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“Busy night,” Natalia commented, taking in the party atmosphere.

Arden nodded as she opened the bags. “One of the busiest I’ve seen.”

“Any particular reason?”

“If there is, they haven’t told me.” Leaning closer across the counter, Arden lowered her voice. “Doom sent Burn to watch the door. He isn’t letting anyone else in tonight unless Doom or Wizard gives him the go-ahead. They’ve never done that on a Friday night, but it is crowded.”

Natalia noticed Arden’s worried frown as she opened the pizza boxes. “Would Doom let you stay if he thought there might be trouble?”

“No.”

Arden’s immediate answer made Natalia feel better. She would kick Doom’s ass herself if he ever put her friend in danger.

“Then they’re probably worried the crowd is exceeding the club’s capacity.” She tried to rationalize the situation, despite her growing suspicion that Doom was keeping something from his wife.

“Maybe.” Arden’s expression cleared. “Where’s my pizza?”

“Sorry. Burn confiscated it at the door.”

“See if he gets another drink for the rest of the night. He could have let me have at least one slice,” Arden complained as she handed paper plates to the people gathering around the bar.

Natalia helped her open the remaining boxes then glanced around the club again. Wizard was nowhere in sight, and Lucia was still playing pool in the back. She took the empty stool beside Arden.

Two women managed to squeeze their way to the counter, only to recoil when the aroma of the pizzas hit them.

“Whoa. Who made the pizzas?” the shorter woman asked Arden.

Arden cast Natalia a quick glance. “Mama Spaghetti.”

“Then she should stick to spaghetti,” the woman said, wrinkling her nose. “She used enough garlic to kill every vampire within a ten-mile radius.”

Natalia hid a smile at the insult. She had used a lot of garlic.

The woman’s taller friend still held out her hand for a plate. “Who cares? It’s free, and I’m starving.”

As the woman reached for a box farther down the counter, one of her breasts threatened to escape her compressed cleavage. Natalia quickly took the plate from her to avoid getting a face full of breasts.

“Allow me.”

She placed two large slices on the plate then handed it back.

“Thanks.”

“My pleasure.” Natalia glanced away before she became mesmerized by the jiggling mounds confined beneath a top whose buttons were valiantly struggling not to pop open. A man seated at the bar watched expectantly, clearly waiting for them to surrender.

Seeing that her friend wasn’t afraid to eat the pizza, the shorter woman, who was just as generously endowed, grabbed two slices from the nearest box. They both moved away.

“They’re right.” Arden laughed. “You used so much garlic that the curl is falling out of my hair.”

“You should take Lucia a couple of slices,” Natalia suggested.

One of the men playing pool with Lucia had slipped an arm around her waist and was whispering in her ear.

Arden followed Natalia’s gaze. “I’ll do one better and take a whole box over.” Giving her a conspiratorial wink, Arden picked up an unopened box. “I wouldn’t want anyone to feel left out.”

Natalia forced herself not to watch Arden leave the bar. She didn’t want Lucia to realize she was being observed.

Sensing someone step up behind her, she leaned sideways so they could reach the pizza. When the person didn’t move, she glanced over her shoulder and found Wizard pressed against her back.