“It was my pleasure, brother. Anytime you need me, I’m here.”
“It was good to see you again,” I told Hawk and Journey.
“Don’t be a stranger,” Hawk returned with a fist bump.
“Same goes.”
Before I walked away, Journey threw her arms around my neck and hugged me.
“What was that for?” I asked when she pulled back.
There were tears in her eyes. “For saving his life. I’ll never be able to repay you, but if you ever need anything … don’t hesitate to call.”
I nodded and turned away before there was a chance for her to see the dark stain on my soul. It had gotten darker the night I saved Creed from a crazy fucker. I didn’t lose sleep over killing that bastard, and I would do it again in a heartbeat, but it wasn’t something I was proud of.
Five minutes later, I was in the limo with Laikyn and Jinx and a bottle of champagne she had appropriated from one of the servers.
“I hate her,” Laikyn muttered before tipping the bottle back and taking a swig. “Why do I let her pull my strings like that? I’m her puppet. That’s all I’ve ever been.”
She continued to ramble between long pulls on the bottle. At this rate, we would be carrying her into the house.
“She cool?” I muttered to Jinx.
He shrugged, clearly at a loss for how to make the situation better. He couldn’t. I couldn’t.
I knew when Monica insisted that Laikyn appear tonight that she had an ulterior motive. After our conversation, I could only hope she would let it go for the time being and give Laikyn time to come to terms with what her mother did. I didn’t tell Monica this, but I figured she would need someone to lean on once Laikyn realized I’d manipulated her into this marriage and kept some crucial information from her. Hopefully, her mother would be there for her when that time came.
Laikyn propped the bottle between her legs and looked at me. “I need a distraction.”
“Okay.”
“Distract me, Rule,” she slurred, her glassy eyes molesting me as she licked her lips.
I relaxed and draped my arm across the back of the seat. “How would you prefer I do that?”
She shrugged and took another swig from the bottle. “You should kiss Jinx.”
I smirked.
“What? You don’t want to kiss him?” She looked at Jinx. “He doesn’t want to kiss you.”
Now she was being petulant.
“I never said that.”
“Then why aren’t you kissing him?”
Yeah. Petulant and intoxicated. Not a good combination for Laikyn.
“If I kiss him, I’m going to fuck him,” I said, keeping my tone flat. “I don’t think this is the appropriate place to do that.”
“Why?” She leaned forward. “Are you scared?”
“Yes,” I lied.
Her eyes rounded like silver dollars. “Seriously?”
“What do you think?”
