She was his.
At the other end of the bar, Kyle threw his rag in a bucket under the bar, lifted the panel dividing the bar from the rest of the room, and stepped out. When a woman slipped in behind him, Kyle’s resident admirers exchanged confused looks as Kyle closed the divider.
“Sorry, ladies,” he apologized. “Lucy asked me to switch shifts today, and since I can never disappoint a woman—” When he winked at the women, they tittered at his double entendre. “—I’ve got the night off, but she’ll take great care of you.”
When the women started to protest his announcement, he gave them all a wave before hurrying into the back hall. Turning his attention back to the stage, Dante forced himself to ignore the way some of the men were watching Cassidy.
He would end up fighting every guy in this place, and she’d hate him if he cost her this job. Besides, he couldn’t spend the rest of their lives fighting every guy who looked lustfully at her; he’d end up fighting half the world if that was the case.
However, he would fight half the world for her, and then some, if it meant keeping her safe. Unfortunately, though he hated every one of these assholes and itched to make them look away, they weren’t a threat to her. And since they completed the bond, he didn’t feel quite as jealous of these dip-wads.
When she finished her next song, Cassidy gave another elegant bow before putting the microphone back and descending from the stage.
“Are you ready to go?” Julian asked Aida.
“Yes,” she said and hopped off her barstool.
Cassidy was halfway through the crowd when a man stepped in front of her, blocking her way. Dante’s fangs descended, and it took all he had not to stomp across the room and kill the man.
“Excuse me,” he muttered to Julian and stalked through the crowd toward them.
“Come on,” the man wheedled. “Let me buy you a drink.”
“No, thank you,” Cassidy said for the second time. She didn’t bother to try to step around the man but stared at him as she waited for him to move. “I have a boyfriend.”
“So?” the man inquired.
“So that means back the fuck off,” Dante growled as he came up behind him.
When Dante leveled the man with a look that clearly said he’d tear out the guy’s throat, Cassidy stiffened. She held her hand out to Dante, who nudged the guy out of his way and clasped her hand. He didn’t take his eyes off the man as he pulled her against his side.
Stepping closer to him, Cassidy rested her hand on Dante’s chest to soothe the tension vibrating through him. The guy glanced between the two of them before edging back toward his seat and sitting on the stool. The other man at the table looked like he was trying not to laugh as he stared into his glass, but he couldn’t hide his smile.
Dante shot the guy one last, fulminating stare before leading Cassidy to the bar.
“You can’t glower at every guy who hits on me,” she told him.
“Yes, I can,” he said.
Cassidy chuckled. “In my line of work, you’d spend most of the night glaring at people.”
She was right, and he hated it. As long as she was on stage, men would become enamored with her and hit on her. However, he would never ask her to stop doing this. Even if she hadn’t told him how much she loved singing, he saw that love whenever she was on stage. He’d rather spend an eternity glaring at men and maybe getting into a few fistfights than ask her to stop doing something she loved so much.
He hugged her against him and kissed her forehead. “I’m okay with that.”
Cassidy heaved an exasperated sigh as her fingers curled into his T-shirt. When they arrived at the bar, Kyle was there with Julian and Aida. Kyle grinned at them, and Julian gave Dante a sympathetic look as he held Aida a little closer.
“We’re heading out,” Julian said and gave Cassidy a quick hug.
“We’ll see you guys later,” Aida said with a small wave.
Dante watched as they made their way through the crowd and out the door. He was turning back to Cassidy when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He lowered his arm from her shoulders and pulled out his phone. He didn’t recognize the caller, but that was nothing new as he gave his number to a lot of people.
His finger slid over the green button, and he lifted it to his ear. “Hello.”
“Hey, asshole,” a gruff voice greeted.
“Who is this?”
“It’s Zan. I know I told you I never wanted to see you again, but I’m at a party, and your boy’s here.”
“Preston?”
“How many boys are you looking for?”
Dante ignored the question. “Is Julie with him?”
“He came in alone, and I don’t see anyone resembling your girl, but there’s a ton of people and vamps here.”
“Where are you?”
“What? No flowers or some sweet talk before you start demanding shit?”
Dante’s teeth ground together. “I’m sorry, what can I do for you?”
Zan snorted. “I’m just fucking with you, man. I’m in New Beige; that’s New Bedford to you lay folk.”
“I know what New Beige is.”
“Of course you do. There’s a party in one of the old warehouses.”
“Is this one of Opal’s parties?”
A jolt of adrenaline ran through Cassidy when Dante mentioned Opal, and she shot Kyle a look. She almost seized Dante’s wrist when he removed his pad and a pen from inside his jacket. He couldn’t go alone; she wouldn’t let him go alone.
“Yeah, it’s the last hurrah,” Zan said. “Opal’s getting out of the business, but she’s throwing a major goodbye party. Your boy got word of it.”
“Can I get the address?” Dante asked.
“There better not be any problems here; I called you
