Page 14 of Poison

She held up her wrists. "Notice anything missing?" No shackles!

My jaw dropped, and I wrapped my arms around her. "You paid off your debt?"

She squeezed me back tightly with a dazzling smile. "I'm fucking free, baby!"

"So, what did you do anyway?" Kitty asked grumpily.

"Stole a purse from Swappers' Village."

Kitty rolled her eyes. "That was dumb."

"Some of us aren't rich bitches like you. Sometimes if we want nice things, we have to fucking take them."

Ignoring Cherry, Kitty turned to me next. "What did you do?"

Swallowing hard, I steeled myself. It was none of her fucking business. "Mind yours."

"You know I can just look that shit up, right?"

Before I could respond, Cherry answered for me. "It's none of your fucking business, Kitty. Like he said, mind yours. It's not your issue." She clicked her nails. "You know what? You're killing the atmosphere. I'm here to party and celebrate with my angel over here, and you're ruining it by getting all nosy and stuff. Be gone."

The look on Kitty's face was priceless. Her hanging jaw was damned near to the ground. "Are you really kicking me out?"

"I said be gone. Don't make Starburst here kick your ass out. You'll never be allowed in this club again. The bouncers are zazzin; they'll be up here in the blink of an eye if he calls them."

Taking Cherry's threats seriously, Kitty got to her feet, grabbed her tiny purse, and stormed off in a huff. My friend wasn't lying, either; the bouncers would kick Kitty out if I even hinted that she was a problem.

A blonde waitress set down a tray filled with drinks, a white tray, a small dish filled with pale yellow powder, and a tiny black box with my stage name written on the tag. "Party favors on the house."

"Did you just get twelve drinks and a box of Nova?" Cherry asked in shock.

"Looks like it." Before I touched the drinks, I picked up the small box and opened it. Inside was a silver chain with tiny amethysts encrusted in the large links. It was fancy, that was for sure. I picked up one of the purple drinks and took a sip. A Poison Apple. One of my favorites.

"Who the hell gave you that?"

"Alex. It has to be Alex," I stated, leaning back and downing the rest of the drink.

"Alex? As in, the owner of this club, Alex? The creepy smiley guy?"

I chuckled, glad I wasn't the only one who found that man's smile a little off-putting. That obnoxious grin made me think he was plotting someone's murder. "I don't know who else would send it. Hobbs wants me to quit drinking, so there's no way he would. Plus, the waitress said it was on the house, so it has to be Alex."

"Did he give you that, too?" Cherry pointed at my choker.

I twirled the shimmering star charm. "Hobbs gave me this."

My friend started to speak but stopped when her eyes focused on something behind me. I glanced back to see Vic standing at the booth's entrance. "Can I join?"

I grinned widely. "Baby, you can pop in here any time."

With a smile, he took a seat next to me, and I felt his eyes run up and down my body. I would be lying if I said I didn't like it. "That's nice," he said, pointing to the choker.

"Thanks. My sponsor gave it to me."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah, he was likely trying to make up for the bullshit he put me through the other day. He does that sort of stuff."

"And you accepted it?"

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