Ralph was a professional. He just dipped a short nod, then melted into the crowd to do as I’d asked. He wouldn’t be far away if anything happened. But I wasn’t worried.
“Hey, you’re Jace Adams, right?” A breathy female voice jerked my attention to the left. My undoubtedly bloodshot eyes scanned the girl from head to toe. She was young, maybe twenty-one at best, and her mousy blonde hair was tied up in two high ponytails. Her whole look screamed innocent, but the calculating gleam in her eye said she was more than down to party with a rock star.
“I sure am,” I replied with a sly, flirtatious smile.
Her eyes sparkled with excitement, and she wet her lips. “Are you here with the rest of Bellerose?”
That soured my mood. Another girl who’d rather fuck Rhett or Gray over me? Maybe I was losing my good looks.
“Nope,” I replied, turning back to the bar and giving her a cold shoulder. It didn’t last long, though, as her delicate fingers threaded around my wrist to pull my attention once more. “What?”
Her brows lifted at my harsh tone, then she lowered her eyes in a practiced coy gesture. “Can I suck your dick in the bathroom?”
Christ. It wasn’t even a challenge anymore.
“Sure,” I agreed with a shrug. She grinned and tightened her grip on my wrist, eagerly pulling me after her as she led the way to the bathrooms. Ralph passed me a small baggy of coke on my way past, and I smirked to let him know where I was headed.
The girl wasted no time, undoing my pants before I even locked the stall door, dropping to her knees on the disgusting floor, and wrapping her lips around my soft cock.
“Fucking hell,” I grunted, leaning my shoulders against the door and grabbing her two ponytails in my fists. It was easy enough to close my eyes and picture… someone else. That got me hard. I let my eyes open just a crack, just enough to squint at her in the dim light and pretend.
I was rough with her, not giving a fuck about her feelings, then blew my load down her throat without even a word of warning. She choked on it, understandably, but I was already pulling my jeans back up over my wet dick.
“Thanks,” I muttered, opening the door while she spluttered and coughed. I crossed to the vanity where a girl stared in shock, her hands under a running tap totally forgotten.
Ignoring her, I dried off a patch of the marble counter and dumped out a small pile of coke. From my pocket, I pulled out my black AmEx to cut a couple of lines, then used an already rolled hundred dollar bill to snort one. If you’re going to be a cliché, you need to go the whole hog.
“Jace, what—” The girl stumbled out of the stall, still wiping her face from where her eyes had watered and streaked her makeup. She cut off abruptly when she saw the other girl standing there staring at me. Then glared.
“Here,” I said, handing blondie my rolled up note. “Help yourself. You earned it.” I grabbed her face and kissed her, tasting myself on her tongue and feeling nothing but self-loathing. She was just… some girl. Not my girl.
With a deeply disappointed sigh, I walked away and left her to the remaining lines.
“Fuck,” I breathed as I stalked back into the club. There was only one reason I’d gotten hard for that chick, and it was her vague resemblance to Billie goddamn Bellerose. Maybe Gray was right… I needed therapy.
“You good?” Ralph asked as I exited the club once more.
I gave a bitter laugh. “Far from it.” Then I groaned and scrubbed my hands over my face. I’d make an appointment with my therapist in the morning. “Let’s go home. I need to make sure Rhett’s still alive.”
That wasn’t even an exaggeration. My best friend had been spiraling, and I’d done nothing to help. Fuck, worse than that, I’d just left him to deal with his heartbreak alone because deep down I was jealous. I wouldn’t want Billie back if she fucking paid me… but I was still jealous.
I hated that girl more now than ever before. It wasn’t just me she’d hurt, it was Rhett too. And Gray. Billie Bellerose had a lot to fucking answer for, so yeah… maybe it was time for a new album.
two
GRAYSON
The phone rang once before I answered it. I’d been sitting and waiting. Expecting the call to arrive at any time. And in my impatience, I refused to move from the fucking computer until that happened.
“Talk to me,” I said shortly.
There was a pause, and a breathy sigh released before Johnson said, “She’s still exactly where she’s been for the past week: in Siena, holed up in the Ricci main mansion on the other side of the river. She hasn’t left the house since her shopping trip last week.”
Dark anger was my constant companion, but if I let myself fall into the swirling pit in my gut, I’d be no better than Jace and Rhett. Broken and fucking useless.
Broken men saved no one. I knew that from experience, and I wasn’t quite ready to give up my responsibility toward a certain blonde.
“Stay on her,” I told him. “Report in tomorrow, and this time don’t be fucking late.”
Johnson was a piece of shit, but he was good at his job. Tracking, stalking, sticking his nose into business that wasn’t his to know. In this situation, that skillset was exactly what I needed to ensure the situation with Billie wasn’t escalating.
Hanging up before he could say another word, I sank back into the plush computer chair, tapping my finger on the table as I breathed through my fury. The urge to storm the Ricci compound and kill every motherfucker there was riding me hard, and even when I dropped my head in my hands and massaged at my temples to relieve some of the tension, that urge didn’t fade.
When Billie took off on us two months ago, I’d immediately gone into action, but thanks to the Riccis’ money and pull with the local law, it had taken me almost two weeks to find out where she was being kept. Another week to see her with my own eyes, as she trailed listless after Angelo. That piece of shit appeared protective enough as he escorted her to the car, opening the door and buckling her in, but there was no look of joy or happiness on her face.
She was a prisoner. I knew the signs, but I also recognized that there was more than just a physical hold keeping her with the Riccis now. A stronger reason held her there, and until that mystery was unraveled, I couldn’t go starting a fucking war to break her out.
Hence why Johnson was keeping a permanent eye on her, to the sweet tune of eight grand a week. I’d pay ten times that to know the second she was in danger. I was too fucking famous these days to linger easily in the shadows, so Johnson was the best option.
Despite what Jace and Rhett believed, I knew that Billie hadn’t left us through her own choice. If there was one thing I could do, it was read people, and that girl had been all in with Bellerose. Until she wasn’t, and the reason for that was the mystery I still had to unravel.
Pushing back, I climbed to my feet, shutting down my encrypted files that contained everything I knew about the situation so far. I’d had to reach out to members of my old family back in Hawaii for help with hacking into the police system. My skills were there, but I didn’t have the right tech setup to keep my identity a secret. In truth, I probably didn’t even have the skills any longer. The world of hacking moved fast, with new techniques and skills required to keep up, and I’d grown rusty in my life with Bellerose.