Start a War (Saint View Psychos #1)(76)

I slid it over my eyes, fastening it in place behind my head. My hair fell in soft waves over my shoulders.

I was done. Ready to begin the party.

There was the urge to vomit again.

I opened the door anyway.

Vincent was still standing on the other side, guarding it like there were thousands of screaming fans trying to break it down.

He turned around. “Are you ready…”

His eyes flared, and unashamedly, his gaze rolled down my body. The lights weren’t out yet, so I knew he was getting a little more than everybody else would, but that felt okay, because he already owned a little part of me. After what he’d done for me with Caleb, and then our kiss…

I wanted him to think I was beautiful.

I was desperately terrified he wouldn’t.

“What do you think?” I whispered.

“What are you wearing?”

Every time someone had said that to me in the past, it had been with scorn. “What are you wearing, Bethany-Melissa? Your arms are really too fat for that. Go put something with sleeves on.”

When Vincent said it, it was with awe.

“Do you like it?” I asked.

“Very much.”

I beamed at him, confidence filling me up and overflowing. I handed him a mask. “Come on, let’s get this show on the road.





The wall sconces glowed yellow around the room so there was enough light to see by, but not so much people couldn’t hide in the shadows. Heavy bass thumped through the club, the DJ we’d hired playing pump-up music in the hopes of getting people geared up and excited to party.

It was early, so the performers in their cages were still in the tame beginnings of their acts. They danced seductively, running their hands over their bodies while the room filled.

I hid away behind the bar with Rebel and the other staff, my heart in my mouth.

Rebel, in her panties and nipple covers, leaned on the counter, watching the crowd of people stream in. “Turnout looks good, Dis. We’re filling up fast. You ready to make some money?”

I was so ready to make some money. With days until my end-of-month meeting, tonight had to go well. I needed the cold hard cash in my hand.

I picked up my tray of champagne flutes and balanced them carefully on my arm. The shining gold bubbles glimmered in the lights, and Rebel and I took to the room, going in opposite directions, offering every person a complimentary glass to get the party started.

Everyone wore the Psychos masks they’d been handed at the door, and I loved the added element of mystery it brought the room. People mingled in small groups, talking and chatting like they would have at any normal club, some taking to the floor to dance while they sipped their drinks. Others headed straight for the cages, staking out positions in the front row, knowing what would soon be coming once the crowd was warmed up.

One couple made a beeline for the corridor where my office was, disappearing into the darkness with a key dangling from a gold chain. Nash passed me by, and I nodded in their direction.

“What’s with the keys?” I asked.

“They’re for the private rooms. People book them on entry, and they get a key to use whenever they want throughout the night.”

“Oh, right.” I knew there were rooms back there, of course. I’d seen them when I’d wandered around. “I just assumed they were for private lap dances. Or for when people got so turned on they couldn’t wait to get home. I didn’t think people would be practically running down there the minute they got here. Seems to kind of defeat the purpose of a sex party. Like, isn’t the point to have sex where people can watch you?”

Nash raised an eyebrow. “Fuck. I forget how innocent you are or I would have deliberately shown you before this. I just assumed you knew. Come here.”

My tray was empty anyway, and I needed a refill, so it wouldn’t matter if I disappeared from the main floor for a moment. I followed him down the corridor, and he paused at the room the couple had disappeared into. The door was painted black, like the rest of the corridor.

“Notice anything about the door?”

I shrugged. “It’s black?”

He put a hand to the little metal peephole covering. “It has a peephole. Except instead of people seeing out, people can see—”

I blushed. “In. Okay, right. Gotcha.”

I hovered for a second. Nash’s gaze flickered over me. His tongue pressed to the side of his cheek while he studied me. “You want to look, don’t you?”

I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped me. “Do you?”

He grinned. “Would be insulting not to since they’re putting on a show. I mean, they get off on people watching. I’d hate for them to walk away disappointed in their evening.”

“You go first.”

He slid aside the covering, ducked his head, and peered through.

“Well?”

He turned to me with fake shock on his face. “There’s people having sex in there!”

I sniggered and elbowed him out of the way. “Show me.”

He stepped to the side, and I took his spot, squinting through the peephole.

There were indeed people having sex in there. I watched for a moment and then crinkled my nose at what I’d seen.

Nash was laughing. “It’s not always that sexy, is it?”