Page 48

“Woah there, love. Rough night?” One of the suited men laughs, the rest following suit.

“Fuck you,” I grind out. They all gawk at me in surprise.

I scoff as I pass the comfortable leather seating on my way back to the bar.

What’s worse is, she’s gorgeous. Like ‘front cover of a magazine’ gorgeous. I understand why Xander would go for her. Not an ounce of stress showed on her face. She didn’t have those sad, tired eyes like I do.

She was full of life.

She works for the Warrens, though. I bet her life is easy. I bet she doesn’t have a crazy ex-boyfriend who’s hunting her down. I bet she doesn’t live her life in fear that one day he’ll find her and kill her. I bet she sleeps soundly beside Xander at night, knowing she’s safe and that he’ll protect her. Knowing that there is someone that would protect her.

A lump forms in my throat as I wave at Matt for another mocktail.

My phone dings in the pocket of my shorts.

Xander: Missed you tonight, angel

“Ugh.” I shove the phone back in my pocket.

Pausing, I pull it back out. I open up our message thread and tap on his name, renaming him to Dickhead.

“The fucking audacity of this man,” I mutter, throwing my phone on the bar top.

Just then, Corrine turns to me as the gorgeous blonde saunters off. “I need you to cover the last couple hours of my shift.”

I don’t need to ask why. “I didn’t know you were into blondes.” I wiggle my eyebrows at her, wiping my thoughts of Xander.

She rolls her brown eyes, sliding her empty drinks tray down the bar, which Matt grabs.

“You’re the best.” She grabs my shoulders and smooches me on the cheek. “I’ll leave the keys to lock up in my makeup bag.”

I teasingly scowl and wipe her lipstick off the side of my face as she rushes off.

A rumble of thunder fills the lounge, and everyone falls silent. The chatter resumes, but some men are already grabbing their expensive blazers and finishing their drinks.

“Matt? I need you to cover downstairs. A fight broke out after we told them to go home ‘cause of the storm. A few bar staff are currently waiting for the ambulance,” Jacques’ deep rumble fills the room as he emerges from the stairs. His usual black top hugs his muscles closely, and his hair is tied back in a small bun at the nape of his neck. “They’re fine, everyone’s gone now, but they need your help cleaning up.”

“On it, sir,” Matt replies, throwing the dirty cloth he was wiping glasses with into a basket beneath the bar.

“Vixen,” Jacques calls over the bar.

I peel my glass of water away from my lips, cleaning up a bit of drink that spilt down my chin from the sudden sound. “Mr Warren.” I smile.

“What are you still doing here? Didn’t your set finish three hours ago?” He gives me a charming smile.

Up close, you can tell the resemblance to Xander.

My mouth dries as he saunters over to me. I’ve never spoken to Jacques properly before—only in passing—but now that Xander has been… after me, I don’t know whether what he’s about to say will mean it gives me an excuse to leave this place, or whether he’s just looking for a casual conversation.

If he knows about me and Xander, I’ll bet on the former.

Me and Xander?

That doesn’t even exist. I’m overthinking for no reason. He’s with that brunette, and I need to forget about him. Whatever… that… was, was just my brain conjuring up things that didn’t exist.

And to think, for a second, I thought it might be different.

Luke will be the lesson I never learn from.