Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 108119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Andrei shrugged. “Maybe I’m tired of your constant shit.”
“You love it.”
“Pink cupcakes.” Andrei actually looked relaxed as a grin spread across his face. “With sprinkles.”
“Knew you’d like that touch.” Chase laughed from his spot in the kitchen. “Would have paid to see Tex bring that in on the plate.”
“It had polka dots, the plate.”
“Don’t worry we have a Hello Kitty card for you too, all of us signed it,” Nixon joined in, a smirk on his face.
Andrei grumbled a curse.
“Happy birthday, man,” Nixon held out his hand.
Andrei tentatively shook it.
Wait. Was this a meeting?
Dinner?
Birthday party?
And then a gorgeous woman came around with a giant cake, two more women followed.
The wives.
Nixon’s wife Trace, Tex’s wife Mo, and Phoenix’s wife, Bee. The other women that were scattered around the room were already sitting drinking wine, Dante’s wife raised her glass to Andrei and grinned.
What sort of warped universe did I just walk into?
My father told me they tortured people at night.
He said the monsters drank blood.
He made me think they were this thing of fiction, like a vampire or werewolf, with no soul, no heart, just killing.
“Well?” Nixon pointed to the cake. “Blow out your candles, old man.”
Andrei’s hand gripped on my hip.
I flashed him a quick smile. “You know if you don’t, they’ll probably just pull a gun on you.”
Nixon’s expression shifted, and then he narrowed his eyes on me. “Told her a lot about us, haven’t you?”
“Well.” I gulped. Here goes nothing. “I am his girlfriend, so…”
Everything happened all at once.
Trace tripped, the cake slid from the tray, Mo tried to grab it just in time for Chase to lean in and accidently shove them forward and then another guy standing behind Nixon turned.
Cake went flying across his face.
Candles included.
Oh shit, shit, shit.
It was Phoenix.
He used to be a De Lange.
My stomach sank.
He would recognize me.
He would.
I used to play at his house when my dad had meetings with his, when I was little and curious and had a stupid crush on him because he was five years older and looked so… pained.
Cake dripped from his face as he glared at Trace.
And then Trace stepped forward with a smile on her face and ran her finger down his cheek and sucked off the frosting. “Perfect, you like chocolate right, Phoenix?”
He glared and then went for her. “That’s it.” He pulled her into his arms and swung her around while she laughed and then rubbed his face all over her back. She lunged for Nixon who used his child as a shield, and Tex grabbed a bottle of wine and chugged directly from it while another tiny toddler came running with a wooden mallet screaming, “Thor, GOD OF THUNDER!”
Phoenix dropped to the ground. “Get them, Junior. Get Aunt Trace!”
He went running toward her.
And then Serena fought to get down and jumped in front of her mom. “Captain America attack!”
“Aw man!” Junior dropped his hammer and started yelling and convulsing on the ground.
“What’s he doing?” I asked under my breath.
A chuckle fell from Andrei’s lips, and I blinked up at him. He was beautiful when he smiled, absolutely gorgeous. I sucked in a shocked breath and quickly looked away.
He leaned in, his lips tickling my ear as he whispered, “Little man’s hulking out. It’s best to just let him finish.”
Sure enough, he jumped to his feet and yelled, “I’M GREEN!”
“RUN!” The little girl shouted and then ran behind Chase, who pulled out two knives from sheathes on his back.
The knives were actually real!
“Samurai!”
“Iron Man!” Dante, a guy close to my age and someone I’d seen at school a few times and given a wide berth, jumped onto a chair.
“Spiderman beats both Samurai and Iron Man!” Someone else came running into the room. His hair was longer, pulled into a man bun that made him look downright sexy.
“Noooo, Uncle Sergio always picks Spiderman!” Serena wailed
“Forfeit.” He winked and started making spewing noises at Junior and Serena who both fell into fits of laughter and hugged his leg, pieces of cake and all.
Yup, warped universe.
This was so opposite of what I’d grown up with that I wanted to burst into tears. It didn’t match with the stories.
Phoenix De Lange, or now Nicolasi if the rumors of him cutting the De Lange brand from his arm were true, was smiling at his child, not trapping him in a room. Not yelling at them for deciding they wanted to hulk out and play in front of the adults.
In fact, the entire scene was unreal.
Because my every dinner — my entire life, in fact — had been spent being seen not heard.
An older man walked into the room; a glass of wine held against his lips. A black fedora sat on his head, and a matching scarf was wound around his neck. He sighed heavily and then held out that same glass in the air.