Page 74 of Lethal Vows

“Oh, by the way.” I linger at the door. “Happy Birthday. I hope you make it to your next.”

CHAPTER45

Crue

“You let her get this drunk?” I growl furiously to Dawson.

Rya’s chuckling to herself, a glass of champagne clutched in her hand. “You know, I was always told to be a good girl at these events,” she says to Dawson as if they’ve been friends forever. “Don’t say too much. Sit tall. Be in your room by ten. If you hear a noise, hide behind your bodyguard.” She points to me and snorts. “But who needs a guard when you always have a seriously pissed-off Monti at your side? I mean, seriously, look at him. He always looks like he’s just bitten into a lemon.”

I guarantee Dawson an intimate death with my gaze alone. He tries to pry the drink from her. “No offense, but how do you try to force her to do anything when she doesn’t want to?”

He hands her over to me. Well, shit, at least she can still stand on her own. Sort of.

“Are you having a mental break down?” I ask her.

She stands tall. Deadly serious as her gaze lands on me. “I don’t know, maybe I’m on my period again.”

Dawson barely hides his smirk as he quickly cuts off his chuckle.

“Dawson,” I grit out.

“You’ve got it rough, Crue. I’ll give you that.”

“I need to pee,” Rya announces.

I tilt my head to the sky with a silent prayer and curse under my breath. Of all the things I thought she might have gotten up to, this was not one of them. Nor would I condone her behavior. And I would certainly cut down anyone who dared take away from her fun.

“Crue, take me to the bathroom,” she whines, grabbing my elbow.

I have never dealt with this side of Rya.

And I’ve seen her drink a lot.

“How much did she drink?” I ask Dawson. He looks at the remains of three bottles of champagne.

“I only had four glasses,” he says.

“We were D and M-ing,” Rya says as if answering an unspoken question.

“Okay, princess.” I try not to laugh at her state because, well, smashed Rya is… adorable? There’s a word I never thought I would use to describe this venomous vixen.

“I’m going to take this woman to the bathroom, and then we’ll go.”

“No, I don’t want to go.” She pouts.

Dawson is hiding another smile.

“Fuck off, Dawson.”

He excuses himself as Francesca approaches us. I lead Rya to a private bathroom at the back of the house and closest to the pool. Music floods the room.

“That’s a nice bathtub,” she says in admiration as we stumble into the bathroom. “Remember those bath bombs you bought me? I threw them out.”

She stumbles over to the toilet and drops her panties before she sits.

“Wow, Rya,” I say, looking the other way.

“Oh, don’t be so weird about it. Everyone has to pee.”

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