Hostile laughter rolled up my throat, coating him in my venom. “I’d think twice before you start throwing ultimatums my way.”
He tried to get in my face, like his pathetic being held an ounce of intimidation, pushing up onto his toes.
I was still looking down my nose at him.
“What, like the fact you’re about to get your ass handed to you out in the alley?” he tossed out.
Saw another figure step up behind him. Another piece of shit asshole lurking in the shadows.
Motherfucker.
My mind spun and my heart thundered, and I could taste the bile on my tongue.
Hate. Hate. Hate.
I turned on my heel to get a look at the girl who was fidgeting on this side of the curtain. I was barely able to speak through the clench of my teeth. “You want to come with me? You’re welcome to. But the only reason for it will be to get you away from this prick, and you won’t be coming back. Do you understand what I’m getting at?”
Caught off guard, I floundered forward a step when I was shoved from behind. Filthy hands on the back of my suit, even filthier breath that hit the stagnant, stale air.
“The fuck you say? Because I think you were actually implying that you were going to take one of my girls.”
This prick was right there, at my back, thinking I was nothing but a chump in a suit who wouldn’t retaliate. Thinking I’d whip out my wallet and beg for mercy.
The last thing he expected when I whirled around was the fist I threw.
It cracked against his chin.
His head whipped back and tossed him from his feet. He tumbled to the dirty ground, and I didn’t think twice.
No thought of consequence.
No thought of remorse.
The only thing I saw was red when I jumped on him and started pounding on his fuck-ugly face.
Nothing but delirium invoked in the first punch.
Memories assaulted me as I assaulted the prick.
Image after image.
Horror and hate and hunger.
Hits. Blows. Kicks. Scrapes. Screams.
And I couldn’t stop.
Couldn’t stop beating him bloody.
Knew he deserved every blow.
“You piece of shit . . . you think you own her? Is that what you think? Did you force her into this? Is that what this is?”
Motherfucking pimp prick.
Pain splintered across the side of my head and spread across my face.
Out of nowhere.
Knocking me back an inch.
I blinked in shock, trying to process what was happening around me. To see through the haze of fury that clouded my eyes.
Took me a second to realize the punch wasn’t delivered by the pussy who I had pinned on the floor, but by the bastard who’d appeared at the fringes of the hall.
Two on one.
Bring it on.
I didn’t care.
In half a beat, I was on my feet and had him rammed against the wall. His face slammed into the black-wallpapered plaster.
A scream pierced the space. The girl who’d started this whole thing stumbled around the pile of bodies I was making in the hall, wearing nothing but a thong and heels.
People scrambled from the main room, some to get out the front door before the cops showed and others vying for a front-row seat.
Before I could make sense of it, another asshole was on my back. Hauling me away from the bastard and tossing me against the wall. I hit it with an oomph, all that aggression spiking high. My muscles pulsed, my eyes darting between all three of the guys who’d ganged up on me.
Calculating my next move.
The first pussy pulled his beaten ass off the floor, wiping at his bloodied face. With my body pinned to the wall, he stepped up and delivered a sucker-punch to my gut.
I fucking growled, welcoming the pain, and the adrenaline only grew.
Ready to tear through them all.
Didn’t take a whole lot to throw off the piece of shit who held me against the wall. Nothing but a kick to his knee to send him fumbling back, howling in agony, and I went for the little bastard who was about to bear the brunt of the hostility roiling inside me.
Alcohol soaking my brain and repulsion saturating my spirit.
A hand landed on my arm, whipping me around. It was the same guy who’d served me up as a present for the little fucker I wanted to break in two.
“Get out of my club and don’t come back. You got it. We don’t do trouble around here.”
Don’t do trouble.
Fucking priceless.
I would have laughed if I wasn’t irate.
They just pimped out girls in the back room like a bad rumor.
It didn’t happen in the VIP room, my ass.
“That’s too bad because I’m in the mood to cause a little trouble.”
Just as fast as the crowd had gathered, they were being pushed back.
Shit.
There was Mack, tossing people aside as he stalked through the mass like a battering ram.