Liam growled, “You were squished so far down in the booth that you were a slide away from going under the table. He was all over you, and leaning in your space.”
I looked at Matt and raised an eyebrow. “You were hitting on my classmate?”
Matt’s smirk turned into a rakish grin. “She’s cute and I’m single.” He shrugged. “Why not?”
Liam’s face got beet red. “She’s cute and you’re single and why not? Why not? Why not? Who are you?”
Matt straightened again, some of the bored look fading as he narrowed his eyes. “Bailey is my sister.”
Liam’s eyes bulged out. His mouth closed, before falling open again.
He knew Matt was now Matthew Francis, and then he closed his eyes. A curse left him. I couldn’t hear it, but I saw it and could read it. Regret tightened his face. He swung his gaze to me. “I didn’t know.”
My brother equaled Peter Francis’s son. That’s who Matt was to Liam, but Liam didn’t know that Matt didn’t give two shits about our father.
I stepped away from Kash. “It’s fine.”
Liam rolled his eyes upward. He was gripping the back of his neck and cursing more, staring at the club’s ceiling.
I frowned at the same time that Melissa moved to Liam’s side, touching his arm. She was saying something to him, and then that moment was done. They moved aside.
Matt turned to me. “Your friends are interesting. We should have them out more often.”
I threw him a dark look.
He meant “interesting” in the way that a wolf would play with its food. Melissa, Liam, Dax, even Hoda—they weren’t on the same level as Matt and his friends. They were less jaded, more pure in their world. If they mixed with us, we’d ruin them. I knew it, and gritting my teeth, I hated it. I should’ve fought against coming to Naveah. Torie and Tamara fit in both worlds, and if we had stayed away, this wouldn’t have happened, but I saw the spark in Matt’s eyes.
He was interested. His gaze swept back over Melissa, and I saw where his interest centered on.
“Shit.”
Kash moved up against me again, his hand on my side, anchoring to me.
It was his turn.
He spoke over my head. “Camille Story.”
Matt’s head snapped to attention, whipping to the person Kash was talking to.
I frowned at that. Matt had dated the blogger, but he answered my question when he stepped away from the table. “You’ve changed,” he said. His tone was confused. I couldn’t tell if he appreciated the change or not. Then his face clouded over and he growled, “Get the fuck out of here!”
He didn’t like the change.
At his tone, Chester, Tony, and Guy were no longer amused bystanders. All three slid out of the booth, taking Matt’s side, and all three were glowering at the girls. I’d never seen Guy without some sort of grin on his face, but I was seeing it now, and he was menacing.
I remembered the first time I had met Tony and Chester.
They’d been intimidating then, and that same air was moving around them again.
Melissa and Liam both stopped talking, feeling the change and cluing back in to the next exchange happening.
Hoda cursed, her hands darting to her mouth then falling back in front of her.
Camille blanched as she lifted her chin up. “I came in for assistance, with a friend of mine.”
“Fuck whoever you came to assist. Get out of this club. You were banned long ago.”
Chester drawled, “I’d leave. You’ve done pieces on all of us.”
Tony’s face was glacial ice, as was his tone. “Or stay. Have a drink. Let’s get to know one another.” His eyes were mean, and Camille paled all over again.
A man was coming up the aisle toward the table. He paused, his gaze sweeping, and that’s when Kash moved.
He set me aside and moved around me, his hand lingering on my stomach. He waited, not stepping away, and I looked up.
His gaze was on me. He said one word. “Stay.”
I nodded.
He turned toward Camille and Hoda, his hand leaving my stomach.
At Kash’s movement, everyone paused. All eyes went to him.
Camille looked like she was watching a dragon rise up over her in real time. Hoda’s gaze was on him too, her head cocked to the side, and she was back to biting her lip.
Kash motioned for the man, who was wearing a business suit. He was older thirties, dark hair swept to the side. Lawyer. His entire walk and how he was taking everything in, no-nonsense and brisk. Nothing fazed him.
Kash raised his head up. “You have it?”
The man climbed up the stairs to where everyone was. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a stack of papers. He looked between Hoda and Camille and asked, “Which one?”
“The blonde.” From Kash.
The man nodded. “Yes.” He handed the papers to her. As soon as Camille’s hand closed on them, he said, “You’ve been served.”