Page 150 of I am Dressed in Sin (Death by Daybreak MC 2)
“It’s true,” Nellie continues, sniffling and rubbing at her nose. I wonder if she hasn’t sampled some of the uh, more extreme party favors. Not only do we have kegs galore here, but there’s a full bar, a cannabis bar (aka a cannabar), and a generous selection of recreational drugs.
Tables are laid out with glittering lines of cocaine, but don’t worry: Nellie’s put these huge vases of red roses in the middle of them so it’s klassy with a motherfucking K.
“Beast.” Nellie gives him a quick look over. “I wish the two of you all the best.” She offers him a hug which is one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen and then follows after Cat.
“This is your party,” Beast tells me, pulling me close. He lifts his blue gaze up, scanning the room over my head. “Whatever you want to do, you just tell me. Anything at all.”
“Anything?” I query, running a hand up his chest. He looks down at me and quirks a brow, capturing my hand in his.
“Anything,” he agrees, but before we can move away to find another closet, I see Reba making her way over to me. Outside, rock music blares and I can hear laughter, clinking glasses, can smell the faintest whiff of cigarette smoke.
“This is …” she starts, giving the cocaine laden tables a disturbed look. “Unlike any wedding reception I’ve ever been to.”
“We’re a very sophisticated people,” I agree, and Reba laughs, pulling me away from Beast and wrapping me up in a floral-scented hug. When she pulls back, she looks askance at him and then sighs. “Well, darn. I might as well, if we’re going to be family.”
Reba hugs Beast like she’d hug any other friend of hers, and my little black heart warms a few degrees.
“I’ll take good care o’ her, I promise you that,” he says, tipping his chin. Reba returns his look with a determined one of her own.
“You better,” she admonishes, reaching out to flick imaginary dust from his vest. “Or I will come after you, and I’m a whole lot scarier than I look.”
“You sure about that, Mother Theresa?” Sin asks, appearing behind her with a drink in hand. I reach out to take it, and he gives me a sharp look. When I pry his fingers off of it, he relinquishes it so as not to make a scene, but damn, he’s staring me down.
I bring the cup to my nose for a quick sniff. Oh, that’s nice. Scotch.
“Cat didn’t pull any punches,” Sin explains, nodding with his chin in the direction of the bar, as if he’s trying to tell me something in as quiet and subtle a way as possible. “We’ve got all the top-shelf booze tonight.”
“I can see that,” I reply as Beast continues to watch the room. He’s on edge. He wasn’t before, but he is now. That much I can tell for certain.
“I’mma go about finding myself something non-alcoholic to drink,” Reba says, putting her hand on my arm. “I’ll come find you in a bit.”
“Sounds good,” I say, but I’m already distracted by Beast’s behavior. “What?” I ask, and he tears his attention away from the crowd to look down at me. “What do you know that I don’t?”
“Good question,” Sin agrees, tucking his hands into the pockets of his slacks. He cuts a fine figure in them, that’s for damn sure. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t rightly know,” Beast says, glancing over at Grainger as he rejoins our little group. He said he didn’t much feel like sharing me with the other guys tonight, but the look the two men share goes beyond romance and relationships. This is club stuff, and three out of my four men seem to hold the same feeling of dread that’s roiling in my own chest.
Crown is … well, I have no idea where Crown’s run off to.
“I’ve had a bad feeling all week,” I explain, putting a hand over my belly and staring down into the cup. Oh. Crap. There’s a possibility that I might be pregnant. That is why Sin is being weird about the drink. I probably shouldn’t risk it. I mean, I don’t know if I’m pregnant at all. If I’m keeping it. I don’t know anything. I hazard a quick glance at Grainger, but he’s too focused on studying the other partygoers to notice my questing stare.
“Same,” Cade agrees, and really, it’s his affability that freaks me out the most. “Gaz seems to be in a disturbingly good mood; that’s the part that fucking rankles me.” He lifts a bottle of alcohol to his lips, taking a small sip before curling the edge of his lip up in irritation.
“You want me to find Crown?” Sin offers, but Grainger just shakes his head.
“Leave him be for now,” he says, and I try not to let that statement bother me. I hand the cup back to Sin, and he gives me a muted smile in response. Thank you for keeping quiet about it, I tell him with a look of my own. I don’t need anybody in this room getting wind of the possibility. Sin lifts the drink up in salute and chugs the remaining liquid before crushing the cup in his hand.
