“One chance,” I tell him. “I’m giving you one chance to get out of here before I remove you.”
I look back over my shoulder at the other man, but he’s already gotten the message and is heading somewhere else, drink in hand.
“Tough guy, huh?” he snarks. “What, do you think you own the place?”
“No. But I know the guy who does.” I drag my hand across the big “security” letters printed across my shirt. The man takes a second to focus on them, and then finally gets the message.
“All right, all right,” he groans. “I guess I can let that guy off the hook. I’ll just take my drink over there.” He points to a booth in the corner. “And uh…enjoy myself.”
I nod. “Yeah, you do that.”
Just to make sure things go smoothly, I wait and watch until the man is fully on the other side of the room and seated before I relax.
“Thanks, Magnus,” the girl tending bar says.
“No problem,” I reply, raising my hands to my nose. “Think I’ll just go wash that man’s stink off my hands before heading back to work.”
I hear her laugh as I make my way toward the bathrooms in the back. I’m not the kind of guy who’s afraid of getting his hands dirty, but another man’s body odor on my palms for the rest of the night? Yeah, I’ll pass on that.
There’s a long hallway that leads to the bathrooms, and as I approach it, I hear voices engaged in an argument. One is a girl I don’t recognize, but I recognize the other immediately; it’s Vincent, and he’s yelling.
“You know how this works! You think holding out is going to change things?”
“I…I don’t…” Whoever she is, she’s terrified. Her voice sounds like a pane of glass on the verge of shattering. Must be one of the servers or bartenders about to lose her job.
“There are consequences, and you know what those are, don’t you?”
“Vincent, please, honey! Please, don’t!”
Honey?My gut tightens as I instantly realize what’s happening. Vincent isn’t screaming at one of the girls in his employ. He’s screaming at Josie.
I know what Ishoulddo. As one of Vincent’s employees, as an employee of this club, Ishouldmind my own business, turn around, and walk back outside. But I can’t. Maybe if he was disciplining one of his men, I could do that, but not her. Not my Josie.
I may be making one of the biggest mistakes of my life, one that Jimmy would absolutely warn me against making, but instead of turning around and leaving, I round the corner and step into the hallway.
There she is. Josie. And she looks terrified.
Vincent has her backed up against a wall, one hand holding her by the wrist and his other hand pulled back in a threatening manner like he’s ready to slap her or hit her.
“All the things I’ve given you and you still think that you—” Vincent stops when he sees me and stands up straight. He may be the boss, but I guess even the boss wants to save face sometimes. “Yeah? Magnus, right? You got a problem, boy?”
“Nope,” I reply, my eyes darting to Josie as she quickly wipes her tears. “Just heading to the men’s room.”
“We were just having a discussion,” Vincent replies, straightening his tie. He leans in and whispers something to Josie. His voice is low, but I can still make it out. “Clean yourself up and meet me back at our table.”
I act completely normal and walk past both of them toward the men’s room, keeping my head down and my eyes averted the entire way. This seems to work as Vincent says nothing to me and just storms past me down the hall. I stop at the door to the men’s room and turn back to Josie, who is drying her eyes with the fabric of her dress.
Seeing her like this feels like a punch to the gut. I already want to storm back into the club, find Vincent, and break his fucking face. But I know I can’t do that. Not right now. There are more men than just me working security tonight. I’d be a dead man after I struck the first blow. But more than that, what the hell do I know about these two? Maybe this is how their relationship functions. Maybe it’s one of those dysfunctional one’s that people from the outside can never understand. Or maybe she’s a gold-digger and just takes his abuse because she’s in it for the lifestyle.
Jesus Christ, what am I saying? Josie isn’t like that. How could I even think something like that? What is wrong with me? She’s right there in front of me, crying, trying to put herself back together, and I’m questioning her integrity as a woman.
I clench my fist so tight that my nails start to bite into the skin of my palm, and then I do something that I know is the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done.
I walk right over to Josie’s side and put my hand on her shoulder.
“Are you all right?”
She sniffles and turns to me. Our eyes meet, and I feel like I’ve been struck by a bolt of lightning. “Hi. My name is Magnus.”