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  Toussaint looks relieved, and a smile lights up his face as he looks behind me. I turn and see David coming toward us with Mimi. She removed her veil and some of the frills she wore in church. She’s even more stunning in her simple white dress. Come to think of it, it reminds of the dress she used to wear when she stripped—very virginal and pure. That was why she was a big success in the club—every time she stripped it felt as if it was her first time. Prince elbows me not so softly and winks. I think he read my mind. But tonight, Mimi’s show will be a private one, and I’m happy for her that she’s limited her audience this way.

  “I’m so happy you decided to come,” Mimi says. “I was sure you and Dmitry could ignore MC rivalry for one evening and make nice with the Tornadoes.”

  “Make nice?” Prince growls then guffaws. “Honey, I promise I will. Yes, ma’am. I do love the playdate you organized for me tonight. You can be sure I’m ready to play nice with Juliya!”

  “See, I told you it would all work out fine!” Mimi says to David.

  For an instant, I’m not sure if she’s joking or not. Mimi’s a smart woman, so she couldn’t possibly have missed the sarcasm in Prince’s tone. Maybe Mimi’s decided to ignore all possible problems and hope for the best. For her sake, I hope that works. David’s brains must have turned to mush because he’s just grinning like an idiot. Yep, happiness can do that to a man!

  “And you!” Mimi snaps, getting my attention. “You do something about Sally.” I raise my eyebrows to show that I have no clue what she’s talking about, but she goes on, “My girl has been sitting on that fence waiting for you to make up your mind forever.” She stabs her finger in my chest. “Tonight’s your last chance. You’re in or you’re out, buddy.”

  I shake my head. “Sally and I are just friends.”

  David rolls his eyes while Prince and Mimi snort and shrug in a perfect unison. I guess those two don’t believe men and women can be friends. The fact of the matter is, I’m not so sure about that either. In any case, I was expecting some show of support from David. He knows what a crappy position I’m in. I would be a serious bastard if I pulled Sally into my messy life. We’re too close as it is. Even if I pride myself on always taking very good care of all my dancers, anyone watching me knows that I pay special attention to that chick. Maybe the best thing that can happen to her is to move away from me.

  It’s about time anyway. She graduated at the end of the spring term. She should find a real job soon, one with a future. Yeah, that’s what I’ll tell her tonight. She needs to get on with her life. Stripping was fun while it lasted, but she’s gotta move on. Except, given the choice, I would rather take the coward’s way out and just skip the entire evening.

  “Let’s get this party started,” David says, and, with impeccable timing, someone puts on soft music.

  I scan the yard, looking for the origin of the sound. The canopy that protects the three dinner tables extends all the way to the house next-door’s backyard where wood planks create a makeshift dance floor. Ice is checking on a professional-looking Revox machine with a huge tape. I guess that’s the sound track for the evening.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Sally

  “I’m so happy Mimi agreed to us ditching our dresses,” I say as Lisa and I leave her bedroom.

  “I wouldn’t have minded staying in that pretty dress,” Lisa muses out loud, looking back at the colorful pile on her bed.

  “Well, you could have stayed in yours,” Juliya snaps, stepping out of the bathroom in black jeans that look as if they’ve been painted on. Her white shirt is tied in a knot at the waist and shows ample cleavage. Her eyes are enhanced by black makeup, and her lips are fire-truck red. She’s sizzling hot.

  “Not with you and Sally getting back into jeans,” Lisa protests.

  The three of us walk downstairs, and just as we reach the landing, Juliya stops and signals for us to be quiet. Mimi is reading someone the riot act. Hopefully it isn’t David! A smile spreads on my face as I catch the end of Mimi’s sentence.

  “…waiting for you to make up your mind forever. Tonight’s your last chance. You’re in or you’re out, buddy.”

  I’m pretty sure she’s giving Slider hell, and I pray he’ll listen. But my smile falls when I hear his answer.

  “Sally and I are just friends.”

  I’m furious. That man just hammered the last nail in his coffin. I’m done waiting. Juliya grabs my hand and squeezes it. She gets it. She holds my hand as we step outside.

  A slow song begins, and Lisa walks over to Ice, who waves at her from the other side of the yard. David leads his beautiful bride to the dance floor. With my eyes on the happy couple, I follow Juliya’s lead. We walk past Prince and Slider, ignoring them, and swipe two sodas from the bar before we make ourselves comfortable at an empty table. At the end of the first song, others join the bride and groom on the dance floor.

  Juliya points at an older couple. “That’s Tony. Tony was David’s dad’s twin brother.”

  “So he’s David and Lisa’s uncle who lives in the twin house next door?”

  “Yeah. The woman dancing with him is his wife, Nancy. She’s Ice’s mother. Cracker—my father—knocked her up when she was an Iron Tornadoes sweet butt. My mother ran her out of the club when she found out, and eventually Nancy hooked up with Tony.”

  “So Nancy is David and Lisa’s aunt but her son isn’t their cousin?”

  “Oh no!” Juliya makes a face, as if dating a cousin is the most repulsive thing on earth. “Lisa and Ice aren’t cousins. Just very close neighbors.”

  “How’s my favorite sister?”

  The deep voice that startles me makes Juliya jump from her chair into the arms of a giant. I assume he’s her brother Ernest, the mysterious Dom I have yet to meet. Looking at him, I get why his road name is Everest. The man is huge and very handsome.

  “Everest, do you know my friend Sally?” Juliya asks.

  “No, I’ve never had the pleasure.” His eyes are a deep forest green, a bit like his brother’s but harder, more probing. He takes the hand I offer and traps it between his very long, calloused fingers.

  The man oozes power. I study his face as he studies mine. He’s a mystery to Juliya, she has yet to understand why he bothered to get a degree in psychology to become a police officer. I’m guessing he decided it was more challenging to be a profiler than a therapist.

  Juliya decides to meddle. “If you’re going to hold her hand, you may as well make her dance.”

  “Would you?” he asks me, maintaining eye contact.

  “With pleasure.” Hell, why not. Slider and I are just friends, right? And this man’s nice and he looks at me as if he’s truly enchanted to meet me.

  He holds my hand until we get to the dance floor, then he pulls me close enough to feel his warmth, but not too close. I rest my hands on his shoulders and feel very tiny.

  “So how do you fit in to this gathering?” he asks, tilting his head as if he’s looking for another perspective of me.

  “I’m a friend of Mimi’s. We worked together and went to the same college.”

  “So you’re an educated exotic dancer?”

  “Yes, I am, and that’s a lovely way to put it.” I appreciate that he’s not judgmental about what I do. Most people assume strippers are tramps, and while some strippers do sleep with clients, I’m pretty sure most of us don’t.

  “And your boyfriend doesn’t mind that you undress every night in front of perfect strangers?”

  “I don’t think I have a boyfriend.”

  He raises an eyebrow and cocks his head. “Now that’s interesting. Would you care to elaborate?”

  I laugh and try to deflect his question by saying, “Juliya warned me about you.”

  “What does my devilish sister say about me these days?”

  “That you’re extremely curious and that you just need to look into people’s eyes to see right into their souls.”

  “And yet you locked eyes with me,” he note
s with a malicious grin. “You didn’t believe her?”

  I shrug. “Nope. My guess is you pick up stuff most people don’t, and I was curious to see you in action.”

  He looks surprised. “Really?”

  “Yeah, I’m not taking any big chance. I don’t have much to hide.”

  “Oh, we’re all hiding something. Right now you’re trying to hide the relief you feel because you believe you’ve sidetracked me.”

  I laugh and lift my hands in surrender. Resting them back on his chest, I say, “Okay, you win. I wanted to spare you, but since you insist, I’ll tell you all about my non-existent love life. Maybe you can give me a man’s point of view.”

  “Sure, go ahead.” His tone is caring, protective. He pulls me in a little closer. “I’ll enjoy being your weeping wall if you give me a chance to console you when you’re done.”

  I look into his eyes. I can’t figure out if he’s serious or not, but what the heck. Maybe he can help me understand what’s going on in Slider’s head. “There’s this man where I work…” Everest nods, so I continue. “I know he really likes me, but he’s never made a move. The only time I get to touch more than his hand is when I ride with him.”

  “Does he know how you feel?”

  “Oh please, I’ve done everything short of tattooing his name on my forehead.”

  That gets a laugh out of him, and the sound is sexy enough to deflect my frustration. For an instant, I want to believe he could be the ideal remedy for my bad case of Slider blues. I know Everest is supposed to be a big bad Dom, but his laugh indicates that he’s more than that. A young free spirit hides inside his impressive body.

  “So you work with him,” he states.

  “Yep, he’s my boss.”

  “Maybe he thinks that he should never…” he sounds as though he’s trying to come up with a polite way to say “screw the help,” “engage in a relationship at his place of work.”

  “Well, he does repeat to anyone who’ll listen that the most important rule at the club is ‘don’t mess around with the talent’,” I admit.

  Everest shakes his head as if telling me the mystery is solved, but I don’t buy it. Slider looked the other way when David fell for Mimi, and he has to know that Vic, the bartender, has been with one of the dancers forever. But neither David nor Vic are Knights… as if that would change a thing.

  “You think there’s something else?” he asks.

  “I’m pretty sure there is,” I answer. “But you know what? I’ll find out soon enough since I’m quitting. If it was the job, than he should make a move, right?”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Slider

  David’s mother approaches Prince and me. She’s a plump woman in her fifties who must have been a hot broad way back when.

  “Come sit with us.” She takes Prince’s arm and pulls him toward the table. I follow as she says, “So let me see if I have this right. You’re Dmitry, but you go by Prince?”

  Prince nods.

  “Is that because you have Russian royal blood?” she asks.

  Dmitry laughs, a deep belly laugh that I had no idea he had in him. He isn’t always somber, but in all the years I’ve known him, I’ve never heard him laugh so freely.

  “No, ma’am,” he says. “There’s not a single drop of royal blood in me, as far as I know.”

  “Don’t ‘ma’am’ me. You’re making me feel ancient. I’m Betty,” she purrs. “So how did you get your name?”

  “It started with something a woman said about me once,” he says.

  I wonder if Prince is going to come right out and talk about his sex life with the mother of the groom.

  But no, she doesn’t pry any further about the origin of his name. “What about you, Slider?”

  “Mine is pretty self-explanatory,” I say. “I had a very spectacular accident on my bike.”

  A sincere look of concern clouds her eyes. “Did you get hurt?”

  “It wasn’t that bad,” I lie. I shake my head to chase away the images I remember from the accident. I usually manage to avoid thinking about it. I don’t even see my scars anymore. I only remember when I get stared at, and that doesn’t happen very often since I haven’t been to the beach in ages.

  “Wine or beer?” Betty asks.

  “A beer, please,” Prince says.

  “What about you…?”

  I’m guessing Betty wants to know my first name, but I pretend to misunderstand her. I give her what I think is my best smile. “A beer would be great. Thank you, Betty.”

  She pulls two bottles of some European brand from an ice bucket and pours the amber liquid in two tall, cooled glasses. Prince and I would have been just as happy drinking regular beer from then can, but we graciously accept the glasses.

  She gestures toward a table covered with snacks. “Help yourself to whatever tempts you.” Then she excuses herself to go welcome newcomers. One of them is Captain Black, the head of my unit.

  Prince and I remain by the bar, savoring our beer and scouting the place. Juliya is sitting alone at a table nearby, studying the couples on the dance floor. I follow her gaze and see Sally in Everest’s arms. He’s holding her way too close for my comfort, and she’s smiling. She’s having a good time, and even though I tell myself I want her to move on, I don’t want to watch her dancing with another man. His hands slide down from her waist, so I look away from the dance floor at Prince, who’s studying my face with an ironic smirk.

  “Aren’t you going to do something about the man groping your girl?”

  “She’s not my girl,” I snap. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t stand a chance with her anyway but then again…

  “So she’s free game?” Prince asks, taunting me.

  “Yeah, you could always test your luck. But there’s one thing I know for sure: she’s not for you. There’s not a submissive bone in her body.”

  “You’re probably right,” he admits. “Now that one’s a different story.” He points his chin toward Juliya, sitting by herself at that small table with two glasses, waiting for Sally to come back.

  “I don’t know about her,” I say. “She seems too free spirited to be sub to me, but I’m no expert. In any case, she’s untouchable.”

  “Says who?” Prince protests. “I’ll grant you she’s an Iron Tornado landmine and I shouldn’t step on it because there’s not enough of us to start a war.” He’s right since the local Knights chapter split into two, there’s not many brothers left with us.

  “But fuck, she’s the most exciting woman I’ve ever seen,” Prince says between clenched teeth, “and I feel it in my bones—she’s a sub.”

  “On a scale of one to ten, how suicidal are you feeling today?” I ask Prince, watching Betty come toward us arm in arm with Captain Black.

  “About one hundred,” Prince says.

  “Then come on. This may be your only chance to approach her safely,” I grab a diet soda, which seems to be what she’s drinking, and walk toward Juliya. There are empty chairs at her table, and I think we’re safe enough to sit down. As long as Prince doesn’t press his luck too much, her brothers shouldn’t barge in. They won’t want to spoil David’s party. I put the soda bottle next to Juliya’s glass and rest my hand on the empty chair to her left. “Do you mind?”

  “Of course not. I’d love some company until Sally returns,” she says. “That is, if Everest doesn’t keep her to himself all night.” Her insolent smile tells me she’s provoking me and I enjoy watching it waver when she sees Prince standing by the empty chair to her right. She looks away from him and manages to keep smiling.

  While I sit, Prince takes one of her tiny hands and locks it in his. Juliya turns her face back towards him, and I think she’s about to frown at him when he surprises the both of us by bringing her hand to his lips. The startled look on Juliya’s face is priceless.

  “Dance with me, princess,” he says, pulling her up.

  She whispers, “What’s wrong with you, Dmitry? Do you have a death wish?”
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  “Dying in your arms would be a happy death,” he answers as she follows him to the dance floor.

  I watch the various reactions as Prince and Juilya approach the other couples. Ice and Everest glare at them, but Lisa and Sally appear delighted. David and Mimi are oblivious to the rest of the world. Seeing David and Mimi so lost in each other, I feel a pang of jealousy. I never thought I would want to get married, but now I realize that I want what they have. I know who I want it with, but I don’t think I can make that happen.

  David confessed to me that he wanted to elope, but Mimi wanted a party so Toussaint would feel included. So the party is mainly for the kid and maybe a bit for David’s family. After all, they believed he was dead for almost a year. Letting them throw him a party is the least he could do for them now that he’s back from the dead, so to speak.

  I guess David will never tell anyone in his family that we had to fake his death because Mimi couldn’t just take the key like we asked her to. Her stupid initiative almost blew our entire operation.

  The place is filling up. If the age of the guests is any indication, they’re mainly friends of David’s mother. Captain Black is chatting with a beautiful blonde—Catherine something—she’s also a part of Captain Black’s special unit. I scan the crowd, but I can’t find Catherine’s partner. Maybe she finally ditched him. He was a pretentious ass I instantly disliked. She, on the other hand, is a smart cookie. She deserves better.

  Captain Black notices me looking at them and catches my eyes. She tilts her head toward the house, inviting me to join her in there. I wait for her to go first, and I follow.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Sally

  I’m the first one to spot Juliya and Prince walking toward us, hand in hand. Uh oh. I wonder how her brothers will react. When we’ve turned enough for Everest to see them, he growls.

  “Did you just growl?” I ask, trying to stifle my laughter. “I can’t believe you just did that!”