Page 5 of Last One Standing (Saint Brothers #5)
CHAPTER FIVE
ANGEL
I was a proud bisexual man. I loved both the female body and the male body.
Many times I’d watch couples meandering along the street hand in hand and admire them, thinking I’d totally be with the guy or the girl.
But Anita Pounding enamored me in a way that also confused me.
Was I in awe of the queen or the man beneath the queen? What did this mean?
“You okay?” Mason gently tapped my arm.
“Yeah, why?”
He chuckled. “The show is over, but JJ said that as VIPs we can stick around and talk to the performers if they come out.”
A chance to speak with Anita, I couldn’t say no to that. “Sounds good.”
Apparently, we had to go down to the lower level, where a select few of the general audience had been asked to stay, like that guy Brian and his sex-shop-owning girlfriend. We were given drinks, and we waited.
“Did you all love the show?” Leo, who was the bartender here—we’d helped him out once upon a time—was smiling.
“It was fantastic!” JJ gushed, and he and Phoenix regaled him with their favorite parts.
My eyes kept scanning the room, waiting to see Anita exit. Would they come out in their costume or dressed as they did every day? I found I was excited to see the other side of Anita just as much.
We ended up waiting half an hour for anyone to come out, and it turned out some queens were still in drag —those with the elaborate costumes were still in them, but others weren’t. I couldn’t spot Anita, so it made me wonder which man she was.
I knew she’d seen me, and that wink had set my body on fire, so there was no doubt she’d recognize me, and I’d watch for that.
“Fuck,” Gabe groaned from beside me and I turned to him only to follow his line of sight to the Dead Kings.
They lounged around at the bar like they owned the place, and I realized that was likely true. I’d be digging into that…well, I’d ask Nick and Noel to. Because fuck computers.
Two men walked out. One was quite tall with short, blond hair—good-looking, but in no way was that Anita.
My gaze slipped to the shorter man beside him.
He had long, dark, gorgeous hair, tanned skin, and brown eyes.
On anyone else would probably be ordinary, but the second they met mine across the room it was like seeing a full moon on a clear summer night. Breathtaking.
He smiled softly but glanced away quickly, almost as if he didn’t want to be seen ogling anyone. He went over to Brian and Molly and sparked up a conversation, and I simply watched his every move, mannerism, and when his head flew back and he released a belly laugh, I found myself chuckling.
“You appear smitten,” JJ whispered in my ear.
“Smitten? Who says that anymore?”
He nudged my arm. “I do, dickweed. I just said it, didn’t I?”
“Whatever. He’s a beautiful man; I’m not blind.”
JJ snorted. “Okay, well, try not to drool on him if he comes by.”
I rolled my eyes, downed the rest of my drink, and walked to the bar to drop the glass off. I’d had two the whole night and since I was driving, that was all I’d have.
“I don’t think we’ve met,” a rough deep voice spoke from next to me, and I looked beside me. I knew who he was, but he likely had no clue who I was.
“I don’t believe we have. I’ve seen your club riding through town, though.” I begrudgingly shook his hand. “I’m Angel Saint.”
“I’m Brick, the president of the Dead Kings MC.”
I was certain Brick wasn’t his birth name, but who knew these days? Names were getting stranger and stranger.
“Nice to meet you. You come to this show a lot?” In my gut I knew he owned the place, but I wasn’t going to mention that.
“Whenever I can; I own the club.”
It took a lot of effort but I acted surprised, smiled, and played the typical thrilled person. “Oh, wow! That’s incredible. Well, you have a great club, and the show was spectacular.”
The side of his mouth kicked up but his eyes were assessing. “You’re friends of Leo’s?”
“Yeah.” We didn’t talk about clients, so if he told Brick we were friends, that was what we’d be. I wasn’t going to correct him.
He peeked over his shoulder in the direction of Anita, who was now talking to another couple but flicked his eyes our way a few times.
“What did you think of the show?”
Again, I smiled. “Wonderful. My brothers and I were highly entertained.”
Brick huffed. “Do you have a favorite queen?”
That felt like a trick question, a trap, and I wasn’t falling for it. “You have to be joking. The talent on that stage was all impressive.”
He lifted his hand and beckoned—that was the best way to describe it—for Anita to join us. Once he arrived, Brick wrapped his arm around his waist and possessively tugged him closer. I didn’t miss the way Anita winced at the jolt.
“Hard to tell out of makeup, but this is Anita Pounding.”
I beamed at him and held out my hand trying to come off as the big fan. “Oh wow, you’re spectacular.”
He slipped his hand in mine, and it took everything in me not to tug him to me and away from Brick.
“Thank you, that’s really lovely to hear. I’m Kona most of the time.”
Kona . What an interesting name. It fit him too.
“Good to know. I’m Angel.”
Kona smirked. “Nice to meet you, Angel. Did you and your friends like the show?”
“They’re brothers,” Brick corrected. “These are Leo’s friends.”
Kona tried to play it off like he didn’t know that, but there was something in how he gazed at my brothers that told me he knew.
“How great. I’m so glad we were able to get you all here. Leo is such a wonderful guy and works so hard. We were happy to accommodate.”
Kona might have been, but judging by Brick’s expression, he wasn’t as thrilled.
“If you have a moment, I have two people who were blown away by tonight and excited. Would you be willing to say hello?”
He didn’t give Brick a chance to answer. He pulled away from the MC prez and nodded. “Of course.”
I could have sworn Brick growled but as soon as Kona followed me, I brushed it off. When we were in front of JJ and Phoenix, I introduced Kona to them and the two of them well and properly gushed, making Kona blush beautifully.
“I’m a ballet dancer, and I was taken aback by how much goes into these shows,” Phoenix said, and Kona began asking him a ton of questions about his dancing.
I turned to my right and sure enough Brick was glaring—like trying to light me on fire glaring. He wasn’t buying a thing I was selling, and I knew with every fiber of my being that the Dead Kings were going to be a huge problem for us.