“Aren’t they coming?” Gina peered past the guards, looking for Jesse or Brendan.
“Too many decibels for delicate little ears,” Chloe said with a giggle. She did that a lot. “The boys will have fun hanging out backstage, and besides, I need an hour off from Mommy duty.”
“Won’t it be just as loud back there as over here?”
“We got them Loops and baby earmuffs.” She waved off her concern and giggled again, the sparkly silver hoops in her lobes dancing to the sound of her laughter.
I guess not, then.
Anticipation lodging in the pit of her stomach, Gina glanced around the rapidly filling VIP area. “Who are all these people?”
“City aldermen, festival committee members, and invited press mostly.”
“What in hell isshedoing here?” Katie pointed toward the crowd gathered right of the center stage.
Chloe followed her gaze. “Who?”
“Look, that’s psycho-bitch Kelsey over there at the barricade, isn’t it?”
“Heh, yeah.” Her lip curled in disgust, Chloe turned away. “Thank fuck Dillon dipped out to take Linnie home.”
“Oh, shit.” Katie gasped as if she’d just remembered something. “What if Matt sees her?”
And?
Gina glanced over at the Barbie doll wannabe, her eyes drawn to the diamond flashing on her ring finger. Brown hair up in a tight, high ponytail. Makeup that didn’t melt off her severe-looking face. Trendy designer clothes. Prada bag—authentic, no doubt. While the woman seemed confident, she appeared out of place.
“It’s not like that. At all,” Katie explained, mistaking Gina’s perusal for concern. “Kelsey used to date Dillon.”
“She’s a horrible person,” Chloe added, nodding.
“We were all at the club’s Halloween party—it was the first time we could get Dillon out of the house after Kyan died—and he brought Kelsey.”
“Big mistake.” Spreading her fingers apart, the redhead mimicked an explosion. “Huge.”
“Why?”
“The wolf pack performed last year.” Katie smirked, her breath tickling Gina’s ear. “They staged a hunt.”
“And Kelsey’s easily offended.”
“Bullshit.” With a roll of her aquamarine eyes, Katie cocked her pretty blonde head. “C’mon, Chloe, she was dating Dillon, for fuck’s sake. Besides, she was well aware the Red Door’s a sex club.”
“Sex-positive.”
Gina knew that. While nobody spoke of it much, nearly everyone did. Still, she was clueless. “I’m so confused. A hunt?”
“Every year, there’s an act that goes with the ball’s theme. Brendan even let the vamps out once,” Chloe explained.
“Vamps?”
“Vampires. They have a blood fetish.” With a shudder, Katie wrinkled up her nose. “That didn’t turn out so well.”
“I know, and I’m sorry.” Chloe hugged the girl and, thankfully, continued with her story. “But the wolf pack, they’re primal, and they were something else, let me tell you. A lone girl in the center of the platform and a wolf waiting in each corner. The club was made to look like a haunted forest, you see.”
Okayyy.
“It’s a competition of sorts.” With a slow smile building, Katie’s skin flushed, and a wicked glimmer shone in her eyes. Lowering her voice, she inclined her head. “The wolf that catches the girl gets to claim her for everyone to see.”
