I try to keep wailing on him, but he catches my arms. He smiles a lethal smile that tells me he’s getting off on the fact that I’m fighting back. He brings his hand back, and it’s then I know he’s going to hit me. I clench my eyes shut as I try to wrestle away from him.
Chapter2
Lane
My girl didn’t listen. And even though I’ve never talked to her or even touched her, she’s my girl.
There was an incident at the door, and one of the guards needed back-up. I left my spot of watching Brooke after giving her the look, telling her not to move. But she didn’t listen. She and her friends are gone from they had been sitting. I look over the balcony and spot her friends, but Brooke is nowhere to be seen.
I walk through the club searching for her. I talk into the mic. “Any eyes on Angel?” That’s right. They all know Brooke is mine. They’ve all helped me keep an eye on her just because there’ve been times I couldn’t leave and needed to make sure she made it home safe. So everyone knows Angel, and they know she’s mine.
“Fuck, Lane. I saw her go toward the bathroom, but I just got called to the bar for a skipped tab so I had to leave her.” Mike’s voice is on edge and it’s no doubt because he knows how hung up on Angel I am.
“I got her,” I grunt into the mic.
I push people in the crowd to make my way to the hallway that leads to the bathrooms. There’s a lot of people, but just like any other time, I find her easily. She’s struggling in the arms of a man, and I run full speed to them. “What the fuck?” I say, just as I put my hand out to stop the man from swinging and hitting her.
I recognize him as one of the yuppie assholes that was watching her earlier, and I start to pummel him without any thought to anything except making sure he’s never able to touch her again.
“Lane! Stop. You’re going to kill him,” my Angel says as she tries to come between me and the man lying on the floor.
She puts her hand to my heaving chest. I put the mic to my mouth. “Clean up in the hallway. And make sure he learns a lesson for touching Angel.”
“On it,” Mike says. “She okay?”
And the fact that I can hear the concern in his voice is the only thing that’s going to stop me from firing his ass. He knows how important Angel is to me, and there’s supposed to be eyes on her at all times.
“Yes. She’s fine. I got her.”
People are all standing around, videoing and taking pictures. Brooke stands behind me. “I can’t be on the news for this.”
Fuck, in my endeavor to protect her, it seems I’ve fucked up. She’s an up-and-coming attorney, and she sure as shit can’t be surrounded by all of this.
“I’m leaving. Hold down the fort. I’ll be back,” I say into the mic as I hustle Brooke out the back door.
I stop in the alley and watch her. She’s holding her hand in front of her. “You okay?”
She nods. “Yeah, I got one punch in, but obviously I’m not a fighter.” She holds her hand out, and her knuckles are red and bruised.
I tense, debating on going back in there, and she must realize it because she shakes her head. “He’s not worth it.”
“Can I take you home?”
I wait for her to refuse. No doubt she’s going to, but she surprises me when she says yes. “Let me just text Brenda and Cassie so they are on the lookout in case that guy’s friends are asses too.”
She takes her phone out of her back pocket and starts to text. I walk her to my truck and help her inside. She’s on her phone most of the ride. “I’m sorry. They’re worried about me.”
“It’s no problem,” I tell her. Honestly, I’m glad she has friends looking out for her.
She’s quiet the whole way until I’m pulling up to her apartment building.
She gets out before I can say anything, and I meet her at the front of my truck. She’s still holding her hand, but she’s looking at me curiously. “Are we going to talk about the fact that you know where I live?”
I debate on answering her truthfully for only a second, and then decide against it. There’s nothing good that can come from the fact that I’m her stalker. But I can’t lie to her. “I’d rather not.”
She’s watching me. She’s standing so close to me her head is bent back so she can look up into my face. This is the closest we’ve been to each other, and I’m breathing her in, hoping to commit her vanilla sugar scent to memory.
She puts her hand on my chest. My heart is beating erratically, and I wonder if she can feel it. “Are you coming up?”