Page 99 of Play Fast (Brooklyn Dawn 2)

She liked it. You know she did. She’s handled everything you dished out and came back for more.

It didn’t matter. No wonder Kerry hadn’t wanted us together. Clearly, Ever couldn’t fathom the idea either. We didn’t fit. Oh, we might for a while, but in the long run, we weren’t suited. Daisy would be the one who paid the price if I didn’t do the right thing for the first time in my godforsaken life.

Ever stared at me, her lips parting. “Wait, what happened between you two?”

“You don’t know?”

Ever frowned. “I know my sister has some explaining to do, if I can even find her.”

“I’ll find her.”

I turned toward the man who had inadvertently caused all of this. “Sean, she’s already pissed enough at you.”

His dark brow winged up. “Think you rang that bell, mate, not me.”

“You were supposed to be unobtrusive, remember? Undetected. Christ, I paid you more for that.”

“I tried, but she’s jumpy. She kept looking back. Hard to tail someone without being in their sphere. Besides, why didn’t you tell her you hired a guard for her? I thought you wanted her to have a measure of security, and the way to do that isn’t to make her afraid all over again.”

I gripped the back of my neck. He was so right. “She wasn’t supposed to see you.”

“I’m not a shapeshifter, mate. I have a physical form.”

Ever snorted out a laugh. “Don’t you realize the whole universe is supposed to do Oz’s bidding? Especially once he pays you off.” Slowly, she shook her head. “I should know. You even paid me.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. I’d kind of blocked that out of my head. “I hoped you’d forgotten.”

“You really thought I’d forget my sister’s frenemy offering me a hundred bucks to babysit my own sister? When she’s the older one?”

“It wasn’t for babysitting,” I muttered as that dark brow of Sean’s climbed once again.

We’d met in college and had kept in contact since then. He’d been a foreign exchange student from London who returned after graduation and opened his own security firm, a fact I’d paid little mind to until my genius idea at the fan club show.

“No, you wanted me to stick close to her and make sure she was okay. Which might’ve been sweet if you hadn’t been a royal dick to her at Kerry’s funeral and probably every time since.”

“Give him a break. He’s hopelessly inept with the ladies. Has been ever since university.” Sean tapped his chin. “I think he’s gotten even worse.”

I wanted to argue. But the results couldn’t be disputed.

“Are you going to go find Daisy?” I demanded instead.

“I’ll find my sister. As if she’d want to see either of you again.”

“It would be more efficient if I went,” Sean said, already moving away.

“Oh, more efficient for your paycheck? Too bad, boyo. She doesn’t need to be any more upset.”

“Sean, give me a call if you find her.”

Neither of them paid me any mind. They continued to argue as they descended to the main area of the club and disappeared.

I rubbed my brow. Great. Now I had to face my band and pretend I had any interest in partying when at least half of them had heard Daisy call me out for fucking and dumping her. In pretty much exactly those words.

I’d go outside, get my bearings, deal with the shitstorm my life had become. And if any photographers happened to be lingering outside…

Nope. Not tonight. Tonight, you’re going to work on not being a tabloid target.

I strode outside, waving off the couple of people who tried to approach me, especially of the female variety. I’d visited this club with the band a few times. Each of those times in the distant past, I’d found a gorgeous woman to go home with for the night.

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