That reminded her that she had to do everything she could to keep her job.
“Holton?” Ivy stuck her head around the living room to see Holton folding up his double futon. “Are you free tomorrow night?”
“Maybe. Is there free booze?”
“And food.” Ivy smiled. “Can you come and bring thirty or a hundred people? It’s at the Grand Lake hotel. A launch party for a new shoe by Emergence. Free swag.”
“Send me the deets, and I’ll bring the biggest crowd I can.”
A thumping on the wall made her jump. Her neighbours had progressed to the throwing stuff part of the evening.
“Thanks. You’re the best.”
Holton had been the friend she needed, getting her through many nights of crying her eyes out.
“You know it.” Holton picked up his messenger bag, grabbed his keys and kissed her cheek. “Don’t wait up. I’m hoping to get lucky tonight.”
Ivy grinned. “Have fun.”
“Bye.”
When Holton left, Ivy changed into pj’s, grabbed her tablet and went through every contact list she had, sending out invites for the product launch, and after okaying it with Mr. Wilder, she ran a last-minute ad on social media. It might be close.
She missed her old contact lists and the access to media she had with Metric. Ivy shook off a feeling of sentimentality and flipped through the mail, gasping as she saw a black and gold envelope with Club Bandit’s logo on it. Being careful not to tear it, Ivy opened it. It was an invitation to apply for membership. Ivy grinned. Looks like Club Bandit was opening to the public. A thrill of excitement raced down her as she contemplated the invite. It said to send them an email, and they would arrange an interview. She grabbed her tablet and fired off the email.
It wasn’t just access to a great play space; it was the contacts. Ever since the summer, she had been lonely. She lost her job, their mutual friends and her socialization. Maybe being a member of Club Bandit would give some of that back to her.
Feeling hopeful, Ivy set herself up with her old laptop and fired off a bunch of posts for the product launch. While she was at it, she made a new ad for clients and made it go live.
Maybe she had this after all.
CHAPTER NINE – GABE
Gabeturnedhisnoseto his shoulder, trying to discreetly sniffle a sneeze. The room smelled like all the perfume counters that ever existed mixed up into one. As a medic, he had sniffed some funky things, but the aroma in this room rivalled them all.
He smiled at a brunette with a pink floppy bow in her hair, her cleavage barely contained in the sparkly little dress that clung to her body. “Good evening. What’s your name?”
“Veronica Martin.”
Gabe checked her name off the list on his iPad, and Erik stepped forward to check her just over the size of a wallet purse.
“Have a good night,” Erik said.
Veronica flounced past them, through the doors to the ballroom, decked out with gold streamers everywhere.
On and on it went. Gabe didn’t mind the tedious task. It was better than sitting at home in his condo, pacing the floors or working himself so hard at the gym he nearly collapsed.
Erik got him this gig with Stone Security, though it felt a little traitorous. Gabe tried to push that thought down. His boss, Xander Montague, called him a couple of weeks back and told him he was off rotation from Team Stealth because he’d been working too many hours. Taking on each job that came his way, and he had been doing it since August.
Gabe knew he needed a break but keeping busy kept his mind off stuff he would rather not think about. Like one of his best friends dying. He chewed the inside of his lip. The other Bandit Brothers had moved on, even Quinn, since he met Simone Roberts. But Gabe hadn’t. He, the medic, couldn’t save Jordan. And then there was Ivy.
Ever since that morning in August, he had lost a part of himself. Everything felt heavier without Ivy around. She was his Princess, his ray of light in his miserable life, and without her, he became more of a working machine. He never expected her to hurt him as she did. Gabe shook off the thoughts. So he worked.
Erik also worked every job he could, and the guy was okay. Erik mostly kept to himself, but in Gabe’s experience, the guy was solid. You could count on him. And his fellow Bandit Brother scored points for getting him this job tonight.
“Gentlemen, please close the doors,” the deep voice of River Stone filtered through their earpiece.
River kept surveillance from outside in a van, monitoring tonight’s event. A few months back, Axis Management had sold the bodyguarding side of their business to River Stone, but that wasn’t why it felt disloyal. River and Xander weren’t on the best terms, and Xander held loyalty as the highest tenant.
