Page 26 of Redeeming the Villain
Asher clicks his tongue. “You like it when I beg, Alora? I can grovel as much as you want, babe. Even get on my knees for you.”
The air on the back of my neck chills as someone steps behind me, so close that I can feel my dress shift from their nearness.
I can smell him—that cologne of his that is burned into my mind from the night he barged into my room.
Malik.
“Asher.” His voice is sharp, each letter a serrated notch on a blade.
Blair hooks her arm in mine, pulling me out of Asher’s grasp, who turns to face Malik. “Come on. I’ll take you to get a nonalcoholic drink.”
I let Blair pull me a step away from the boys, but I can’t resist turning my head back just enough to see Malik staring at me with ferocity.
My lips part, and I suck in a sharp breath. There’s not just hatred and anger in his gaze. His purple eyes are on fire, burning red hot as he stares at me with a hunger I’ve never seen before.
He looks back to Asher, his jaw locked tight. He hooks his arm over his shoulders in the same way Asher did to me before dragging him in the opposite direction.
Turning my attention back to Blair, I find her and the blond guy staring at me with anticipation.
But I stay quiet.
“I’m Lumi.” The blond guy introduces himself as we walk into a huge white kitchen, the island transformed into a bar with a few bartenders mixing drinks. Who are most definitely not checking IDs.
But I’m not dumb. When you have wealth like this, rules and laws are guidelines, not requirements.
We stop in line behind a few girls swaying back and forth to the music.
“I’m Alora,” I tell him, my gaze bouncing between Blair and him.
“Spill it—” Lumi chuckles, but Blair cuts him off with a light smack on the chest.
“You don’t need to tell us anything,” she assures me.
“About what?” I ask, half playing dumb, half wondering how much they already know.
“Next!” the bartender in front of us calls out, and we step forward to the roped-off divider. “What can I get you guys?”
“Just water for me, please,” I order.
He quickly fills a cup with ice and water before handing it to me in mere seconds.
“Thank you,” I respond, and he nods.
“I’ll have a Sex on the Beach,” Lumi orders, followed by Blair’s, “Vodka cranberry, please.”
“Of course.” He steps away to get their drinks, grabbing bottles of liquor from the tiered tower behind him on the island.
Lifting my purse from where it dangles on my side, I dig a twenty-dollar bill from my wallet.
“You won’t need that,” Blair says, leaning toward me to talk over the music. “Drinks are free.”
“That seems like a dangerous thing to do for a bunch of college kids,” I retort, my mind running rampant with images of overly drunk guys and girls struggling to get home later tonight.
She shakes her head. “They have security, and the bartenders cut people off who get too intoxicated.”
Wow, that’s actually insanely … nice. Asher and Dean don’t have to go the extra miles that they have, but it speaks volumes for who they are as people. Protectors.
The bartender brings over their drinks and hands them off. I still give the bartender my twenty, not taking no for an answer. I’m sure they still take tips.
