Page 12 of Dark Love

Which is kind of fair since I almost did.

“Isn’t this the best!!!” Mindy scoots around the limo. “There’s a full bar in here.”

Great. Just great. Bars and I don’t seem to do well together.

“Top shelf stuff.” She lifts a bottle out of a little cabinet.

The window between the front and back opens and our bouncer babysitter turns around. “Addresses.”

Mindy and Diane rattle theirs off without hesitation.

“And yours.”

I fold my arms over my chest. Nope. Not going to happen. There’s no way I’m going to tell any of them where I live. Work is hard enough without them knowing everything about me.

“Prue is staying with me.” Mindy fills in the dead space.

Our bouncer babysitter doesn’t look convinced, but he closes the window, and the limo starts to move.

“Are you afraid of him knowing where you live?”

Vex? No. I’m afraid of you guys finding out, but I don’t wanna say that so I just shrug.

“Vex can find out anything he wants about anyone he wants in less time than it takes him to snap his fingers. They say he has spies everywhere.”

“You’re not helping Diane.” Mindy pours herself a drink.

“What? It’s true. There’s no point in her acting all shy. If Vex wants to see her again, he’s going to see her.”

“He doesn’t!” Well, that came out a bit more forceful than I wanted.

“We believe you.” Mindy shakes her head and hands a drink to Diane. “Fifty bucks says they’re sleeping together in a month.”

WHAT?!?

Diane laughs. “Two weeks. Vex is persistent.”

They have both gone off the deep end. “Neither of you knows anything about me.”

“Don’t need to. We know Vex. Well, we don’t know Vex… We know of Vex. You’re just going to have to accept what fate has in store for you.”

This is insane. “You know what? I’ll take that bet.” And since I know they’ll both lose it isn’t even gambling. “Vex and I won’t be having sex in a week or a month.”

They laugh.

“Easiest fifty I’ve ever made.” Mindy swirls her drink. “You’re getting all our drinks when we visit his club too, when you lose.”

“Deal.” Hopefully, when they lose, some of their sanity will come back in relation to me.

“Talking about guys, do you see it going anywhere permanent with Tac?” Mindy thankfully changes the conversation, allowing me to relax a bit for the first time and arrange for a car to pick me up at her apartment building.

There’s so much about me these girls just don’t understand. Vex and I could never work out even if he was interested in me, which he isn’t. Not that I would date a crime lord. What kind of title is that? Those types of people live in the shadows, trying to evade the police. They don’t own legit businesses. Does heown the club? Maybe he just runs his secret underground crime organization from this club and people are too afraid to say anything about it.

Vex would definitely make an excellent mob boss or gun runner supplying oppressed people in third-world countries with the guns they need to fight for their freedom while acting as a spy for governments around the world.

Endless possible stories run through my head and each of them features Vex as the hero, not the villain.

The car stops briefly, and Diane hops out with a wave. “See you guys at work. Tonight was a blast.”

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