“Insanity.” I laugh, and it had been. Complete insanity. The second the DJ had dropped the bass and cranked up the volume, our boys had sprung into action. The patrons didn’t know what to think at first. All drink orders had been stalled, and instantly, they had their heavily booted feet up on the glossy wood. They pulled back their drinks and the surface was cleared for them. Even I could appreciate the show knowing that it was my brainchild that had held the masses captive and hypnotized as the guys moved like whatever was in front of them was a naked woman ready and willing to be fucked … hard.
“I think they’re starting to anticipate them now. Every time we inch closer to the top of another hour, drinks start being pulled off the bar before Thorn even has a chance to drop the beat.”
I nod. “You going to get out there tonight?” I ask him.
“No clue. Are you?”
I turn my back to the crowd beyond my window and lean back against the glass. “Depends, my friend. If the mood strikes, maybe. Not sure I see anyone worth getting up there and shaking my ass for anyway.”
Shane laughs, dropping his hand heavy on my back. “Yeah, something tells me that motivation isn’t going to be an issue for you,” he oddly says and walks back to the doorway. “Let’s go join the party, brother.”
The second he opens the heavy steel door, the music thumps and pounds through the once silent space. A familiar rush of adrenaline fills my body as we both stalk down the stairs together and into the overheated floor. I see, but ignore, the females around us as they turn and attempt to gain our attention. I continue through the pulsing bodies that litter the massive open space and walk toward the bar.
“Yo, Nate,” Dent yells over the music, and when I turn my head toward him, he slides a shot down the sleek wooden surface.
My hand shoots out and grabs the glass right when I hear Logan yell, “Bottoms up.” Without thought, I bring the liquor to my lips. The burn travels down my throat, and when I settle the shot glass back on the bar, Travis is already there with the bottle of tequila in his hand, refilling it instantly.
I ignore the chick to my right and turn to look around the room. The small smile that had been playing on my lips drops when I see the woman dancing just a few feet in front of me.
“What the fuck,” I mumble, dropping the once again empty glass down and stalking forward.
I look around when I lose her in the crowd, but continue to stomp through the crowd to the other side of the club where the other dance floor is moving like one giant wave to the music.
I see her again and instantly fume.
“You want to tell me what the fuck you’re doing here,” I rumble low in my throat when my head dips down until my mouth is right next to her ear and grab her by her forearm.
The thin arm is pulled from my grasp when she turns around. I stand back and cross my arms over my chest and wait for her to talk.
“What is your problem,” she yells over the music.
“My problem?” I yell at her and bend down so that I don’t have to scream over the noise. “My problem, dear sister, is that you’re in my club dressed like … that,” I tell her and point my finger at her dress. “Does your husband know you’re here?”
She narrows her eyes and stops dancing to stand up on her toes and get in my fucking face.
“He sure does and I’ll have you know that he will be here later.”
I drop my head back and look up at the ceiling. I should have known they wouldn’t stay away. It’s not that I don’t want them here, I do, but not if I have to look out for her while he’s not here.
“Plus, we’re celebrating,” she yells before dropping down on her impossibly tall heels and dancing again.
“Celebrating what?”
Her smile goes all wonky and shit. She looks downright fucking evil.
“Ember’s birthday, big brother,” she tells me with a pat against my chest before spinning around and vanishing through the thick crowd.
Ember’s birthday.
And then it hits me.
Ember’s twenty-first birthday.
Fucking shit.
And if I know my sister and her gang of misfits, she’s up to something a lot bigger than just celebrating. Of all the places they could have ended up tonight, they picked my fucking club knowing damn well that things between Ember and me are one giant mess. Dani isn’t stupid, and since she was the first person I ran into after my chat with Locke the other night, she knows exactly what’s going on between us.
With a single-minded determination, I start to scan the room for Dani, Ember, or any of the other girls that I’m sure are tagging along for the showdown they’re hoping for.
Each pass my eyes makes around the room just coils the tension in my gut tighter until I’m determined to find them and kick them out. If I were smart, I would find Shane and make him take care of it … but clearly, I’m not of sound mind because the second my eyes lock on Ember, I know the last thing I’m going to do is let her walk away from me again.
I feel my cock jump when I see past the group dancing between where I’m standing and she is laughing with the girls around one of the tables just off the dance floor. Then I get my first good look when the definition of living sin meets my eyes.