Page 99 of Knight

Nate cocks his hip, hand on his side. “Do you have feelings for King?”

I stall, the direct question throwing me off. So I put the straw back in my mouth and take a very long sip.

“So, that’s a yes,” he says. “ And you’re not going to let that barbie bitch steal your thunder. Besides, we can do with letting off a bit of steam. I can feel the heat coming off you from here.”

“I don’t know if dancing is Jo’s thing,” Allie says, glancing at me. Her hair comes in her face when she leans over to catch my gaze, glasses sliding down her nose. “Right?”

“Well, I’m livening up this funeral and I’m paying for bottle service,” Nate announces. “Free cover and everything. I know the guy at the door, real well.”

“Good thing Carlos has a family dinner tonight then,” Allie laughs.

“He has nothing to worry about.” Nate gives Allie a cut of his eye while he heads to the bathroom. “I’m finding you something to wear, Jo!”

Allie looks at me, her hand coming to my leg. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Yes! She does!” Nate calls from the bathroom. His muffled voice must mean he’s found the closet. In a few seconds, he steps out with a couple of hangers in his hand, dresses hanging from them, ones I don’t know I have. “King started this battle. If he wants to show up looking like a snack with another girl by his side, so can you. The best way to get under a King’s skin? Make them see something they can’t have. And tonight, that’s you.”

Allie sighs, “You actually think making King jealous will help? This isn’t TV.”

“But it is high school. I’ve been around these insecure neanderthals long enough to know what makes them tick.”

While they go back and forth, I’m considering what they’re saying. It’s like having a devil and angel on my shoulder, but the devil seems to be making more sense. He always does. I’ve seen Damien’s jealous streak, felt it too. While it stirs my insides, thinking of the wrath he unleashed on me for being with Christian excites me. It makes me feel like I can pull this back in my court.

“Jo?” Allie pulls me out of my thoughts and when I look up, they’re both staring at me like they’re waiting for an answer. “What’ll it be? Comfy movies in your hoodie?”

“Or a delicious act of revenge in this sexy Balmain?” Nate holds out a short black and gold dress almost as strappy as the lingerie Damien likes.

Then it hits me. Or the whiskey does. “Let’s do it!” I say, a wide smile growing on Nate’s face. “If he wants to ruin my life, I’m going to ruin his night.”

Twenty-Two

Bass thumps from beyond the dark hallway.

My heart thuds along with it.

The stairs leading up to the club from the hotel lobby light up with sparkling arrows, prompting me towards the decision I’ve made. There’s a pull in my chest that I’m ignoring, my feet already regretting being in these heels.

I’m gonna fuck with Damien King. The same way he’s fucking with me. Let’s just hope I don’t fuck him this time.

Pulling on my skirt, I take a look around us. The people heading inside look like they’re celebrities. Glamorous with bored looks on their faces as they head inside the party. With Nate and help from the girls, I look almost similar, if it wasn’t for the apprehension I know I’m wearing on my face.

“I did not think this place would be this crazy on a Tuesday night,” Nate says, already dancing in his floral dress shirt, bright yellow slacks. The detour on the way here meant an extra thirty-minute delay while Nate got his outfit just right for this appearance.

He fixes a bobby pin in my hair, his chest exposed, our coats already checked. Standing back, he takes one last look at my outfit. I can see it in the reflection beside me and I hope I don’t look as out of my element as I feel. The dress looked longer when Nate first put it against my frame, but with my lengthy legs, it hardly covers my ass. If I move the wrong way, cheeks are flying. So are my tits, held in place by another large strap.

“Everyone’s back from the Christmas holiday and what better place to show off than at LOFT?” Allie explains. She’s the least dolled up of the three of us. While Nate went to town applying all sorts of gunk to my face, thick winged eyeliner, red lips and blush, Allie opted for something simple. A light dusting of eyeshadow and mascara. A tank top over her dark jeans.“It’s extra crowded because King’s here.”

“What?” A chill brings my hands to my arms, rubbing them up and down for friction heat. “People care that much about a high schooler?”

“When he’s in charge of half the shit in this town they do,” Allie nods and she’s not wrong. With Marion out of the picture, King Financial belongs to the only child of Sebastien King. Damien.

“Ready?” Nate asks, nodding towards the tall, broad bouncer in front of the velvet rope. This guy looks like he works for the fucking President, black shades and earpiece accompanying his suit. “Don’t worry, we’ll have a bottle with your name on it.” When we get to the bouncer, Nate whispers something in his ear before he unbuckles the red rope and ushers us along.

I want to protest again but I’m too in awe at our surroundings. This place is nuts. It’s like what you see on MTV when they show parties in Vegas. Balloons hang off the ceiling, strobe lights making them all different colours. There’s even a fucking pool on the stage, the DJ bumping some heavy electro with a hypnotizing beat.

It’s an all-out production. Go-go dancers in cages, on hoops and trapezes, dancefloor crammed below them. A lady in a purple dress greets us before she leads us to a booth up some steps situated at the side. When we get there, another girl places a tray of colourful drinks and bottles on a gold coffee table. Nate thanks them both, giving them his credit card before he pours me a drink and hands it to me. “May your night only go up from here,” he says.

Cupping it in my hand like a baby’s bottle, I take a long gulp. I’m already a little tipsy but if I’m going to survive this, I need a little more liquid courage.

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