46. Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Four
Sunny
I have to pee. The bass thrumming and vibrating up through the floor, isn't helping. I've been holding it for the last hour, but I'm getting kind of desperate. No one told me the plan for this.
On top of that, something feels off tonight. The energy is wrong, like the air before a storm. I keep trying to tell myself it's nerves, but it doesn't feel like that. At all.
"I need a quick break," I finally tell Levi, trying to keep my voice casual as I wipe down the bar for the hundredth time. His eyes narrow immediately. "The bathroom."
"I'll come with you." He's already standing, that muscle in his jaw ticking.
"To the bathroom?" I arch an eyebrow at him, channeling Angel's confidence even as my bladder screams at me. "Really? I'm a big girl you know."
Z appears beside Levi, his presence solid and reassuring. "She needs to maintain normalcy. A bouncer escort to the bathroom isn't normal."
"The dressing room bathroom," Levi argues. "Not the main one. And I'll wait outside. No big deal."
I want to argue more, but honestly, I just need to pee. And something about tonight makes me willing to compromise. "Fine. But you're being ridiculous."
Levi's hand slides over my shoulder and down my arm. It's a touch that anyone watching wouldn't be able to miss. "Humor me, Angel."
The walk to the dressing room feels longer than usual with Levi trailing behind me. Every instinct I've developed over the years of being Angel prickles at having someone follow me, even if I know them. Even if I know why.
"Five minutes, tops," I tell him at the dressing room door. "I promise."
He nods, but I can see the tension in his jaw. "Five minutes."
"Hey, it's going to be okay. I'm going to be okay. We got this." Thankfully the words come out sounding more confident than I feel at the moment.
He looks at me, trying to believe what I just said. I stand up on my toes and place a kiss on his cheek, smiling at his shocked look when I pull back. "Really."
The dressing room is empty when I get inside. It’s late enough that everyone is either on stage or working the floor. The silence feels heavy after the throbbing bass of the club. I hurry to the back where the stalls are, relieved to finally have a moment alone.
Just a normal bathroom break, I tell myself. Just a normal night.
Now, if only I can convince myself to believe it.
Levi
I can still feel her lips on my cheek.
Five minutes. I check my watch again. Three minutes have passed.
The hallway feels too narrow, too confined. Every laugh and shout from the main floor sets my nerves on edge. The earpiece crackles with routine check-ins—Jake at the front, Eddie by the back door, Chase in the van. Everything’s normal. Everything’s fine.
I hate this plan. Hate being this exposed. Hate using her as bait.
A crash from the main floor catches my attention. Raised voices follow, then Jade's voice, sharp with anger. More crashes. The earpiece erupts with voices talking over each other.
"Situation in section three—"
"Colt, stand down—"
"Need backup—"
My feet shift toward the noise instinctively, but I force myself to stay put. Whatever's happening out there—Sunny is safer away from it. Three minutes and counting. She said five minutes.
The comms are chaos now. I catch fragments about Jade, about a customer getting physical. Colt's voice rises above the others, furious. Z's barking orders.
"Status on Angel?" Chase's voice cuts through the noise.
"Still in dressing room," I respond, my voice tight. "Three minutes."
More crashes from the main floor. The sound of breaking glass. Someone screams.
"Levi," Z's voice is strained. "We need—"
The earpiece goes dead.
Two minutes.
I pound on the dressing room door. "Angel? Time's up."
Nothing.
"Angel?" Louder this time.
The silence on the other side of the door makes my blood run cold.
Zane
The situation spirals out of control in seconds. One minute Jade's pushing away a handsy customer, the next she's stumbling backward with blood pouring from her nose. The customer grabs her arm hard enough to bruise.
Colt moves before I can stop him, all pretense of cover forgotten. His fist connects with the guy's jaw just as three more men stand up from different tables. How did we miss this?
"Chase, I need eyes on those exits," I bark into my comm, already moving toward the fight. "Jake, Eddie, lock it down."
Glass shatters. Someone screams. Wolf and his team converge on the new threats, but it's chaos. Too many bodies, too much movement.
"Status on Angel?" Chase's voice crackles through.
"Still in dressing room," Levi responds. "Three minutes."
My gut twists. This is wrong. All wrong. The timing—
"Check the camera feeds," I order Chase, ducking under a thrown bottle. "Dressing room, now."
Static fills the comm line.
"Chase? Chase, respond." Nothing but white noise.
"Levi," I try, fighting my way toward the back hall. "We need—"
The comms go dead.
Everything clicks into place too late. The fight. The strategic positioning. The disabled communications.
We played right into his hands.
Sunny
The bathroom door creaks as I push it open, the sound oddly loud in the empty dressing room. Muffled chaos filters in from the main floor—crashes, shouts, the heavy thud of bodies hitting tables.
It's all wrong.
I move faster, reaching for the dressing room door. My hand wraps around the handle just as a familiar cologne hits my nostrils. A scent that still haunts my nightmares.
"Hello, Princess." His breath is hot against my neck. "It's been a while."
My body freezes—I can't move. Behind me, Garrett chuckles – that same awful sound I remember from all those nights I tried to forget.
"I've missed you."
I try to scream, but his hand clamps over my mouth. Something sharp pricks my neck. The room starts to tilt.
"Shhh," he whispers, and I feel his smile against my ear. "He couldn't stay away could he? You're mine Sunny. Always have been. It's gonna be just like old times."
Through the spreading darkness, I see the dressing room door burst open. Levi's face, twisted in rage and horror. Z behind him, reaching for his gun.
The emergency exit behind us crashes open, the alarm adding to the chaos. Two men in security uniforms—not club security—rush in. There's a loud bang and smoke fills the room, thick and disorienting. I hear shouts, gunshots, the sound of bodies colliding.
But they're too far away. Too late.
The last thing I see as consciousness fades is both of them fighting through the smoke, their shouts muffled like I'm underwater, while Garrett drags me backward through the emergency exit. Levi's voice breaks through the haze, screaming my name—my real name. "SUNNY!"
Then nothing.
Levi
The smoke burns my lungs as I fight through it, but I can't see her anymore. Can't reach her. The emergency exit slams shut with a finality that stops my heart.
"NO!" The word tears from my throat, raw and desperate. I slam into the door, throwing my shoulder against it with enough force to make the hinges groan. It gives way to a empty alley and the sound of squealing tires.
Gone. She's gone.
Z appears beside me, gun still drawn. "Chase! Status on the alley cameras!"
Only static answers.
My legs give out. I slide down the wall, the brick rough against my back. Seven years ago, I walked away thinking she was dead. Now I've watched her be taken, alive and terrified, and I couldn't stop it.
"I promised her," I whisper, my voice breaking. "I promised I wouldn't let him touch her again."
The sound of fighting still echoes from inside. Colt shouting orders. But all I can hear is Garrett's laugh, see Sunny's eyes as they closed, feel the weight of another failure crushing my chest.
We never had a chance. He played us like a fucking conductor.
And now she's gone.