I must have tensed up, because Dalton placed his hand on top of mine and murmured comforting words, while Mac pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “Easy, Vixen. We’ve got you. No setting bikes on fire tonight, gorgeous. Let me and Dalton take care of everything.”
I nodded, giving them both a shaky smile. Holly and Jackson were right behind us, Maria and Diego right behind them. Strength in numbers. It was going to be okay. I forced myself to look at Silas, and his cool, grey eyes leered at me. Fucking gag. We came to a stop in front of him, and he practically ignored the men at my side.
“Good evening, Ms. Moore. I’m so glad you could make it. You look good enough to eat.” His gaze lingered on my chest before raking over my body in a way he had no right to. His language was much more formal than usual, obviously posturing for his buddy.
I felt like throwing up in my mouth. This time, it was me that felt both Mac and Dalton tense. Before they could say anything, I said, “Thanks for the invite. Though I didn’t really have a choice.”
“Of course you had a choice, girl. You just wouldn’t have liked the other option.” I glared at him and he smirked at me. “Nicole, meet Luca DiAngelo. Luca, this is the one I was talking about. I told you she had both my best men pussy-whipped.”
I was pretty sure Dalton was clenching his fist hard enough to break, and the vein that jumped in Mac’s jaw looked like it was about to pop.
“Watch how you fucking talk about her, Silas. You have the title, but you do not have their loyalty.”
My eyes flew to Mac, the blatant threat hanging heavy in the air, and Silas’ neck turned beet-red. Luca watched the whole exchange with cool amusement. If memory served, he was one of the four men at the head of the DiAngelo mess. The one who dealt in women and children—treating them like cattle—and the thought of Silas even mentioning me by name made me sick.
If anyone was responsible for my missing girls, it was him.
I dragged my eyes from Luca and tugged on Mac. “Come on, he’s not worth your fucking time. Not yet. Let him live in his grand delusion a little longer.”
Silas swore, calling me a bitch and a few other things to boot, so I had to practically drag the brothers to where our friends were waiting by the staircase. Together, the seven of us descended to the ballroom below. We hadn’t even been there for thirty minutes, and already tensions were high. This was going to be just fantastic.
The ballroom was decorated in deep purple, and a few waiters roamed around, carrying trays of champagne flutes. I grabbed one, as did Holly and Maria. The guys, however, didn’t touch the alcohol.
“Anyone else feel like Barney threw up in here?”
Maria choked on her drink and Holly laughed. “Barney, as in the mildly traumatizing dinosaur? Yes, absolutely.”
Maria frowned. “Wait, how was it traumatizing? I loved Barney!”
Diego and Jackson shared an amused glance over their heads.
Holly sipped her champagne. “Girl, that fucker was creepy as hell.”
“I used to have nightmares as a boy about that damned thing coming into my room at night.”
All eyes swung to Dalton and he shrugged, unashamed by the admission. I bit my lip to keep from laughing but he noticed, of course, and winked at me, causing me to snort in a very unladylike fashion.
I turned my attention to Mac, who was scanning the room. “Did you have nightmares about a chubby, purple dinosaur?”
Mac shook his head vehemently. “Of course not.” He put a hand on the small of my back, guiding me towards a table in the corner. Our friends followed and he said, loudly enough for them to hear, “But I did have beef with the Cheshire Cat. How the fuck did that thing end up in a children’s movie?”
Diego wrapped his hand in Maria’s. “Flying monkeys, man. My mom used to take me to the zoo all the time as a kid. After I watched that damn movie, she couldn’t take me anywhere near the ape exhibit without me freaking out. She said I was, like, twelve before I got over it.”
Maria threw her head back laughing. “Oh my God, I remember your mom telling me about that. I didn’t realize you were still scared of them when we met. I would’ve totally used that.”
He spanked her, and she yelped, swearing at him in Spanish and blushing furiously.
As we all sat down at the table, everyone looked at Jackson, who threw his hands up. “I got nothing. I guess I was just a braver kid than all you weirdos.”
Holly leaned over and kissed him before giving him an angelic smile and then said to us, “Actually, on our first date, I discovered the man was deathly afraid of dolls. I, of course, had no idea and thought I was giving him a truly wonderful gift when I put fifty of them in his bedroom.”
Jackson rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I had to sleep in my living room for over a week. Dolls are creepy, man. Anyone who has seen a horror movie knows they’re bad news!”
A waiter came over to see if we needed anything, and Mac ordered me a whiskey without me even having to ask. I placed my hand on his thigh under the table, and on my other side, Dalton was fiddling with the fox charm on myleg. Maria was teasing Diego relentlessly about his fear of flying monkeys. Holly and Jackson had their heads bent, foreheads almost touching as they whispered to each other.
Scanning the room, I noted the location of every DiAngelo I knew in the room. There were a lot of them, and I chewed my bottom lip.
Dalton squeezed my thigh. “What’s on your mind, Vixen?”
