Page 114 of Making Choices

“Well, if it isn’t the soon-to-be marshmallow corpse fire.” Nadia’s snarky comment brings a grin to my face. “Pity the arseholes you see when you’ve left your box of matches at home.”

“Sander,” Zeke says in a tone I know well. His own rage is on the cusp of snapping and Venom will make an appearance soon. “Was told to get you... we’re headin’ over to the Pink Haze for a few hours.”

At the mention of the well-known strip club the Shamrocks own, my heart skips a beat. The useless organ wedges itself in my throat, choking me as the implications of his statement hit me like a tonne of bricks. Every thought I’ve had about his activities in Sydney surges to the front of my mind.

While I’ve been struggling, he’s moved on.

My fingers burn with the memory of the razor I’ve wielded multiple times in his absence. The skin at the top of my thighs and my lower belly flare with phantom pain that my brain screams at me to repeat immediately. As the world whirls like a cyclone around my head, my eyesight dims. Nadia grabs my arm and drags me to the chair I vacated. She pushes me down, but my backside hasn’t hit the cushion before she’s up in Zeke’s face.

“Get the fuck outta here, you pig.” With her inch long fingernail, she jabs his chest. “Piss off to your strippers... just remember the entire time you’re paying for cooch to be rubbed in your face, your Lily is here surrounded by dicks that’d love to taste what you willingly gave away.”

“Nads.” Sander tries to make my best friend step down. “It’s not like—”

I wobble back to my feet. “I want my Harley dropped off at Slash’s. It was a gift, not a loaner. It’s mine and I want it back.”

Zeke simply stares at me without speaking.

It takes all my acting skills to sashay my way past my ex-fiancé like I don’t care. Nadia understands what I’m about to do and joins me. The bouncer holds the rope open for us, although he flicks a worried gaze at the two men behind us before he steps out of the way. Whatever he sees in their faces has him following us onto the dance floor. Another two bouncers join us. The three men create a barrier that turns me and Nadia into an island in the middle of the floor.

Doesn’t matter.

We still dance.

Just the two of us.

When we’re thirsty, the youngest bouncer is dispatched to get our drinks. Reenergised, we refuel with alcohol, then my best friend and I burn off our animosity toward the males of our species. We pull out our best moves. Then, we start in on the classics. The sprinkler. Riding the pony. The shopping cart. Making a pizza. The Macarena.

When we grow tired, our brawny babysitters lead us back to the VIP area. It’s empty. Determined not to wonder what Zeke’s up to right now, I plonk my arse down in the seat, kick off my heels, and fan myself with a napkin. Legs splayed on the table in front of us, skirt up around her hips, Nadia flops on the floor. She folds one hand behind her head and blows rings of vape smoke in the air.

“Should’ve poked him in the eye instead of the heart,” she ponders out loud. “Would’ve hurt him more... he has no heart, pretty sure even heartless pricks still need to see.”

“I should’ve punched him in the throat.”

“Would’ve paid to see that.”

“Next time…” I trail off as uncertainty takes hold. “I mean, I should, but I don’t know how he’d react to it. The man who cut me cold at the compound, and then again tonight, isn’t the man I’ve spent ten years in love with.”

“There’s a similarity between him and Bear that makes my blood boil.”

My temper flares, then I stop and really think about her statement. Since the miscarriage, Nadia has been by my side in every way she can. She’s taken me to therapy, held my hand as I’ve cried. It’s been weeks since my best friend admitted that her ex used to beat her, and I decide that checking in on her mental state is more important than defending the man who broke my heart.

“In what way?”

“In the way that he made it impossible for you to see a future without him. Venom’s controlling as fuck… like, sure, he hasn’t ever hit you—” She shoots me a questioning look, continuing her assessment of Zeke once I’ve shaken my head. “—but he never even allowed you the grace to grow up before he pounced on you. Dude literally took your virginity the night you became a legal adult, and he wasn’t exactly shy about it. Everyone holding vigil at the hospital after Alex hurt you was privy to the knowledge that Venom had you first.”

“What a prick,” I comment mildly.

Even though agony flares in my chest at the reminder of Alex’s attack, I can’t muster anger at Zeke for ensuring that the truth got out. No way in hell would I want my loved ones thinking that Alex stole my innocence any more than he actually did.

“He’s always been a prick.” Nadia’s matter-of-fact delivery knocks my confidence in Zeke. “Exactly like Bear… the universe revolves around Venom and his ego.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“Jesus, Anna, are you fucking blind… Venom is and always will be an egotistical prick.”

When her eyes flash with vehemence, the fight drains from me.

With a small shrug, I touch my necklace as I concede her point. “I guess I never noticed.”

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