“Why are you fightin’ me on this one when you seem to be on my side?” I ask, stepping forward.
“Because this isn’t who you are,” she tells me, shaking her head in disbelief. “This isn’t the brother who saved me from our father years ago.”
“No, you’re right … I’m the brother who’s going to save you from the father who’s threatenin’ your life now.” I watch her give me a confused look. “He wants you to move home, Tess. He wants you home so you can take your place in The Firm … I won’t allow it.”
“He can’t expect that,” she whispers, lost in the idea.
“He isn’t expectin’ anythin’, anymore,” I admit, making sure she knows how our father is changing the game plan. “I gave you a life away from The Firm … I’m makin’ sure it stays that way.”
I look away from Tess, hoping she’ll understand my actions in the long run, and take in the sight of Ashley and Eden together. They're finally equals as they stand shoulder to shoulder with one another.
The blond or the brunette … they won’t ever come as a fucking packaged deal … so you have to make a decision – Liam once made me try and see sense, but why choose when they can choose between them?
“What do you say, girls?” I ask, looking at them with a wicked little smirk pulls on my face. “Willin’ to rule the city with me?”
“Boss,” Frazer says, breaking into my tirade. “Have you thought this through?”
“Yes. We’ve been down this path before, Frazer. Just this time we don’t have a single fuckin’ limitation,” I state, feeling the strength growing in my tone as the plan settles into my mind. “I want to take over the city for myself,” I tell him, allow the devil’s heat to burn around me. “No more livin’ in my father’s shadow.” I lift my hand, rubbing my jaw as I start to chuckle. “And that’s where you two beauties come into this.”
“How?” They both ask, but I can see Eden knows exactly where this is going.
“I want a woman by my side … and I don’t want the one who’s weaker.” I watch their eyes widen, Ashley gasping at the thought even before I’ve uttered it. “It’s a fight ‘til the death,” I say, feeling the evil capture me wholly. “It’s time you showed me which of you is worthy of being by my side.”
Crazy just become a lot more addictive than I ever remember it being.
"You don't look comfortable," Eden says, stepping in at my side.
“Maybe because I’m not,” I snipe back, scanning the bar area before looking at her. “How can you be?”
It amazes me that Lawson, Eden, and all their men don’t look like they’ve lost a member and have decided to unite on an uncertain front line. After Lawson had declared war, Eden tried to sneak off, but he wanted us all together. She quickly agreed and came back to us no more than an hour later.
He disappeared soon after and only resurfaced this morning when he told us a place to meet him tonight.
“Regardless what Leo has to say about it … I was born to do this sort of thing,” she tells me, shrugging. “It’s in my blood, I guess.” She shocks me by turning to face me. “Now, roll your shoulders, flick that hair over your shoulder, pucker your lips and don’t show them fear … they’ll eat you up.”
I just gulp.
Here I am, faced with the girl who landed a target on my back and is now my appointed arch-nemesis, and she's all too nice to me.
I hear her sigh, and as I look, she rolls her eyes.
“Ashley … you’re a part of Lawson’s gang. That offers you major perks.” She crosses her arms over her chest and fixes me with a stern look. “We might not like one another … and Lawson sure made it obvious the responsibility wasn’t his where we are concerned, but for one night I’m prepared to be your friend.” She extends a hand to me. “A one-night truce,” she jokes, suppressing a giggle at her own sarcasm. “And tomorrow you’re back to being on your own.”
I look at her perfectly manicured hand, and while a part of me screams to go it alone, I know I can’t survive this without a little help. I take her hand – one night never hurt anyone.
“Good,” she says when I take my hand back. “Now, drinks? I’m feelin’ like cocktails!” she exclaims, turning back toward the bar. She then starts to shake her jacket off, revealing a low cut dress. “Dylan at the bar will look after our things.”
She’s met with my silence, pure golden silence as I stare at her back.
“It’s only a scar,” she tells me, clearly catching me looking.
“You hadn’t shown it until what Leo did the other night … that’s all,” I mutter, merely commenting on the facts I’ve come to know.
“Well,” she starts, shrugging a little. "I can be whatever sort of monster I want to be now," she says, tossing her jacket over her arm now fully revealing that scar and tattoo. She flicks her long curls over her shoulder. “No need to hide.” She gives me a large, confident grin. “Now … drinks?”
“Yes,” I say, allowing her to lead the way.
What I hate so much is that I have no idea about this sort of things. I’ve skated on the outside of these circles, watched in from a distance, and here I am fighting for my place well within the boundaries. To say I’m trying not to look out of place is an understatement. A part of me asks if it’s worth it if vying for a man I could potentially still lose is worth the struggle.
A calm inside tells me it is.
“Whoa, babe!” a guy declares. “That is one nasty scar on your back.” There’s a chorus of chuckling, not one taking in the way Eden’s body suddenly tenses. “I love the tattoo, but maybe you should’ve saved that for another part of your body. Can’t make ugly pretty.”
I watch a sliver of hurt rush into Eden’s expression before it hardens and a cold stare glazes over her eyes. Slowly, she eases the jacket from her arm onto the stool in front of her, dumping her clutch back on top.
“Aw, c’mon, Babe,” the stranger says, moving in closer to her. “I’m messing,” he says, placing a hand on her lower back, his fingers barely touching the edges of the scar. He looks shocked when he sees Eden’s face, his mouth dropping a little at the sight. “You’re a pretty girl otherwise. If I never had to see you from behind … which is a shame because that ass of yours is pure perfection.”
Eden doesn’t even blink, she just snaps. Grabbing a bottle from the bar, she smashes against the wooden bar top and immediately launches her entire body at the man who made the comment. She presses the sharp shards of the bottle against his throat, leering at him.
“A girl like me doesn’t get scars like mine for no reason,” she tells him, pressing the glass into his neck. “Now, ask yourself, why a pretty little thing like me could possibly get somethin’ so damn ugly.”
He stutters over his words, but his eyes barely leave the jagged edges of the bottle. Fear burns the alcohol from his system, and he continues stammering, unable to form sentences.
“You best believe I wouldn’t even think twice about cuttin’ your jugular with this.” She finally relieves the pressure, cupping her hand along his jaw bone to pull him toward her. “Now, run along, pretty boy, or I’ll make your outside match the little asshole you are on the inside.”
I’m stunned when she kisses him, landing her lips directly on hers.
“One for the road,” she says, tapping his cheek before falling away from him altogether. She places the broken bottle onto the bar and sighs. “I’m sorry for the mess, Dylan.”
“Don’t you worry yourself, Eden,” the bartender remarks, collecting the glass up from the bar top as he silently tells another tender to clean up. “It’s been a long time since this bar’s had some excitement.”
Eden giggles. “I thought it was time I come home,” she mentions and looks down. “There’s some drink on the floor down here, Dylan. Wouldn’t want someone to tread on it.”
“Don’t worry, Eden, we’ve got it sorted,” he tells her, completely calm regardless what he just watched. “You ladies want me to take your bags and
jackets?”
“Yes, please!” Eden exclaims, gratefully. “Dylan, meet Ashley … she’s Lawson’s newest.” I watch him give her an excitable smile. “Treat her well.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he agrees, and turns to me, taking my jacket and bag off me. “What can I get you both?”
“Something playful,” Eden orders, finally sitting – I follow her lead. “Make us the yummiest cocktail possible, Dylan.”
He agrees, disappearing into a back room with our things, only to resurface to make our drinks.
“What the fuckin’ hell, Eden?” Lawson asks over the crowd.
“What?” she asks, twisting in her seat so she can watch him work the crowd to get to us.
“You’ve only just walked in, and you’re already causing mayhem.” He stands between us, tall and demeaning, but she never falters, and I tell myself to stand steady too. “What was that stunt about?”
“He made a comment,” she says, tilting her head innocently.
“Oh, wow, he made a comment?” Lawson asks, completely unimpressed.
I notice the thunderous expression smother her innocence quickly.
“He made a comment about my fuckin’ scar, okay?” she tells him, her voice heightening with the hurt she suppressed so well. “So, yeah, I am causin’ fuckin’ mayhem because I let a man get the better of me once and look what it ended with.” I can see her shake with anger. “So, any bastard that wants to make a comment will have to deal with my reaction.”
“It’s the truth,” I say, stepping in to defend her. “Eden was defending herself against some egotistical pig who thought he could insult and objectify her all at once.”
He looks between us, shocked at the alliance we’ve forged, and I have to withhold my need to laugh. I cast a look at Eden, and she’s doing the same.
“What the fuck is this?!” he asks, pointing to me then at Eden.
“Don’t, Lawson … It’s been the worst week yet, and I decided one night of fun would be enough to get Ashley to relax.” She eases back in her stool and looks up at him, her long blond curls hanging loosely. “After all, you did declare war.”
“I didn’t expect you to become best friends from that!” he says, his voice heightening.
“We’re more frenemies,” Eden states, giving me a wink. “Now, don’t you have some old timer to meet with before Leo gets told you’re out on a school night.”
“Think it’s a bit late for that lecture,” Lawson grouses, rubbing his jaw. “Leo’s already annoyed me, and Tess disobeyed and didn’t go near The Firm today.”
“I’d claim bereavement,” I suddenly say, unwilling to be left out. Both of them look at me in shock. “What? He killed Liam, it’s only fair you had some time off … to exercise your right to grieve properly.”
I watch Lawson’s face light up, a large grin grows on his face, and he starts to laugh. I just needed the chance to speak up
“I like your way of thinking,” Lawson quips, chortling a little, suddenly relaxing. “It’s a good cover up for what’s about to start.” The same wicked little look hasn’t left Lawson’s face since he declared war on the city, but tonight it’s blinding. “Now, enjoy your drinks, and I’ll see you on the dance floor later.”
Leaning in, Lawson kisses Eden on the cheek before kissing me, leaving us with the reminder that he’s after us both, but not willing to have us both.
“You know ... when he said a fight to the death, he meant it,” she suddenly says, pulling her straw away from her lips. “I've met death ... and he isn't half as beautiful as Lawson is.” She smirks, giving me a wink. “The key is to use everythin’ you've been through and wear every scar.”
“I don’t know how,” I admit, my feeble tone ringing in my own ears.
“Of course, you do,” she tells me, arguing the point. “I’ve heard the stories, Ashley. For every ounce of dirt, a man put on your skin when he touched you against your will how much anger did you hold?”
“I didn’t,” I say, looking at my drink. “I just died a little more every time.”
“And how mad did that make you?” she asks, not letting the point go. “Every time they took another piece of them for themselves, how many times did you wish you had somethin’ near you so they could have their comeuppance?”
I see where she’s going with this and the haunting memory of every man who touched me and used my body as a vessel and claimed me comes back to me.
“When Bryce Rainey fooled you and told you he was sellin’ you how did you feel?”
“Hurt,” I say, sighing to give room for the rage. “Furious.”
“Use that,” she tells me. “You think I’m going to have lost all I have and let those men lay down and sleep easy at night?”
“No,” she answers her own question. “I’m going to make sure they watch their backs for the rest of their miserable lives.”
“Why not just kill them?” I ask, cocking a brow.
“Because death is far too easy,” she remarks, dryly, picking her cocktail up. “I’ve watched death take my father and Liam … it’s finite. What I have to live with isn’t. I’m infinite.”
“So, you want to torture them?”
She grins. “In the best way possible.” She swirls the crushed ice in her drink. “They’re not all going to be that easy to get to. If what I’m told is true then they’ll be expectin’ their death handed to them.”
“I want a dance,” Lawson declares without excusing his rudeness for breaking the moment, putting his hand out to me.
In a panic moment, I look at Eden, but she bows her head to me and smiles, letting me take this moment for myself. I feel bad, leaving her alone and a part of me wants to stay and learn more about what she’s evidently learned while she was away, but I don’t.
The greedy part of me reaches for his hand, and I allow him to pull me from the bar area and off to the dance floor.
“You look beautiful tonight,” Lawson says as we work through the crowd until we’re in the center of the dance floor. “Both of you do.”
I blush, looking away.
“You don’t get paid many compliments, do you?” he asks, looking pained by the idea. “Shame.”
“Never had the right company,” I remark, getting over my bashful nature and looking up at him. “Until now.”
He snickers, shaking his head but says nothing. The tempo of music changes and he works with it, pulling me close.
I could drown in the closeness of his body.
It’s here – in his arms – that I realize Bryce never really did love me. He felt nothing more than a morsel of greedy need over me, and the hopeless romantic in me had hoped that would be enough.
“You okay?” he asks, his voice tender against the beat of the music.
“Yeah,” I murmur, looking up at him. “Everything’s more than okay.”
“Are you sure?” he asks, his hand moving up my back. “I know I put you in a horrible predicament.”
“I said I would fight,” I tell him, staying true to my own comment. “You’re givin’ me the chance to do that.”
“It doesn’t mean that the three of us can’t have some fun first.” He pulls me back close to him, swaying out bodies to the music. “I want to rule this city until we all fall.”
“Well … until one of us falls,” I murmur, clinging onto his shirt.
“Don’t worry about that,” he soothes, his hands once more roaming freely across my back. “What matters right now is that we just have this moment.”
“You’re right,” I agree, remembering my truce with Eden.
I may be a lot of things, but I am a woman of my word. To most, I am the other woman, attempting to steal Eden’s spot by Lawson’s side, but I’m innocent in this. I never knew she existed when I first met him. Not even while we forged a relationship in our predicament did I know about her. But by the time I did know about her, I had unwittingly tasted enough of Lawson to know I never wanted to go without.
It’s why I hold ont
o him a little tighter than I should.
“Can I cut in?” Eden’s voice pierces the moment.
I watch her sickly sweet smile, and I feel my resolve to be her friend wane slightly. I can tell she was itching to get over here and stop Lawson and me from dancing. I knew the very moment he asked, Eden was waiting for this moment. She just wanted her chance to break us up. I ignored it for as long as I could, but my short-lived dance was exactly that – over before it had begun.
I can’t stop myself from glowering at her. Unfazed by the look on my face, she turns into Lawson’s body, her motions fluid as she falls back into the arms of the man she loves. I don’t move for a moment, just watch them both before I pull myself away from them completely. Standing at the side of the dancefloor, watching the pair of them as they revel in the glory of nostalgia and the way their hearts beat so familiarly for one another. I watch as Eden pulls him a little closer, holding onto him like he’s going to disappear.
“They were always a perfect couple,” Harrison muses from beside me. I glare at me. “Hey, I never said you and him weren’t.”
“I stand no chance,” I murmur, unable to look at the pair.
“Oh, don’t sell yourself short, Sweethawt,” Harrison tells me, nudging me. “He let you in … always remember that.” I had never noticed how honest Harrison’s smile is until this moment. “She broke him, and you gave him somethin’ to focus on other than the good act and the heartbreak.”
“But look at them,” I say, making him look back at the pair. “It will always be her he wants.”
“Nah, you don’t know that,” Harrison defies, waving off the idea. “He just never had the chance to see if his type was brunettes over blonds.”
He leaves alone, and instead of torturing myself more I walk back to the bar. Sometimes I wonder if I’m forever going to lose my strength rather than gain it. I thought I had found a home with Bryce – albeit not the happiest but it was a home. I was wrong.
Then Lawson happened, and I thought I had found somewhere I could belong and be someone.
I was wrong.
Sweet Venom (Crazy in Love #1) Page 32