Page 10 of Secrets Unveiled

“No, whoever passed the last streetlight won. Which was me!”

“When have those ever been the rules? You lost. Get over it! Now pay up, pussy!” Finn lifts his hand as Brooks slaps a twenty-dollar bill in his hand. The twins are always competing; the twin rivalry is strong between them. Owen starts laughing from beside me, and I turn to see the girl I’m here for. The table the girls once occupied is now vacant, and I scan the room in search of Sage, who is nowhere to be seen.

Fuck.

“Where are the girls at?” Owen yells over the music as the pair of us continue searching the dance floor.

“Who the fuck knows? I can already feel this night turning into a fucking game of hide and seek,” I growl out, frustration growing inside me already, and I’ve only been here five minutes. The four of us head to the table the girls were at and pile into the cramped booth. Saxon comes over a second later, carrying five beers for the lot of us. The scowl on his face tells me his conversation with Sky didn’t go smoothly.

“Hey, Sax, what’s got you looking all pissy?” Brooks asks but gets no response, only a look that speaks volumes.

“Shit, never mind, man.”

I continue scanning the room for Sage, and just when I’m about to stand up and go looking for her, I catch a glimpse of her long blonde hair spinning in the corner of the dance floor.

There’s my little witch stick. Thinking you can hide from me, huh? That’s funny.

Now, I know how I seem. It probably sounds like I have it out for Sage, and don’t get me wrong, you’d be a fool for thinking I’m not attracted to her. She is gorgeous, insanely captivating, but I’m only being like this to make sure she’s safe. I made a promise to Saxon a long time ago that I would protect her like my own sister. She has this thing with going after the wrong men, men that end up hurting her in the end, and I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen again. Plus, I see the way other men look at her. Her beauty isn’t only noticed by me, but by every fucking guy that lays eyes on her. Men only want one thing, and Sage, well, she deserves more than that. She deserves the world, and no man will ever be good enough for her until they give her just that.

I watch her as she spins and moves to the heavy, thudding music that fills the club. Her smile spreads across her face. A genuine smile I haven’t seen in a while that makes my insides heat up. She says something to Ophelia, but I can’t make out the words. I just continue to watch as she allows the moment to bring her the happiness she needs. The happiness that was snuffed out after the fire. She’s never been the same since, and I miss that smile every day. A part of Sage died that day, and I sometimes pray she finds that fragment of her soul again.

“Hey, look, there’s the girls!” Brooks says, as if I hadn’t already spotted them ten minutes ago. I look over at him and Finn, who’ve already stood up and started to make their way over to them. Owen, Saxon, and I follow as we walk through the crowd that parts as we make our presence known. It’s no secret who we are or what power we hold over this town, so for things to go smoothly, people tend to stay out of our way.

Frieda rolls her eyes as Finn and Brooks pick her up and swing her around like a rag doll. I don’t miss the look of jealousy from Bristol as she watches Brooks touch her friend.

“For fuck’s sake, put me down! Both of you!” Frieda yells over the music, but it does little to stop Finn. Brooks has already made his way to Bristol’s side, who looks at him as if he’s poison and heads to the bar. Brooks shakes his head and follows behind her. Frieda was adopted by Sam, who is a longtime member of the club; however, Sam is also Finn and Brooks’ father, making them stepsiblings of sorts. There is no denying the chemistry and connection between Frieda and Finn, but they both do a good job of hiding what we all know is true.

Turning my attention to Sage, I see she, Owen, and Ophelia stand close together in conversation due to the loudmusic.

“How long do you think it will be before Owen makes a move on her?” Saxon says to me over his shoulder.

“Sage would never be with Owen—he’s not her type.” My response came out a little harsher than I intended it too.

“No, you fool. I mean with Ophelia. He’s been drooling over her since she was in high school.” I shake off the heavy feeling building inside me and nod my head once in agreement. I hear Saxon laugh over the music and turn my head towards him.

“What, you think I’d let Owen go after my sister? Or any of them, for that matter?” He laughs and turns his head to the bar again. I stand there a moment longer, watching Sage and her best friend converse until her eyes meet mine. I narrow my eyes on her before following Saxon for another beer. I stay at the bar with Saxon, Brooks, and Owen for most of the night. Finn and Frieda disappeared early in the night, but I figured that would happen.

“Excuse me, bro.” A man my height reaches in front of me to grab his beer before walking off towards the dance floor. I watch him for a moment; he has a large frame and walks with an air of confidence. But it’s his face that brings some sort of familiarity to him. I can’t for the life of me remember where, or if, I’ve seen him before, but something about him feels off.

“Sax, you know that guy?” I nudge my best friend as he turns to see who I’m talking about. We both stare for a moment before he responds.

“Nah, I don’t think so.” He turns back and continues talking to Sky, who is now on speaking terms with him again. Go figure. I watch the man make his way over to where Sage and Ophelia are still dancing. When I see him tap her on the shoulder, I straighten my spine. Who the fuck is he? Why is he going up to Sage?

Sage faces the man and gives him a bright smile before they both shake hands, introducing themselves. He leans closer to her when she speaks due to the music’s volume being at max capacity. My skin starts vibrating as I watch his hand touch her waist as he speaks close to her ear. I take a sip of my beer, the bottle neck cracking from how hard I’m squeezing it. Their proximity is unnecessary, and frankly, it pisses me off how he thinks touching her like that is okay. Clearly, they don’t know each other, and touching her like that is a good way to get his fingers sliced off.

“Sax, look!” I yell, slapping his shoulder a little harder than necessary, but honestly, I’m pissed at how he isn’t keeping an eye on his sister in the first place. Wasn’t that the reason for coming tonight? He turns and narrows his eyes on Sage as we both watch the interaction unfold in front of us. I wish I knew what they were saying, but the way she’s smiling and laughing at whatever the fucker is saying has me burning up inside.

“Let’s go,” Sax says, as he downs his beer and slams in on the bar.

Finally.

We make our way through the crowd once again and come to a stop right behind the mystery man. Sage notices us right away, and I don’t miss the nervous glint in her eyes as she continues to talk to the guy.

“Who’s your friend, sis?” Saxon interrupts the man mid-sentence as he turns around to see who’s now hovering behind him. Sage doesn’t respond right away. Her eyes dart from Sax to me before clearing her throat.

“Oh, uhm, this is Dante. Dante, this is my brother, Saxon, and his friend, Saint.” She gives him a weak smile before glaring at the pair of us.

“Nice to meet you both,” Dante says, reaching out his hand for Sax to shake. He obliges, but when he reaches for mine, I just continue to glare at him.

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