Lily’s eyes practically pop out of her head when she walks into the kitchen after getting home from work and sees the three of us in our tuxedos.
She blinks, her eyes wide and shining with excitement. But she always looks like that lately. She loves her job and recently published an article on the plight of New York’s animal shelters that’s already been nominated for awards. The media frenzy over Liliana Constantine’s return from the dead has finally quieted down. Life has settled into a routine again, one that involves a whole lot of fun and fucking, but still a routine. However, there’s one thing that’s been nagging at me, and I know Zeke and Xander feel the same. “Where are you all going?” she asks.
I cross the room and slide an arm around her waist. “You mean where are we going, buttercup?”
Frowning, she glances down at her jeans and sweater. “Um. Okay. Where are we going?”
“We’re going to the club,” Xander says. “There’s a dress on your bed.”
She swallows, her eyes bouncing between the three of us. “No. I don’t want to go there.”
Guilt crushes me. I knew she wouldn’t want to. “You are, baby doll. We need to make things right.”
Her pretty face turns bright pink, and she crosses her arms over her chest. “If you think I’m ever going to that place again, you’re very mistaken.”
Standing behind her, Xander pulls back her hair and kisses her neck. “Please, shorty?”
“You think I’m that easy?”
West smirks, and she glowers at him. “Don’t even think about saying what you’re thinking.”
“Okay, princess. But we’re going to the club tonight. A PR firm is throwing a big event. There’ll be champagne.”
“I’m never drinking champagne again,” she reminds us.
I brush her hair back and cup her face. “Don’t make us go without you.”
She keeps her arms folded and taps her foot.
“What’s the name of that PR firm again, Fitch?” West asks.
“Um. Reid Spencer, right?”
Lily’s brow pinches in a cute-as-fuck scowl. “Bree Reid’s PR firm? You’re letting her use your club for an event?”
West arches one eyebrow. “Business is business, princess.”
I stifle a grin. She’s going to punch him in the mouth any second, and he deserves it. I rub a hand over my jaw and wince at the memory of being on the receiving end of our girl’s mean right hook.
West brushes his knuckles over her cheek. “So we can either go alone, or we can go with the most incredible woman alive, who’s going to be wearing a sexy dress, and we can let the entire world, including Bree Reid, know that you’re our girl.”
Her eyes narrow, and I give her one last nudge. “Your choice, buttercup.”
She rolls her eyes dramatically. “Fine.”
I can feel the tension in Lily as soon as we step out of the car. Not that I blame her. I’m strung tight as a bow myself. All I can think about is how cruel I was to her the last time we were here.
The flash of a camera blinds me. Damn paparazzi. I pull Lily behind me and scowl at the bouncers standing nearby. “Move these fucks out of here.”
Xander shields Lily from the other side, and we hurry into the club. “I’m sorry, baby doll. The event was supposed to be private.”
Glancing around nervously, she shrugs. West finishes speaking with our security team and jogs over to us. “They’re gone now,” he assures us.
She chews on the inside of her cheek, and Xander asks her if she’s nervous.
She blinks at him, her eyes wet with unshed tears. Fuck, we are such assholes. “Kinda.”
He wraps his arms around her and kisses the top of her head. “I promise not to leave your side the entire night. Okay?”
She’s nodding against his chest when a bouncer approaches. “Your booth is ready, Mr. Archer.” Lily’s eyes widen on the man who just spoke, and my heart sinks.
Clearing my throat, I pull her from Xander’s arms and into mine. “José, I’d like you to meet our girlfriend, Lily. You might remember her from the Hellsgate launch? When I was a complete fuck-knuckle and left her standing in the rain.”
He nods, his eyes softening on her face. “I do.”
“She ever comes here again, with or without us, she gets treated like a fucking queen. You got me?”
“I understand, Boss.”
She gives me a shy smile. Fuck, I love this girl. I slide my hand to her ass, which is perfectly encased in a black leather minidress that fits her like it was painted on, letting every single person here know that she’s mine.
West tilts his head at the doors leading to the main room of the club. “Shall we?”
I give Lily a quick kiss on the cheek and step back, allowing Xander to escort her. It will sting a whole lot worse if he’s the one with his hand on her ass when we walk through those doors.
We enter the central area of the club, and just like everywhere he goes, Xander turns heads. This is his arena. PR is his domain. A world where image and appearance are king and one in which West and I prefer to take a back seat. Bree’s eyes land on him, and she weaves her way through the crowd like a heat-seeking missile. I bite back a grin when her face twists into a hideous sneer. Yup, she saw our girl and she is pissed.
“It’s so lovely to see you, Bree,” Xander says with a fake smile. “And I think you know my girlfriend, Lily.” He doesn’t take his hand off Lily for a second.
Bree looks Lily up and down, and my hands ball into fists. I glance over and find West smirking at me. “Pretty sure our girl can handle Bree,” he whispers.
Lily rests her hand on Xander’s chest, and he pulls her closer. “Oh, of course she does. She made up a bunch of lies about me, remember?”
Xander’s face lights with amusement. “You know, you’re right, baby. I remember now.”
Bree rolls her eyes. “I just told you what I’d heard.”
Lily takes a step forward, closing the gap between her and the other woman and making Bree flinch. “No. You flat-out lied, Bree. You knew exactly what you were doing. Because you’re a bitch.” Bree flinches again. “Yeah. I said it. I’ve known you were a bitch since we first met in college, but I was always too polite to say it until now.”
Bree purses her lips. “This game is all about being able to talk in the right ears, Lily. I simply told West and Zeke what they were waiting to hear. It’s not on me that they chose to believe me instead of you, now is it?”
I could kill the bitch for reminding Lily of that. But my fear that the plan will bite us all in the ass is soothed when Lily plasters a saccharine smile on her face. “I should be thanking you really.”
“And why is that?” Bree’s fingernails tap a nervous tempo against her leg, belying her bored tone.
“Because the make-up sex”—she tilts her head back and lets out a breathy moan—“especially with this one here …” She turns and runs a hand through Xander’s hair. “It’s out of this world.”
Bree’s mask falls completely, her beautiful face twisting and showing a glimpse of what she looks like on the inside.
West steps forward and wraps his arm around the other side of our girl’s waist. “Oh and thank you for bringing all of these lovely people here for us tonight, Bree.”
Her attention goes to West, and she scoffs. “For you?”
West looks at Xander. “Did you not tell her?”
Xander slaps his forehead. “You know, I downright forgot. I’ve been so busy making up with my girl, it must have slipped my mind.”
Hurt darkens Bree’s features. “Tell me what?”
“All of your clients are now our clients.” Xander flashes her his winning smile.
She opens and closes her mouth like a fish on a hook.
“We gave them a pretty solid offer.” He shrugs. “One they couldn’t refuse.”
“No.” She shakes her head, eyes wide with horror. “They have contracts.”
“Naw.” Xander rubs a hand over his jaw. “Nothing our attorney couldn’t get us out of. Turns out most contracts are actually pretty meaningless.” His lips twitch. “Who knew?”
“They are not useless.” She stamps her foot, and I cough to cover my laugh. “I’ll sue every one of them.”
“We’ve already promised to cover their legal costs. You’ll be tied up in court for the next twenty years.” West looks down at his fingernails like he’s already done with this conversation.
“Your daddy might be rich, Bree, but mine is richer,” Xander says, flashing West a wink. “And we have a few hundred million to spare if it comes to it. We’re more than happy to watch you walk away without a dime.”
Her eyes dart between all of us and fill with moisture.
I throw my arm around Xander’s shoulder. “Don’t ever fuck with our girl, Bree. Try it again and we’ll fucking end you permanently. You got that?”
With that, we walk away and don’t look back. Once we’re settled in our spot, the booth Lily sat drinking champagne with us the night we met her, I drape my arm around my girl’s shoulders and put my hand on Xander’s thigh.
Lily takes a sip of her champagne and sighs. “This night is turning out to be pretty incredible after all.”
I drop a kiss on her forehead. “You know what else is incredible?”
She shivers. “What’s that?”
My hand skims down her back. “Your ass in that dress.”
She rolls her eyes, but I don’t miss her laugh. Pressing my lips against her ear, I growl. “I’m going to fuck it when we get home, buttercup.”
Her entire body shudders and she lets out a low moan that travels straight to my dick.
I lace my fingers through hers. “Can you forgive us, Lily?”
She offers me that sweet smile of hers. “I already did or I wouldn’t be here.”
I brush my fingers over her cheek. “You’re so fucking perfect for us, you know that, don’t you?”
West pulls back her hair and plants a kiss over her fluttering pulse. “Yeah. We’re the perfect fit,” she murmurs.
