Page 34 of Thorned Vengeance

“I can’t sing,” I say nervously.

“Neither can Cece, but we let her have the mic,” Jez calls out.

“Hey! I resent that.” Cece pouts. “I do a damn good job.”

“Technically, Ice Ice Baby is rapping and not singing,” Skye interjects.

“Exactly… wait, what?” Cece glares at Skye, who just laughs.

Apple holds out her phone. “Pick one.”

I scroll through until I find the one song that me and Daphne would sing at bars together. The music starts, and I let myself get lost in the music.

“Big wheels keep on turnin'. Carry me home to see my kin. Singin' songs about the Southland. I miss Alabamy once again, and I think it's a sin,” I belt out.

When I reach the chorus, all the girls are gathered around me, signing Sweet Home Alabama. Tears well up in my eyes, and for the first time in a long time, my soul feels lighter.

CHAPTER 17

THORN

“Soul was right.”

I look to my left and scowl at the smirk on Malice’s face. The caterwauling coming from the singing ladies continues to fill the room as my brothers and I watch and do our best to tune out the noise.

“About?”

My VP darts his gaze from me to the women and back again. “You can’t keep your eyes off Delaney.”

“I’m watching all of them, same as everyone else,” I scoff, doing my best to pretend I don’t know what he’s talking about.

“Bullshit,” he taunts. “You haven’t been able to keep your eyes off the chick since Nashville.”

“Kept my eyes off her while riding home.”

Malice throws his head back and laughs. “Yeah, this is gonna be fun.”

He walks away to join Grim, Soul, and Mark at the bar, leaving me to return to doing exactly what he accused me of: staring at Delaney.

From the moment I saw her in that damn parking lot, my soul’s been… twitchy. She looks so much like an older version of Tamara, and no amount of trying to ignore it will make it less true.

The ladies’ fifth song ends, and most of them stumble back to the high-top tables. Jez breaks away and strides toward me.

“You okay?” she asks when she stops in front of me.

“Great,” I reply, never taking my eyes off Delaney.

“Uh-huh.” Jez reaches up to grab my chin and force me to look at her. “She’s not Tamara.”

Every muscle in my body tenses. “Don’t you think I know that?”

“You tell me.”

I shove a hand through my hair. “Jez, back off,” I snarl.

“You know me better than that.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I do,” I huff out.

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