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EVIE

I launch the dart, and it flies from my hand across the room to the board where it sticks far to the right of the bullseye in the center. Jasper claps his hands loudly and laughs, almost doubling over and stumbling around. He's had one too many drinks this evening, but I'm not too far behind him. I scowl playfully and pick up my beer, taking a swig.

"If you're gonna have the balls to demand to live out here, you should at least have the decency to practice darts so you can beat me." He straightens and takes his final dart. One eye narrows as he lifts it and pumps his arm a few times before letting it go sailing toward the bullseye. It sticks right in the center next to his other darts. Meanwhile, three of mine are in the outer ring and one sticks to the wall beneath the board entirely.

"Shut up," I grunt, pushing him hard as I take the last swig of my beer. "It makes sense. You're never home anyway. Why would they give you this place to live in when you spend a lot of your time out on the road?" The old mother-in-law suite in the far rear of my parents' property sat empty for years, and when I turned twenty-one last fall, I asked if I could rent it.

"Da only lets you stay here so you are close and he can watch you," Jasper explains as he waltzes over to pluck the darts out of the board and wall. I'm well aware of my father's ulterior motives and I don't care. I get my own place where I can be independent away from their nosiness, and he gets to feel in control of me still.

"So, you have to bring women home to Mummy and Da's house." I wink at him and turn toward the fridge.

This used to be nothing more than our game room until I insisted I wanted to rent it. Now the large studio is my apartment, complete with access to the pool and shower house. I can come and go as I please with little interference by my parents but with the security of knowing if something happens, they’re right here. I'm not sure if I'd actually like living on my own away from here, but this is nice.

When I return from the fridge with two beers, ready to play the next round, Jasper sets the darts down and pushes the beer away. "No thanks," he croons as he runs a hand through his hair. "I have an appointment."

"Ah, so you really are bringing a lady home to Mum and Da's house?" Snickering, I set his beer aside and crack mine open.

"Nah, it’s something for work. Gotta follow up with one of the wounded members." Jasper is too dedicated to work, always running errands after hours. It's a noble trait, but I think he does it just to make Da proud, and he is wasting his time. Da is already proud of both of us, and Jasper doesn't have to work so hard.

"Hey, about work," I say, sipping my beer, probably my last for the night if he is leaving so early. "I got this strange email. I didn't say anything to Da because he's so upset over the strikes and the way people keep assaulting union members on the picket line…" I bite my lower lip as he shakes his head.

"They used fucking napalm, Evie. That shit sticks to anything it touches and burns. This guy is in the burn unit, begging them to cut his leg off to ease the pain. Can you imagine?" I see the rage in Jasper's eyes and I can imagine.

I have no clue why some people are so angry. Those dock workers only want fair pay and more sick leave. They're striking for a good reason and it's like the men whose shipments aren't getting put out quickly anymore are so angry they're willing to kill the striking workers. It sickens me. Nothing is so important that it's worth getting violent over it.

"I heard. I know Da is pretty upset about it, so I never said a word." I feel guilty even bringing it up to Jasper, but I'm not sure how to handle the strange email I got. If I tell Lochlan, he'll only get a big head thinking he's right, and my father is like him. Besides, he's not really running the show. He's just occupying a desk for a few days or a week until this strike is over and Da can focus on business again.

"What was it?" he asks, eyeing the beer I brought him. He'll end up taking it along to his meeting, I'm sure.

"Just someone saying the union has done evil and illegal things, that they have evidence and they'll be bringing a reckoning…" I've racked my brain a dozen ways from Sunday to try to figure out what sort of illegal things anyone may have done. The most I can guess is that they're just more angry factory owners whose shipments aren't going out on time and they want to scare us into backing down.

I personally am on the side of the members. They do deserve better pay and more sick leave. No one should have to work for pennies and never get time off.

"Don’t worry about it." Jasper tosses his hand at me in a dismissive gesture and scrunches his face as he reaches for the unopened beer. "People do that shit all the time. You're new, so you haven't been around long enough to see it. If you get another email, just delete it." The crack of the beer opening makes him smile. "I'm gonna scoot. You practice. You're really horrible."

I shove him again and laugh as he darts toward the door, stumbling a few steps to one side. He shouldn't drive, but he's older than me and stubborn. He'll do as he pleases no matter what I say, anyway.

I turn away from the door and the darts with beer in hand and see the stack of books on the foot of my bed calling to me. I have so much homework and only a few classes left to finish my degree. Graduation in a few months means finally having that damn certificate to say I'm trained to do the job I'm already doing. Maybe Da will give me a raise or a promotion. I'm not sure, but I do know it means I can work anywhere at that point.

I'll still work for Da, though, because you do for family . It's what Mum says. "You do for family." Like somehow, just by being born into a family, it means they come first, loyalty to them, fidelity…

Grunting, I slump onto the bed and set my beer down on the nightstand, taking my Philosophy of Business textbook off the stack and opening it. But I'm saved by the bell—or ringtone, actually. Kelly, my best friend since year eight, texts me with an invitation phrased more like a demand.

Kelly 8:47 PM: Meet me at The Underground. I need to dance…

A smattering of emojis follows her message, and I grin at my phone. I can't drive for sure, way too drunk for that, but I can Uber, and it gets me out of boring schoolwork. So I flop my book shut and strut to my closet to pick out the skimpiest little dress I have.

Thirty minutes later, I'm tugging at the hem of the slinky black minidress and my heels click on the pavement as I strut past the line of thirsty nightclub hopefuls. Not once have I had to pay a cover charge or wait in line. My curves and the fact that everyone in this city knows my father's name get me in anywhere I want to go.

"Ms. O'Leary," the bouncer says with a grin. "Come on in." He unclips the velvet rope and nods at me as I walk past a cluster of frustrated-looking women who are next in line.

"Thanks, Fridge," I say, patting him on his thick bicep.

This is our usual place, and I can't wait to find Kelly and get another drink. The music pulses so loudly, I can't hear myself think. I spy Kelly at the bar slipping some cash across the smooth waxed surface as she hovers over two fruity pink drinks. She sees me and grins, gesturing wildly for me to join her.

Her wild red curls have been tamed into a braid, and she takes one of the glasses and begins sipping while I yank the mini dress's hem back into place again.

"Any action yet?" I shout over the din of the beat.

"Just got here," she returns, nearly choking on her drink. She laughs and pushes mine at me, and I pick it up and drink it in three big swigs. I don’t want to stand by this bar talking. I want to dance, and I want to find a hottie to help me work off some of this pent-up sexual energy I've been carrying around with me for two days having to drool over Lochlan O'Rourke with no relief.

"Let's go, then!" I tell her, grabbing her wrist. She puts her drink down hurriedly and sets the empty glass on the bar, and we are already bouncing to the beat before we get onto the dancefloor.

The crowd is thick. Men and women surround us as we thrash around to the music. As usual, Kelly is flirty and a little seductive. She grinds on me a little as she makes eyes at some men. They like watching her do that. And with the mood I'm in tonight, if they begged for a threesome, I might just take them up on it.

Two songs pass and a third starts, and I'm getting thirsty again. But a handsome blond man with his hands in the air and his shirt open in front dances our way. He's hot, in his mid-twenties, maybe. His eyes lock on mine, and all I see are the corded abs he's put on display.

Nudging Kelly aside, he takes her place and dances far too close for comfort. He's good-looking, but not like Lochlan. Still, I don't mind a quick fix to my problem, and if he's game, maybe I am too.

The skull and crossbones tat on his right pec is sort of hot too—the sort I imagine Lochlan might have. Men like him always have tattoos and scars. He's a bad boy, probably used to shooting people or beating them to death. And while I don't know what he looks like shirtless, I can imagine it's much like this sexy man in front of me. I can't fight the temptation to reach out and touch his sweaty body, and he doesn't shy away.

"Wanna go somewhere quieter?" he asks, shouting in my ear. It vibrates me to my core. I glance at Kelly, who has found her own handsome man to snuggle up with on the dance floor.

This one, whose name I don't even know yet, has my legs spread, knee between my thighs as his pelvis thrusts up and down my leg in beat to the music.

I don’t really want to leave the club, but I'm not a sex-in-public sort of girl. I glance around looking for a solution, but my slightly drunk brain doesn’t see one. I'm not about to get in a car with him, and he's not following me home, so I'm not sure how to make this ache between my legs go away unless he's gonna rub me off in this dark club with gyrating bodies surrounding us.

A realization that I'm either going to fuck him here in public or I'm going to have to pass on his offer begins to sink in. His hand grips my hip, and I can feel his swollen dick through his jeans rubbing my leg.

"I, uh…" I start to say, probably too quiet for him to hear me, and then like a large predator is smashing through trees that bend or break ahead of him, Lochlan O'Rourke appears out of nowhere. Bodies are pushed to the side, and he grabs the man in front of me by his neck and shoves him hard.

I gasp, backing up, as a spot opens up in the middle of the crowd. The man stumbles to his knees then stands back up. He looks furious, like he's going to attack Lochlan, but when his eyes rise to meet Loch's face, he blanches and shakes his head.

"Sorry, man…" he shouts. "I didn't know."

The blond backs away, hands raised in defense, and I scoff and scowl at my unwanted protector.

"What the hell was that for?" Before my words even form fully, Lochlan grabs me by the bicep and starts hauling me toward the exit. I glance over my shoulder, wincing as the sheer force of his movement catapults me away from Kelly. She's lost in drink and dance, and I find myself being manhandled out of the club and into an alley.

"What the actual feck?" I jerk my arm away from Lochlan as the door shuts and the music is nearly silenced. I can hear the thump of the bass and ringing in my ears. His chest is heaving and he looks furious.

"Do you even know who that was?" Lochlan plants his hands on his hips as he glares at me like he's my fucking father.

"What does it matter? It's not like I'm marrying him." I tug at the dress again, acutely aware of how high my hem was creeping. My fingers brush over my slick panties, damp with arousal, and for a split second I don't see Lochlan as the problem but my solution. But here? In the alley, after he basically assaulted me, is not the way I want that to happen.

"He's a fucking murdering ass, that's who. He just got out of prison, or didn’t you see the tattoo on his chest?"

Embarrassment creeps in and I feel my cheeks start to burn. I swallow hard, thinking how despite my abhorrence to men treating me like their little doll they have to protect, I'm grateful that he did stop that. You never know who might pick you up on a dance floor.

"What the feck are you even doing here?" I hiss, trying to mask my relief with feigned anger. God, he's hot and I'm drunk and I want him.

"I own the place, and if you know what's good for you, you won't come back. Evelyn, this?—"

"I fecking told you to call me Evie," I snip, turning to stomp up the alley. I want to go back in and I don't care if he doesn't like it.

Loch catches up with me, grabbing my elbow again. "Where are you going?"

"I am going back inside." I try to yank my arm away again, but he's too strong. I stumble and almost fall, and he pins me against his body as my head spins. My tits are crushed against his ribs, one almost halfway out. If he looked down, he'd see my nipple exposed.

"I'm getting you a cab and you're going home. Your da would kill you." He glares at his phone, and I splay my hand on his chest. His heart is throwing itself against his ribs violently. I let my eyes flutter shut and wonder what he'd feel like between my thighs.

"Well, I don't want to go home," I say, but my protests are getting weaker. I'm tired and drunk. I shouldn’t have had so many beers with Jasper.

"Well, you're going home. A Mob dive isn't a good place for you, Evie." Lochlan's voice softens and instead of hearing a man who's angry with me, I hear concern. Then I hear, "Jasp… Evie's at the Underground. Come get her. She's wasted and she was about to fuck Hacksaw… Yeah… No, I'm with her. She's not going back in."

My eyes are heavy, body feeling gooey as I lay my head on his chest. "Loch, you're such a jerk," I coo, sucking in a deep whiff of his cologne. He smells good, manly and intoxicating. I wish I weren’t so drunk because I'd probably try to kiss him.

"I know, Evie… I know."

The next thing I know, Jasper is here and Lochlan is laying me in his back seat. I don't want to go home to wet dreams, but at least they'll be of Lochlan O'Rourke's thick biceps as he wraps his arms around me. And hopefully, I won’t wake up with a raging hangover.