Tamed By You (Always & Forever #2)

39. Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Harry

Ali needs you.

Those three words have repeated over and over in my head the entire flight back to New York. I got the first flight I could, which annoyingly was a few days later. I headed straight for her apartment, but she wasn’t there.

I tried calling Ali again and again, but she screens all my calls. How can she dismiss me like that after what we experienced together? I've not really done the relationship and feelings thing, but I know when something has meaning to it.

I know something is up with her. I can feel it in my bones. By the time I land and make it to my apartment, it's 6 pm. I order some takeout, shower, and get ready to head to the club to see Brad, so I can find out what the hell is going on. He was brief on the phone a few days ago and has been every call since. He says he’s been round to her apartment to check on her, and all he says is , she wasn’t herself and I should get back. I know him, he wouldn’t want me to worry, so likely left out the main details which honestly only adds to my anxiety. But Ali is so good at hiding her emotions, he may not know the full extent of what’s going on. But if Brad was concerned enough to call me, it must be serious.

The club is packed; the doormen have started turning people away and the girls behind the bar haven’t stopped. I have had to slip behind the bar to help, and I am yet to talk to Brad.

“How was London?” Kate yells over the music.

“Good, it's no New York though,” I yell back to her.

She leans in a little closer, lowering her voice. “I’ve got some paperwork I need you or Brad to sign. The paramedics need a signature.”

Paramedics?

My vacant stare must say it all, because her eyes widen. “I’m guessing Brad didn't tell you.”

“Tell me what?” I ask, clenching my jaw. All my senses are telling me something bad happened, and it involves a wild blonde I happen to be struggling to get a hold of.

“Look, I don't know much but something happened the other night and I think Brad should be the one to tell you.”

I turn on my heel, storming towards Brad who’s working at the other end of the bar, clamping down on his shoulder and squeezing a little harder than necessary. “We need to talk,” I say through gritted teeth.

With a nod of his head, he follows me to my office. As soon as the door closes, I slam my hand down on the oak desk. “What the hell has been going on? Why the fuck did we have paramedics here?” I am seething, my blood pumping around my body at an alarming speed.

“If you calm down for a fucking minute, I can tell you.”

“Is it Ali? Is she okay, is she—”

“The paramedics weren’t for her. She’s okay, she’s, I don’t know…”

“I swear to god, if you don’t start talking in complete sentences, I’m going to fucking break something.”

“Harry, calm down,” he barks. I shrug off my suit jacket. It suddenly feels too tight. I’m breathing like a bull ready to charge.

Fuck, I do need to calm down. I run a hand over my stubble and let out a long breath.

“Brad, please, what the hell has been going on?”

He tells me everything, Cassidy, the drugs, Ali breaking down on him. I feel like I descend into a black hole.

Drugs. She took fucking drugs?

“What the fuck is she playing at?” I bellow. My spine tenses. “I’m gonna—”

“Do nothing. Calm down. I think she’s really going through something.”

“What, what is she going through? Tell me, because clearly, she will talk to you, but she won’t fucking talk to me.” Breathing at a rapid rate, it makes me lightheaded and I try to slow it down. The memories of our last night together and her opening up to me come flooding back. Is it all connected. Why she hid parts of herself for so long? Is it all linked? She’s hiding something and I need to know what.

‘Haz, I know you’re angry and you’re worried, but you need to get a grip. This isn't the same thing as Tori—”

“Don’t. I don't want to think about that right now.” I bend down, bracing my hands against the desk, hanging my head, and trying to get my breathing under control.

“Just go easy with her, okay? Go find her and talk to her. Calmly.”

I lift my head. “She’s here?”

He nods “You need to—”

“Talk to her, I know.” I’m up and out of my office, charging down the corridor, pushing the doors open with such force I nearly take them off their hinges. I scan the club, the dance floor packed with people bopping to the techno beat. The lights above, sparkling down, casting shadows, making it hard to see faces. I search the crowd and then I spot her bright blonde hair I'd recognize anywhere. My eyes drift down to the tight pink dress she’s wearing and I still, clenching my fists as I notice a set of hands wrapped around her tiny waist, and a mass of dark hair nuzzled into her neck.

I’m moving, not thinking, not giving myself time to calm. My hand flies to the head in the crook of her neck, fisting the hair and dragging him away from her.

“Get your fucking hands off her,” I roar.

Wide, icy blue eyes meet mine, her perfectly shaped mouth agape. I shove the guy and he falls to the ground, but I don’t give a shit. I’ve never felt anger like it. Narrowing my eyes at her, I scowl. My tone drops to something softer as I say, “Hey, Ali Cat. Miss me?”