I hated it.
Hated that she held that power, too.
I still couldn’t believe she was Reed Dearborne’s ex-wife.
The news hadn’t reported the separation.
Shocker.
A local story like that paid off and swept under the rug because the bastard didn’t want to tarnish his name.
But there was enough talk around town for us to hear rumblings of it in the office.
I’d met him twice.
Let’s just say shady recognized shady.
And the guy skeeved me out.
But now? It felt personal. Like I wanted to hunt the fucker down for ever touching her. For hurting her. For claiming her.
Couldn’t stand the thought of his hands on her. On that sweet skin. Fingers sinking into that soft heart.
Three kids.
Three kids.
Irritation stretched thin, everything feeling so goddamned off-kilter and foreign that it had my mind spinning with all sorts of bullshit I couldn’t entertain.
Getting soft.
So goddamned stupid.
I knew better.
Still, that feeling was chasing me, thoughts pushing me one direction and then shoving me the other. Wanted to claw my goddamned eyes out, imagining it all, Reed and her family and the girl who I’d first seen sitting at the bar.
The opposition of the girl who’d been in my bed, blowing my goddamned mind, and the girl who’d been standing in my office with all that cash.
I couldn’t reconcile the two.
I lost my jacket and brief case in my car and was driving back through town, unable to go back to my hollow condo.
Knowing her scent would still be there. Knowing my ears would still be howling with her pleas.
I needed an outlet.
A reprieve.
I hopped out of my car and paid the cover at the seedy club.
Like I said, shady called to shady.
And it wasn’t like I was in the mood to hit Monty’s. Mack would show, and there was no way I could explain away the mood I was in.
Didn’t fucking get it myself.
I entered the dark club.
Nothing but sleazy air and flashing lights.
I moved through the pricks that filled the place, sordid fantasies playing through their minds. I found a secluded spot in the back, in the darkness, and welcomed it, the partner to my heart.
I sank down into the plush, deep chair. Maroon, crushed velvet.
Dancers were on the stage, glued to their poles. Lights strobed and music blared.
My attention was on the stage, eyes roving over the mostly naked bodies, sucking down the feeling that held fast to the atmosphere.
Greed and lust and desperation.
It didn’t make me hard. Didn’t turn me on. It just made me remember that I wasn’t the only one who would do what they had to in order to survive. That there was no shame in doing whatever it took to make sure there was food in your stomach and a roof over your head.
When a cocktail waitress appeared at my side, I ordered a scotch, guzzled it down and asked for another. Told her to keep them coming.
If I was going to drown in my own self-inflicted depravity, I was going to do it right.
I drained glass after glass. Until I couldn’t feel my fucking fingers or my toes or that blackened, mangled ball that was supposed to be my heart.
I didn’t even reject the dancer who came over and asked if I wanted a private dance, let her take my hand and lead me to a back room, let her grind her body all over mine.
I watched her.
Detached.
Numb.
Verging on something else.
Like I was hanging on a sharp edge and getting ready to be cut in two.
Hating every second.
Wanting more.
Punishment.
She leaned in, hands on my shoulders as she ground on my dick, her lips on my ear. “I have somewhere we could go.”
Revulsion spun, loathing rising to the surface. My hands instantly shot out, and I gripped her by the waist. “No.”
The word was harsh.
Hard.
It only made her try harder. Her pussy barely covered as she rubbed herself all over my two-thousand-dollar suit. “Oh, come on, don’t pretend like you aren’t here for one thing. I see it written all over you. I promise to make it worth it.”
“No,” I said again.
“Come on, baby. Let me help you out.” Through my pants, she stroked my limp dick.
Disgust.
Rage.
They spiraled. Twisted and bound.
My body was barely even reacting while my mind tossed me into the pit of my past.
Darkness.
Fear.
Sickness.
She grabbed both my hands and pressed them to her breasts.
Nausea tumbled in my guts and rolled up my throat.
I pushed her off my lap. Harder than I should have, and she stumbled back onto her five-inch heels while I stood, dug into my wallet, and pulled out a wad of cash.
I grabbed her hand and stuffed the bills into it, curling her fingers around the wad. “That should be more than enough to cover the dance.”
She looked at me as if I were crazy.
Sounded about right.
I headed for the draped exit, needing to get the hell out of there before I lost my mind. Unable to understand what was happening to me. Why I felt like I was five seconds from coming unhinged.
I threw aside the heavy fabric, and I flew out, coming to a quick stop when a shadow stepped out in front of me, blocking my path down the narrow hall. “Are you showing disrespect to my girl?”
The asshole was wiry and thin, trying to play it big, jutting out his chin.
Begging me to put my fist in it.
My head cocked, aggression a blister rushing across my skin. “Disrespect your girl?”
“That’s right. You touched her. That means you’re goin’ to pay. One way or another.”
“Just drop it, Cody. He didn’t mean no harm.” I could feel her behind me, cowering, attempting to get her voice to come out strong, but there was no missing the fact it wavered.
He sneered at her from over my shoulder. “Shut your fuckin’ mouth, Cocoa. Unless you’re opening up for dick, it stays closed. No one gives a shit what you have to say.”
He turned back to me. “Here’s how it’s gonna be. You’re either gonna take back out that fat wallet of yours and give me the rest of what’s in there, or you take her with you, do what you will, and still give me everything left between the leather. Your choice. Makes no difference to me.”
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.