Page 80 of A Dark Duet

“Wow,” Kyle whispers.

She walks like an angel with wings when the hook drops down the runway with over-the-knee black velvet boots and a bodysuit that has a dangerous slit down the middle. The lights turn on and a glow is cast on her body as she struts down the runway. A fan turns on, blowing her platinum straight hair like a gust of wind.

My stomach clenches in a vise as the girl I let go, the one that is above all others, is here dancing with her beautiful body on display. In front of all the men in the room, I wish I could claw their eyes out.

“Is that? Holy shit,” Nick says.

Nick glances at me and Jake lowers his gaze. My expression must reveal everything that I’m feeling. Anger, regret, sadness, and self-loathing. My eyes water, my nostrils flare, my chest rising and falling. Fuck. I swipe my hand over my face, not believing my eyes. Hoping this is a dream.

She stops as the music is over and the next song is about to play. She notices me at our table but then her head snaps toward the man I now despise with every fiber of my being. She slides the straps holding the wings and the motherfucker stands to help her. His fingers slide down her delicate arms, removing the elastic with familiarity. Intimacy. The rage boils inside my veins.

“Chill, Jaden,” Nick says.

She stands, but the expression on her face is not adoration or love. It’s cold, dark, and empty. Her eyes find mine and it guts me, tearing my insides to shreds like a meat grinder. She averts her gaze and what I see there terrifies me. That is not my Brie. My Brie smiles and looks human. The Brie in front of me is a shell. When you look into her beautiful eyes there’s nothing inside. My hands grip the glass, and it feels like I’m about to break it into tiny shards.

“Still Your Girl,” by Fleurie plays and she grips the pole with the soft voice echoing through the room. The song bleeds from inside her, speaking to everyone watching.

She feeds the cinematic silence of the darkness inside the room when she climbs the pole to the dangerous height above, every eye in the room is aimed at her perfection. When the song drops the hook, she slides down at a dangerous speed, stopping right before she could touch the floor, ending the song lying on the floor with her back arched and her arms spread out wide like a flying angel.

“I have never seen shit like that,” Jake says with his mouth agape.

“You are not helping, Jake,” Kyle whisper-yells.

I’m silent, watching intently. She must have one more song because she is waiting. Her body still and every breath in the room is held. You can feel it.

A familiar artist plays that I’ve heard before when she danced with Giselle.

“Ultraviolence” by Lana del Ray plays and the words echo, bleeding her pain. It’s haunting. A darkness more sinister than my own. It pours out of her. I realize I didn’t just hurt her, I obliterated what was left of her. She’s back dancing in a roomful of potential predators that will use her.

This is how she is surviving. I fed her to the wolves. The small light that she had is gone.

In my selfishness, I failed her. She was never supposed to come back to this life. She is too smart and beautiful to be here. A woman with her past shouldn’t be in a place like this.

That asshole next to me knows who I am for obvious reasons, but his smirk tells me one thing. He knows I know Brie and the type of relationship we had. His smirk is one of triumph and I played right into it. My eyes are trained on her fluid body movements as she begins to remove the barely there body suit and I frown.

“Is she taking that off?” Nick asks.

She slides the body suit completely off and is left in tights, a bikini, and pasties with her gorgeous breasts on display. My dick is suddenly rock hard in my designer jeans, straining against the zipper.

“Fuck,” Jake says and out of respect, the guys try to look away. My fists clench in my lap and I’m a mess. My emotions are all over the place, mixed with arousal and anger. The anger aimed mostly at myself and the dipshit one table over practically claiming her. Like she is his property.

The asshole looks my way when her set is over, and she walks from the stage.

“Our queen of darkness, Coco.” It can be heard through the overhead speaker and every asshole in the room gives her a standing ovation.

After fifteen minutes, she walks out by the tables in a silk robe with sexy mink heels. Her blonde hair is longer in platinum waves contrasted against her gold sun-kissed skin. My cock thickens painfully as my eyes outline the firmness of her breasts under her robe. My gaze travels down her thighs, noticing the robe is short. With each step forward, I catch a glimpse of her lace shorts concealing her pussy. Jake glances at me nervously because he knows I’m livid.

“Get me a room with her now. I don’t care what they charge. Now,” I growl.

“I’ll be right back. Let me see what I can do,” Jake says, getting up and walking toward a tall, built man in a suit that must be the manager.

She passes by our table and when I glance up at her, my heart breaks into a million pieces. She looks at me with emptiness and hate. A darkness mixed with no emotion and a dose of pain. Kyle and Nick try to smile at her to ease the tension, but she doesn’t smile.

She just says, “I heard about your fight. Congratulations on your win.” Her head tilts in the asshole’s direction. After a few tense seconds, she says, “If you will excuse me, someone’s waiting for me.”

Before she leaves, I circle my hand around her wrist, halting her. She pulls it from my grasp like she was burned. “Don’t touch me,” she seethes.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I need to talk to you.”

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