Page 60 of King of Envy

Indira was undeterred by his lack of response. “It looks like you and me are the only single people in the group.” She was so focused on flirting with Vuk that she seemed to have forgotten about Killian, who was also single.Like you weren’t the one mocking his scars earlier,I fumed. “We should grab dinner sometime. There’s this great place in SoHo…”

I tuned her out as my nausea returned tenfold. Jordan had returned to his conversation with Topher while I spoke with Vuk, but I needed a distraction. If I didn’t get away from him and Indira soon, I’d vomit all over her four-inch Louboutins.

“I hate to break up the party, but can we get back to therealparties?” Liya asked pointedly. “We are so late for the escape room.”

“You’re going to an escape room for a bachelorette?” Will scoffed. “That’s so boring.”

“If you want excitement, I can always hack off one of your balls,” she said, her voice sugary sweet. “I’m a nurse. I’m good with a range of medical instruments.”

He paled and immediately covered his groin with his hands. “No way. Didn’t you have to sign a hypocritical oath or some shit?”

“It’s the Hippocratic Oath, and that’s only for doctors.” Liya left out the part where nurses recited a modified version called the Nightingale Pledge. “Lucky for you, I don’t have time to deal with your genitals tonight. Ayana, come on. We really need to go.”

I hesitated. We weren’t doing anything except milling around and talking, but I was strangely reluctant to leave.

“I have a better idea. Why don’t we merge our groups?” Indira said. “We’re already together. We might as well make it a big party. The more the merrier and all that.”

“I agree,” Topher said quickly. He eyed the supermodel like she’d just stepped out of his dreams. “We should definitely stay together.”

“No complaints from me.” Kim shrugged.

A chorus of agreement rippled through the group.

“Stop. You’re forgetting that this isn’t up to us.” Sloane silenced everyone with an icy glare. “This is Jordan and Ayana’s night. Let them decide.” She turned to us. “What do you think?”

Jordan and I exchanged glances.

I didn’t want to play the loving fiancée during my bachelorette, but we were with our friends. Surely that gave us leeway to do our thing. Not every couple was glued at the hip all the time.

“I’m good with merging,” I said. “Like Indira said, the more the merrier.”

“Same, but no more bars, okay? I’m all barred out for the night.” Jordan pointed to his black eye as proof.

After we gave our consent, we had one more problem to solve. Where, exactly, were we going to go? Bars and clubs were out, and our group was too big for the escape room.

Suggestions for mini golf, karaoke, and a casino night flew through the air until Xavier stepped in.

“Wait. I have the perfect idea.” He grinned, his eyes alight with mischief. “But we’re going to need three more girls.”

CHAPTER17

Vuk

Karma was a bitch with different faces. Sometimes it was an attempted assassination; other times, it was a fucking laser tag night with my friend, his fiancée who I was secretly obsessed with, and a model who clung to me like a barnacle. Oh, and a bunch of drunken people I didn’t care about.

I would’ve preferred another assassination attempt.

After the cops broke up the fight at the Soggy Bottom—though not before Kai broke Grizzly’s nose and I sent two of Grizzly’s friends fleeing into the night—I’d easily sorted things out with the police. Multiple witnesses confirmed that Grizzly was the one who’d thrown the first punch, and the names of the people in the bachelor party were enough to get the cops to back down.

We did get banned from the Soggy Bottom for life, but none of us were too choked up about that.

However, the last thing I’d expected was to run into Ayana and her friends. When I came out of the bar and saw her caressing Jordan’s face, I’d wanted to hit something again.

Jealousy ate me alive, and now I had to spend an entire goddamn night watching them act lovey-dovey with each other.

I glared at Jordan while Xavier ran through the rules. He’d taken over my role as the party leader, not that I gave a shit.

“Boys versus girls. Winners take home bragging rights.” Xavier looked around at the eclectic group of billionaires, supermodels, and assorted friends and family. In order to make the teams even, he’d recruited several of Sloane’s friends to join, which was how Vivian Russo, Isabella Young, and Sloane’s other client Maya ended up in the mix. Everyone looked ridiculous in the laser tag vests, myself included. “We all clear on the rules?”

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