Page 12 of Cursed

Chill, he ordered himself, fixing a firm smile on his face as he approached the trio. The Markses watched carefully from a few yards away. They were playing this simple and open, no overt security needed.

“Vince!” Marguerite saw him first, but he didn’t miss how Edeena’s head came up, the relief on her face that he was there. That made him feel better than it should. He’d been in the security business for going on ten years now—it wasn’t like him to care one way or another about a pretty face. Why was he so drawn to this one?

“Countesses,” he nodded as he approached. He said the word quietly, and the younger Saleris beamed, while Edeena rolled her eyes. No one around them heard the term, but he needed to get them inside the main part of the club if he wanted that to last.

“The game tonight, ladies, is to avoid anyone who wants to make a spectacle of you. You’re here to enjoy yourselves, mingle, dance, not to help the Cypress promote itself. If you feel pressured by any of the staff, you walk away. If someone announces your presence on the mic, you ignore it. The kind of attention they’ll want to lavish on you isn’t the kind you want, trust me.”

Edeena stared hard at her sisters as Vince spoke, and to his surprise, neither one of them objected. Once again, he wondered how controlled their lives had been back in Garronia.

Garronia. Even the name of the place sounded ridiculous. Who would believe that a seaside kingdom still existed in today’s day and age, let alone one that was snugged up between Turkey and Greece that hadn't been blown up during the crossfire of the interminable wars in the area?

Vince shook his head as he watched Cindy and Rob take up their positions on either side of the younger Saleris. Edeena stepped naturally to his side, and he snaked his arm around her as they entered the glittering lightshow of the Sea Witch.

He heard Marguerite’s laugh—barely—and smiled despite himself as they trooped all the way to the table he’d staked out beyond the dance floor. In the wild, artificial light of the club, the Saleri sisters seemed to glitter even more brightly, and they’d no sooner reached the table than purses and clutches were dropped and the two younger sisters grabbed Cindy’s hand and pulled her out on the dance floor. Rob followed, but Vince’s eyes were on Edeena. Instead of heading for the dance floor as well, she slipped into the banquette seat of the round table, then turned her attention to her sisters.

Vince settled in opposite her, watching her as much as the room around her. He’d expected this to be how the evening played out—the younger women dancing and drinking, and Edeena setting up court nearby, watching like a worried mama bear. Only she wasn’t worried, exactly. Not here. Not with his team in place. He’d provided that moment of freedom of her, away from the father who seemed to hold them all in such an iron fist, and even more so away from the insane curse that had followed them around since they were born.

Tonight, it was as if Edeena was shrugging off a heavy coat of worry, and as she watched her sisters, a smile of genuine joy lit her face. Her entire expression seemed to swell with pride and admiration and a fierce love for Caroline and Marguerite, and Vince had the sudden sense of knowing that there was nothing she wouldn’t do for her sisters, her family. Even if it meant confronting this so-called curse head on.

A kernel of resentment formed in Vince as he turned that truth over in his mind. It wasn’t his place to make Edeena’s life harder than it already was, but she was being unreasonable, flat out. It was like she was willing to throw her whole life away before she’d even lived it.

If she hadn’t kissed him earlier in the day, then maybe he could believe that she was meant to be the older sister, the responsible one, willing to give up everything so that her sisters lives would be easily. But she had kissed him. Kissed him and turned his entire body inside out as he’d felt her body lean into his, tasted the salt and sunshine on her lips, smelled the honeysuckle and lavender in her hair. Edeena Saleri was made to enjoy life, not merely ensure that her sisters did.

And just like that, an idea formed in his mind.

It wasn’t necessarily a good idea, but it was an excellent decision, all the same.

“Edeena!” Vince blinked as Marguerite trotted up to the table, waving a black and red keycard at them. “No more sitting off to yourself. They have private VIP rooms here, and we’ve got a free pass to go see!”

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