Cleo Horan
Unexpected should be the only word used to describe my life ever since I ran into Harry at that charity auction.
We came a really long way... and I hadn't been able to predict things ever since. In fact, only the unpredictable had happened, including the fact we were fucking. And also the small detail that we admitted we liked each other.
What the fuck was this, were we six? God, I was so fucking pathetic.
The worst thing was that hearing him say it back actually made my stomach flutter and I liked it a lot. Harry's straightforwardness surprised me a lot sometimes, it was one of the things I envied and liked about him.
He was always so fucking blunt and honest about what he wanted, he was the first to admit he wanted to keep fucking me because he enjoyed it, he wasn't ashamed to admit it and I really admired that about him.
Harry probably didn't know, but that specific trait was very rare. He was very closed off about some things, but other than that he was the most open person I'd ever met. He was unapologetically himself.
And he was right when he said I was scared of myself, especially of my thoughts and my feelings. I was going through a very difficult time in my life where I was doubting who I was and what was real or not since my entire past was a fucking lie, and having him around with his boldness his was actually being helpful.
Well, having him around, in general, was very good.
Zayn was right when he said we were similar in our own way, but that wasn't always a good thing. Harry and I were intense and hard to handle, and we were wary.
Trust issues were obviously the biggest thing we had in common besides daddy issues, and that was the exact reason I was sitting at this bar tonight, in this fancy club downtown where I knew no one would ever look for me, or recognize me. It was more than public enough and there was literally no way anyone would simply try to kill me here.
Sons and daughters of very important names all around the city used this club as their meeting spot, and they got their hands on all the types of drugs they wanted. My mother actually supplied to this club, which was why I knew of its existence.
I had zero patience for this shit, the electronic music playing was almost a bit too loud and the bright colorful lights were making my headache worse. I'd been thinking too much again, ever since yesterday morning.
Listening to Harry and Zayn arguing nearly most of the day consumed my brain and there was no way to interfere, they were very different. and I could honestly understand both sides.
Zayn was upset because we were suspecting June, but Harry was being exaggerated about it and taking things to another level. I only mentioned seeing June because I figured they should know, it was indeed a weird coincidence.
And now I couldn't stop thinking about Harry's words. He was right, June was indeed in a very strategical position. She worked at Eroda, which meant she was literally on the inside she knew my mother, Niall, and me, and she was actually a friend of her. Ever since she started dancing to help pay for her doctorate degree, she was always very kind and attentive.
It was her first time her dancing and actually her first job like that. Her resume only had a few retail jobs before because her focus was mostly on studying. That's pretty much all I knew about June, she lived alone and I'd been to her place twice, maybe?
She wasn't in touch with her parents because they didn't support her moving her, especially now that she was a stripper.
I trusted June a lot, I liked to think I was a good judge of character, but now I was doubting everyone and everything, including myself. My father was a clear example of how we should never trust anyone completely. And he was my family.
June... sadly, there were a lot of things pointing in her direction her and it didn't look pretty. She was dating Zayn... and he clearly loved her very much, which meant she could get him to talk about Harry or pretty much anything else she wanted.
Women were smarter, and I knew June was very persuasive. No wonder she was everyone's favorite dancer, even my brother had a crush on her.
I was overanalyzing everything now, from conversations we had to the day we met and truth was, I had no idea who she was. But I couldn't be a hypocrite, I never shared much about my life either.
But she was literally seen in the same address Harry had texted Zayn's number, at the same time. Added that to all the other coincidences, I was taking Harry's side in this. Zayn was pissed at both of us, that's why he refused to come tonight.
He wasn't in a good shape to leave the house at all actually, but I promised him I was only going to talk to June. She trusted me and she missed me, plus she had no idea I'd seen her that night.
I really fucking hoped she had an explanation and we were all overreacting. It was the only time in my life that really wished I wasn't right about something.
Harry was with me tonight, though he was sitting at the opposite side of the club, on the bar across from the one I was, and I was occasionally looking at him as I waited for June to arrive.
Tonight was her day off work and she sounded really excited to meet me when I called her earlier, she said she needed some distraction to stop thinking about Zayn, and this was the best option.
I felt awful, especially for Zayn.
He was going to be heartbroken if we were right, or he was going to continue angry at Harry and me for suspecting the girl he loved and stopping him from calling her.
Zayn trusted Harry a lot, and I admired that even if they were fighting they still respected each other's opinions and Zayn agreed to wait to call June. He said we'd regret even thinking that June could be behind this, he assured us he knew her enough and that she was always good to him.
He was also right when he mentioned that she had zero motive to be the mastermind behind the list. But we'd never know if she indeed had a motive or not until we talked to her and analyzed things differently. I came here tonight expecting the worst, prepared to accept that June was indeed related to this somehow. I really fucking hoped not, though.
She was one of the few, if not the only, people I liked to have around. She was really nice to me and she never pushed me into talking about things I didn't want to.
I knew she wasn't dumb, she obviously knew the kind of business my family was involved with, but I never told her about any job of mine.
How could she know? Why the fuck would she give me a list and want to get me and Harry together so she could kill us? There was no way she was working alone if this was true and I knew Harry and I were risking a lot by being together tonight, but she didn't know that we knew.
She didn't know that we were working together.
And there was no way she could kill us in public after going through so much work to set up the lists it would make zero sense. I knew there was some hidden reason behind the names and the connection with my father, I was frying all my brain cells trying to come up with an explanation.
I was conflicted tonight, I wanted June to be innocent but a part of me wanted to finally find something to help us get closer to putting an end to this. I was so fucking tired and confused, and I knew I wasn't the only one.
I looked over my shoulder, spotting Harry on his spot near the corner of the bar, and we had arrived about half an hour early because we were anxious. There were a lot of drunk people dancing and grinding on the dancefloor, another handful near the lounge area being very shameless about snorting coke from the center tables.
Harry raised one eyebrow at me when he noticed I was looking at him, there was a whole dancefloor in between us but I could still see him under the colorful lights. His long hair was falling down his shoulders and he was wearing a different suit from usual tonight. The black button-down shirt he had underneath was a contrast to the geometric print on his pants and jacket, and he looked really fucking good. I also knew he hadn't brought his gun tonight, but only because I had my knives with me. It was the safest option in a club like this.
I had three of them on my improvised thigh holster, and the dress I was wearing was enough to hide it. Speaking of which, when I called June I knew I shouldn't meet her somewhere private like my place or her place, and a club would be enough to distract her and enlighten her mood, I just had to make sure it was somewhere I wouldn't run into my mother or Niall.
But I had zero club outfits, so I quickly went out to buy a dress, some heels, and of course, makeup. The dress was the first one I could find because I didn't want to leave Zayn and Harry alone for too long, it was a light pink silk dress that was a bit too tight on my boobs but that's what you get when you don't try things on before buying.
The bruises around my neck had to be covered because I didn't find a turtleneck dress in a rush, and I was quite proud of doing it myself, the last time I had to cover my bruises June was the one who helped me and she was very good at it.
It'd been so long since I wore makeup or dressed up like this, I was feeling a bit weird. I took a sip of my whiskey before I checked the digital clock on the wall, and we still had ten minutes before June arrived. Harry and I had come driving different cars and we didn't walk in together, even though I doubted the clientele knew who we were.
Maybe their parents but these people were high out of their minds and way too narcissistic to care about anyone else. I wondered if June would be suspicious of my club choice, but we'd been here once before and I hoped she'd see it as some nostalgic decision.
I glanced at Harry again only this time he wasn't looking at me. He was talking to a girl that was practically leaning over his body, with her hand on his arm and now her mouth on his ear as she whispered.
Harry smiled and smoothed his hand up and down her arm, she was wearing a green satin dress, and her curly hair was very damn beautiful. Fuck, she was pretty and they looked like they knew each other. Who the fuck was she?
My stomach started to clench and I was feeling so sick that I wanted to puke the alcohol I had just ingested, my brain had completely forgotten about June or anything else. I just wanted her to step the fuck away from him.
And why did he keep smiling and touching her arm?
Before I could stop myself I did the dumbest thing ever and I made my way towards them, walking across the dancefloor and pushing whoever I had to push out of my fucking way as I approached the empty stool right next to his.
"A shot of whiskey." I raised my voice as I placed my order so Harry would know I was there, and he quickly looked over his shoulder to see me, since he was so fucking entertained with this girl that he didn't even see me walking closer.
His green eyes were wide and he watched as I grabbed the shot of whiskey and drank it all at once, never looking away from him.
"It's been so long since you've been at Checkmate I mean, since we went to that closet" The girl cupped Harry's chin to catch his attention and I grabbed the glass so tightly on my hand that it suddenly broke, the small shards fell on top of the bar and thankfully there was only a small cut on the palm of my hand. "Oh, are you okay?"
And now the bitch was talking to me.
I looked up at her while I removed the piece of glass from my hand without even flinching, and Harry was squinting at me with a stupid hidden smirk on his pink lips. I grabbed a napkin to press over my cut when it started bleeding, but I wasn't feeling pain at all.
"I'm perfect." I forced a smile at her, but at least she pulled away from Harry.
"Would you give us a moment, Tais?" Harry asked her, his dimples indenting on his cheeks when he couldn't contain his smile anymore.
I was about to grab one of the shards and do something very stupid if this girl didn't listen to him and walked the fuck away.
Closet? Checkmate? Lord help me.
Dear Tais smiled at Harry one last time before she made her way to a group of friends that were waiting for her in the lounge area. And then Harry turned to look at me.
"Hi, baby." His smile widened. "Jealousy looks very fucking hot on you."
I inhaled sharply and ignored the bartender when he cleaned the mess I made, I kept holding the napkin and looking deep into Harry's eyes.
"Jealousy? I'm not fucking jealous. Why was she talking about your tattoo parlor? Isn't it suspicious that she's here? Who the fuck is she?" I blurted out the questions, losing control entirely of my brain.
And he kept that smug smile on his face.
"She's the receptionist. We used to fuck and she's helpful at times, she's taking care of business there while I'm away." He shrugged his shoulder, grabbing my injured hand and removing the napkin so he could see the cut. "You looked like you were about to kill her."
I didn't answer because that's what I felt like doing. What the fuck was going on with me? I'd never felt like this before, this wasn't normal jealousy. It was so fucking strong, I had no say in it.
"Fun," I said through gritted teeth. "She seems lovely."
"She is." Harry smiled, pressing the napkin back on my hand and suddenly tugging me forward until I was standing between his spread legs as he sat on the stool.
His hands were on my hip and he looked around before he slid it lower. It wasn't very bright, the only illumination was the colorful lights, and no one saw it as he slid his hand to my thigh, reaching the hem of my dress.
And then he slipped his hand between my legs, forcing them to spread for him and moving upwards under my dress until he reached my knives.
"Were you going to use one of these on her?" He asked me, purposely brushing his knuckles over the front of the lace underwear I was wearing as he pulled his hand away, making me clench my legs together as soon as he wasn't touching me anymore.
Fuck.
"I'm about to use it on you." I raised one eyebrow, realizing just now that I had been holding my breath all along because of the intensity and suddenness of his touch.
"Let's wait till we get home, then please use it on me." He smirked, his black nails and rings caught my attention when he grabbed his shot of vodka, before his eyes lowered to my breasts unashamedly. "For now, let's focus on our plan and try not to draw attention by stabbing someone to death. Deal, baby?"
Shit, he had a point. Who would've thought he was going to be the one asking me to not act impulsively? I hated this feeling, I hated not having control over my actions.
"I didn't like that she touched you. "I sighed, having to remind myself that he knew I liked him, but it was even more complicated because I had no idea where we stood.
How the fuck did this work?
That's why I felt conflicted about telling him, I almost ruined our plan because of these feelings.
"You don't have to worry. "Harry smoothed his hand up my arm and grasped my jaw, pulling me closer so he could whisper in my ear." Because you're my little girl, aren't you? And I'm all yours."
He teased my earlobe with his tongue before he pulled away, clearing his throat and adjusting his pants.
"I have to get back I'm sorry
almost fucked things up." I whispered, not even waiting for him to say anything when I decided to make my way back to my spot on the opposite bar.
You're so fucking stupid, Cleodora.
I was really jealous of Harry, there you go.
Just thinking about him and this receptionist together was enough to make me want to go home and have him fuck me the hardest he could as he spanked my ass to leave another H.S. imprinted.
I knew he was poisonous and these were poisonous thoughts. But he was my poison.
"Cleo! Oh my god! I missed you!"
I was forced to snap out of my thoughts when June's voice surprised me, and I turned just in time to see her sitting on the stool right next to mine.
Her black hair was up in a bun and she was wearing a black dress to match with the heavy makeup in her eyes. Her dark eyes were playful and she pulled me for a hug before I could even prepare myself, and I hugged her back despite hating hugs.
She seemed very excited to see me, which was making me feel really damn guilty about this. I forced my thoughts to focus on our plan and June, pushing my jealousy and Harry to the back of my mind, and she grabbed my hand when she noticed I was holding the napkin.
"Oh, babe, what happened?" She asked me when she saw the cut, but I pulled my hand away and smiled again. "That looks recent."
"Yeah, it was a tiny accident." I chuckled. "It's been so long, I had to see you since I'm in the city for a bit. I assumed you needed a distraction from Zayn and all that."
"Yeah, he still hasn't called me. So I'll take the ghosting as a sign that he suddenly decided that he hates me. "She forced a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. She was hurt. I watched as she ordered us drinks and I just observed, and I couldn't see anything suspicious at all. She seemed so fucking genuine.
"Well, that means you can have some fun again," I spoke up, accepting the glass of whiskey she'd gotten me. "Anyone already catching your eye?"
I remembered the man I saw her speaking to in front of the bar, he was wearing a suit and that was all I saw .. what the hell was she doing there?
"Is this about Niall? Your brother is sweet, don't get me wrong." She chuckled nervously, looking around the club. "But he's not my type. I'm trying to forget about Zayn but it's so hard. I've been working every night so I don't think about him and classes keep me busy during the day. I really love him, Cleo."
Wait. Working every night? She worked precisely during the time I saw her in front of that roadside bar. She was lying to me but yet she seemed honest about Zayn.
Fuck, all the warnings kept blinking inside my head and I had no fucking idea what to do next.
"There's a really hot guy with green eyes and long hair looking at you, babe. "June winked at me with a teasing smile, cocking her head in the same direction as Harry was across the room." I say go for it."
"I'm not interested. "I forced a smile, taking a sip of my drink and daring to look at him.
His gaze was deadly as he kept his eyes on me and then on June, squinting slightly as he probably tried to notice anything. Harry really suspected her, I had a feeling his brain just grasped the first option of a suspect before he could lose his mind even more trying to solve this.
I mean, I could relate. And I could understand why he wanted to find someone to blame so badly, but we had to analyze the whole picture. And the fact June just lied to me.
"Come on. He looks very hot and I really like the hair." June smiled. "I can feel some big dick energy too, babe. You work too much, you need to have fun too."
Well, she wasn't wrong about that...
"Maybe another time." I cleared my throat, and the fact she actually didn't seem to recognize Harry at all was a very good thing.
This was also a test: if her eyes widened or if she started acting weird because she saw him, then it'd be a clue.
But she seemed unbothered and there was no suspicious reaction to him. What if I was overreacting and she didn't mention going to the roadside bar because it was something personal? I mean, we all had our own shit to deal with and she was sad about Zayn. "What if we both pick a handsome stranger tonight, dance a little, and just let go?" She suggested. "If you don't go for long hair over there, I will."
"He looks too smug for me." I had to force another smile and control the now-familiar jealousy starting to resurface.
"Fine... oh, what about that one two stools over? Behind you." She lowered her voice and leaned closer to tell me, and I turned around to play along because I needed to get her to talk tonight, and I had to act normal.
And I froze as soon as I spotted who she was talking about. And as if he'd sensed it, he also turned at the same time to look at me.
I had to blink a few times as I tried to find my voice, looking into his eyes and wondering how this night could become more chaotic.
"Liam?"