Liar (Madison Kate #2)(69)
"Since you started getting stabbed and choked and stalked every fucking time you step foot in public, Princess," Archer growled back with an edge of something raw in his tone. Resentment, I thought. "Trying to keep you alive is a full-time fucking job."
I scowled, but I didn't retort with anything dumb like telling him not to bother looking after me. I wasn't that stupid. I needed them, or I really would end up like my mom. Beaten, strangled, and shot in the head.
"Should I be armed, too?" I asked as Kody and Steele both climbed into the back of the Range Rover. Apparently they were being gentlemen and letting me take the passenger seat. Dickheads.
Archer just looked me over and rubbed a hand over his dark stubble with a small groan. "No, you're fine. We don't actually expect any trouble." He popped the passenger door open and held it for me, indicating that I get in. I was torn between thinking it was a polite, kind gesture or just a passive-aggressive way to tell me to hurry the hell up. Whatever it was, I got in and buckled my seat belt while he circled around the front of the car to his side.
Steele and Kody chatted in the backseat as we left the garage and started down the driveway, but I wasn't focusing on their words. I was too conscious of the tense way Archer gripped the steering wheel and the lightning-fast glances he kept flicking at me. Or rather at my exposed thighs, thanks to the short dress riding up when I sat down. I wore sheer stockings held up by a black garter belt, but he couldn't see that much, giving him the illusion of bare legs.
When we paused at the gate, waiting for the security guard there to open them for us, Archer reached into his pocket with a frustrated sigh.
"Here," he muttered, holding out his crimson butterfly blade to me. "Take this. It matches your dress at least."
Shocked, I just stared at the knife for a moment, then took it when the gates opened fully and Archer needed to drive through.
"What about you?" I asked, holding the folded blade in my fist. It was warm from being in his pocket, and it was almost like touching an extension of him.
Archer just cocked a brow at me with a half smile. "I'll be fine, Kate. Just don't fucking stab yourself."
My heart stuttered at the rarely used name. Dallas was the only other person who called me Kate, and a cynical part of me couldn't help wondering if Archer did it as a dig toward my old friend and first love. Then... another part of me secretly loved it.
I didn't have any pockets in my dress, so for lack of any better ideas, I pulled the hem of my dress up, unhooked one of the suspenders from my stocking, and looped it through the blade handle before reattaching it. I tucked the bulk of the knife into the lace band at the top of my stocking, then gasped as the car swerved sharply.
"Whoa, what the fuck?" Kody asked from the backseat. "First time driving, bro?"
Archer's scowl was firmly fixed on the road, his knuckles white on the steering wheel. "Sorry," he muttered from behind clenched teeth. "Thought I hit a squirrel."
Kody and Steele made jokes about Archer's shitty driving, but I just side-eyed him.
Squirrel, my ass.
26
I don't know why I was surprised—nothing about these boys should shock me anymore—but the bouncers on the door of Club Twenty-Two didn't even bat an eyelid at Steele's poorly concealed firearm. They just gave Archer and the boys a respectful nod, then waved us all through with Bree in tow. We bypassed the huge line of people waiting to get in and checked our coats in the entry hall.
The first thing I noticed when we passed through the heavy velvet curtains and into the main club was the undeniable party atmosphere. The music was loud, the chatter and laughter louder, and everyone was dressed in theme. It was like we'd just stepped straight into The Great Gatsby... except with strippers. Yep, two parallel runways jutted out from a stage, each with a gorgeous but scantily clad dancer working the pole. The left was a gorgeous blonde girl with an incredible body, and the right was a guy in nothing but a tiny, sequined Speedo.
"Equal opportunity nudity," I commented with a grin, "I like it."
Archer rolled his eyes, then turned to speak with Steele too quietly for me to overhear—not that I was paying a lot of attention to him—when a familiar face appeared out of the crowd.
"Kate!" Dallas boomed, rushing forward and sweeping me up in a hug that took my feet off the ground. "I'm so glad you came. I didn't think Breezie could pull it off."
"She didn't even tell me you were coming," I replied, giving Bree a small frown of confusion over Dallas's shoulder. She just gave me a small smile back and shrugged.
"I'll get some drinks," she offered. "You can help me, Kody." She grabbed his arm and hauled him after her before he could fully protest, and I realized Archer had already disappeared.
Apparently whoever he'd come here to meet with, I wasn't invited into the conversation. It made me all kinds of irritated that he'd snuck off like that when it was my life in question. Then again, I knew nothing of the dark world they all lived in. It was all too likely I'd make some social blunder and get us all shot at. Again.
"You can probably put me down now," I told Dallas with a laugh, and he reluctantly set me back on my feet.
Steele moved closer, possessively placing his hand on my waist and shifting me a step away from Dallas. It was such a stupid, testosterone-filled move that I couldn't help rolling my eyes. Dallas wasn't a threat. Far from it. But I wasn't going to waste my breath trying to convince Steele of that when he was in full possessive mode. Besides, it was kinda hot.