Chapter 21
Mia
“COME ON! ONE DANCE,” I yelled at Archer, because he was the only guy I trusted in the whole club.
“You’re trying to get me killed,” he grumbled, but I didn’t care. The strobing lights kept the beat of the music, the alcohol pumped in my veins, and the laughter of my new friends fueled me to loosen up more.
Screw the man who didn’t want me to enjoy my night off. He surely was enjoying his. I needed to forget about the pull he had on me and focus on something else.
Or someone else. I couldn’t live in Paradise Grove all summer without an outlet. Not after the way Jameson and I were so close to combusting.
And that someone was Archer, who was finally stepping onto the dance floor with me.
He was stiff and didn’t move at all at first. But I laughed at him rolling his eyes and spun around before dropping low to the beat and whipping my curls to the side.
“Having a little fun sometimes isn’t going to get you killed. ”
“You don’t know Jameson,” he told me, scanning the place like his boss was going to be there any second.
Doubt it. Then again, the thrill that he was watching, that he’d chose to do that rather than Valerie tonight, had me shimmying closer to Archer. I needed out of Jameson’s orbit and to be pulled into someone else’s.
“No, but I know you haven’t had a night out for a while, considering you’ve eaten with me every night. So, before the Knights take over our lives, let’s live a little.”
The man was tempted. I saw it in the way he pulled at the back of his neck before he finally ground out, “One dance.” And then he pulled me close and rocked to the music with me. “I’ll take the risk tonight only, Ms. Darling.”
I glanced up at him and tried to feel something for his chocolate eyes and warm smile. It was comfortable, but not intoxicating. Nice, but not lethal.
Holding back the sigh I wanted to let out, I moved my hips against his and let the song play out, searching for some spark of chemistry.
There wasn’t much there, but we laughed and danced. As the alcohol flowed through my veins to the rhythm of the bass, I threw my head back and let go of my worries.
“I needed this,” I shouted to everyone in our dance circle as the song ended. We walked back to the bar and chatted more. I got a glass of water this time, watching people dance around us as Archer scanned the club. “You know you probably need to loosen up more than I do.”
He harrumphed, and so I sipped my water as Olive told us about how nice it was to be out. “Lucille across the street keeps talking to me about a bush we planted because I’m somehow not nurturing them right.”
“Archer sometimes talks to my plants for me and it helps them to grow.” I winked at Archer. His eyes widened and he stepped back like he wanted nothing to do with our conversation.
Pink eyed him up and down. “You only nurturing her plants?”
Archer groaned and I frowned at him and shrugged.
“You want air instead of talking here?” I pointed to the elevators to go up to the balcony.
He gave me a look, but I completely ignored it as I pulled his arm and told the girls we’d be right back.
He let one of the guys know we were going out there, and of course half of them followed us onto the elevator.
“We need this security all the time?” I leaned against the metal rail to question him.
“It’s a privilege to have it, Ms. Darling.
You should be thankful.” He pulled at his black shirt and then ushered me out of the elevator so that I could walk through another room full of people dancing that led to the balcony doors.
I pushed through them and let the cool air embrace my glistening skin as we walked out.
“Well, thanks for the security and for the dance, Arch.”
“It’s Jameson’s security. And as for the dance … you’re aware of the boundaries you’re pushing, I assume,” he warned me as I breathed in the night breeze. “He’s more than a little uncomfortable.”
“With me? Doubt it.” I hadn’t received another text from Jameson, and it shouldn’t have mattered if Valerie was there to keep him company anyway.
He shook his head and sighed. “Only with you. He isn’t this way with anyone else, not even Valerie …
even if you hear them.” My gaze whipped up to his as a gust of wind blew my hair back.
I hated that my eyes watered, and I blamed the wind, but we both knew that wasn’t it.
I was embarrassed Archer saw my weakness and looked away immediately.
Then he said softly, “I know why you ask me to leave your room after dinner, Darling.”
“Oh God,” I whispered and ducked my head as I shivered at the idea.
Archer mistook it for being cold and immediately unbuttoned his suit jacket to drape it over my shoulders.
I pulled it closed and murmured a thanks.
It was handy that I could tuck my face into it and hide my shame. “Did you tell him?”
“Fuck no, I’m not telling him you’re listening to him and Valerie,” Archer swore, and I knew he wouldn’t.
He’d been a friend when I didn’t have one, and someone who sat with me through dinners when he didn’t have to.
We laughed together, watched shows together, took care of those kids together at the academy.
“I’m not telling him shit. I’m just telling you.
He’s got his demons, and he protects those he cares about.
He’s starting to care more about you than most women. It scares him.”
“Because …”
“Because … it’s his story to tell.” Archer sighed. “Just trust me when I say if you keep pushing those boundaries, they’re bound to break, and you should be ready.”
“For what?”
We didn’t get to finish our conversation. It was only two or three songs that we’d been standing out in that cool breeze on the roof. I heard the bass hit like a warning. Or maybe it was the feeling of being watched by him that erupted over my skin.
Predatory. Invading. And dangerous. Jameson stood at the entrance of the balcony in all black, leather stretching over his shoulders instead of a tailored suit.
His hair looked ruffled, and his jaw was set in that sharp way I was used to seeing. He’d arrived in a hurry, probably to yell at all of us. His men flanked either side of him, and they all looked lethal, ready to stand behind him in whatever he did.
A syndicate that was powerful. Adamantem infractum manet. I saw it in that moment more than I ever had before.
The music around me died, the lights seemed to shine only on him, and the world faded out.
He was the only thing there for me as tension whipped between us. I felt Archer step back. “If you can’t find me tomorrow, Mia, I’m at the bottom of a damn lake.”
I opened my mouth to reassure him, but Jameson’s murderous blue gaze stopped me from saying a word. He had Archer in his sights, and I knew keeping him here wasn’t worth it. I waved him away quickly, but he stood his ground even as Jameson walked out the door someone on his security opened for him.
I heard people inside as he did: “Get out of his way. He’s a Knight,” and then, “Is that Bane Black with Dimitri from the HEAT empire?”
Even I realized how people had moved for him and how people were looking through the window now.
Jameson didn’t stop for any of them. He was on a damn mission to meet us at the railing of that balcony and confront us.
People pretended not to stare, but I knew they were, knew that if I didn’t de-escalate the situation, Archer might have to stand toe to toe with him.
I wasn’t quick enough though. Jameson acted faster than I could move and plowed a fist into Archer’s face right over my head.
His guys flanking behind him meant to block the scene from others, but people inside screamed, and I lunged for Archer.
Not before Jameson’s arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me up against him, though, gripping my hip hard enough to prove a point.
I shoved at his grip, digging my nails in and probably drawing blood, but it was no use.
“You asshole. You know I dragged Archer out onto the dance floor. Let him be.”
He ignored me. Didn’t even look my way. Archer was the one he wanted, and he made that clear when his tone rolled out, so pointed and matter-of-fact as he told him, “You’re dead to me and the Diamonds, Archer.”
I had to give Archer credit. He didn’t cower or bow to Jameson. He spit blood onto the cement and then licked the split lip. “You saying I’m not officially a part of the syndicate?”
“No. That’s not what he’s saying,” Hades interrupted, combing a hand through his hair as he glared at Jameson. “What the fuck? He’s my guy and yours.”
“He could be my brother, and I still would have made him bleed for touching her,” Jameson growled, and then he looked at Pink and Olive, who were shaking their heads. He eased me away from him and told them, “Keep her on the balcony.”
“I’m not staying anywhere if you take Arch—”
“He’s going to the bathroom with us,” Jameson said, eyeing Archer with pointed authority.
“Don’t go,” I told Archer, but he was already wiping his face and walking forward like he had a death sentence but intended to take it with pride. He even nodded at me and gave me a wink, which I tried to take as a signal that everything would be okay.
I didn’t have much of a choice either, because four huge men blocked the balcony entrance after Jameson and the guys walked through it.
I was being held against my will again.
“He won’t kill him, right?” I asked the girls quietly.
Pink glanced at Olive and Rosy, who both shrugged. She then tilted her hands up and down like it was a fifty-fifty before she answered, “No … well, I don’t think so.”