He’s sitting in the corner of the booth, nursing a tumbler of amber liquid. He isn’t talking. He’s just watching the room with that terrifying stillness that makes him look like a predator waiting for a gazelle to limp past. Even from here, the power radiating off him is palpable. He makes Ryder look like a boy playing dress-up in his father’s clothes.
“I’m going to sleep with his dad,” I say.
Harper chokes on her drink. She coughs, slamming her hand against her chest, and stares at me with watering eyes. “I’m sorry. I think I’m having an auditory hallucination. Did you just say you’re going to sleep with Gabriel Hollis?”
“Yes.”
“Blair.” She puts her drink down. “Have you lost your mind? That man isn’t a rebound. He’s… he’s the grim reaper in a three-piece suit. People are terrified of him.”
“Ryder is terrified of him,” I correct. “That’s the point.”
“Everyoneis terrified of him!” Harper hisses, glancing over her shoulder as if saying his name might summon him. “Look who he’s sitting with. Cole’s in the Savage Society, Blair. Those aren’t just businessmen. They’re the kind of men who bury problems in the woods.”
I look back at the booth. Gabriel is saying something to Cole now. His profile is sharp, carved from granite. He looks hard. Unforgiving.
“Ryder told me his dad thought I wasn’t good enough for him. He thinks I’m trash.”
“So your plan to prove you aren’t trash is to bang his father?”
“My plan is to make his life miserable. To sit at the head of the table while Ryder realizes he’s nothing. To become his brandnew stepmom, and by the time I’m done, he won’t even be in the will.”
Harper stares at me for a long moment. “You’re serious.”
“Dead serious.”
“He’s going to eat you alive. You know that, right? Ryder is a golden retriever with a personality disorder. Gabriel is a wolf. He will chew you up and spit out the bones.”
I finish my drink in one long gulp. The alcohol hits my bloodstream, mixing with the adrenaline. “Let him try. I’m not the same girl I was last week, Harper. That girl played by the rules and got destroyed. I’m done with rules.”
I watch the booth again. Movement catches my eye.
Cole Callahan stands up, clapping a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. Cohen follows suit. They’re leaving.
Gabriel isn’t moving.
He stays in the corner, one arm draped along the back of the leather booth, his fingers toying with his glass. He’s alone.
It’s a sign. It has to be.
“I’m going over there,” I say, standing up. My legs feel a little unsteady, but my resolve is iron.
“Blair, wait—” Harper reaches for my hand, but I step out of reach.
“I have to do this, Harper. If I go home to my empty apartment and stare at the empty spot on my counter, I’m going to scream until my throat bleeds. I need to do something.”
She searches my face, looking for hesitation, but all she finds is scorched earth and zero fucks left to give. She sighs, dropping her hand in surrender. “Fine. Go burn it all down. But turn on your location sharing immediately. If that dot disappears, I’m not calling the cops—I’m coming in through the window with a tire iron. I support your revenge arc, just try not to get murdered in the process.”
“Deal.”
I turn on my location sharing, then walk toward the VIP section before I can talk myself out of it.
Every step feels heavy. My heart is slamming against my ribs, a frantic rhythm that warns me to turn back, to run, to hide. I ignore it. I smooth the front of my dress and lift my chin.
The bouncer moves into my path as I approach the rope. He’s massive, a wall of muscle in a tight black shirt.
“Guest list only,” he rumbles.
I don’t look at him. I look past him, straight at the man in the corner.
