“I may be gay, but I can appreciate a beautiful female when I see one. Don’t be a dick,” I warn. There’s something off about him. I look to Ethan who shrugs, but his brows are furrowed.
“Jesse?” Ethan asks. He tilts his head to the side, and I follow.
“What’s up?”
“I think your brother-in-law is doing drugs, man,” Ethan tells him.
I nod. “He’s … off. Different. And his pupils are the size of pinpoints.”
“Fuck. Lucy’s gonna lose her shit. I’ll wait till tomorrow to deal with that clusterfuck,” Jesse says. “Thanks for the head’s up.”
“I’ll alert Cage,” I tell them. I walk over to where security is standing, including Damian and Ernesto, decked out in tuxes.
“A minute?” I ask. They all turn to me. “Seems as if Joey’s high, and I don’t think it’s from weed.”
Cage frowns. “Everyone hear that?”
They all say yes.
“Christ. Just what we need,” Damian says.
“Jesse wants to wait to let Lucy know. He said tomorrow’s soon enough,” I tell him.
“Yeah, why ruin her night,” Ernesto agrees.
“All right let’s get a move on,” Damian announces, and everyone files out the door to their designated limo.
So far, it’s running like clockwork.
50
ETHAN
I’ve been to many concerts, many rock festivals, but I’ve never been to a place where there are so many people glitzed and glamoured up. It suits Lucy, though. She’s dressed in an orangey-salmony colored dress, part of her hair up, part down, and diamonds adorning her ears, neck, fingers, and wrists. I can’t stop looking at her as she talks to those she absolutely has to talk to.
Aiden Jensen appears to be sober, which is a relief. From what Lucy said, she had to deal with a hell of a lot from this fuckhead while making the film.
The number of men in penguin suits is astounding. You can’t tell security from the regular Joe’s, which is a good thing.
Linc and I hold hands as we make our way slowly through the crowd. People shout questions out to us, but we don’t comment. We’re not here for that. Tonight’s about Lucy.
It isn’t until the homophobic slurs get shouted that Linc puts his guard up.
“Ignore it,” I tell him.
He nods, but his eyes are skimming the crowd as Damian steps up next to us.
“There,” Linc says, tilting his head slightly.
“Dave fucking Richards. I already dealt with this fucker. Apparently, he wants some broken bones,” Damian tells us, walking away, going around then coming up behind Dave.
“Uh oh,” Jesse mutters. “Dave’s gonna get it.”
“He’s gonna get more than he bargained for,” Cage tells us. “He was warned.”
That’s all that’s said, and when I look over to where Dave was standing, the space is empty.
51
