Page 5 of Last One Standing
I waved my hand and scoffed. “Not for me, sweet cheeks. They’re friends of Leo’s. He asked for a favor. I’m nothing if not accommodating.”
His brows furrowed a fraction. “So, you don’t know who they are?”
“Not in the slightest. But Leo never asks for a thing, and he puts up with a lot.” I shrugged. “I didn’t see the harm, and they paid.”
“Huh.” He narrowed his gaze. He was searching for the lie, and ninety-nine percent of what I’d said was the truth. Only thing was, I knew they had done a favor for Leo, helped him out. I didn’t want Brick knowing anything about that and choking it out of Leo.
“Anything else, my king?” He loved that nickname the best, and a blooming smile spread across his stupid face.
“No…I’ll let you finish. See you out there.”
When he left, I released a breath I hadn’t known I was holding. I shook it off—I had a show to do, and I couldn’t worry about Leo’s friends or Leo right now.
CHAPTER THREE
ANGEL
I wantedto do anything other than what we were all about to do. I’d never been into clubs. Too many people, the smells, the loudness—none of it appealed to me. But anytime I’d voiced that I’d sit it out, it had turned into a thing, so I’d deal.
I wore what I’d wear anywhere, which only got me a stink-eye from JJ. The others didn’t care. Hell, my brothers weren’t wearing anything special, and I wasn’t sure why I was being singled out.
Phoenix and JJ were by far the most excited. Apparently, Anita Pounding was amazing, and this show was impossible to get into. I’d usually throw a text to Two telling him what I was doing and he’d probably say something like, “Bet you wish you were in a psych ward like me, huh?”
He wasn’t really in a psych ward, but he’d been watched and cared for when he was here. They’d let him have a phone but before he left with his family, he’d handed it back to me, smiled, and said, “I have to leave it all behind in order to rebuild, Angel.” It was the last thing he’d said to me.
“Hey!” Gabe shook my arm. “Did you hear me?”
“No. And touch me again—see what happens.”
He rolled his eyes. “We need to take two cars; there are too many of us. Want to drive one? I’ll drive the other.”
“Sure.”
On our way out, I passed the long mirror by the front door. Black jeans, burgundy shirt. My beard was trimmed, my skin…I was blessed. Two had once told me it was sinful how handsome I was and that if he were gay he’d totally try his hand. My dark-brown skin was even and flawless, I had no hair on my head—by choice, I liked it that way—and yeah…I looked good.
“When you’re done being vain, could we maybe make it to this show?” JJ appeared behind me in the mirror.
“If you’re in my car, I might drive us off a cliff.”
“You’d die too.”
I turned around and smiled. “It’s a price I’m willing to pay.”
JJ pursed his lips. “I’m going in Gabe’s car,” he shouted as he exited the house, and I followed behind him.
We had the option of parking an insane number of blocks away or paying a ridiculous amount of money to use the club’s valet service. No one wanted to walk forever to the car after the show, so we opted for the valet.
Once we were all at the entrance, JJ handed the bouncer a glittery red ticket with VIP written in golden cursive across it. He unhooked the rope, and we walked in. JJ and Phoenix were talking a mile a minute, pointing out the club’s features.
It was fancy…I wasn’t one for flowy words but what I’d expected, which was a typical club, was a black stage, scattered tables, a bar, and maybe a curtain and some lights.
This was not that. First of all, there was a gigantic chandelier in the middle of the house. I would not want to be the one to clean it; there had to be thousands of crystals on it.
The tables had white linen, and the chairs were gold and red. The booths matched the tables. The bar was a deep wood—maybe oak, I wasn’t sure—trimmed with gold and had liquor lined up on the shelves behind it.
There were stairs and a woman whose name I didn’t catch guided us to the VIP section, and it was insane.
It smelled like roses, which surprised me. There was a large round table with a red velvet booth on one side and chairs on the other. You could see the stage perfectly, and there was no doubt the performers would also see us.
