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I sink into the couch next to my friends, my eyes locked on the pool table where Liam and Charles are in the middle of a heated match. The stakes? Winner gets to fuck the other's girl. Stupid drunk bet, I doubt they'll follow through. We came down here to watch the game and place our bets. I put a thousand on Charles—he seems a bit more sober.
During the game, Jayden, our lap dog, stumbles down the stairs with a girl one of my bullshit friends probably asked for. Everyone's eyes dart to her, and an irritated voice breaks the silence.
"Who the hell is this?!" One of the girls erupts. They hate it when we bring strange girls into our group.
I squint through the dim lighting, and when the light catches her face I'm left breathless. The girl is stunning. No, she's a fucking goddess. I must be hallucinating. I drank too much.
I clear my throat and take another sip of booze, "Hey, who asked for the girl?"
No one answers, half of 'em are fucked up and the other half are just as confused as me.
One of my pisshead friends slurs some bullshit like she's a "lost and found" item, "Hey, if nobody wants her, I'll take he —"
"Nobody's taking me anywhere,"she interrupts, her voice sharp and defiant.
I raise an eyebrow. Feisty. I like it.
"Where are my friends?" she demands, her eyes laced with a mix of fear and frustration as she scans the room.
Hardin, the blondie with surfer hair, squints at her, clearly intrigued. "Listen, girl, what friends? We have girls coming in and out of here every minute, okay? What the fuck do they look like, what were they wearing? Details."
"Probably nothing now!" My fucking drunk of a friend, Richard yells across the room, eliciting laughter from everyone but me and Hardin.
"For fuck's sake, Rich, I'm only trying to help the pretty girl. What did you say your name was?" Hardin grins, eyes glinting with mischief. You flirting with my girl, Hardin?
"Let's gooo!" Charles roars from the pool table, thumping his chest like a gorilla. Cool, I won the bet.
"Please, I'm just trying to find my friends. One has dark skin, glasses, and is wearing a sequined purple dress. The other looks like me but a bit lighter, wearing gold."
Hardin's grin widens with interest. "Wait, what's that accent?"
"What? — That's not important."
"That accent, I gotta know that accent." He insists.
She shifts, her sexy hips swaying in that skin-tight dress, and crossing her arms, "I'm from Louisiana if you have to know."
"Louisiana. Fucking, Louisiana. I didn't know they made girls like you down in Louisiana, fuck it. You wanna see your friends?"
"W-yeah." She stumbles.
"Come here, I'll show you a new friend." Hardin sits up, smirking.
And, that's my cue, "Stop it." I say firmly, locking eyes with him. "Down the hall, first door on the left," I direct her with a nod.
"Thank you." She turns to me quickly, before taking off down the hallway.
Hardin sucks his teeth in frustration before turning to our personal servant, "Yo, Jayden."
"Y-yes?"
"Where's Daniel?"
"He was upstairs, drinking a lot."
He cocks his head back and looks at me, "Fuck, you know he gets violent when he drinks."
"Cathy! Alissa!" The girl's voice echoes faintly from the other room.
Ignoring it, I sigh, "I'm not gonna let my party turn into a fucking boxing match. Jayden keep an eye on him for me, will you? Get security involved if you have to."
Jayden nods and rushes upstairs.
The girl walks up to us, "What did you guys do to my friends?" She seems a bit more distraught, her voice wavering.
"Relax, there's nothing wrong with your friends, they just had a few drinks." Richard answers, slightly agitated.
"Then why do they look so disheveled? Cathy's makeup is smudged and Alissa's dress is hanging on by a thread!" Her eyes are heavy, crystal droplets pulling on either, one almost escapes but she quickly wipes it.
"Didn't you just fucking hear me? What happens when people get drunk? They fold clothes and brush their hair?!" Richard snaps, now I'm agitated. "Calm down, Richard. The girl is just worried about her friends."
I glance over at the girls, hoping they'll be able to diffuse the tension. "Mary, Amanda, can you please help her out? Calm her down and get her friends upstairs."
They exchange exasperated looks, rolling their eyes and pouting like they've just been asked to mop the fucking Pacific. After a few dramatic sighs and teeth sucking, they finally drag themselves off the couch.
Looking somewhat defeated, she follows my friends back down the hallway. As she disappears around the corner, a nagging feeling tugs at me. Her face—where have I seen it before? It's like a distant memory trying to claw its way back into focus. But there's no way I'd let a girl this beautiful pass me by. I must be drunk out my fucking mind.
When they emerge from the room, Mary and Amanda are carrying one of her friends between them, I get up to help the girl with the other but I'm pissed off when Hardin beats me to it. Fuckface.
I'm on my way up when suddenly, I hear rapid footsteps racing down the stairs. "Alessio! You need to come out here!" Jayden's urgent voice can only mean one thing.
I follow him, my friends trailing behind.
When I reach upstairs, the scene is chaos. Hardin is on the floor, Daniel is on top of him, raining down blows with brutal force. The crowd formed a tight ring around them, and my two security guards struggle to pull Daniel off, but he fights them with a feral strength. Hardin's able to block him currently, but his face is already bruised, his blood staining the floor. Daniel's a beast—violently punching him again and again. That means my bro got a black eye and bloody nose only a few seconds in? Daniel's a fucking monster. My dude. That's why I work out with him.
I make my way to the center of the chaos, the crowd parting for me as I approach. I give a single nod to my security team and one of them pulls out a taser and steps forward, stopping Daniel. In the midst of it all, I spot her, terrified. Everyone else is entertained. Has she never seen a fight before? Or any type of violence, ever?
I lean in, pointing her out to my security. "Find out everything you can about her and report back to me."
