The girl moved over me, now reaching for my dick. I looked down, feeling detached from my body. She was riding my fingers. I had two in her, and she was going to town. I blinked a few times, my gaze swinging to the other side of the box. There were people there, Tanner and—what?!
I froze.
Tanner was here.
He stood at the edge of the box, looking down at the dancers below. Two other guys were with him—I knew those guys, too. They were hockey players. Cutler Ryder and Hendrix… I couldn’t remember his name, but what the fuck?
As if sensing my gaze, Tanner glanced back, saw me watching him, and flashed me a smirk. He said something to the hockey players, who glanced at me, and then he began to move my way.
I was about to throw the girl off me, but Tanner was already here.
He pushed me back down in the booth. “Stay, brother.”
The girl sat back, a hazy look in her eyes as she blinked at Tanner beside me. Then, she smiled, slow and sultry, and leaned forward to kiss him. She thought this was going to be a threesome. No way in hell, but I did nothing, knowing Tanner would.
He scoffed, touching her forehead as he shoved her off of me. “You’re not my type, sweetie. You’re not my brother’s either.”
I groaned, closing my eyes and letting my head fall back. “Fuck me.”
Crowler lifted his head from deep-throating his girl and sent Tanner a frown. “Who’s this, dude?”
Tanner looked at him, his eyes sharpening.
Fuuuck.
Tanner knew I kept our family a secret. He knew the deal, but he was here, and they were here and… Chaos was about to ensue.
Tanner raised an eyebrow, mocking me as his smirk deepened. “Should I do the introductions, or would you like to, JoBro?”
I stifled a groan. I had no clue how he knew about that, but I wasn’t surprised.
Adjusting myself, I leaned forward, raking—shit. I used one hand to rake through my hair.
I needed to sober up fast. This club was making me drowsy, or maybe that was just the liquor.
“Jonah.”
I ignored Tanner, because fuck him.
Shoving to my feet, I looked around.
There were four guards in the box, and all were watching me, well, Tanner, too, but mostly me. I was the wildcard here.
I shook my head. “What are they authorized to do?” I sent a mocking look to Tanner. “Tackle me? Restrain me?”
He stood, scowling right back at me. “They’ll do whatever I tell them.”
“They work for me, too.”
Crowler’s eyebrows shot up. Guess he could hear us. He edged the girl off him and stood.
“No. They don’t,” Tanner countered. “These are my guys. You didn’t want yours, remember?”
Melissa.
My stomach sank. I felt ice inside of me, saturated in torture. “Fuck you.”
“Fuck you.” Tanner moved into my face.
He didn’t get it.
I could see the wildness in him, wanting to unleash. That’s how he always was.
That wasn’t me, but I had wildness inside of me, too—the need to hurt someone, hurt anyone because I was hurting. I hated it.
Hated. It.
Actually, I hated everything.
Myself.
My life.
My family.
The world.
That she wasn’t here.
I could keep it away, keep it manageable if I was working, if I was around friends—because they didn’t know me. They weren’t my shelter. Tanner was. Kai was. Brooke was. My family was, and because Tanner was here, I was feeling goddamn everything.
I wanted to hurt him for that.
But Tanner knew me, too. He was reading me, and like a switch had been flipped, his anger dissipated.
“Jonah…” He said it low, but I caught it.
I shook my head, shoving him. “Get away from me.”
“Tanner?”
A new guy had approached—no, I knew him. That hockey star guy, and he was frowning at Tanner.
They’d been talking before Tanner came over.
“You know him?” I asked Tanner.
“We do business together,” the guy said. “I’m a silent investor here.”
Business? I swung my gaze to Tanner. “He’s a hockey player.”
Tanner’s smile was tight, but he shrugged. “We can talk about that later, if you actually want to know.”
“When I heard Tanner was in town, I wanted to come out and see him,” the guy added. “He doesn’t stick around that often.”
No shit.
“JoBro?” Crowler was looking around.
I glanced over. Samsonite and Carlster were headed our way. They’d noticed something was happening.
I needed to get out of here.
I was about to lose my shit.
Tanner moved closer. “You gotta chill right now.”
I knocked him back, shaking my head.
Everyone was too close, too in my business.
My head was swimming.
Her. I missed her.
Why wasn’t she here?
Why did she have to die?
The guards moved in. They didn’t seem to like how I handled Tanner.
That was fine.
If Tanner owned this club, that meant I owned this club. Family business was family business whether we were a part of managing it or not. That was how Kai handled things, so I could destroy what I wanted.