Ziggy scowled at him. “You are so Las Vegas. Idealizing, idolizing, instead of letting people be humans, people instead of objects.”
“You’re in Las Vegas, Ziggy.”
“I was born here. You started working doing costumes for adult films and ended up here.”
Jordan shrugged his broad shoulders. “You never left. If you hate Vegas and the whole oversexualization mindset, tell you what. When you leave, I’ll put together a whole costume wardrobe that will help you be seen as the artist you are.”
Ziggy scowled hard. “Yeah, I’d trust the corset whisperer to do my wardrobe.”
Jordan smiled almost sweetly. “I’m doing your wardrobe for this show. Our first time together. I guess you can pass on the perfectly sculpted suit and go for the G-string if it helps you maintain your moral superiority. I have no problem being morally inferior to anyone.”
Oh. This was them flirting. After that, I ignored them, focusing on the music in my head, adjusting it until it was just so.
The party wasn’t until nine p.m., so I had all day to stress out about things. It passed in a whirl of costuming, rehearsals, and Felicia walking by under a pile of fluffy tulle like she had somewhere serious to go.
Everything was perfectly in place, so why was I so nervous?
I ducked into a bathroom before our final dressing and called Toni.
“What’s up, Vil?”
I took a shaky breath. “Nothing. I just wondered how you’re doing.”
“Hm. I’m not up to much, just getting ready for work. I do have someone under the table wearing zip ties, but it’s for his own protection.”
I exhaled some stress and smiled. “Of course it is. Do you need a hand?”
“Psh. Like I can’t zip tie a guy with one hand behind my back. Don’t you have a concert to go to?”
“I guess so. I’m getting nervous about it.”
“You’re doing it for fun, right? So, have fun. Just boost that car and drive it as fast and far as you can go before the coppers start blaring. You’ve got this.”
“And when the coppers come?”
“For me, it’d be a matter of convincing them that I was confused and too cute to shoot, but you can just buy them off.”
I frowned. Dirk had money. I couldn’t buy him off. I had to actually do a good job if I wanted him to think of me as more than a villain. Is that what I wanted? He didn’t seem to mind my being bad, but maybe I did.
“Good plan. Thanks, Toni.”
“Any time, although we both know that’s nothing close to a plan, that’s just fun. Fun should be kind of mindless.”
It’s hard to be mindless when everything you do has serious consequences. “Good luck with zip-ties.”
“Don’t need luck when I’ve got these hands. Have fun, Vil. You deserve it.”
I hung up and went out to face the music. Literally.
The band members started on the stage below me in their white tuxedos and white feathered masks while I perched on the Pegasus and tried not to feel like an idiot. I wasn’t a white-heavenly kind of person. The dress was cute and sweet, justnot me. It felt almost bridal, but brides don’t wear bedazzled white masks. I’d decided that I was going to marry Dirk so I could destroy him more thoroughly. Was that still on the agenda? I couldn’t possibly marry him without being completely devastated by him in return. He wasn’t the helpless idiot that I was going to sweep away with my wiles, but marriage to him did sound like fun. I shook my head and refocused.
My cello was wired for sound. Was it time? I listened to the audience, heard Horse’s voice- arrogant, smooth and yet somehow not annoying.
“I bring you Dani Divine and her band, Eternal Vice!”
That was my cue. Had anyone asked me about my band’s name? Not that it was my band. Or my own name, for that matter.
I rode the Pegasus sidesaddle as it floated through the air seemingly without any support. I somehow didn’t pass out from the flash of faces below me, lit weirdly with the blue and blush lighting that was supposed to be heavenly.
