Page 65 of Secrets of Euphoria

“I’m just really hoping this is all somehow a crazy coincidence and it doesn’t all go back to me because if it does, there’s no way we’re going to end every single person in that family or everyone they know.”

Sitting up, she dangled her legs off the foot of the bed. “We both know it’s not a coincidence and I don’t really care about any of this because some of the most wonderful things came out of it. Shit happens and we have crazy exes.” She shrugged. “What’s crazier to me is, Roman and Dante are related, and you and I dated cousins before we even knew each other. Who’s to say we both weren’t targets from the beginning? We didn’t force my dad to operate on anyone and that’s originally what Tyler and I were told in a video my dad left us.”

I sighed, processing her words.

“And,” she continued, “with all the craziness that’s happened, if I hadn’t seen my parent’s bodies, I wouldn’t have even believed them to be dead.”

Frozen, I stared blankly ahead, trying my best to put all the puzzle pieces together once and for all. There had to be something we were missing. Finally, I flickered my gaze when I saw Jenna was snapping her fingers and waving.

“You spaced out there for a minute.”

“This is why there has to be a spy among us,” I muttered, hating the shady words as they exited my mouth.

“Do you think it’s one of the girls, or do you think it’s one of our security guys?”

I sat still, pondering it all as I absentmindedly tapped my fingernail against my chin. It would’ve made sense if one of the girls were involved, but they seemed to be solely focused on their job. So, if it was going to be someone, it would’ve likely have been Paris. But she was gone now, like Charity. Paris wasn’t at the club long enough to gather the intel for their family.

“I don’t think they’d put more than one dancer at the club at a time,” I said cautiously. “First it would’ve been Charity, and then it would have been Paris.” My voice caught in my throat as I uttered her name aloud.

Her head lurched back in surprise. “What the hell happened to Paris?”

“If I tell you, I’d be betraying Ian,” I replied, unable to meet her gaze, but quickly gathered the courage again. “And if I don’t tell you, that makes me a bad friend to you, but it also means I’m protecting you from information you shouldn’t know. You’re different from us. You’ve been through a lot of stuff with us, but you’re different.”

Squinting, she snickered. “What are you, like some girl Mafia boss or something?”

I couldn’t help but cackle. “Not a Mafia boss, but let’s just say I know some secrets, and it’s probably best that I keep those for now unless your husband tells me otherwise. The last thing I want to do is put you in more danger than I already have.”

Nose wrinkling, she nodded with a subtle smile. “I’m going to let you have this one. A part of me wants to know because I’m nosy, but I don’t want to put you in a position that’s going to make anything worse. You’re already carrying the weight of this entire situation on your shoulders, and I’m not entirely sure which one of us it originated from.” Puffing out her cheeks, she blew out a forced breath.

“So, since it’s more than likely not one of the girls, we have no choice but to point at the men. I do know there’s no way in hell it’s any of the guys in our circle, Ice Man, or Nico. And it all started way before Blitz came into the picture.”

“Maybe you should casually mention it to Luke and see what he has to say about it. And I’ll do the same to Ian,” she suggested. “Maybe we can at least plant the idea in their head that we need to start watching out for snakes in the grass.”

Pressing my lips into a thin line, I shook my head, folding my arms. “I sure as hell hope it’s not somebody that we’ve trusted too much, but I have a feeling we’re about to be shocked.”

“Not as shocked as I was when I saw your little gun for the first time.” I gasped but before I could reply, she continued, “You work closely for Ian and you’re around dangerous people all the time. I’d be mad if you didn’t carry to protect yourself.”

“Honestly, I think we all should, and quite frankly, I think Kirsten should be as well. We had kind of an ugly situation tonight in VIP and we need to do something about getting these girls more protection.”

“I’m sure Kirsten could break a man of any size with her pinky. That girl’s got some secrets of her own.”

I giggled. “That’s the truth.”

“And we have buttons in the rooms if needed. What more can we do?”

“I’m guessing it’s time to hire someone to stay in the control room and watch all night.”

LUKE

When I met Jade, she and Ian were sitting at a small black table in the breakfast room downstairs in the hotel. I’d been recovering from the regret of a gas station hot dog I forced Ian to stop for on the way to Ithaca, New York.

Staggering over to the cheap, black coffee maker, I picked up a white, Styrofoam cup, placing it under what I was sure was going to pour out colored dirt. I shuddered when I looked around. The blue carpet was stained, fraying at the edges. A vase of dusty, artificial sunflowers sat on chipped laminate countertops next to the stainless-steel refrigerator. Our hotel room wasn’t disgusting, but it was nothing compared to the lavish places we were used to staying in. So, the downstairs offered no surprises by the despair it was in.

I didn’t mind as much as Ian did, but it worked for the one night we stayed. It was a place to curl up and die when I felt sick, and I couldn’t tell the difference between a five-star and two-star hotel toilet.

Ian and Jade were deep in conversation when I sat down. Placing my coffee to my lips as I got a better look at her features for the first time, I muttered, “Holy shit,” under my breath. I was mesmerized by her sheer presence.

Her long wavy blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders. Her blue eyes, bright yet mysterious. They both turned their attention toward me. Ian narrowed his eyes slightly, a warning. And I respected it. The personal assistants were always off limits. Before Jade, was Faye, who’d been terminated after seducing Mark, our friend, who’d died after Jenna was rescued.

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