Sweet Revenge (Dueling with the Devil) (4 page)

He reached ou
t,
tapping the bottom of her chi
n,
reminding her to shut her mouth
.“
Didn’t anyone tell you it was rude to stare
?
”

Shoving his hand awa
y,
she muttere
d,
“
Whatever
.
”

“
Does this meet with your approval
?”
He opened his arm
s,
p
r
o
v
i
d
i
n
g
a
n
u
n
o
b
s
t
r
u
c
t
e
d
v
i
e
w
o
f
h
i
s
b
od
y
.

Just when I thought the Toussant boys couldn’t get any fucking hotter.
“
It’ll do
.
”

t t t

The line outside Utopia rivaled any red carpet event. No one would guess so many supes wandered in the open amongst human
s,
much less owned one of the hottest
c
l
u
bs in the Big Easy. The club appealed to a mixture of the supernatural and human worlds. It was the land of the beautiful and the more beautiful. Like attracted like.

Bell strolled by the onlookers waiting in lin
e,
some who may never make it inside. Xavier followed behind her. The imprint of his hand branded into the small of her back. He held the attention of every female as he passed. She made a point to smile in acknowledgement to each on
e,
as she slowed to close the gap between her and Xavier.

Inside the clu
b,
the music pulsated through the air. The smell of heat and alcohol assaulted her nose. Bodies meshed together on the dance floor. She reached bac
k,
clasping Xavier’s hand to ensure she didn’t lose him. Halfway through the crowded roo
m,
she spotted her brother. He had buzzed his blond hair close like a marine. The bulk of his body hunched over the bar. Although she was the oldes
t,
Laurent had towered over her since they were young. She hadn’t realized how much she missed him until she saw him.

When she reached hi
m,
she planted a sloppy kiss on his
c
h
e
e
k.
“
There’s my little bro. What’s going on
?
”

His face relaxed with relief
.“
I’m glad you came
.”
He kissed her back. The
n,
his gaze shifted to the person behind her.

She remembered she still held on to Xavier’s hand and released her hold
.“
Oh. This is my…um…new friend. Sean
.
”

Staring him down like any brother woul
d,
Laurent gave a slight nod.

“
Wussup
.”
Xavier returned the silent greeting.

Bell faced Xavier
.“
Babe. Why don’t you go get a drink and hang back for a minute? Let me chat with my brother
.”
She traced the buttons on his silk shirt. She felt the ridges of his rock hard stomach evident beneath the thin fabric.

He tilted her chin so her gaze met his. The smile he flashed made her want to melt
.“
Don’t make me wait too long
.”
His lips lightly brushed her
s,
and then he was gone.

Laurent cleared his throat
.“
Ya know I’m still her
e,
right
?
”

She inhaled a deep breath
.“
Of course
.
”

“
It looks like you’re not doing as
b
a
dly as I though
t
,
”
her brother p
r
odd
e
d.

“
Just a new toy to distract me from all the bullshit going on
.
”

“
I don’t kno
w,
Sissy. Seems like a little more than a distraction to me
.”
He tugged at a lock of her hair like he did when they were young.

Punching him in the ar
m,
she laughed
.“
You know me. Nothing keeps my attention for long. If I find something more interestin
g,
he’ll be put out like yesterday’s paper
.
”

Concern deepened the lines around his light blue eyes
.“
I want you to be happ
y,
Bell. You deserve to be treated well. You can play that ‘I don’t need anyone game’ with everyone els
e,
but I know you
.
”

“
I’m a big girl. I’ll be fine. Maybe one day when I find someone feisty enough to keep my interes
t,
I’ll settle down
.”
She hoped her words were true
.“
And you’re one to talk…Mr. Bachelor of the Year
.
”

He shrugge
d,
sadness clouding his features
.“
Like yo
u,
I’m waiting for someone to come along I can trust enough to let in. Except for you and Jacqu
e,
not many people make that list
.
”

Bell reached over and hugged her brother tight
.“
You’ll find he
r
,
”
she whispered in his ear and kissed his cheek
.“
Now enough of this shit. Come dance with me
.
”

Xavier tipped the stool back and watched with a look of longing as she and Laurent walked awa
y,
a rare moment of vulnerability for her demon. The temptation to comfort him was fleeting. Family was the one thing Xavier lacked. Bell remembered Jacque reaching out to him long ag
o,
only to be shunned by the big brother he admired. Xavier’s strength exuded
from
him even as a young demon. This was a trait Jacque only recently acquired during his pursuit of Angel.

“
Earth to Bell. What’s going on with you
?”
Laurent strained to be heard above the thumping beat.

She swayed her hips to the music
.“
I’m good
.”
She glanced in time to see Xavier distracting himself with a cut
e,
dark-skinned human. The image of crushing the girl’s throat flashed through her mind. Bell dismissed the image as fast as it appeared.

“
You like hi
m,
don’t you
?
”

“
What! Don’t be stupid. I like the look of him. I’ll find out how much I like him later
.
”

Her brother rolled his eyes
.“
Seriously. You need a filter on your thoughts. TMI. I’m your brother
.
”

She laughed at the disgusted expression on Laurent’s face
.“
Don’t ask and I won’t tell
.”
As she threw her hands in the air and spun aroun
d,
she stopped abruptl
y,
bumping the sparkly fairy behind her.

Acid churned in Bell’s stomach. Her legs went weak. With trembling hand
s,
she clutched Laurent for balance and grounding. In the front of the clu
b,
Jacque and his wife-to-be walked through the door with their entourage in tow. Without hesitatio
n,
Bell fled the dance floor to the restroom. Out of breat
h,
Bell cowered. The burning sensation of acid r
o
il
e
d in her chest. She never thought seeing Jacque and his bitch would affect her this way. Was she mad? Hell yeah. Did she want to cut the little human’s throat? Fuck yeah. But to run away and hide in the bathroom? That wasn’t Isabella LaCoste.

She struggled to calm herself. The col
d,
granite counter counteracted the firestorm raging inside her body. Glowering at her image in the mirro
r,
she growle
d,
“
Get your shit togethe
r,
LaCoste
!
”

Shoving open the swinging doo
r,
Bell ventured out into the blaring music of the main club. She scanned the crowded dance floor. It was the last place she remembered seeing Xavier. She needed to make sure he kept his cool. She couldn’t afford him blowing their advantage by reacting before thinking. They needed to plan
t
h
is correctly. If they took the opportunity to kill Jacque and Angel tonight and misse
d,
there might not be a second chance. Finall
y,
she located him at the back ba
r,
his long body stretched out against the wall. The sight of him h
a
d
a
remarkably calming effect on her. When his gaze met her
s,
he nodded at her.

She squeezed through the sweaty bodies dancing to the intense beat of the song. A hand caught her wris
t,
sending a cold chill up her arm. Immediatel
y,
she knew who it was.

“
He
y,
Bell. Where ya running off to
?”
His smooth baritone
a
l
w
a
y
s
ca
u
s
e
d
h
e
r
p
u
l
s
e
to
f
l
u
tt
e
r
.

“
I. Uh. My friend’s waiting at the bar for me
.”
She dare not look back at him. Being close to him exaggerated her emotions. Made her wea
k,
unable to suppress them from her consciousness. Losing him made her realize she had loved him. No matter how hard she tried not to. This wasn’t her nature. She loathed her failure on all accounts when it came to dealing with Jacque Toussant.

Bell snatched her arm from Jacque
.“
We’re over in the VI
P
,
”
he said
.“
You should get him and come over
.
”

“
I’ll see what he wants to do
.”
She broke through the end of the dance floor. Once free of the mo
b,
she ra
n,
slamming into a
c
h
e
s
t
w
i
t
h
t
h
e
f
o
r
t
i
t
ude
o
f
a
b
r
i
c
k
w
a
l
l
.

Xavier’s strong hands trapped her to him
.“
I got yo
u
,
”
he murmured in her ear. His assurance gave her strength.

Slowly backing awa
y,
she gazed u
p,
meeting an expression wavering between anger and concern
.“
Sorry about that
.”
She tried to smil
e,
but couldn’t complete the task.