Star-Crossed Secrets Read online

  Star-Crossed Secrets

  Kali Brixton

  Star-Crossed Secrets is an original work of fiction. Names, characters, places, organizations and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, businesses, companies, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2021 by Kali Brixton

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, information storage and retrieval systems or other electronic or mechanical means, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used within this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher nor the book are associated with any products or vendors mentioned in this book. None of the companies referenced within have endorsed this book. The Devil’s Playground, Hope House, Hearst Elementary, Duke’s Gym, and RISE are fictitious organizations used for entertainment purposes only.

  Cover Design by: Cara Wade

  Formatting by: Shanna Swenson

  Contents

  Prologue

  1. Everleigh

  2. Everleigh

  3. Luca

  4. Luca

  5. Everleigh

  6. Luca

  7. Luca

  8. Luca

  9. Everleigh

  10. Luca

  11. Luca

  12. Luca

  13. Everleigh

  14. Luca

  15. Everleigh

  16. Everleigh

  17. Everleigh

  18. Everleigh

  19. Everleigh

  20. Luca

  21. Everleigh

  22. Everleigh

  23. Everleigh

  24. Everleigh

  25. Luca

  26. Everleigh

  27. Luca

  28. Everleigh

  29. Luca

  30. Luca

  31. Everleigh

  32. Luca

  33. Luca

  34. Everleigh

  35. Luca

  36. Everleigh

  37. Everleigh

  38. Luca

  39. Everleigh

  40. Luca

  41. Everleigh

  42. Luca

  43. Luca

  44. Everleigh

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  Star-Crossed Secrets Playlist

  Sneak Peek at High Rise Secrets by Cara Wade

  About Kali Brixton

  Also by Kali Brixton

  Prologue

  Everleigh

  Freshman Year

  Plumes of smoke swirl between columns of flames as the beams crack and groan, giving little by little.

  This is it. No more wearing a mask. No more hiding things from my family. No more disgusting men putting their filthy hands on my body.

  I’m free.

  We all are.

  Somewhere beneath the ashes are the now-charring remains of the asshole who caged us all in. Vince Perelli may have won the battle with each of us, but he didn’t win the war.

  Even though it felt like it the day I signed up for this shitshow...

  “Miss Greene. Fancy seeing you again.” I stand here waiting for Lia to finish up, only to see the man who comes to get Eden, perched faithfully by his town car.

  Eden’s never given me a straight answer on who this dickhead is, but I know he gives me the fucking creeps. “Eden should be down in a minute.”

  “Actually…” He pushes off the car and strolls my way, raising my hackles like he did the first time I saw him here. “I was hoping I could talk to you.”

  I'm a little further away from the door than I like for an escape, so I discreetly ready my trusty balisong Osiris. You can typically only use the element of surprise one good time in a fight, so you have to use it wisely, and running to a door with my back to him wouldn’t be the best use of that opportunity. “About?”

  He comes to a stop about ten feet away from me. “I’ve been watching you, you know.”

  What’d I say? Total creep show. I try to strengthen my stance, pulling my right leg back a bit in case I need to kick this jackass. If you can’t flee, you make them sorry they ever went toe to toe with you.

  “Loyalty is such an important trait to find in a person, wouldn’t you say?”

  Trying to figure out his angle, I reply, “I think anyone would agree with that.”

  “It’s a fragile thing, though. One wrong move and...” He reaches into his interior pocket, pulling out something.

  This is really going to happen. I say a silent prayer, hoping my training won’t fail me now. I grip Osiris a little tighter, expecting him to brandish a weapon of his own.

  Instead, he pulls out a big manila envelope. Extracting photographs instead of files, he hands them to me. “There’s nothing left to be loyal to anymore.”

  Warily, I take the photos, with my knife still engaged and ready to rumble. I take a few steps back before looking down, my heart growing sick with who I see in the top picture. “Why do you have these?”

  His smirk is easy, like showing someone photos of their loved ones taken from a stalker’s position is completely normal for him. A chill runs down my spine. Maybe it is...“You’re lucky to have such a nice family, what with your beautiful mother running Hope House and helping all those downtrodden women.” The first picture is of my mom standing in front of the domestic abuse shelter she oversees, smiling as she welcomes a person who’s dropping off donations. “Then, there’s the patriarch.” He motions to the stack of photos. I flip to the second one and my heart squeezes. “I hear he’s quite the policeman. Honest, dependable, a man of integrity… Hard to manipulate.” Dad stands there in his uniform, talking to a person in a car he’d pulled over, completely unaware of the person who took this shot. A person who could’ve taken his life so easily if that were the goal. “Last but not least is the brother. From what I gather, Kieran’s going to follow in dear ol’ dad’s shoes and become an officer of the law. How noble,” he adds with a sneer.

  I flip to the last picture, my chest aches at the scene. Two guys laughing as they shoot an innocent round of pool, unaware they’re now caught in the crosshairs of an asshole gathering intel. My brother, the one bent over the pool table, readies his shot, as the other man, the boy I’ve crushed on forever, stands and chalks the end of his pool stick, those perfect dimples on display.

  The desire to throw up punches through my gut, but I need to know why I have these photos in my hand. Because you don’t come armed with evidence like this when all you want to do is scare someone. “What do you want?”

  Those dark eyes and deceivingly handsome features mock me without a word, sizing me up to see what he can get from me.

  I pull the pics to my chest, still standing there with Osiris in hand because if this asshole thinks he can violate me, he’s got another thing coming.

  “Simple. You come and work for me, and I give you my word no harm will come to them.”

  A job? He’s threatening me and my family for a job? “What kind of job?”

  He licks his lips. “The Devil’s Playground.”

  I snarl in disgust. That filthy strip club downtown? No, thanks. I prepare to tell him to go to Hell, but the photos brush against my skin as a light breeze filters through. A reminder he’s still got some major leverage on me—and more importantly, the people I love. “How do I know you’re telling me the truth?”

  He
narrows his eyes at me for a moment, before pulling out his phone.

  “Text your brother and ask him what he’s doing?”

  Calling his bluff, I do as he asks, hoping Kieran’s somewhere safe and far away from the reach of this bastard. But the text he sends me only ratchets my fears higher.

  Kieran: Playing pool. Why?

  I look up to see this asshole holding up his phone, a video of Kieran and Luca still playing, wearing the same clothes as they are in the pictures. Shit.

  “I wouldn’t text him to warn him about anything. It could make things very messy for the owner of the pool hall.” My head raises to see him watching me intently. “Believe me now?”

  Solemnly, I nod my head. “So, I come and dance at your club, and you leave my family alone?”

  He clicks his tongue. “You don’t cause any trouble for me, and I won’t cause any trouble for your family.” His hand extends out to me like we’re partners in some business arrangement when this is little more than standing on ceremony. He owns me, and he knows it.

  I flick Osiris back into his shell and unwillingly ready my hand to shake the Devil’s. My family means the world to me, and I will not have their blood on my hands if I can avoid it at any cost. Even if it means I’m the only one paying them. Taking his hand, I straighten my spine and try to muster up as much courage as possible. “When do I start?”

  Sure enough, some costs had to be paid along the way, including my sense of self-worth and dignity. But to see these beautiful flames engulfing the remnants of its gatekeeper makes this little birdie’s feathers fluff out further in triumph, my wings finally ready to take flight far away from here.

  Good riddance, you slimy motherfucker.

  A sniffle comes from my right and I turn to see tears glistening in Addy’s eyes as she watches the Devil’s Playground slowly reducing itself to ash. Ironic that the very thing which took so much from her in the past was now giving her a new lease on life. Her eyes meet mine as I take her hand and cradle it in mine. Neither of us says a word, but I hope she can feel my love and support. More than anything, I hope she realizes that she’s not alone this time.

  One beat passes, then another. Finally, a faint squeeze returns my gesture, and a small nod lets me know she can read my intentions.

  That’s the bond of sisterhood. Sometimes words just aren’t needed.

  I glance at the two girls to my left, whose faces are telling two different stories. Lia’s is a portrait of relief, most likely because the freedom promised to her in this hellhole was little more than cheap words and dirty money. So much of her innocence was tainted by the realities of what this place was and by the third man in her life who held her prisoner in one way or another.

  The fourth time better be the charm or I’ll have to gut him. She’s spent her entire life beholden to men, but now? It’s like watching a bird realize the door for the cage is wide open with nothing and no one standing in her way.

  And Eden? The one of us who should feel the most liberated is standing near me, a thoughtful expression twisting her features. She was the sacrificial lamb that the Devil chose for himself, but that look…

  Something doesn’t sit right with that look.

  “Okay, don’t freak…” she begins, softness in her tone. “Just hear me out, okay?” Her intense stare melts into an expression of hope, which twists my stomach with the thoughts of what’s coming next. “We should take all this money and open our own club.”

  What. The. Fuck.

  Lia’s whispered What? beats my What in the holy hell are you thinking? to the punch. It’s the fumes; this has to be smoke inhalation and fume exposure.

  “Eden, we just… How—why would you wanna do that?” Lia stammers.

  Why indeed?

  “It doesn’t have to be anything like Vince’s place.” She turns to look us all fully in the face, resolve sitting comfortably on hers. “It can be…different.”

  How in the world could we make a strip club something different from what we’ve all experienced? They all come with certain expectations and demands, a price I was no longer willing to pay—not when I had a choice.

  And I doubt Addy and—“Different how?” Lia’s voice breaks through my thoughts, stunning me. I glimpse at Addy, who has the same look of shock that I’m no doubt sporting. Why is Lia entertaining this?

  Eden stares into the flames again thoughtfully, as if the answers are hidden among the cinders. Lia, Addy, and I exchange uneasy glances. This is insanity. I prepare to announce my descent when Eden breaks her silence. “However we want.” She turns her back to the inferno once more, her shapely silhouette cast against the glow of the fire as she straightens her spine. “It’ll be ours. Ours to run, as equal owners.” The conviction in her voice is firm as she looks between us all, and says, “A place where we can have our freedom. A safe haven for little birdies like we were.”

  Lia’s lashes flutter. “We don’t have to strip if we don’t want to,” she blurts out. “And we don’t have to…we don’t have to do anything with any of the men if we don’t want to either.”

  Eden slowly nods her head, heartbreak flashing across her beautiful face. “Exactly. It would be completely up to us what we do and who we do it with—or not at all. We control everything. No one can make us do anything ever again.”

  “If you can guarantee that,” she wets her lips and looks around at us. Don’t do it, Lia. “I’ll...I’m...I’m in.”

  Enough of this bullshit… “Y’all can’t be serious.” Their contemplative stares confirm that they are, which bothers me even more. Time for a dose of reality. “We just broke free of this God-awful hellhole. Why would you want to put yourself right back in the same situation? All the lies, the secrets…” My arms flail about, anger pouring off of me. “I’m tired of living like that. Aren’t you?”

  I can see the wheels turning in Lia’s head, which worries me. Dancing has always been an escape for her, yet I hope she can see past the luster of this idea. Still, I know she’s pretty much on her own since her parents cast her out because of her divorce from Giacomo. Eden and Addy aren’t in much better circumstances with their entire families now gone.

  They’ve all had so much taken from them…

  Guilt gnaws at me for acting like such a selfish, spoiled bitch, complaining when I have a full-ride scholarship and a family who always supports me. All that these girls have are the ones standing here in our little circle. But the thought of subjecting another person to a place like The Devil’s Playground? Hell to the no. “And to want to own a place where we subject girls to the same shit?” I shake my head back and forth firmly. “I can’t support that.”

  “Ev,” Lia quietly says as she lays a gentle hand on my arm. “Why do all those women at Hope House go there?”

  “Because they have no other choice,” I huff. “How would this be any better?”

  Lia opens her mouth, only to close it when Eden gives her a look. I glance to Addy for support, but she seems to be mulling it over seriously as well, which means I’m on my own if I’m going to snap them out of this madness.

  Eden strides to stand before me, tenderness in her expression. “We’d be offering a way for women like them—like us, with no secure footing or a backup plan, to support themselves and get out of those awful situations. We’d also be giving women who want to explore their sensuality a safe place to do so.”

  “Eden,” I begin, uncertain of how to word my next thoughts without stepping on anyone’s toes. “What about their time outside of the club? How are we going to protect their identities—and ours? I can’t put ‘strip club owner’ on my teaching application.”

  “We could require everyone working in the club to wear a mask,” Addy chimes in. “Have them sign affidavits that bind them to secrecy, which will protect them as well.” Ever the practical businesswoman, Addy chose the right major for certain.

  “This can’t just be about money or what goes on in the club,” I implore. “How are we supposed to physi
cally protect them? We can’t be everywhere at once! You know what it’s like to be on your own with men pawing at you and no one to help.” Disdain drips from my words, the thoughts of all the disgusting assholes who had put their mitts on my body during my tenure here. Not because I couldn’t, but because if I didn’t toe that line, there was always a consequence. There wasn’t enough soap some days to scrub away the shame their fingerprints left embedded in my skin.

  “That’s why we need you, Ev,” Eden rebuts. “We don’t want them to be broken little sparrows any more than you do.” I know Eden is talking about others, but I see that hollowness in her eyes. This is about redemption for them too.

  I take a moment to reign in my anger and try to see their side of things. “And how do I tie into this?”

  “At first, you had to drag me to those self-defense classes,” Addy admits, a slight smile curving around her words. “Then, as time passed, I realized I wanted to be there. It made me feel powerful—in control. That’s not something I’ve felt in a long time.” Sadness paints those last words.

  “Who taught us where all the major arteries and veins are in case we need to shank an…a-hole?” Lia laughs.