Ignite (The Disciples 4)

I curtsey at him as Cindy groans. We both turn and Doug pulls out his phone and turns the camera on.

“I got my ass over here early. My poor boyfriend will have to come over alone. If a biker kills him, his blood is on your hands.” He says all this to a pale-faced Cindy, her bright pink lips the only color on her face as Doug takes picture after picture, grinning.

“I’ll kill you,” she hisses as she uses the toilet to stand.

“Pussycat, tell the camera all about it.” He flips it to video.

“Doug, stop it. I hate being here. I’m only doing this for you, Antoinette.” She points at me and I feel a tiny bit guilty, but I kind of need her, so I’m torn.

“Cindy, I’m so sorry.” I step around Doug to flush the toilet again and watch Cindy look at herself in the mirror.

“Dougie, I swear to God.” She rolls her eyes at him. All he does is laugh. He pockets his phone as he swats her on the butt.

“Okay. Let’s do this, my beautiful butterflies.”

“Stop it, Doug,” she grumbles and tries to fix her hair.

“I’ll get the tequila,” Doug yells to us. “And stop with your crabbiness, Cindy. I’ll fix your makeup. Antoinette, you’re perfect.”

I look at Cindy through the mirror as if her eyes have only now focused on me. “Jesus, Antoinette. You’re beautiful. Your body is amazing.”

Doug goes back to leaning on the doorframe holding one of Axel’s favorite bottles of tequila. “Spin for us.” He smiles at me.

I do a quick spin and they both nod in approval. “God, how great would it be if Axel falls for her?” Cindy reaches for Doug’s arm.

“Yep.” He nods, laughing with her. “This might be better than watching Eve bring Blade to his knees.” Still holding Cindy’s arm, he leans in to kiss my forehead.

“I hate to disappoint you two, but—”

“You won’t.” He winks at me.

“I don’t know if Axel is boyfriend material, you know?”

Dougie takes a guzzle from the bottle of tequila. And my stomach feels slightly nauseous at the way they both look away.

“What?” My eyes dart back and forth at them.

“Nothing, princess. My only concern is… Axel might not be able to be monogamous.” He sighs.

“Doug. Don’t sugarcoat it.” Cindy slaps him. “And you guys say I’m the big mouth.”

Flashes of last night and this morning replay in my head. Am I being an idiot? Axel is a master at making you feel good and special.

My eyes swing to Doug’s almost begging for him to make this better, which is crazy. Because what can he do? It’s not his fault Axel is a womanizer and has probably fucked hundreds of women.

He holds up his hand and sighs. “Axel is… How flexible are you if he happens to fuck someone, but it doesn’t mean anything to him?”

I blink at him. “You’re joking, right?”

“Let’s not worry about all this now. I want you to go put on that sweet little dress I saw on the chair and I’ll get Cindy ready.”

“You know what? I’m not feeling so good either. You guys go along, and I’ll be down later.” I blink back the tears because I have no right to cry. Axel is what Axel is, and I need to toughen up. Just because I could fall in love with him doesn’t mean he can do the same. Except he must have been in love at one time. He has MJ tattooed on his hand.

“Christ.” Doug closes his eyes for a second, then looks at both of us. “We’re all going to be calm and fantastic. This is a welcome home party for Dolly, remember?” He looks at Cindy who rolls her eyes.

“Second. No one is hiding.”

Doug grabs my arm and walks me into the bedroom, sighing as he looks at me.

“Look, they’re men, Antoinette. They think they’re gods but they’re not, and I’ve seen firsthand how my girls bring those bikers down.”

He grins. “But don’t do what Eve or Dolly did…” He takes another sip and hands the bottle to me.

“What did they do?” I take a huge sip, needing the liquid courage, and instantly choke.

“Oh my God, is this gasoline? My mouth and chest are burning.” I wheeze and glance around for water.

He calmly walks to the refrigerator, grabs a bottled water, and dumps it into my hand.

“Eve got pregnant and Dolly stabbed Edge.” With that, he walks back into the bathroom to help Cindy.ANTOINETTEI sit down on the edge of the bed. What is going on? Everything was perfect last night and this morning, yet now I’m not so sure about anything, including Axel.

“Okay, let’s do this. Eve and Dolly are here, and the party is starting.” Doug comes out looking at his phone.

Cindy walks out like Barbie herself. Her hair is back to being perfect and her coloring appears somewhat normal.