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DAEMON

“Is this party tonight a good idea?” I ask, looking around at everyone.

We’re in Theo’s flat. The girls have all gone to the spa, and Alex gave me little choice when he dragged my arse through my front door, demanding that I attempt to be normal for once after bailing on them all last night.

I didn’t really have a leg to stand on, and I could hardly argue when he gave me his kicked-puppy face.

He’s already spent long enough trying to get the truth out of me as to where I disappeared last night and is pissed off that I keep refusing to tell him. Although, really, he knows. He can see it in my eyes. But he hasn’t ripped me a new one for it. He knows as well as I do how badly I need her.

To my surprise, he’s kept off my case other than that. I’m not sure if he’s changing tactics in the hope that he might get the answers he wants out of me by playing different cards. But so far, I’m just relieved he’s shut the fuck up about it.

“It’s all planned,” Theo says confidently. “The decoy is in place and we all know the plan, right?” he asks, looking around at everyone.

“Care to fill me in?”

“If you’d have stuck around last night, you’d already know,” Alex pipes up, earning himself a death glare from me.

“We’re letting the Italians think we’re holding the party at the hotel. It’s the safest place, and after New Year, we’ve increased security. It makes sense that we’d all want to be there.”

“This all seems like a lot of effort for a bloody birthday party.”

“You know what my mum’s like,” Nico grunts. “What she wants, my dad makes sure she gets.” He rolls his eyes.

“You’ll be like that one day,” Toby points out, “making sure your little woman has everything she needs to be happy.”

He scoffs in disgust. “The only thing any woman is getting from me is my cock.”

“Such an old romantic,” Seb teases.

“Like you can talk,” Nico mutters. “What the fuck have you done that’s romantic?”

We all stare at Nico like he’s lost his mind.

“Oh, I don’t know. I chased Stella halfway across the world and told her how I felt about her. I’ve got a tattoo that I allowed to be put on me without seeing it, just blindly trusted her. Either of those any good?”

“You let her carve her initials into your thigh,” Alex points out.

“That’s romantic as fuck right there, Bro,” I mutter.

He barks out a laugh. “You gonna try and tell me that you wouldn’t want your girl’s name permanently etched into your skin?” He lifts a brow at me.

“I don’t ha—”

“Wait…” Theo barks happily. “Daemon has a girl?”

“No. He’s lying. No girl would ever put up with me,” I mutter, in the hope I can bat this fucking conversation away.

“Fuck that, you’re a catch, man,” Seb assures me. “Girls love all that dark and broody shit.”

“Stella sure seems to love your psycho side,” Toby says with a wince.

“The darker the better, my friend.” Seb winks.

“Not quite a marriage though, is it?” Theo smirks.

“Oh yeah, because you got down on one knee and asked your girl.” Alex rolls his eyes hard and Theo flips him off.

“So do you have a girl or not?” Nico asks, looking at me a little too hard.