He didn’t mean leaving the event. I knew what he meant. It was time to handle Miranda and the Elite. I knew without a doubt that I was out after this night. Miranda had stepped wrong. She was going to pay the consequences.
When we got to the group, Peter and Cass were there too. He was frowning, but he seemed transfixed on Miranda. She took a step forward. She was the leader now. It happened just like that. The others didn’t react, but Cass faltered. Her hand fell from Peter’s arm and she turned to Miranda. “What are you doing?”
Miranda folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. “What do you think?”
“You’re not in charge anymore. Remember?”
“Are you sure?”
Miranda let her question hang in the air. No one argued against it and Cass gasped. “Are you f**king kidding me? You guys want her back?”
Emily grinned and took a sip from her glass.
Amelia looked away. Mark shrugged while Adam was looking away too. His shoulders were tight, and his jaw was clenched. I had a feeling Adam didn’t care about Miranda’s resumed position as their leader. His hand jerked at his leg into a fist, but he shoved it into his pocket.
Cass’s eyes were wide and round. She hissed, “I can’t believe this. This is ridiculous. Amelia, she called you a whore.”
“You too.”
“What?’
Amelia swallowed but lifted her chin. Her voice trembled. “You too. You slept with Logan too. We all have now.”
“So?”
“So maybe we shouldn’t do to her what she did to us. She fell for him too, but he set her up. He didn’t seduce me or you. He seduced her.”
“How the hell do you know that?”
Amelia’s gaze jerked to mine but turned away. Her shoulders slumped down. “That’s what Miranda said.”
“And you believe her?” A laugh gurgled up from the bottom of Cass’ throat. A high pitch came with it. “This is f**king unbelievable. He f**ked her. He f**ked all of us.”
“Cass.” Peter glared at her and moved away. “Stop it.”
“But--what?”
He looked at Miranda, who gave him a small smile in return. It was a secretive one. My eyebrows arched high at that. Those two were going to get back together. No. As I watched, Peter returned Miranda’s smile. They were together. A grin pulled at my lips. I wanted to laugh. This was a train wreck in the making.
Cass saw it too. Her mouth fell open. “I can’t, no, oh my go--” She sputtered out, skirting between the two. “Are you serious?” She rounded on him. “I threw you this party. You. My boyfriend. Now you’re,” she looked at Miranda again. A full smile was on her face. Cass screamed. “Oh my god!”
Her hand jerked. Her entire body tensed.
I saw it coming.
Cass’ eyes narrowed. She turned so she was facing Miranda squarely. Then the decision was made. She attacked.
She launched herself at Miranda, tackling her down to the ground.
I couldn’t hold back. I was loving it. My entire face was one big smile. It stretched from ear to ear.
Miranda shrieked. Cass shrieked back.
“Bitch.”
“Whore.”
More names were thrown out.
Amelia dropped her plate of cake and then rushed into the foray. An elbow knocked her back, and she fell to the ground. She shrieked too, cradling her face as tears slid down. “You guys! Stop.”
Emily turned for the bar and asked for a refill.
“Girls.” Two older men waded between them and separated them. As Cass strained against who was holding her, she tried to kick at Miranda. “You bitch.”
“You’re the bitch,” Miranda shot back. She flicked her hair out of her face, but it fell back in place. Her dress was ripped and there was blood on her cheek. She had been scratched.
Cass laughed, the sound was hollow and slightly hysterical. A wad of hair was still in her hand. She kicked out again, but the guy holding her grunted and moved further back. Cass cried out, “You might have him back and you might have the group, but this isn’t over. It’s not over Miranda.” Her holder carried her out of the room. Cass kept yelling the entire time. “It’s not over! You whore.”
Miranda was placed back on her feet and Amelia rushed to her side. She threw an arm around Miranda’s back and took her to the bathroom. Once they were gone, the older men left, looking slightly dazed. Then they started laughing and went back to their wives. Mark looked disappointed. He went and stood beside Emily, who continued to nurse her drink.
The only ones who hadn’t moved were Adam and Peter.
Peter blinked, shook his head, and asked, “What just happened here?”
Adam growled at him. “You broke up with Cass and you’re back with Miranda.”
“I am?”
Emily laughed and handed over her drink. “Here. It looks like you need that more than me. Happy birthday, Peter.”
He downed the entire thing.
Then he looked at us. No. They all looked at us.
Shit. It was our turn now.
“You have to pick, Sam.”
Adam led the charge. There was no going back now. His gaze was locked on Mason, but he said to me, “If you’re going to be one of us, you need to be one of us. You can’t have both.”
“You’re making me pick between you guys and Mason?”
“Yeah.”
I glanced around. Emily was quiet now. She looked away. Peter frowned, gazing off. Mark scratched his head. I asked them, “Are you guys all sure about this?”