The Insiders by Tijan

TWENTY-FIVE

You’re not wanted.

We want you gone.

You’re too much of a problem.

You’ll just disturb everything. You’ll upset everyone.

Here I was, sitting in the back corner of a booth, a DJ playing blaring techno music, neon lights flashing, fog being pumped through the club, sipping drink number I-had-lost-count, but I couldn’t get those thoughts out of my head.

You’re not worth it.

You’re not worthy.

You’re nothing.

I was trying, seriously trying to block it out. I couldn’t.

Matt walked in front of me when we arrived. He was right. No one stopped us or carded us when we went inside. He didn’t even need to go to the bar, though that’s where he was leading me. A girl in a skimpy leotard for a uniform, holding a tray of shots, met him halfway, and he kissed her cheek as he snagged one shot for me, another for him. Before moving ahead, he grabbed two more. I declined my second, wanting to pace myself. Not Matt. He threw both back like a pro.

Then we went to the bar, but only for Matt to motion to a private box. The bartender nodded and we were sitting there for ten minutes, when two of Matt’s friends showed up.

Chester and Tony.

Chester was taller, looking like Prince Harry, and more slender than Tony, who had dark, combed-back hair.

They looked like Ivy League bad boys. Wealth. Privilege. Superior. All of that emanated from them.

The club was packed, since it was nearing eight on a Friday night, but not to those guys. Not to Matt. All three got the same treatment coming in. Eyes tracked them. I didn’t know who the parents of Chester and Tony were, but I had no doubt they were someone.

That was an hour ago.

Since then, it’d been a parade of girls coming over.

The first one came over, an alluring smile on her face as she sat on Matt’s lap. The two had been whispering, nuzzling, kissing since. Her hands were on him, his hands weren’t on her. He sat on the outside of the booth, with one arm draped over the back of the booth.

I was sitting farther inside, but the booth was huge.

Chester had moved in beside me, but four people could’ve sat between us. Five minutes after the first girl came over, three more showed up. They didn’t sit on anyone’s lap. They stood at the end of the table, talking and flirting with the two guys. To their credit, neither Chester nor Tony seemed to be doing much flirting. They were aloof, but still conversing. The girls were the ones trying to flirt, drawing them in.

And me—no one said a word to me.

Not my brother. Certainly not the girl he was making out with. Not his friends. And the only thing I got were cold snubs from the other three.

So it was me and my drink. An hour passed that way.

“Francis.”

One of the friends gestured past the walkway. He spoke in a slight break between the beats, so Matt heard, his head lifting from the girl’s neck.

Three more girls were walking up to where we sat. The girl in the lead had rich, dark auburn hair that fell past her shoulders, grazing the tops of her arms and chest. Doe-like almond eyes. This girl was stunning. Tall. Slender. She had the height and frame to be a model.

One of the other two was shorter, around five four, with dark hair that had a small bounce to it. She had a heart-shaped face but a little more filled out. Her eyes, though … they stood out the most. They were hazel, a green tint to them. The third girl was blond. She was the same height as the first but wasn’t as slender. She had a few more pounds, enough to actually have curves, and I knew, by glancing at the guys, that she was the one they liked the most.

They stopped, paused, and waited for their presence to be announced. These girls weren’t acting like the other girls. These three were different.

They expected attention.

And they got it, as Matt sat farther back from the girl on his lap, a name escaping him like a frustrated sigh. “Victoria.”

Victoria?

As in the Victoria who hung over Kash, who was mentoring Seraphina? That Victoria?

She swung those eyes to me and raised her nose up a fraction of an inch. “This is the houseguest Ser was talking about the other day?”

Fuck. It was her.

Double fuck.

She wasn’t stunning anymore. She was gorgeous on another level. There was no way anyone could compete against her.

I mean, not that I was. But anyone else, no way. Anyone who was trying.

Matt skimmed me with a look, a coldness in there that I was surprised to see. “Back off on this one, Vic.” He guided the girl off his lap, and as she stood next to him, a pout on her face, he leaned forward to rest his arms on the table. His gaze was solely locked on Victoria now, and he lifted his top lip in a half sneer. “No fucking with her.” He raised one eyebrow. “You got me?”

No one spoke.

No one moved.

No one breathed.

Her friends’ mouths opened an inch. Their own eyebrows rose at a slower pace, but they waited until Victoria’s mouth mashed together and a glare was directed toward me. If she’d had superpowers, I would’ve been incinerated right then and there, but she turned as a strangled growl left her. She stalked right back down the walkway before turning toward another booth of guys. Seeing them, Chester nodded. “Mattson and Atchins are over there.” He scanned them. “Don’t know the rest.”

Tony grunted. “Do we care? Mattson can suck my dick.”

Just like that, the matter was settled. What the matter had been, I had no clue, but it was decided. The guys went back to the girls in front of them. Tony stood, his hands finding one of the girls’ hips. He raised his chin up toward Matt. “We’re going to move more private.” His eyes flicked to me, back to my brother. “You want to come?” They landed on the girl Matt had been making out with, still standing next to the booth. Matt’s arm had wound around her waist, pulling her against his side.

Chester scooted to the edge of the booth, but he didn’t stand.

Victoria’s two friends were still standing at our table. It was clear they were waiting to be addressed by the guys.

Matt glanced to me, his eyebrows up in a question.

I didn’t know what “private” meant, so I just shrugged and reached for the drink Matt had had a waitress refill ten minutes before.

“Nah.” Matt tugged his girl back to his lap. “We’re good here.”

“Gotcha. See you around, then.”

Tony tapped the girl on the hip and she led the way, moving off in a seductive sway. Her two friends gazed at Chester a second, but he only shook his head and flicked his fingers at them. “I’m not interested. You all can go and make sure my boy’s taken care of, hmm?”

They flushed, getting what he was saying, and hurried off.

One muttered, “Asshole,” under her breath, searing him with a glower.

He didn’t care, rolling his eyes before addressing Victoria’s friends. “You still here?” He paused a beat. “Why?”

The blonde sucked in her breath. “You’re such a dick, Chester.”

He lifted up a shoulder, lounging back against the booth so his head rested against the cushion and his feet were stretched out past the table. He idly scratched at his neck. “That seemed to turn you on last night, Fleur.”

She shook her head, pointedly turning away from him. “Matt.”

My brother had gone back to nuzzling the neck of the girl on his lap. He didn’t lift his head, but he did stop in his ministrations.

“Matt.”

He groaned, looking up now. His eyebrows moved together. He wasn’t happy. “What?”

She tried to act impassive under the heat of his annoyance, but shifting on her feet, she dropped her gaze. “Where’s Kash? Victoria’s worried about him. He’s not been gone this long, not for a while.”

That got Chester’s attention.

He sat forward, leaning, resting his arms on the table as Matt had been when the three girls first approached. “That’s why you stayed back? To ask about Colello?”

Matt grinned, a dark amusement lining that smile. He rested his head back against the booth, watching this play out and enjoying it in an almost cruel way. “She stayed back to do Victoria’s dirty work. Didn’t you, Fleur?” Then it was as if he grew bored with this new toy. His eyes flashed his annoyance and he sat forward, reaching for his girl again. “Go away. Stop being Vic’s bitch and asking about Kash. If Kash wanted her to know, he would tell her. Says enough right there.”

“Matt.”

His head snapped up again, his nostrils flaring. “Fuck. Off. What don’t you understand about that?”

Chester stood, almost lazily. “Come on.” He hooked his finger around her hand and tugged her behind him, heading down the walkway. “Let’s go get some shots.”

Glaring one more time at Matt, she followed behind, her other hand resting over his.

The last friend remained, looking almost bored.

“What?”

She lifted up a shoulder. “Nothing. Just … you know the real reason she’s over here.” Her eyes, like everyone else, darted to me and held there.

I got it then. Or I thought I did. Chester and Tony might not have cared about who I was, but these three did. The other girls hadn’t. They weren’t in the “club,” as Matt had first explained, but Victoria, Fleur, and this one were. I was here. I was in the booth, and it was obvious I wasn’t here to be a sex play toy to the guys. Since Matt was sitting on the outskirts of the booth, that meant I was someone to them. They just didn’t know who I was.

Matt had already pushed back at Victoria about me, and he’d pushed hard, but the other was crucified as well. I had a nagging feeling that her asking about Kash wasn’t really asking about where he was, that there were other levels mixed in, other dynamics playing out underneath those words. I wasn’t sure what, but I’d have to learn if I was staying—

What was I doing?

I was sitting here acting like I was a part of this world, but I wasn’t.

I was here because of a threat, but after, I was back to my mom.

Matt, Seraphina, Cyclone. Could I go back to not knowing them?

Pain split down my middle, tearing me apart.

Matt was watching me, his head lowered. “You okay?” I felt his concern, and my God but it was too much.

It almost unglued everything I had just shoved down and I felt tears coming to my eyes. Blinking rapidly, I jerked my head in a nod, but motioned to get out. “Can I—I have to go to the bathroom.”

Matt didn’t move, not at first. “Bailey.”

“Pee, Matt. I have to do it, here or there. I’d prefer there.” I wasn’t looking at him. I couldn’t. He’d see I was hurting, more than he might’ve suspected right now. I couldn’t hold it back. I didn’t know why, but the wall I had tried to erect was gone and I was raw, exposed in that moment. I couldn’t be like that, not here, not among these people. This was the worst place to be bleeding out.

When he still didn’t move, I dropped my voice to a raw, “Please.”

He made a soft sound. A break in the music was the only reason he heard me, I heard him, but it was enough. He stood up, carrying the girl with him and setting her on her feet as I rushed past them.

He reached out for me. I was expecting it, and I ducked my arm and shoulder down, evading his touch. Then I was off. I didn’t know where the bathrooms were, but it didn’t really matter at that point. I just needed to get away. It was hurting too much, knowing I’d have to leave those three, knowing I’d be forced to leave them.

I shoved through the crowd, only stopping to gape in some much-needed fog, when I knew I’d been swallowed up. No one from that world could see me, and, still feeling the bite of tears at my eyes, I started forward.

I wandered the club.

There was a guard on my tail. I saw him a few times. I knew there were another two who had accompanied us into the club, but once we got inside, I hadn’t seen them. They’d been blending in with everyone, but once I got to the higher floor, and as the crowd lessened dramatically, I saw the guard.

He clipped a nod to me, remaining a few yards away. Coming to an empty table, one in the corner by the exit door, I slid in. I just needed to get away. I needed to wrap my head around things, and only then would I be able to put that wall back up.

The guard didn’t come forward. He held back, folding his arms in front of him as he took point and watched out for anyone coming and going. Where I was sitting, though, no one was doing that. I had gone as far up as I could and as far inside as I could. I stayed there until I lost track of time. I assumed Matt asked where I was, because the guard took his phone out. It was lighting up from someone calling, and he was only on it for a few seconds before he put it back into his pocket.

Two staff members came in through the exit door, breezing past me without a second look. I didn’t think they even saw me, though they saw my guard. Both staff paused, checking him out, before walking past. One paused and said something under her breath, but the guard only smiled and shook his head briefly. She started forward, only then looking back over her shoulder and seeing me. Her eyes widened, and her mouth opened, but she kept going.

A few minutes later, she came back with a drink in hand.

I watched, expecting her to offer it to the guard, but she didn’t. She sent him a coy smile, going past and holding it out to me. “Compliments from the bar.”

“Really? What is it?”

“One of the girls said you were sitting in the VIP earlier. She said it’s the same drink you had down there.” She touched my shoulder lightly, a small smile on her face. “Have your Mr. Tall, Dark, and Delicious nod to me downstairs if you want another. I’ll be watching.”

I was momentarily stunned, then nodded. “Thank you.”

The small gesture of kindness was appreciated.

The guard came forward when she left. He took the drink, testing it first. I waited, and after a few minutes he nodded. “It’s fine.” He handed it back to me. “You can drink it.”

Thanking him, I sipped the drink, and by the end of it, I was ready to head back. This time, as I went, I got a different reaction. People watched me. They moved aside. Eyes tracked me as they had watched Matt cross the club, and his friends. I got that same reception. It was an unsettling feeling, until I glanced over my shoulder and saw that my guard was closer than I had realized.

I was pondering that when a hand came out of nowhere.

I was yanked down a hallway. It happened so fast, I couldn’t react.

A door was opened. I was dragged inside, then a decisive “Stop!” barked out and the door was slammed shut behind me.

The light was never turned on.

I had no idea where I was, but it didn’t matter. I felt him, whoever he was, in front of me. He placed two hands on either side of me, trapping me in place, and as I was frozen, he bent over me. I felt his breath, warming me, teasing me. His body pressed in. He was crowding me. He wasn’t plastered against me, but I was flattened as much as I could be against the wall, still feeling his heat before he spoke into my ear.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”