Page 76 of King of Clubs

“Hmmph,” I grunted, skimming over the photos of him leaving a pub on the outskirts of town, clearly off his head and with an equally messy woman on his arm.

“Boys said they saw him roughing one of the women up and when they stepped in he nearly shit himself. Fucking coward.”

A sound almost akin to a growl rumbled in my throat and I felt hot. Pushing my dish to the side, no longer hungry, I stood and began pacing.

“I'll kill him if he ever even thinks of Marlee again.” I was looking out at the empty club, adrenaline coursing through me at the thought of how he used to treat her and I wished I had a punching bag in my office.

“You need to relax, boy. He’s a total cocksucker from what they said, but his phone shows no records of having contacted her.”

“That doesn’t mean shit. He could have a burner,” I snapped.

“Maybe. They're pretty thorough but I’ll have them continue to keep an eye on him. It won’t be cheap but it –”

“I don’t give a fuck how much it costs,” I snapped, before shooting him an apologetic look. “I appreciate your help. I’m in over my head with this one. She's wedged herself so deep she's all I can think about. The thought that there is something bothering her is eating at me,” I admitted.

“Seb, it’s all good. I know she matters to you, mate, leave it with me. You just eat your fish like a good little lovesick puppy,” his deep laugh rumbled through the office and I tried not to throw a spring roll at his head.

Finalising the last of my nightly emails, I reached for my ringing phone and smiled at my sister’s name.

“Evangeline. Wassup?”

“Ew. Don’t ever say wassup again,” I chuckled at her outrage realising I missed her. She hadn’t called me in a while with hundreds of irrelevant questions and with everything going on, it was nice to hear her voice.

“When are you coming to see me?”

“Just listen, old man, I’m about to run into an exam. Mum’s birthday is next week,” I pulled my phone away from my ear, to see she was right.

“God, that time already. Yeah, okay. Where are we taking her or does she want to have us at her place?”

“I was thinking we could have dinner at your house for a change. Get her to come into the city and then Toby can see your apartment. Let’s kill all the birds with one stone.”

“Lucky your brain is numerically wired because idioms are not your forte.”

“Huh?”

“Oh, nevermind,” I chuckled. “Okay, sounds good. I’ll send a ride to pick you all up and you guys can stay in the city the night. Let Mum know the details and I'll sort the rest.”

“Mum will bring her new camera for sure. She is obsessed.” I groaned. Mum loved nothing more than an impromptu photo shoot and we were always the victims. “Will Mum get to meet your new giiiiiirlfriend?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I fly solo,” I lied with a grin. It was probably time I told Mum about Marlee but loved having her all to myself.

“You’ve been hit with Cupid’s arrow, Seb, and it suits you,” she made a kissing noise into the phone and I grimaced.

“Goodbye, Eva,” I said, hanging up with a grin before she said anything else.

Evangeline

I already told Mum she is coming so don’t disappoint us. Lovelovelove x

Her immediate follow up message, with her favourite farewell, made me simultaneously laugh and roll my eyes. She was such a brat.

I knew Marlee was upset the second I stepped foot into my office. From across the floor, she’d given me a seductive wave when she arrived in her tight little black dress and heels, and my jaw practically hit the ground. At times I still couldn’t believe she was mine and then whenever she directed that bright smile my way the solid, organised walls I kept around my world would lower a little more. I kept all conversation to a minimum after that, engaging only with the VIPs, as she grabbed a drink from the bar and walked up the stairs to my office. She would often head up and watch the cameras while I worked, scrolling her phone until I arrived. But tonight she was standing in front of my desk and her eyes were red.

Fuck. Was she crying?

“What’s wr–,” she held her hand up to stop me as I approached and I froze as she stepped aside revealing the yellow envelope I stupidly forgot to put away. The pictures and sheets of information about Lucas were scattered across my desk, my empty dinner container no longer sitting on top of them.

“What is this?” While herI’m finewas ambiguous, there was no way I could misunderstand the anger in her tone now and she took a step back when I moved towards her.

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