Page 64 of The Dollhouse

Figuring it was someone commenting on my ass since I was bent over, I straightened out, ready to give them a smile while simultaneously telling them off—I’d realized with Roman as the owner of the Dollhouse, I could get away with a lot. But, when I stood straight and turned around, locking eyes with the man who’d coughed, my good mood vanished into thin air, disappearing immediately.

The person who stood there staring at me… the guy whose familiar gaze bore into me through the dim lighting of the Dollhouse was not someone I ever thought I’d see again, mostly because I thought I left him behind, just like I’d left everything behind.

My heart pounded in my chest as I looked at him. Bryan.

He looked just as I remembered. Tall, built well, but not overly muscled like Carter or Roman. His dark brown hair was a bit too long, and it hung over his forehead, covering his amber eyes from view. His mouth was no more than a thin line on his square jaw, and I felt my stomach twist in apprehension.

I didn’t say hello, and neither did he. The only thing I could say was: “How did you find me?” Because that’s the only thing that mattered. I left my phone, tossed my credit and debit cards in the trash after pulling out some cash to get me out of Hillcrest. How the hell was he here now? Was this some twisted nightmare?

This could not be happening, but it was. No matter how many times I blinked, no matter how badly I wished this wasn’t happening, it was. Bryan was here, standing before me, giving me the strangest look he could.

Probably because I wore next to nothing.

Or my pink hair.

Or the giant tattoo on my side.

Okay, so I’d changed a lot since I left Hillcrest, but that was mainly because I was sick of the old Zoey. I’d turned a new leaf here, pushed my boundaries, and found who I really wanted to be—and that someone did not belong with a cheater.

“Can we talk somewhere else?” Bryan spoke, his hands hanging limply at his sides. He wore a thin jacket over a polo shirt, the kind of shirt he’d wear to the country club when he was meeting me. The kind of shirt I could easily remember helping him get out of time and time again, back when I was oblivious.

Go somewhere else with him? Somewhere private? Fuck that.

“No,” I said, and his expression darkened. Or maybe that was the shadows of the club, but still. Going anywhere with him right now was the absolute last thing I wanted to do. “Tell me how you found me, Bryan.” I said it firmer this time, hoping he would fess up.

He stepped toward me, an air of superiority about him, one I never noticed before. Too smug, too stuck-up and haughty. How the fuck did I ever find this ass attractive? The million-dollar question. “You should know nothing is impossible as long as you have the cash and the connections. I hired a PI to find you when you didn’t come back. Your family told me to wait for you to come back, that you had nowhere to go, but I couldn’t wait.”

Wow. They all thought I’d fail out in the world on my own, so they weren’t even looking for me. They didn’t care. They thought I’d come home with my tail tucked between my legs and that everything would go back to normal.

Fuck—and I could not stress this enough—that.

Ignoring the fact that this was quite stalker-ish and such an invasion of privacy, I asked, “Why? You were fucking my sister. You already had a Marbella; you didn’t need me, too.”

“Zoey, you didn’t even give me a chance to explain.” Bryan sighed, taking yet another step closer. I tried to back up, but my legs hit the table I’d just been cleaning.

We were in the back of the club, far enough away from the doors and the bouncer, but I could tell Jamie noticed something was wrong here, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw her leave her station behind the bar, going to grab our muscle.

“Explain?” I echoed, chuckling bitterly. “Explain what? You were going behind my back to fuck my little sister, and you were doing it for months!” The gall of this guy, seriously. To find me here, to come here… all so he could try to explain away why he was balls-deep in my sister? Yeah, that wasn’t going to work.

Bryan frowned, reaching for me. I tried to pull away, but he managed to grab my wrist. “Please,” he said. “Let’s just go somewhere and talk—”

Right then Jamie appeared, the Dollhouse’s bouncer beside her. I forgot his name, since I didn’t often talk to him, but he was a huge, intimidating fellow. He had his arms crossed, his bulging muscles calling everyone’s attention. Bryan was slow to release me, though he did not step away from me; the asshole pretty much blocked my escape route, standing between me and Jamie and the bouncer.

“It’s time for you to leave,” the bouncer spoke, huffing out the words and generally being as threatening as possible.

Bryan, though, didn’t look impressed. “No, I need to talk to my girlfriend.”

Girlfriend? This stupid fuck still thought I was his girlfriend after everything he did? Wow. This guy… he was on his own level of stupidity.

“Well,” Jamie spoke, giving him an attitude right back, “it doesn’t look like she wants to talk to you at all, so I’d listen to what Keven here said and get out—otherwise he’ll drag your ass out of here and toss that pretty face on the pavement outside.”

Crystal must’ve got Autumn out of the back, for around the bouncer and Jamie, I was able to see them both heading this way, along with… fuck. Along with two other people who decided to come to the Dollhouse tonight.

Carter and Roman.

Could this night get any messier?

They made a beeline to us. Autumn was the first to arrive, stepping between the bouncer and Jamie, sizing up Bryan as she said, “Is something wrong here?” Her black hair was pulled in a tight bun, her thin figure wearing a pantsuit, along with heels that had to be at least four inches high.

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