“Aw, come on, man,” Ford groans. “Why you gotta piss on all my fun?”
Ignoring him, Hawke pins me with his stare. “Our trusts are still frozen.”
He’s right. When our father found out what we were doing, he froze our trusts in hopes of reeling us in. Instead, it only pissed us off. We’ve been living off our winnings ever since. Scratching my temple, I turn to Roman. “What do you think?”
“If we’re rolling out a new style of events, it’s gonna take some investment.”
“And we don’t want it to be shit, either,” Ford adds. “We gotta make it hit. Something for people to talk about. To create buzz and curiosity.”
Hawke sighs. “If it falls flat, we’re fucked.”
“So, we won’t let it fall flat,” Ford pushes. “This is an investment opportunity?—”
“It’s a gamble,” Hawke interjects.
“You’rea gamble,” Ford snaps, refusing to back down.
Roman’s low rumble of amusement echoes through the large open room. It cuts through the tension, and my brothers join in. “That’s the shittiest comeback I’ve ever heard,” Roman says.
“Cut me some slack,” Ford says through another bout of laughter. “I’m a little preoccupied with how much potential there is in this.”
“Risky potential,” Hawke clarifies, though it’s less pissy than before, managing to hit its mark this time around.
“Risky potential,” Ford agrees. “But so epic.”
With a nod, Hawke turns to me. “What do you say?”
“Every investment is a gamble,” I tell them. “But I think this opportunity is worth exploring.”
“Yeah?” Hawke says.
I nod. “If we’ve learned anything, it’s that usually, the riskier ventures have the biggest payouts.”
Ford grins. “Hell yeah, they do.”
“But first, you gotta get through tonight,” Roman adds with a pointed look directly at me. “You ready?”
I roll my shoulders, paying special attention to my body and whether or not I feel like I’m up to tonight’s task. It doesn’t take long, barely a second, until I come to my conclusion. “I’m not worried.”
“That’s my man.”
7
VIOLET
“Okay, the top is a definite win,” Lexie decides. It’s just after nine. The sun has set, and whatever streetlights once lit the crowded parking lot outside the dilapidated warehouse have long since lost their bulbs. It’s dark, a little eerie, and does nothing to illuminate my outfit in question, so I take advantage in the driver’s seat while there’s still light from my car to assess it. She’s right. It’s cute. Not necessarily something I would pick out on my own, but Lexie twisted my arm into purchasing it.
My new, dark red top hangs off one shoulder, showing more skin than I'd normally agree to, but when the options are slim to none, and the desire to blend in outweighs the cons of sticking out like a sore thumb in a T-shirt and jeans like I did at the last party, this seemed like the lesser of two evils. I slip the strap back into place, climb out of the car, and close the driver’s side door behind me.
“Thanks,” I reply.
“You left your phone in the car, right?”
“Huh?”
“Your phone,” she repeats. “Ethan said there’s a bouncer at the entrance. If they find any kind of phone or recording device, they’ll confiscate it or make you bring it back to your car.”
I blink slowly, convinced my best friend’s grown a second head because that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. “You’re joking.”
