“You have a gang?”

He stood, making up our minds for both of us, and catching my hand, he hauled me with him. “One thing you need to learn about this world: we might live in an exclusive club, but it’s a small exclusive club. And once it’s out who you are, everyone’s going to want to get their hooks in you. Might be a good idea to meet them one by one, in small doses, and when they don’t know who you are.”

I wasn’t fully following his theory, but I didn’t have a choice. Quinn wanted me gone, and Matt was doing her bidding. He was just going with me.

I nodded, giving in. “Should I pack a bag then?”

“Nah.” His mouth twitched in a half smirk, and he threw his arm back around my shoulder as we headed out. “As long as you have your phone, you’re good to go. I’ll have everything at my place.”

“I.D.? You have women’s clothes at your place?”

“When you go with me, you don’t need I.D.” He just laughed. “And being rich gives you the luxury of being prepared for anything. Come on. Let’s go forget about family ‘stress’ by getting wasted.”

It wasn’t what I’d normally do.

I was in.

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.