Red Leather (Book 2)

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

 

If there were ever a reason to get excited at a time like this, it would be one thing.

My eighteenth birthday party.

With only two weeks to spare, I submerged myself in plans and preparations for what was to become the greatest party Alistair had ever seen. Birthdays held a certain legacy between Daddy and I, simply because he loved spoiling me and I loved being spoiled. My parties were huge, spectacular events that were always the centre of attention.

And I never passed an opportunity to receive attention.

Screw staying under the radar – I didn't have time to mope around and pretend to be sad about Trevor's death. Still, I did give some time to the police in order to sort things out and wheedle my way out of the 'suspects' list. All it took were a few faux alibis and generous donation to our fellow troops back in Afghanistan in the Alistair Police Department's name.

Generosity was my middle name.

Becca and Yuri and I wandered all over New York for the best of the best – an internationally renowned DJ on hire, state of the art sound system, a complete lighting crew, and all the balloons in the world. Daddy's credit card and Tamara's family savings came in very handy, indeed.

"What about a smoke machine?" Yuri hollered from the deep, dark recesses of the party warehouse we had hunted down.

"Overkill!" yelled Becca.

"No way."

"Yeah!"

"And you don't think a male stripper inside a birthday cake would be an overkill?"

"Not if it was Channing Tatum himself."

"Okay, well, you're in charge of that."

"Channing Tatum is never an overkill, and you know it!" 

"What kind of smoke machine?" I yelled back, too focused on picking the right disco ball to join in with their banter. The other shoppers looked mildly annoyed at the disturbance we were creating. I couldn't have cared less.

This party would be legendary. It had to be.

We spent hours in that warehouse and had only managed to find a quarter of what was on my list. I was beginning to grow frustrated. What with all the successful – and not so successful – kills I had managed to pull off in this boring little town, a party was just what I needed to celebrate them all and make my own unique mark on Alistair. The details had to be perfect. Everything had to be magnificent.

The entire town was coming, after all.

We took a break and did a little personal shopping of our own, loading Yuri's car up with even more baggage. I had yet to decide on a theme – and there was always a theme – but the dress code was what it usually was: skimpy dresses, bone-breaking high hells, and accessories to match. The intricacies would be decided later on, and my own dress had yet to be picked.

It had to be stunning. So stunning that no other outfit could compare.

After exhausting ourselves to the bone, we limped into a stylish little pub, a pub with a very good reputation and very loose restrictions when it came to underage drinking. Eli, having dropped out of school, used it as one of our regular meet-ups whenever we weren't locked away in his room having the time of our lives. He was particular about not going anywhere too crowded, and tried to minimize recognition. He was hiding, always hiding. I guess it was just part of his character – after all, he has been involved in things that would definitely send his ass to jail.