Page 43 of First Comes Revenge

He’s in a suit that looks like it could belong to an actual ringmaster, and he’s giving me total Hugh Jackman fromThe Greatest Showmanvibes. He’s even got a little walking stick and a big hat of his own.

I reach down and fiddle with the hemline on my ass, which is far moreaggressivethan any swimsuit I would ever wear in public. Half my butt is hanging out and I feel ridiculous.

“Quit fiddling,” he says softly. He puts his hand on my shoulder and smirks as he lifts the monkey-headed top of his walking stick to my chin and presses up, making me meet his eyes. “We’re following the plan. You look so fucking good it hurts. You’re going to make Vaughn want to crawl out of his own skin tonight. This is payback. Remember? We’re getting him back for being a giant ball of cocks.”

I smile, nodding. “He is a giant ball of cocks.”

“That’s right.” Jameson bends a little and reaches around to give my ass a healthy squeeze. “And I love this costume on you. Everybody is going to wish you were on their arm instead of mine tonight. I plan to drink that in.”

My smile widens. He’s so confident. Every guy I’ve ever been with before would see me showing up in something like this as a threat. They’d be scolding me for wearing something so provocative or accuse me of seeking attention. Jameson seems to have no fear at all of me straying. Is that because he doesn’t have any real plans of making this thing between us last beyond tonight? Or is it because he’s so sure it will work he’s not worried about what could go wrong?

“Okay,” I say softly.

He gives his staff two triumphant clicks on the ground, then gestures forward with it. I’m realizing I may have to take that thing away from him before the night is over. He’s having entirely too much fun with it. There’s something about men and sticks. I’ve always thought if you abandoned a man by a body of water with plenty of good sticks to find and big rocks to throw, he would be entertained for weeks.

We head through the lobby of the hotel, following a trickle of costumed people who seem to know where they’re going. The sound of music and voices gets louder as we get close. I’m a little relieved to see I’m not the only woman who went the “slutty” route. There are plenty of girls in revealing costumes throughout the room.

They’ve decorated the whole place with classy Halloween decor. There’s an ice sculpture of a bat, people in professional makeup and costumes posing near the exits and the drink table, a bartender making some kind of orange and black mixed drink, and even a full haunted house built up in the back corner of the room.

I can’t help clapping my hands with excitement, momentarily forgetting my nerves. “This is insane!”

Jameson nods. “I always throw a little personal donation towards making these things more fun. If we left it up to the Vanderlesh prick, it would be all cardboard cutouts of bats and big jugs of fruit punch from Costco. For a filthy rich asshole, the guy is painfully cheap. He also doesn’t appreciate a good Halloween party.”

“I like that you do,” I say. My arm is hooked in his, and I give it a little squeeze.

Then I squeeze harder, because I spot Vaughn and Aubrey by the drink table. They’re talking to a pair of men. Aubrey is wearing a leather one-piece with a bunny tail and bunny ears. She looks good in it, and Vaughn has his hand on the small of her back with his pinky splayed to rest on the swell of her ass.

I’m a little surprised when I don’t even feel the ghost of jealousy to see them together. Vaughn is dressed in a normal business suit but he has devil horns poking out of his hair and a tail coming out from beneath his jacket.

“Doing alright?” Jameson asks.

“I’m good,” I say.

Nolan interrupts the moment when he walks up. He’s dressed in a huge dog onesie with a hood that pulls up, complete with ears and a big, floppy tail. It’s ridiculous and surprisingly funny, considering my impression of Nolan as a buttoned-up workaholic. “You two really went all-out. Damn.” He lifts up Jameson’s staff and seems to make a point of hardly looking my way. I’m grateful, considering I feel like I’m half naked right now. “This is a nice fucking stick,” he says.

I bite my lip, looking between the two of them as they spend a full thirty seconds going back and forth about how well balanced and “satisfying” it is to hold. It’s probably a good thing that men are the ones who wound up with dicks. It’s like they were all given one built in stick for emergencies.

“I’m Nolan, by the way,” he says once he finally peels his attention from the walking stick. “Jameson’s more talented business partner. I don’t think we’ve officially met.”

He holds out his hand for me to shake and pointedly keeps his eyes on mine. They don’t wander one bit. I don’t consider myself to be some impossible to resist seductress, but I admire the man for not gawking at my obviously attention-seeking costume. He must be a good friend to Jameson. “Hi. I’m Charli.”

“Jameson has tried to avoid telling me much about you,” Nolan says. “But his attempts to keep you secret kind of tell me all I need to know. He must really like you.”

“And he’s standing right here,” Jameson says. “Thank you for introducing yourself, Nolan. Now kindly fuck off. We have mixing to do.”

“I also want to say I’m sorry about your story. I’m really hoping we’re able to pry it back from Landmark’s hands and publish it for you.” Nolan takes one last longing look at the walking stick, then heads off to join a circle of men in costume who are having an animated discussion about something.

“So,” I say. We stop by a table full of finger foods. Jameson is happily filling a plate with a little bit of everything. I just stay at his side, holding his stick for him while he loads up because I’m too nervous to eat right now. I have to admit itisa nice stick. There’s something about the weight of it that is satisfying, and–nope.I’m not going to get caught up in how nice this stupid stick is.

“What’s the deal with all the joint stuff between Gray Wolfe and Landmark, anyway?” I ask. “If you guys hate each other so much, I don’t see the point in mixing.”

Jameson shrugs. “Before things got so tense, it was kind of a peacemaking idea. Nolan suggested it. I think Griffon only agreed because he wanted to use these to try to poach employees and ideas from us.”

“And you’ve kept it up all these years?”

“The poaching goes both ways. Besides, I love a good rivalry. It’s fun to hate their guts. I think Griffon sees these as an opportunity to remind us how behind they’ve put us.”

I shake my head. “If it’s anything like the way I’ve felt toward Vaughn since the breakup, I’d say it’s more like mentally exhausting. I can’t imagine willfully keeping it going for so long.”

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