. It's Sebastian's stag night, and we are all hammered. Surprisingly, Sebastian didn't want to come, in case Maisy didn't like it. We ended up dragging him here anyway. Blake wasn't keen either, but he told me that Izzy knows. He said she is cool with it as long as he doesn't have a lap dance. Not that I think he is stupid enough to try that with all her brothers present. I laugh a little at how much my little sister can get angry, and how scared Blake can be of her.
"Dude, that one wants you," Daniel says in my ear. Daniel is one of our friends from school.
We like him, but he spends too much time drinking, partying, and fucking anything that moves. I look over to where he is nodding to. There’s a girl with long, brown hair, and a tight, purple dress, who is dancing with some hot friends.
Honestly, it's been a week since I last spoke to Allie. She sent me a text, one text, telling me she doesn’t want to see me. I sent her twelve back asking why the fuck not and tried calling her. I told Harley after he saw me throw my phone at a wall when Luke called me, just because of that fucking ringtone, which reminds me of her. I have another new phone now, and it still plays that ringtone. The staff at Apple said they changed it, but it went straight back to that ringtone a few hours later.
Izzy has taken over Allie’s side of the wedding plans and won't tell me why. She just gave me a sympathetic look and helped me sort the rest of the details out.
"Let's go," Daniel says, standing and expecting me to follow. I look over at Blake and Sebastian, who are still drinking and laughing at something. Luke is off in one of the back rooms, doing god knows what with a stripper. Harley is at the bar, ignoring us and the women dancing around him. I follow Daniel over to the girls.
"Can we buy you two a drink?" Daniel asks with a smile at them.
The girl with the brown hair just smiles at me as she answers, "No, we have one, but thanks. My name is Cindy, and this is Layla." She nods at the blonde, who’s moved closer to Daniel. I doubt those are their real names by the way they are dressed. I wouldn't be surprised if they work here.
Cindy moves closer to me and runs her hand up my arm, asking, "What's your name, sexy man?" She winks, but it doesn’t work on her, in fact, it just makes her fake lashes look like they are about to fall off. I’m really not drunk enough, or in the fucking mood, for this. I don’t know why I came over.
"Elliot," I say curtly, and she moves closer. I can't get thoughts about an annoying blonde, who never shuts up, out of my head.
"Nice to meet you, Elliot. Want to dance?" she asks, fluttering her fake eyelashes at me. I hesitate for a second. I don’t know why I'm thinking about saying yes, dancing with this random girl, and then, no doubt, taking her home tonight. The thought isn’t anything I want. One look at the girl tells me what I need to know.
"No," I reply and walk away.
I leave Daniel with them and join Sebastian and Blake.
"Dude, how did you know?" Blake asks, handing Sebastian a twenty.
"I'm smart," Sebastian laughs, taking the money.
"What bet did you win?" I ask, knowing my brother and best friend.
"That you wouldn’t talk to that girl for more than five minutes, and you wouldn’t dance with her. Blake said ten and he was sure you would give her a dance," he says, and Blake shakes his head.
“Fuckers,” I mutter and take a shot off the bar in front of them.
I scowl at them, while both take a shot.
"Allie?" Blake asks with a smirk.
"Shut the fuck up," I say and smirk at them both.
"Bro, take it from two guys who met the right girls. Don't give up," Sebastian says. His eyes are hazy, and I wonder how much more he’s going to drink before I wind up carrying him out.
"Would any of you boys like a dance?" a busty girl asks, pushing her chest out as she leans over the table, collecting our empty drink glasses.
"Nah, you’re wasting your time here, but another round of drinks would be good." Blake laughs.
"Man, I’m screwed," I say as she walks away. The fact I wasn’t even slightly interested in her says it all. Allie has me under her fucking spell.
"Yeah, you are," Blake agrees, while Sebastian types away on his phone.
"Can't stay away?" I ask him.
"Just warning her how I’m going to be inside her soon, making her scream my name," Sebastian says seriously and then grins while I snort in laughter with Blake.
"I'm going to chat with Harley. I'm sure Blake needs all the tips you can give him."
I laugh when Blake shouts, "Fuck you!"
“You do realise he would be using those skills on our sister,” Seb says.
I choke out, “Fuck, that was a bad idea; forget it, brother.”
I hear Blake's laughter all the way across the bar as I walk to take a seat next to Harley, who is drinking his beer.
"You all right?" I ask, because he has been quiet tonight. I mean, he isn’t a chatty fucker usually, but this is worse than normal.
"My younger brother is getting married before me. It's weird." He looks at me before drinking again.
“It is,” I say.
“You are two minutes older than him.” Harley laughs, and I chuckle.
“Two minutes might as well be two years with me and Seb,” I say, and he nods with a laugh.
"Are you coming with me to the fight tomorrow?" I ask, not wanting to bring it up, but I know I should. None of us go to The Cage fights alone. Sometimes, we get families of the men we fight trying to get revenge. It doesn’t work because there are always more than one of us. They would have to have a death wish.
Recently, Luke slept with someone’s girlfriend; he didn’t know her boyfriend’s brother had just been knocked out by Seb. The bastard brought eight of his friends and tried to take on Luke and me. They all paid for that mistake. It’s rarely happened over the years, but rumours are a good thing. Most people are too scared shitless to try it. Arthur, Allie's dad, helps in a way. People bet a lot of money on us winning and trick new people into losing their money by betting on someone else. That offers a certain amount of protection, the gangs who run The Cage under Arthur won’t lose out on their money.
"Yeah. I’m fucking pissed he is demanding you fight again. You did the last one.”
“I’m sure he’s making some money from it,” I say dryly. My ribs are still yellow from the last fight.
“Are you sure that Arthur isn't onto you and Allie?" Harley asks.
"Nothing is going on with me and Allie," I say.
Harley raises an eyebrow before coughing, hiding
a laugh I expect.
"There was something starting with us. She turned me down and won't speak to me," I say, hating to admit it out loud. Allie didn't even bother replying to me, which isn't like her. I went and watched her teach her dance class on Sunday; she didn’t even look at me and left through another door before I could speak to her.
If only I could forget the thought of her sweet-tasting lips, her smooth, creamy skin, and the way she made me want to fuck her all night, every night of the week, until she could never forget me.
"Hmm," Harley says before going quiet.
"You’re not going to tell me not to give up like everyone else?" I inquire.
"I think you’re a King, and when we find the girl we want, we don't give up." Harley pats me on the back. I grab a drink off the bartender while Harley pushes his black hair into a tighter knot at the back of his head. We are dressed all the same tonight, in shirts Blake made that say ‘Sebastian's stag do.’ My top is fucking pink because Blake is an asshole. I don’t even want to look at the tiara under my name.
"Dude, I love this place," Luke says, sitting in the seat next to me and running his hand through his messy, brown hair.
"You have red lipstick on your neck," I say with a smirk at my little brother.
"Huh? Thanks. That must have been . . ." Luke stops talking, clearly not remembering her name as he wipes off the lipstick. I shake my head at him; he is getting as bad as Sebastian was.
We order more drinks, and I end up carrying a singing Sebastian out of the strip club a little later with the rest of the group following. I manage to get him to the door before he laughs, standing straighter and walking off down the street.
"Sebastian, get your fucking ass back here!" Blake shouts my thoughts. We all follow as Sebastian starts running. Fuck, I didn't drink enough for this shit.
"Wait, stop," I shout as he goes around the corner of a building. I move faster and stop with a smirk as I see Sebastian passed out on a bench on the other side of the road.
"Look, what I found," Luke says, showing us a tube of red lipstick and handcuffs.
"Where the hell did you find that?" I ask, confused at the sight.
"Oh, the stripper; Crystal or something." He laughs as we walk over to stand over Sebastian, who is clearly out of it.
"Right, you get his top off, El, and I will draw. Blake, you sort the handcuffs, and Daniel takes pictures," Luke says, chucking the cuffs at Blake, who grins.
"He is going to kill us," Harley says as he comes across the road. I watch in amusement as he takes his phone out. I get Seb's shirt off and chuck it onto the metal bench. He is completely asleep.
"Get going with the lipstick," I say to Luke, who nods.
I watch as he draws a massive penis on his face and then writes, ‘I love hugs,’ on his chest. We all grin at our work as Blake clips the handcuffs around the bench and his one wrist. He then pockets the key.
"I will text Maisy and let her know Sebastian is too drunk to come home and is staying at ours." I grin, sending the text and then taking some pics.
"This was a good stag do," Luke says as we all laugh. We walk to the taxi rank down the road. It’s four in the morning, and we will be back at seven to see our work wake up.
66
Allie
"Wow," I say as Maisy walks out of the changing room in the most beautiful dress I've ever seen. I can't help the tears that come as she swirls around in front of the mirror. It is corset-type at the top and then flows out with satin and little beads all sparking down the dress. Maisy has chosen a long veil with little crystals hanging off the ends.
"What do you think? Oh, Alliecat, don't cry," Maisy says, coming over to me.
"No, don't come closer. You don't want my tears on the dress,” I say, wiping my eyes.
“So it’s as good as I think it looks?” she asks as she looks in the mirror.
Maisy doesn’t have to say anything about the fact her mother isn’t here. Her mother isn’t invited to the wedding because she is horrible to Maisy and nothing like a mother should be. It doesn’t mean Maisy can’t feel sad about her not being here. I don’t plan on marrying anyone, but I would want my mother there if I did. We don’t speak, and I hate her for leaving my life, but I think I understand it more now. I wish she would talk to me about Dad. I’m scared of him. I couldn’t imagine what she must have felt, finding out about his work. Maybe she knew all along, but I doubt it.
“I think Sebastian is going to have a hard time not ripping that dress off you as soon as you walk into the church. I don’t think God will stop him." I wink at her as she blushes.
"Allie." She groans, while Izzy laughs as she sits next to me.
"You look beautiful." Izzy sighs, watching Maisy as the shop owner takes measurements.
"I will need to pull it in a little at the waist, but the length is good. It will be ready in a week," she says, writing down notes and adding pins to the dress.
I stand up in my blue bridesmaid’s dress so she can check the size. It's a floor-length, dark-blue dress that's held up on one shoulder, and it wraps tightly around my body and flares out at the bottom. Izzy has the same, and it suits us both. The theme is blue and white, so the dress works for the wedding.
I try not to think of the wedding because I know I have to see someone there. I wish I could see him so badly, but I'm so scared. I haven't told anyone what has happened between us. What would I say if I did? If I told Elliot, I know he wouldn't care, and the rest of them would try to protect me. I saw him once at my dance class; it took everything in me not to go up to him. I know I can’t, I have to keep him safe, and being in my life isn’t safe. Not anymore.
"Allie, you okay?" Maisy asks, pulling me from my own thoughts.
"Yeah, sorry. I was totally in my own world." I grin at her and go back to the changing rooms with Maisy to change. I have to take a deep breath when the curtain is closed. Why do I feel like someone has hit me in the chest with a hammer?
After we are all changed, we look through the shoe stores and start trying on different ones.
"I like the silver ones," Maisy says as she walks in front of us.
"Me too, but I think the simple black ones would be nice for me," I say, because they are a little more comfy and it’s going to be a long day. The fact I’m sure I can run from Elliot in them crosses my mind, too.
"I'm trying them both." Izzy grins at us.
"How's Sebastian?" I ask as I take the black ones off and put them in the box.
"Better, he still has a cold from the stag do, but he is speaking to his brothers now." Maisy grins as I laugh.
I think back to last week when the boys left Sebastian on a bench, handcuffed all night because they fell asleep at home. Unluckily for Sebastian, the police were called and Blake picked him up, topless and soaking wet from the rain he had sat in for a few hours. Sebastian has also had a killer cold since that night. He has been moaning to us all about it. I mean, he seriously has been acting like he is dying and not just sneezing. Men are such babies when they are ill.
"I think it's funny." I chuckle.
"Me too, but don't tell him." Maisy giggles. I pull out another pair of blue shoes; they are shiny and a little higher than the others, but I slip them on to try.
"Oh, I brought you a wedding night present. Hold on, it's in my bag," I say and wobble away in the heels that are way too high for me. I pull out the red box and hand it to a nervous-looking Maisy. Why does everyone look nervous when I get them gifts? I really don’t get it. I mean, Harley practically begged me to only make him a cake for his birthday.
"It's not sex toys, right? I'm not opening that here," she whispers, and I can't help the massive laugh that comes out of me.
"No, just open it," I say. Maisy turns so only we can see the present as she pulls out the white lingerie set and matching garter. It’s a special wedding edition I saw in Ann Summers. It’s really nice, and I knew she wouldn’t think of what she was going to wear under her dress.
&
nbsp; "It can be your something new," I say and pull out another little box.
"I actually love it. Sebastian will go crazy," Maisy says with her whole face going red.
"I like that, too, you'll have to show me where you got it from," Izzy says, admiring the little lacy set before Maisy puts it back, and I nod at her.
“This is something else. It’s a little different, but I knew you would understand,” I say, feeling nervous about this one.
“Allie, how the hell did you get this?” Maisy pulls out a silver bracelet with little blue flowers. When Maisy was younger, she wore it to school once. We were only twelve, and she said it was her grandmother’s. When her mum picked her up, she went mad that Maisy had taken it out of her jewellery box. I spoke to Maisy’s dad and asked him if he could get it back for her wedding. I know she was really close to her grandmother, and her dad sorted it. I don’t know how, but he got it last week and gave it to me to give to her.
“It’s something blue. It’s actually from your dad and me. I thought you would want something from your grandmother at your wedding. I remember you saying how you wished your grandmother had left you that bracelet.”
“She always wore it; it was a gift from her mother, my great-grandmother, on her wedding day. Oh, Allie, I don’t know how to thank you.” Maisy throws her arms around me as I try not to fall over.
“It can be your something blue and old. So Allie has done the something new with the underwear, so I get the something borrowed,” Izzy says, and Maisy pulls away as she wipes her eyes.
“I know, you can borrow my mother’s necklace. I was told it belonged to my father’s mother before my own. I would love for you to wear it. It’s a sapphire, so it will match your colour theme.”
“You sure?” Maisy asks as she hugs Izzy, and I sit on the stool, taking off the shoes.
“Positive.” She grins.
"Right, back to another thing we need to sort before the wedding. Allie, why haven't you spoken to Elliot? What did he do?" Maisy asks, putting the box aside and speaking in her mum voice, which makes me cringe.