“Hmm. Whatever.”
I know I shouldn’t push it, but really? I had to practically force him to tell me I look good. All her cares about is my hair being up. Like I could wear it down tonight. It almost reaches to my waist, and this is a fancy ball. Idiot.
“Elletra, you are more amazing and beautiful than any other woman I’ve ever met, or will meet, in my life. You’re a modern goddess, and no one can compare to you. I was so blinded by your beauty when I saw you that I was rendered stupid. Please forgive me for not paying tribute to you as soon as I walked in.”
I can’t help but smile. “Thank you, Aiden. You look mighty fine yourself.”
“I’m forgiven?”
“If you kiss me now, then yes.”
“Deal.”
We kiss for a few minutes, while our friends all do the same. Well, except for Audrey, but she’s just smirking at us when I look over at her. I know there’s a story there. One about why she never tries to have more than one night with a man, but she’s refused to share it with any of us. I vow to step up my game, and get her to spill what happened to her. She’s always there for every one of us, and I want to be there for her, too.
That’s a thought for another day as Matt tells us the limos are here. We all head downstairs and split up. I’m with Matt, Reina, Nate, Aiden, Jake, Isa, Brayden, and Darcy in our stretch Hummer. It’s really more like a party bus, and all of us could’ve probably fit in here. It’s nice to split up, though. While I’m close with everyone, these are our best friends. It’s a fun, but short ride to the hotel where the fundraiser is happening.
Aiden and I are seated at a table with his parents and some other big donors. I wish Jade was here, because I feel out of my element with these fancy people who are not hiding their disdain due to the fact that my family are bar owners. Multi-millionaire bar owners, but bar owners just the same. Aiden, Tim, and Heather make sure I’m included in the conversation, and I’ve had to squeeze Aiden’s hand more than once to stop him from jumping across the table to defend me.
“It’s fine, Hawk,” I tell him after one particularly snarky comment is directed at me.
“The fuck it is.”
“I don’t care what they think of me. The daughters are just jealous because they want you. And the parents are mad because you’ve made it clear that you only want me.”
“I think they need a refresher,” he says, cupping my face and kissing me again.
“I hate to break this up, but I was hoping for a dance with Ellie,” Dave says, standing behind us.
“Her dance card’s full.”
“Oh come on, man. You’re not worried that she’ll leave you for me after just one dance, are you?”
“I wouldn’t leave him after a million dances with you, but I’m not interested in even one,” I tell him.
“Ouch. That’s harsh. If you’re planning on one day marrying into the family, you’ll need to learn to be more polite.”
“She doesn’t need to learn shit, so back the fuck off,” Aiden says, getting out of his chair.
The other people at the table’s eyes have gone wide, and I know I have to diffuse the situation. “One dance. Come on, Dave. I’ll be right back, Hawk.”
“You’re sure, Ellie?” Tim asks, looking none too pleased with his employee.
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
I lead Dave to the dance floor, shrugging off his hand when he tries to place it on my back. “Don’t.”
“I’ll have to touch you while we’re dancing.”
“Waist and hand. That’s it. You’ve already mentioned how uncivilized I am. I guarantee you don’t want to see exactly how right you are.”
“If you don’t want everyone in this room to die, you’re going to be more than civil to me,” he tells me, pulling me into his arms on the dance floor.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You messed up my plans when you killed Andy, and now I’m going to mess up all of your plans with Aiden.”
I try to pull away, but he holds me tight. “I have bombs all over this room. If you don’t want me to detonate them, you’re going to do everything I tell you to do.”
He’s serious. I can see it in his eyes. Motherfucker. I knew he hated Aiden as much as Andres, but I never suspected them of working together. I need to activate my distress signal, which will also activate the comm unit in my ear, allowing my friends to hear everything. I just don’t know how to get my hand out of his without making a scene.
“Kiss me now, Ellie. Make it look convincing.”
“I’ll need my hands then, to grab onto you. I’m not a very passive person.”
He lets go of my hands, and places his on my waist as he waits. I quickly press my fingers into sequence on my forearm before crossing my arms and grabbing his tuxedo jacket. I wish I could catch Aiden’s eye, but Dave has purposely turned me the other way. I have no choice as I lean forward and kiss him. I don’t open my lips, but it still has to look like I’m into him. I know it, and so does he as he smiles against my lips.
* * *
Aiden
I see Ellie kiss Dave, and I’m out of my seat so fast that my chair tips over. I start to move towards the dance floor to ask her what the fuck she’s doing, when Jade grabs my arm.
“She activated her distress signal before she kissed him.”
“Shit.”
Jade hands me her phone, which is set to the app that will let me listen in on what the Society woman can hear through their implants—anything that Ellie says and hears herself. We watch as Ellie pulls away from Dave, and then we listen.
“Okay, I kissed you. Now, give me the trigger for the bombs.”
“We’re not done, Ellie. Not at all. Aiden needs to be ruined, and you need to die for killing Andres. Actually killing you will also achieve that first objective, won’t it? And I’m the trigger, so I don’t have anything to give to you. Not that I would’ve anyway. Now, why don’t we embarrass your lover a little more before we leave the party? He already looks like he wants to kill me.”
“He is going to kill you. Have no doubt about that.”
“I can’t wait for him to try. Let’s get back to the making out. I want some tongue this time. And maybe grab my ass.”
I watch as she does what he asks. My hands are clenched into fists at my side, and a murderous rage that surpasses anything else I’ve ever felt has overtaken me. He will die today, and it’s going to be by my hand. No one else’s—mine.
“We’re on it, Ellie. The detonator is strapped to his thigh. It’s set to go off if his heart rate spikes too high,” Ainsley says through the comm.
“Which it could, if he gets really into things with you. Hold off as long as you can,” Scott adds.
“Dead is too easy for him,” I tell Jade.
She nods. “It is. I need to start helping to covertly evacuate the building. Try and look indifferent once she starts kissing him again. It’ll buy us some time.”
“No. If I look indifferent, he’ll prolong things.”
“We need him to do that.”
“Ellie won’t be able to handle it.”
“She’s stronger than you think, Aiden. Trust her to handle this while it’s happening, and then help her when it’s over.”
“Okay.”
But it’s not okay. I trust Ellie, and I know she’ll do her job. I also know that it won’t be me that she’ll need help from once this is over. Nate is her rock, and the one she’ll always go to when things get to be too much. Once he calms her down, she’ll come for me, but not until then. Deep down, I am happy that they have each other, but on the surface, and in my heart, it hurts like a bitch.
I push that aside and force myself to play the part I need to. There are thousands of people in this hotel and casino. I need to do what I can to give the Society time to evacuate as many of them as possible.
“What’s going on, Aiden?” my dad says, coming up behind me.
I’m shocked that he’s st
ill here, and I tell him that. “Why are you here? They should’ve gotten you out.”
“I’m not going anywhere without an explanation. Especially with Ellie out there kissing Dave while you just stand by and watch.”
“Dave was apparently working with Andres, and he’s got bombs all over this hotel. The trigger is strapped to him, and he’s making Ellie kiss him—and touch him—in order to embarrass me before he kills her. Or attempts to kill her. I’ll take him down first. Just waiting for the trigger on him to be disabled by Ainsley and Scott Griffin.”
“Jesus Christ. I have got to be the worst judge of character in the history of the world.”
“I hate to say it, but yeah, you are. I love you, Dad, but damn.”
“Done, Ellie. The trigger is taken care of.
I’m across the floor before the last word is out of Ainsley’s mouth. Ellie pushes Dave away, and I grab him by the lapels, pushing him towards the doors. He punches me a couple of times, but I barely feel it. My adrenaline is skyrocketing, and my bloodlust is the strongest it’s ever been. I’m going to take my time and make him hurt.
“Aiden,” Matt says, running up to me before we’re out the door. “Take care of him in here. Ainsley can’t contain the whole hotel yet.”
Shit. I can’t take my time in front of everyone. I’ve never let anyone see me unleash my rage the way I want to on him. Dave doesn’t deserve a clean kill, though. I’ll make him hurt while I end his life.
I throw him onto the nearest table, not letting go as he crashes onto the plates that are still there. I climb over him, not caring if the table decides to collapse. As I hold him down with a knee to the chest, and a gun to his throat, I grab a candle and drop it onto his hair. It catches fire almost immediately and he starts to scream. I stick a cloth napkin far down his mouth to muffle him, and smile when it also starts to choke him.
I only have minutes before the entire table goes up in flames, but I’m not done yet. I grab one of his hands while he’s clawing at his throat, and slam a fork into it with enough force to lodge it in the table. Before I jump off the table, I throw my entire weight onto a butter knife, this one straight through his groin. Then I stand back and watch him burn.
“Damn,” I hear Faith say from behind me.
I turn to look at my friends. They’re all standing there, staring at me like they don’t know who I am. I guess they really don’t. Matt and Nate know about what I do, but they’ve never watched me at work. Ellie and Faith followed me in D.C., but I only hurt those people. I didn’t torture them to death. I know Reina tortures people, and every woman in the Society has ended a life at some point, but there was no disguising the joy I just took in hurting Dave. And honestly, after what he did to Ellie, I’d do it all again. No questions asked—and no regrets.
I look to Ellie, but her face is buried in Nate’s chest. Of course. I knew she’d turn to him for comfort, and I should’ve also known that she’d be disgusted by what she just saw. I’m an animal, and now she’s seen exactly how crazed I can be. I don’t blame her for being disgusted, even as my heart is breaking. I turn and run, ignoring the yells I hear for me to come back. I don’t know where I’m running to, but this time I know I won’t be back.
Chapter 21
Ellie
Aiden is good at disappearing. We all knew that, but none of us knew just how good he was. Ainsley’s been searching for him for two weeks now. Not just for me—everyone is worried about him. I still can’t believe he avenged me so amazingly, and then left me again.
He hasn’t even contacted Tim, who’s been dealing with the fallout from everything with Heather back at his side. They’re not getting married again—she’s happily dating a divorced doctor, and Tim’s still recovering from what Andres did to him—but she’s publicly standing with him. It’s a good thing he never wanted to be President. There’s no way that would happen after I had to kill his lover when he attacked me, and his most trusted employee died in a “freak accident.”
We haven’t been able to piece together much more than we already knew. Andres was angry at Aiden for “abandoning” him and making new friends, and so he started a relationship with Tim in order to get back at him. It turns out he was more than bi-curious, and had already been with Dave, who has been jealous of Aiden for years. Dave was the brains of the operation, going so far as to give Andy drugs to make him even more out of control than he already was. It’s honestly like some plot from a TV show, and if I hadn’t lived it, I probably wouldn’t believe it was true. Unfortunately for all of us, it was, and now Aiden has run off again. Only this time, I know that he won’t be back.
My phone rings, and I see it’s my dad calling. I make myself sound cheerful as I answer. I’m not telling anyone that I lost Aiden once again, especially not my family. Because he may not be planning to come back, but I’m going after him. Even if it’s just to hear him tell me goodbye. I need that closure.
“Hi, Daddy.”
“Hi, Ellie Bear.”
He sounds off and I call him on it. “What’s wrong? Is someone hurt?”
“I’m guessing you are.”
What? How does he know? “Why do you think that?”
“You told me all about your ‘Society’ and what you do. I knew something was wrong when he came to me, but I still gave him a job. Rodrigo called me, and he’s concerned, so now I think I made a mistake.”
“Aiden?” I ask, jumping out of my chair and grabbing my purse. “You gave Aiden a job?”
“Yes. He said he killed someone who hurt you. I thought it was okay to help him.”
“It was, Daddy. Thank you so much for helping him.”
I’m practically running down the hall, and friends are noticing, coming out of their offices as well. I point to the phone, and smile. Jade is the first to get it. “Aiden?”
“My dad helped him. I have to go,” I tell her. “Keep talking, Daddy.”
“Ellie, he’s in bad shape. Rod says he’s doing a great job while he’s working—and he’s fending off the advances of the women who approach him—but, he’s drinking hard once he gets off.”
“I’m on my way. Don’t tell Rod, and definitely don’t tell Aiden, but I’m going to go and get him.”
“He’s a good man, Ellie. I could tell that when I met him, and if he protected you—well, I owe him more than a job.”
“He’s the best man. He just won’t accept it.”
“If anyone can make him, I think it’s you. Go get your man, and then get him to give you the ring I’m pretty sure he already has.”
“Daddy!”
“What? I want grandchildren, and at the rate your brothers are going, I’ll never get any from them.”
“Hanging up now. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Love you, Ellie Bear.”
“Love you too.”
Nate catches me as I exit the elevator into the parking lot. “Ellie, Jade said he’s with your dad?”
“No, but he’s at one of his bars. He asked him for a job. He’s in Santa Barbara.”
“Do you want me to go with you?”
I shake my head. “You’ve helped me so much, Nate, but I think that may be part of the problem. I relied on you more than I relied on Aiden, and that hurt him.”
He runs his hands over his face. “I know. I saw it, but I chose to ignore it. Helping you helped me. Knowing someone else went through something similar to what I went through, and that I could help you…it made me feel like I could be a hero.”
“You are a hero, Nate. Not just for helping me, or for serving our country, but for living your life every day. For helping us, and loving Jade the way you do. I’m still going to need your help, but I have to let Aiden know that I need him even more. Because I do. You’re a good friend, but he’s my forever.”
“Thank you for that, El. Go get him, and tell him I’m sorry.”
“I will.”
I hug him tight and then head to the airport. Reina and Matt have had one of the smalle
r jets on standby for me. Now I just need to convince Aiden to come home with me, and let me love him, because if he doesn’t, I may not be coming back, either.
* * *
Aiden
“Come on Aiden, when are you going to finally give in and go home with me?” the well-endowed blonde in front of me asks. She’s been asking every day for the ten days that I’ve been working here. Sadly for her, my answer’s not going to change, no matter how many times she asks.
“Not gonna happen. Tonight or any night.”
“What’s her name?”
“Ellie Gallagher,” Rodrigo yells, and I wonder how he knows. Until I turn around and realize that he wasn’t answering this chick, he was greeting Ellie herself as she walked into the bar.
“Hi, Rod,” she responds, acting like it’s no big deal that she just happened to walk into the same bar her dad gave me a job at.
I take a moment to drink her in. She’s in one of her new dresses. It’s got a black, high neck, with no sleeves to speak of, and then a white skirt with black lace over the top that ends just above her knees. White and black heels are on her feet, and the bracelet I gave her is on her wrist. Her hair is up in some kind of braided hairstyle that leaves her thick bangs, and a few strands, hanging down. She’s gorgeous, and she’s fierce. God, I’ve missed her.
“What are you doing here? Your dad didn’t mention a visit.”
“I came to take Aiden home.”
“Honey, no one takes Aiden home,” the blonde tells her. “We’ve all tried, and I doubt he’d make an exception for you.”
Ellie gives her a sweet smile, and then looks at me. “We can do this here, in front of everyone. Or we can go somewhere and talk. Your choice.”
I nod. “Can I take my break, Rod?”
“Yeah. Sure. Take as long as you need. Nice to see you, Ellie.”
“You too, but I’ll be back. I heard that there’s a nice show happening soon. I so wouldn’t want to miss Aiden taking his shirt off. It might be the only time I ever get to see it, right?” she asks the blonde.
“Come on, El,” I tell her, motioning to the door. I want to put my hand on her back, her arm, any part of her, but I know I can’t.
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