{Hailey’s Pov}
The moment we walked back toward the main lounge, I should’ve sensed something was off. The air had shifted. Thicker. Heavier. Like the house itself was bracing for something ugly.
Then I saw him, Julian. Leaning on the wall like he owned gravity. And his best friend, Kelvin, grinning like the devil with a new trick.
“Look at who we got here,” Kelvin said, his voice too loud, too smug. “You weren’t just a stripper… you were a prostitute.”
I stopped cold.
A laugh escaped his mouth, sharp and nasty.
“Don’t you dare call me that,” I snapped, stepping closer.
He looked pleased with himself. “You were trying to use your charms on me. On my brother. So we’d lose focus.”
Then—God—I watched him sniff his hands, like the memory of me was still on him. I wanted to slap that s
