Page 8 of Dangerously Yours

My father had never told me goodbye. As time passed, I wasn’t sure whether it was a blessing or a curse. I only knew I had been lucky to have been raised by Ronald and Laura who made sure to bring me up differently than they had their own son. There had been so much loss in the earlier parts of my life, but I had thrived despite it all, and Armand Saint had a lot to do with it, too. Best friends with my grandfather, I often spent time around him, soaking up his knowledge and life lessons. Some might have held their son’s death against me as it was my mother he had died with, but there had never been any of that. For that reason only, I had agreed to attend this party, and planned on staying longer than my friends and I usually did at these types of events.

“Damn, I can’t believe that all of you grew up around people like this,” Romeo pointed out as we stood around the table stacked with whiskey.

Romeo was from Southern Texas, and he had a very modest upbringing. It reminded me a lot of what I was told my own mother’s life had been like, but he was nothing like her. When he had gotten drafted, and his star power grew, he was initiated into the world of the Titans, and a success story for the ages. A lot of our customs were not ones he was familiar with, but over time, he had adjusted and was like a breath of fresh air at parties like this one.

“It definitely wasn’t fun,” Callum said. “These people are as fake as can be.”

He had grown up a Titan, but had told us about the constant fighting his parents did. It reminded me a lot of my own youth, only his parents didn’t lose their fucking minds as mine had. Daxon and Gabriel had grown up in very loving homes, and Gabe and I had been inseparable since childhood. His parents had essentially helped my grandparents with me, and I could still remember the different pieces of advice that Franklin Blake would give to us, even when we didn’t want to hear it.

Everyone had their own story. We might have appeared to have glamorous lives, but there was a lot that the outside world never saw. Most crimes were swept under the rug, and there was no such thing as loyalty. I had learned that early on, and I was still constantly reminded of that today. As if I needed yet another reminder of that, all I had to do was look over at Cade Davis who was currently with a redhead I recognized from the society columns.

Rita Berman was young, and promiscuous, as she had been with at least a half dozen of the men in this room alone. At first, I thought Cade might have just been friendly with her, but the way his hand rested on the small of her back, and how hewould whisper things into her ear made me think the two were planning their early exit.

For the most part, the Titans did more good than harm in their communities, but there were a handful that gave the rest of us a bad name. Lucy Davis’s husband was one of them. I narrowed my eyes and continued to watch them both. It hadn’t been that long since I had helped the man’s wife carry her groceries upstairs. It wasn’t the only thing I remembered about that afternoon, and my cock hardened. Lulu had been wearing white, and it was probably the first time I had noticed her in a non-platonic way. Nothing could ever come of it, especially seeing as she was married, but if I ever changed my mind about that sort of thing, I could certainly participate in some sort of payback for her husband.

Cade was now running his hand down the woman’s dress, and I finally turned my head away from them. “This party blows,” I muttered.

“Well, the sooner we give our congratulations to Armand, the faster we can be out of here,” Callum said.

“Yeah, the Vault’s calling my name,” Daxon added, and Romeo’s face lit up.

“It sure as hell beats this place,” the blond said.

“I know.” Gabriel grabbed another tumbler of scotch, and we all followed.

After slamming them back, we decided to find the man of the hour. He was deeply engrossed in conversation with some others we knew, and as we held back and waited, it became obvious that whatever they were discussing wasn’t going to stop soon, so we left the party and headed to the club.

We got our normal VIP table in the front where we could keep our eyes on not only the dance floor to the left of us, but also the stage front and center. No matter what city I visited, if there was a Vault there, I had to make an appearance. It was the next best thing after having one at home. Two dancers had left the stage right before we had arrived, and as the music started back up, we all turned to the stage to see two more strutting out toward us.

Since we frequented this club often, we had come to know all the dancers by name. Tonight’s current entertainment was Fifi and Gaylene. Both were brunettes with large tits that bounced when they walked, but stayed perky throughout their dances. It was safe to assume that one of the area’s plastic surgeons had a hand in those. They were both dressed in white, and their long hair slicked back and put in long ponytails. They resembled one of the more popular singers out right now, and even had the small skirts to match.

“Damn, Gaylene’s looking fine as hell tonight,” Romeo said after letting out a low whistle. The woman was Hispanic, and seeing as they were both of Mexican descent, I was sure they had plenty in common. Knowing my best friend, however, he only cared about what they shared in bed.

I shook my head. Gabriel and Callum were both eyeing the stage, but no one that could come prancing out would be better than the women they had at home waiting on them. Sometimes, I would wonder what it was like to have that monogamy. It did tend to get tiring, seducing woman after woman, but there was also no hard feelings the next morning when I would leave with no promises to call or keep in touch. My friends had once lived the same life until they hooked up with Harper Grimes and Nicole Courtland.

It was still crazy to think of Callum with Jonas’s niece. We knew the redhead Titan for over a decade. He had been worse than any of us when it came to women. The closest to carry on his legacy after he had gotten with his now wife, had been Callum. Now, it looked like Romeo was poised to be next. As my gaze moved from him to our other single friend, perhaps Daxon would surprise us all and step into that role.

“You have the same look on your face that you did when we were at the Saint party,” the psychiatrist said. “Hell, if these hotties don’t get the blood pumping, then I don’t know what?—”

“It’s nothing like that.” I slammed back my drink, then motioned for another. After slamming that back, I saw the others looking curiously at me. “What?”

“He’s been acting distracted all day,” Callum finally said.

“I’ve wanted to ask him more than once what the hell is wrong,” Gabriel added.

“It’s like someone pissed in his cornflakes,” Romeo said.

“Hey, guys. I’m sitting right here,” I told them after they started to talk about me as if I wasn’t at their table. “Maybe I could focus better on these dancers if you all would quit your damn gossiping.”

They had been talking about the party, and things they had noticed, but they were not as bad as I made them out to be in my teasing. Gabriel flipped me off, making me chuckle. I turned away from all of them though, and looked up at the dancers leaving the stage. I had missed their entire performance, but when the next dancer sauntered out with her usual red outfit, I grinned. Cherry Gladden had been a dancer at the club for a little over three years. She was a single mother of two, who wascurrently enrolled in a junior college. I had first met her when at her son’s school for an assembly two years earlier, then saw her a few nights later at this very club. Cherry was a redhead, and she had a smoking hot body to match.

As I thought about slightly older women with hot bodies, my mind immediately turned to Lucy Davis. I had never really looked at her before, but since our encounter, that had all changed. Now, when I saw pictures of her on the society pages, I actually focused on her instead of others. It made me wonder what the hell Cade was thinking being at the party without his wife, and with someone else instead.

That type of gathering was the exact type his wife would have accompanied him to, but it wasn’t my issue. She wasn’t my concern, and neither was he. Right now, I needed to focus on the present, and as the redhead crawled across the stage toward me, I grinned. She was undulating in front of me, her lithe body enticing not only myself, but the other high rollers in the club, and at my table. We all pulled some bills out, and she stayed centralized to us, until the song ended.

We placed some of those bills into her G-string, but before she could move away, Daxon crooked his finger at her. She made her way to him, and her eyes lit up over whatever he was telling her. It was only when she winked at me, and mouthed the words ‘ten minutes’ that I realized what it had been about.

“Go ahead, Noah. You look like you need a private distraction,” he said, and I shrugged.

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