Turning toward the growing crowd, I spot some familiar faces. The Aras from Istanbul. A Bratva prince. And Yakuza twins wearing necklaces made ofactualsevered fingers.
Remind me not to invite those twins tomybachelor party.
Cringing, I turn my head to follow Damon’s gaze. Of course, he’d be eyefucking his wife now that she’s here.
To balance out the testosterone poisoning, Kaye showed up with Elle in tow.
Ah, Elle and Kaye. My two baes, my besties.
Kaye steps up beside me, with her rifle slung over one shoulder and a grenade in her smile. She insisted on coming here ‘cause the idea of missing Sterling’s bachelor hunt offended her.Andbecause she can “outgun anyone any day.”
My eyes catch a couple more coming in to join us.
The Adel brothers. Darius and Idris. Practically Egyptian royalty.
“Stan,” daddy dearest calls out. “Come greet our guests. You remember the Adels.”
I paste on a grin. “Course I remember.”
But really, I don’t. Half my life’s been on a dumb, dirty drug called Kys, and that shit seriously messes with the head.
Idris gives me a too-perfect smile, all straight teeth. Darius just cocks a brow.
“We’ve heard about your latest ordeals,” Idris says, part empathetic, part sympathetic. All of it, though, makes me feel a whole lot pathetic.
So I throw something light in the mix. “All good things, I hope.”
“No,” Darius replies, and then walks right past me.
Fucker.
I watch him go, glaring at his back.
With an apologetic frown, Idris pats me on the back before he and Dad talk about boring business stuff.
Damon and Kaye end up joining them. Their backs turned to me, but I can see how Damon’s hand goes to the curve of her ass.
Ugh, that’s so…unfairly hot.
You try living with two loved-up couples who won’t stop banging.
I never knew thick walls that old could sound so thin. But I’m both a happy accidental voyeur and a sad, sulky cuck through the wall about it.
Sighing, I reload my shotgun. Somewhere in these woods is the sorry something I’ll take my frustration out on.
***
After a round of forest murder, kills are getting tallied like a game lobby leaderboard from hell.
Sterling stays stoic. Bet he thinks he’s won.
Kaye rolls her eyes but smiles when Damon declares she’ll be the winner.
Soon enough, the final numbers are officially counted. Not that I care.
I took my trusty shotgun, found an owl, and cried when it met my eyes and adorably hooted at me. Sobbing against a tree, I got spotted by Kaye. She was rubbing my back when she called me a big crybaby. “There’snothingwrong with that!” I shouted.
But back to right now, Idris is lifting up a tablet, listing out the top scores.
