Page 76 of Love Thief

The boys move towards Xan next. “Hey, Uncle Xan.” James laughs, “fucking fantastic,” grabs Xander, and pulls him into him. I can see James saying something in his ear, holding his head, not letting him go until he’s finished. God, that boy is something else. Bucky gets in on the act as Evie comes towards me, grinning ear to ear.

“Hey, tha?—”

I kiss her, grabbing hold of her head and closing my eyes until I’ve had my fill. “Fuck, you scared the shit out of me. Song four? Really?”

“I was busy,” she tells me laughing, kissing me back.

“Hi, are you Evie?” the interviewer asks her, and we turn together to look at her.

Evie smiles at her. “Yes, but can you give us a second?” She turns back to me and kisses me, again.

When Evie finally releases me, I can see Grace’s face has turned to fury. She was ignored, Evie is not, but what does she expect?

I move to speak to the interviewer as Evie moves to Xander. A big smile on her face, she hugs him to her.

“They’re little shits,” I hear him say as he pulls away and looks at her. “I thought you’d gone. Don’t fucking do that.” She steps up to tell him something, but Becky steps between them and pulls Xan away.

“What you doin’? Get the fuck, get off,” he snaps at her, pinning Levi with a what the fuck look.

Tim comes round, diplomatically moving Becky away, and says, “Meet and greet in ten, boys. Quick change and then you’re free to go.”

“Don’t forget, party at yours, Xan. Got something special for you, brother,” Gabe reminds him with a wink.

“I hope not,” says Xan. “I’m busy. And scared.” He laughs at him.

“You’ll love it, Xan,” puts in Grace. She may as well not have spoken for all the notice anyone is taking, and she’s so pissed. I see her turn to Lauren and say something, and they look at Becky.

I wonder if they are the entertainment. I wouldn’t put it past Gabe. But, fuck, this is not going to play well.

The Purcell boys turn up at that point and rush me, shouting at the tops of their voices. James and Bucky are throwing them around, telling them to go to bed, and the three young boys are protesting why they should be allowed to stay up even later.

Tim shouts for everyone to move off, and I see Evie standing off to the side, watching everyone with a look in her eyes I’ve seen before. Oh, boy.

Xan walks past, stopping just beyond my shoulder, and says, “This looks like trouble to me. She’s plotting, and she’s got those boys at it.” He continues walking, pulling me away from the family. “We need to sort this shit out. Why the fuck would they bring Grace back? And then Lauren? It’s insane,” he says as we walk towards Tim.

“Becky,” I affirm. He’s getting keyed up again. “Calm the fuck down, Xander, we’ll sort it out. She said she will, and she means it. Let’s just let it play out.” I grin mischievously at him. “Let's get this sorted,” I point to the meet and greet, “and we can get out of here. Let’s go be Xander Barclay and Marcus Russell,” I tell him.

Pulling on the cocky arsehole vibe and shoving the doors really hard, I stand at the door for a second and don’t move. The room is packed with mainly fluttering females, and a few men. I beam at the whole room. “Right, whose first?”

I signal for someone to come forward, the others hanging roughly to the right of me, and I hear Xan ask Levi about Becky.

“She’s fucking lost it,” he says. “Got to go, I think. After tonight, of course,” he winks at Xan.

“Fuck. She’s not coming for me, is she? I’d rather stick pins in my eyes.”

Levi looks shocked. “Really? You had her on her knees in Devon. She loved it, can’t stop going on about it.”

“I never fucked her though, so not sure why she’s bothered,” he shrugs.

“Up to her,” says Levi, and they stop talking and start smiling as the people come and chat and tell us all the things they love about us.

And what’s not to like?

We laugh, we mess around with them and each other, bantering back and forth, well-practised from years of these. I feel fucking great, my mood sky high. Xan has the same look in his eyes. Our music is the best it’s been for a long while, and the girl behind it might just be insane. I think we are both in way over our heads here, all because of Evie Fucking Greystone.

Chapter

Twenty-Two

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