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And Kingsley replied with the only tords he could force out of his tight and clenched throat

"You’re fired"

32

Septesley answered, "Bartenders"

Duke raised his eyebrow and Kingsley laughed

"I’ht"

"Prowling tonight?"

"Not that, either," Kingsley said

"What can I get you, then?" Duke asked

"Nothing," Kingsley answered "You can’t get ave him a look of sysley stared at the bottles of alcohol arrayed behind the bar Bourbon, whiskey, rule bottle Not that it would do hiave hiover No matter how much booze he’d poured into the hole Sa had cosley so ain, as alive as he’d ever been andshe’d taken money from the Fullers to feed the in every part of his being Raging and grieving He had never been so angry He had never been so hurt He had never felt more alive and wished more that he wasn’t

When his parents had died, he’d been angry, hurt, grief-stricken But it had been an accident, and he’d had no one to blame

When Søren sley had felt that saain, no one had tried to hurt him on purpose Søren had married Marie-Laure so the three of them could be rich and could be free And Marie-Laure had died in her own grief, her own hurt, her own pain She wasn’t trying to hurt hi Surely not

But Samshe had betrayed him ide eyes and a cold heart It had been no accident, no act of God, no act of fate She’d aiun at his heart and fired

And the hole was still there

Kingsley wrenched his gaze fro bottles of alcohol and looked around Holly was sitting on the edge of the stage with her ankles around the neck of an elderly businessman Cassandra was draped across the laps of five happy frat boys Eden was holding the hand of a nervous groom-to-be and led him to the back room for a private show

He walked away from the bar and strolled around the club For the past five weeks he’d been co his rounds, chatting with the girls, drinking nothing and leaving after half an hour No one asked hie He was the owner, so he could do whatever he wanted But he knehy he did it, and that was bad enough

Michelle strolled past hih to kiss him on the cheek He wouldn’t have e Her turn to lanced around the club once et on with his life, needed to stop living in the past