Page 16 of Two For the Show
The crowd roars their approval, and Jude flicks his mic on again to address them. “Did you hear that, folks? I told you these clowns were demented. Assaulting an Omega, destroying her nest… Can you think of anything more depraved?” The crowd roars their dissent, and I sneak a sideways glance at my brother.
He looks smug, knowing his idea was a good one and that this is going to work.
“Sometimes, the trash takes itself out. Other times, it requires a kick in the ass. So, Travis Daughtery, Chet Longwood, and Elvis Garcia, consider this your kick.” Dexter, Quinton, and I rip their masks off at Jude’s words. “Get the fuck out of my circus,” he says, with a full-force Alpha bark that has me flinching.
Travis is spitting mad, and Chet looks murderous, but Elvis is resigned, his eyes downcast. I feel a little bad for the kid. I’m sure he just got wrapped up with the wrong guys.
But I don’t feel that bad. He terrorized my Omega, and that can’t fucking stand.
I push Travis out as Dexter shoves Chet toward the back of the tent. Elvis hangs his head and follows us, needing no encouragement.
“Your trailers have been packed up. We’ve called a rideshare. I don’t care where you go, but you better not come back,” I snarl, shoving Travis probably more roughly than I need to.
Dexter grabs Chet by the collar and pulls the other Alpha close, their noses nearly touching. “And whichever of you it was that called Rich, I hope you fucking burn. The only thing keeping me from wringing your neck is that I don’t want to become my father.”
Chapter 7
I replaythe video that has gone viral on social media since last night.
A very familiar circus made a performance out of kicking out three Alpha clowns.
My circus.
Sylvia leans over my shoulder, watching it with me. She’s been smug all morning. “You ready to go back to those boys yet?” she asks before going back to wipe off the frother.
“He’ll know to look for me there now that one threat is gone.” The excuse sounds weak even to my ears.
I can practically hear her roll her eyes. “Sure, but you’ll have all of those strong men to protect you. That Hispanic one in the hat, that’s your Beta?”
I pinch the screen, zooming in on Matteo. “Yeah, that’s Matteo,” I say softly, a pang in my chest at the sight of him. He’s more handsome than I remember, but there are shadows under his eyes that weren’t there before.
Quinton looks thin, his eyes half-lidded. There is no doubt that his Rot is back in full force, and that is my fault.
Jude looks stiff. Well, stiffer than usual. The massive Alpha is difficult to read, but doesn’t this performance show that he wants me back? It wasn’t an unplanned event. An effort was made to ensure this was a spectacle.
Dario is his usual beaming self, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.
It’s Dexter that surprises me the most. He looks nearly feral in his anger at the clowns.
Travis, Chet, and Elvis.
Putting a name and face to the evil makes it a little easier to deal with. No longer are they their nightmare-inducing masks. They’re just men.
Men who have been humiliated.
I worry a little about them retaliating against me, trying to find me, but with these accusations out there, I doubt they’ll be brave enough.
I ache to return to the troupe. Honestly, I do. I even regret leaving them and not trusting that they could protect me.
Now that the clowns are gone, what is stopping me from meeting them at the next stop on their tour? Would Rich expect that of me?
“Excuse me, ma’am?” A smooth voice says from the window. I plaster myself to the wall before sinking to the floor, praying I’m not visible and have time to hide.
Sylvia spins around, her customer service smile stretched across her face. “Yes? What can I get ya today?”
We’re close to packing up and leaving, but she’ll never turn a customer away.
Even though this one time, she really should.
