Chapter 24
Lucy
Marcus pulled to a stop outside of First Bass, but none of us noticed at first because we were all laughing too hard. My Range Rover was overflowing with chicks. Jenna, Angie, Kin and Kassa had all piled in with me when we’d left Jenna’s apartment earlier. Meaning Jace—and Gray, because he wasn’t about to let Kassa leave without him—had to take a taxi since there was zero room for anyone else.
“Did you see his face?” Kin said with a laugh as she finally turned to watch through the back window as the taxi the guys had taken pulled up behind us. “Kas, what have you done to Gray? He looked like he was going to bust a nut he was so pissed.”
Kassa twisted around in the middle of the back seat to follow Kin’s gaze. “I swear I don’t know what his problem is. He’s been like a bear with a sore head for the last few weeks. I can’t freaking leave the apartment without him.”
I watched with amusement as Jace and Gray got out of the taxi and Gray came to the back door, where Jenna and Angie had squeezed in with the other two, and opened it. Kin got out first and stepped right into Jace’s arms for a welcoming kiss. Kassa took a little longer to get out, her amusement gone now as she frowned up at her new roommate. “I worry about you sometimes, Gray. You’re going to have a stroke if you don’t relax.”
“I’ll relax when you stop doing crazy things,” he grumbled. “I don’t like you going to the club without me. If I hadn’t shown up when I did you would’ve gone alone.”
“Jace is with us, and I have four other girls with me. I wouldn’t have been alone, dumbass.” She shot him an irritated look over her shoulder and joined her brother on the sidewalk.
I waited until everyone else was out before opening the front passenger door. Marcus was already on the sidewalk, handing the keys over to the valet. I kept my focus on the club in front of me and the long line of people waiting to get in. The flashing lights from the cameras of the paps across the street had my own amusement fading and I gritted my teeth as I headed straight for the entrance.
I knew they didn’t know about my secret, but now that so many people who were close to me did, I couldn’t help wondering if one day the paps would start throwing questions at me like, “Been cutting tonight, Lucy?” or “Keeping the blades sharp, Lucy?”
Jace was already waiting with the door open and I gave him a small hug as I went inside. As usual, Tiny was waiting at the VIP entrance. He stepped forward as I approached. “Miss Thornton, it’s good to see you. The boss was expecting you an hour ago. Did you run in to traffic?”
“Traffic, a raging rocker…” I glanced at Gray, who just crossed his massive arms over his chest and gave me a lift of his dark brows. “You know how the artistic types are so fickle, Tiny.”
The big, dark man grinned. “That I do, Miss Thornton.” He stepped aside and the others started up the stairs to the VIP floor. “Enjoy your evening.”
“Thanks, Tiny.” Marcus was at my back as I started up the stairs. Halfway up, my phone started ringing and I would have ignored it if it hadn’t been my dad’s ringtone. Frowning, I pulled my phone out of my back pocket. “Hey, Daddy. What’s up?” He’d known I was going to First Bass tonight and I probably wouldn’t be home until late.
“Hey, Lu. You busy right now?”
There was something in his voice that had my heart clenching. “Hold on a second, Daddy.” I got to the top of the stairs and moved away from my friends so I could hear him better. “Is everything okay?”
“No, baby, it’s not.” He blew out a harsh breath and I could have sworn I heard tears in his voice. My free hand clenched into a tight fist, my nails biting into the palm of my hand. “I’ve been thinking about this long and hard, Lucy. I think…”—another harsh sigh—“…I think you should stay with Harris.”
“What?” I couldn’t have heard him right. No way would my dad suggest that. Hell, I would love to stay with Harris. If I was with him, I knew I would be able to sleep. He would wrap me up in his arms and I’d fall asleep to the sound of his heartbeat under my ear and his heat making me feel safe.
“You don’t sleep, Lucy. I find you walking the floors or passed out on the couch with the sun coming up. I’m worried that something will happen…” He broke off and I sank my teeth into my bottom lip. His worry wasn’t unfounded. I’d been having the same thoughts race through my mind as much as he apparently did, only my worries were quickly followed by the urge to do the damn things I was so worried about. “You need to sleep, and I don’t think you’ll do much of that here without the boy to keep you grounded. It’s killing me to let you move out, Lucy, but I want you to be happy and I know that you won’t be unless you’re with him.”
“Daddy…” I leaned back against the wall, needing it for support after what he’d just said. Tears filled my eyes, but I blinked them back. “I-I don’t know what to say.”
“Just tell me you love me, Lu. And promise you’ll call me every day.” I knew for sure he was crying now, and the thought of my big, strong daddy crying was like a deathblow to the chest.
“I do love you, Daddy. I swear I’ll call you every single day.” I quickly dashed away a tear that had slipped free. “And I’ll come see you every weekend.”
He cleared his throat. “Good. I’m glad we got that sorted. I…I’ll let you get back to your friends, Lu. Call me tomorrow, and Mom and I will bring your stuff over. Love you, baby.”
“I love you too, Daddy.”
I stood there, just staring down at my phone long after he’d hung up. I couldn’t believe what he’d just said. What he’d just done. Jesse Thornton was my hero in every way possible. Everyone who knew him knew that his letting his only daughter move in with her boyfriend was a step that he wouldn’t ever take without first beating the boyfriend to a bloody pulp. Yet he had, because he realized I needed Harris more.
“Hey.” Kin stepped up beside me with a concerned look on her face when she saw the proof of my tears. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I murmured and gave her a small smile to show her I was fine. “Yeah. Just my dad.”
“Good. Come on, let’s get a drink.” She took my hand and tugged me toward the bar. “Jace went downstairs to get Harris so let’s find a place to sit before they get back.”
The bar was crowded and we couldn’t even squeeze in to order. Grimacing, I moved to the end and stood on tiptoes to see over the heads of the VIPs in front of me. I saw Nate putting a few beers on the bar top. “Nate!” I called out to him and waved my hand.
“You two, move it,” Nate ordered and like magic there was suddenly a clear spot at the bar. His unusual eyes brightened when he saw me and I stepped forward to hug him across the bar. “Hey there, beautiful. How’ve you been?”
I hugged him tight, then stepped back. “I’ve been good. Really, really good.” I grinned up at him. “Heard you got a promotion. Congrats. You deserve it.”
“Thanks, Lucy.” His eyes went behind me to the other girls I’d brought, lingered on Kassa, and then moved back to me. “The usual?”
“Five ginger ales, please.”
Setting the glasses on the bar top, he shot me a wink. “Don’t be a stranger.”
“I think I can make that promise.” He grinned and I waited until he went to the other end of the bar before handing out the drinks.
“So that’s why Gray gets testy when you come here without him,” Kin murmured with a grin in Kassa’s direction.
“Nate is just a friend,” Kassa assured her, but I could see the slight blush that filled her cheeks. “Just don’t say anything to him about Nate, okay?”
“My lips are sealed, babe.”
“Where is Gray anyway?” Angie glanced around the room. “I thought he was right behind us?”
“There he is.” Jenna pointed him out and we all looked across the room to find him talking to a blonde with legs that went on for miles. He was leaning against the wall, but his eyes were predatory as he kept them on the chick in front of him.
“On second thought, mention Nate as much as you fucking want.” Kassa took a long swallow of her ginger ale and set the glass back on the bar top. “I think I’ll hang out over here for a little while. Y’all go have fun.”
“We’ll stay with you. There’s nowhere to sit anyway.” All the couches were taken and there wasn’t a free chair in the place. It was the typical Friday night crowd and I was so proud of Harris for all his success with First Bass.
“She looks familiar.” Kin took a longer look but shook her head. “I can’t make out her face from here, but I swear I’ve seen her before.”
“Of course you have,” Kassa muttered. “She’s one of those standard, run-of-the-mill, skanky-ass groupies. They’re a dime a dozen around our place.”
“Gray’s a douche. Ignore him.”
I couldn’t disagree with Angie’s observation. I thought Gray was a douchebag from the first time I’d met him. But I’d seen the way he was with Kassa earlier and even when he’d been pissed, he’d still looked at her like she was precious. I wasn’t about to say that to her right then, though. Kassa looked green with a jealousy I knew all too well. I’d experienced it a million different times over the years before Harris had become mine.
“Wait, I don’t think he’s trying to get in her pants,” Jenna observed as she continued to watch Gray.
We turned our attention back to the couple across the room. Jenna was right. The look on Gray’s face wasn’t that of a guy trying to seduce his way between a chick’s legs. At second glance, he looked bored and more than a little irritated. I saw him lift his head in our direction. The blonde glanced toward us and Kassa quickly turned away, but I couldn’t look away for some reason. Like Kin said, the chick looked familiar to me.
“Is that the chick from earlier?” Jenna asked as she took a step closer to me.
It clicked in my head then. “Yeah, I think that is her.” The same mile-long legs, the same long ponytail minus the ball cap. She was wearing a different outfit, but it was no less expensive or trashy. She looked like a chick on the prowl for a man, but as I watched Gray continue to talk to her, I came to the conclusion that he wasn’t the man she was prowling for.
“Great, here she comes.” Angie sighed. “What the fuck? Why is she smiling like that?”
My earlier distaste for the chick only grew as she walked toward us. The smile that was on her face gave her a mean-girl look that set my teeth on edge. I clenched my jaw, trying to fight the desire to punch the bitch in the face. Who the hell was she and what the fuck did she want?
She stopped right beside us. “So you’re the one?” Her tone was cool and had a sharp edge to it.
It took us all a second to realize who she was talking to, but her gaze was right on me. “The one what?” My tone was just as cold, with more of a bite. I hated her and I didn’t even know her name.
“The one who thinks she can take Harris away from me.”
Awesome. She was not only a bitch, but a total nutcase. I wondered if I would have to serve time if I tore up a mentally ill chick’s pretty face.