Page 66 of City of Wind and Lies

The smile on her face falters, eyes narrowing just over my shoulder as we reach the table. "Ew, why is my brother here?"

My mouth hinges open and I dart a glance from Cami to Dallas and back, noticing the same eyes and cheekbones on both their faces.

"Good to see you too, Camillia," Dallas says boredly.

She scowls in his direction, then drops the look of annoyance and shifts her attention to me. "The bar can get really busy, so I went ahead and got us a round of shots and some seltzers. However, I didn't intend on my brute of a brother being here," she lifts her chin as she takes a seat, "So he'll have to get his own."

The seltzers are of course spiked, and even if I wasn't pregnant, I wouldn't drink them. I've never understood the appeal, they taste like drinking static while someone whispers the name of a fruit repetitively in your ear.

"Even if I was drinking tonight, I wouldn't touch that bitch beer," Dallas sneers, then looks at me. "Want me to get you a bottle of water or something?"

"I can get it," I say, glancing over at the growing crowd gathering around the bar.

His hand clamps down on my shoulder. "Sit. I'll go."

I roll my eyes as I sink down onto the leather barstool and he strides off toward the bar.

"Wren," Cami starts, eyes following her brother before finding me. "Are you sleeping with my brother?"

Drea barks a laugh. "No, she's sleeping with your boss. I'm sleeping with your brother."

Cami's mouth falls open with a gasp, hand slapping to her chest as she blinks rapidly. I shoot Drea a look and she just shrugs, throwing back the shot in front of her.

When I said I was going to fill Cami in on my situationship, I'd planned to ease into it casually, not go nuclear.

"Hold on," Cami sputters as she reaches for her own shot, tossing it back with a wince. "You and Mr. Sorrentino, and you and Dallas?" she clarifies, swinging her gaze between me and my friend.

I nod, and Drea winks.

"Oh my gosh,” she gushes. “How? Since when? I need the details!"

"Well, at the Monarch Club, I was out on the dance floor and two strong hands gripped my hips, pulling me against an eager bulge-"

"Ew!" Cami pales, cutting Drea off. "No offense, but that's already more than I needed to know." Shifting her focus to me, she redirects. "You. Tell me how things started with Mr. Sorrentino."

I roll my bottom lip between my teeth while I contemplate where to begin and what details to include. If Dallas is Cami's brother, surely she has some knowledge of the less-than-legal activities he participates in, right?

Deciding to omit the attack and the baby aspect for now, I give Cami the cliff notes version and bring her up to speed.

"Wow. Just wow," she breathes once I fill her in, shaking her head in amusement and taking another drink of her seltzer. "Good for you. I mean, he's a total hottie and all, but there's too much of that same alpha male energy my brother oozes for my liking." She shoots Drea a look. "Sorry."

"Don't be," she smirks. "That growly thing really gets Wren and me going. Especially in the bedroom."

"Ugh, I'm nowhere near tipsy enough to hear about my brother's sex life."

"Here," I say, lifting my untouched shot and twisting towards her. "Bottoms up!"

Before Cami can take the shot, it's plucked from my fingers and a bottle of water is placed in front of me instead.

"I wasn't going to drink it," I huff defensively.

A stone-faced Dallas grunts, unceremoniously putting the shot glass and two more bottles of water down on the table. He lifts an eyebrow at Drea, some seriously hot nonverbal communication passing between them as a sly smile tugs on her lips.

"I'll be over there." He looks at me and tips his head toward the wall not twenty feet away. "If it gets too rowdy, we're outta here."

"Oh stop it, party-pooper," Cami interjects, shooing her brother away. "We'll be fine."

I know he's doing his job- one he's not taking lightly this time. So, I agree, and he slices through the crowd that's almost doubled since we got here. He positions himself at the start of the half-wall by the hall to the bathrooms, folding his arms across his chest. He swivels his head, slowly taking in the place before pulling out his phone to no doubt update Bowie.

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