Page 125 of Scarred King
Liam: I’ll be back in an hour. Wait up for me!
Me: No. I have an exam tomorrow morning.
Liam: You want to kill me? OK, we’ll celebrate tomorrow.
Me: Good night.
I put my phone down. My heart is bursting with excitement and anticipation.
I hear approaching steps and giggles, and Victor and Leo walk in. “How exciting,” Victor exclaims and claps his hands, and they both jump around excitedly. I walk over to hug them and try to pull the fabric bag out of Leo’s hand.
“What are you doing?” he shrieks and pulls it back. “We have our ritual; you can’t ruin that.” He places the fabric bag on the desk and strokes it affectionately.
“You won’t believe what we found in storage,” Victor says enthusiastically. “About a year ago, one of the girls gave an amazing performance in a white wedding dress.” I open my eyes wide in surprise and Leo claps his hands once, and signals me to focus on unzipping the bag. The three of us stand around the desk as he takes a stunning white lace dress out of the bag. “We have just made some alterations so it will fit you.” He holds up the hanger and Victor bends down and spreads out the long train. “We made the slit in the leg a little deeper,” Leo plays with the fabric of the dress, “and we added a belt for your special equipment.” He giggles delightedly. “And now to work.”
I undress and can’t stop staring at the gorgeous lace. A few minutes later I am dressed in white, and they are busy fixing my cleavage and tightening the belt around my waist.
“Sit down.” Victor pulls the chair over and I sit.
“I want light makeup,” I mumble. “Nothing dark and scary—”
“Don’t disturb an artist’s work,” he snaps angrily, and I shut up. He asks me to close my eyes and just as I start losing patience, he allows me to open them again. Leo makes a straight parting in the middle of my head and brushes my hair out. He puts the brush down and shows me a large gold barrette in the shape of a sword. “You know their tattoo?” he asks and touches his wrist. “The letters and the sword in the middle?”
“Of course,” I reply, and he jumps in excitement again.
“The sword is your organization’s trademark,” he explains what I already know. “And you’ll wear it today.” He fixes the barrette to the left side of my head and they both take a step back and look at me in awe.
“Is that it?” I ask. I’m worried I’ll get another scolding if I stand up.
“Just a minute.” Victor places some white high heels on my feet, slips a white garter over my leg and pulls it up my thigh above the slit. He puts his hand out to Leo, who gives him two pocketknives. Victor puts one blade into the garter and the other in the belt around my waist. “Nearly finished,” he mutters and they both help me stand up. They march me through the curtain into the small bedroom and open the closet door.
My mouth drops open as I look at myself.
“You don’t need to say anything,” Leo says excitedly as he hugs Victor. “Some are amateurs, some are professionals. We happen to be champions.”
“Maybe we’ve overdone it a bit,” I feel the white lace. “I look like…”
“Like a true Duchess.” Victor strokes my bare shoulder. “Who scatters light upon her subjects,” Leo adds. “We just need one more thing. He goes to the office and hurries back with a white lace fan. “You must carry your trademark. Now you can start the show.”
They fold their arms through mine and we go downstairs. When Charlie sees me, he drops the glass he’s holding and it shatters on the floor. The girls stand up and gape at me.
“It’s time for everyone to see that the Duchess is back.” I raise my hand and snap the fan open. “And that the Duchess is crazy in love with her man.” I stand at the connecting door and Leo and Victor usher me through.
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I look around and find them on the long sofa at the end of the club. Ilan is sitting in the right corner and Irena is sitting topless on his lap. Mike and Tommy are sitting next to him, holding bottles of beer. Ralph is leaning back and watching the main show and Liam is drinking from a lowball glass and lighting a cigarette. I fight my urge to run to him and throw myself into his arms.
I march forward. It feels like everyone is staring at me and I cover my face with the fan, hiding my flushed cheeks. The music is turned down and I continue marching forward on the red carpet. “The Duchess is back!” the host announces excitedly.
Liam raises his head immediately and stares at me. His eyes open wide in shock and the cigarette nearly falls out of his mouth. I smile behind my fan and my heart thumps wildly. I hear whispers to my right, and I turn my head to the side. The men sitting there fall silent.
I look back at my man. He stands up and looks at me with an awestruck expression.
Ilan pats Irena on the butt and gestures for her to leave the table. Everyone sitting near him stands up. I wave my hand in the DJ’s direction and the music is turned back up to its regular volume. I stop in front of my man’s stunned, cat-like gaze and close the fan, wrap my arms around his neck and cling to him. My fingers caress his scars and stop when they reach his lips.
“It’s Wednesday today,” I whisper and kiss his lower lip. “So, I was thinking,” I kiss his upper lip, “that my man might want to spend some time with me at the observatory’s open night at the university.”
His arms are wrapped around me and he kisses me passionately. “Are you sure you want to go out into your world looking like that?” He inspects me in astonishment, and I push him backward until he’s sitting down on the sofa. I raise my left leg and place it on the sofa between his legs. The long slit reveals the garter around my thigh, and he bites his lip when he sees the pocketknife. I pull it out and flick it open, lean forward and hold it to his neck.