6. Lena
My cheek tingles from his touch as his thumb wipes away a rogue tear. The urge to press my face into his rough hand is overwhelming. He’s so intoxicating that he almost takes my breath away. How can I already be this infatuated with this man after only a few hours? Even if he did finger-fuck me in a sex club, in front of strangers, nonetheless, I shouldn’t feel the need for such an intimate touch.
I’m obviously under a lot of stress tonight and that must be the reason my body seems to be aching for his touch.
Fucking stress .
Admittedly, the knot in my chest loosens slightly at his reassurance that he’s not going to turn me back over to Matt and that he’s on the top of their shit list. A list I don’t think I would ever want to find myself on, because the rage that is rolling off them is suffocating.
My eyes drift back to the security footage, and I scan the mass of masked people who are crammed into the club. I wonder how many of those people were aware of who I was and wanted to grab me for themselves. “How did he even get in here?” The question comes out so quietly that I don’t even know if I actually said anything out loud.
“That’s what we're trying to figure out.” Devin stands up straighter and crosses his arms, causing his biceps to bulge through his shirt. I can only imagine the kind of carnage those arms could commit if he was given the chance. “If someone freely lets him in, then we’ll know in no time.” He looks at Tony, grinning like a fool. “It helps when you have the best at your disposal.”
Tony lifts a middle finger at Devin, not even looking away from his screen. Devin lets out a laugh as he turns to the TV screen on the wall, pulling out his phone and typing away. I watch them as both of their expressions turn steely while they work. They occasionally look at one another, nod or shake their heads, and then go back to what they were doing.
I lean back into the couch and chew on my bottom lip. These strangers have made a vow to keep me and my best friends safe. But, why? What do they get out of this? Men like them don’t do things out of the goodness of their hearts, there’s always a fucking catch.
Tony makes a huffing sound, causing Devin’s head to snap in his direction, his eyes flashing to the footage playing on the screen. The knot in my chest tightens as Devin jerks his phone up to his ear. He doesn’t bother to turn around and look at me as he bites out, “Bring me Vince. Now .” His words are low but sharp. They could cut a man off at the knees. “Find a replacement for his post immediately. He won’t be coming back.”
He drops the phone away, ending the call. He takes in a breath as he scrubs his hand over his face. The tension in the room shifts as Devin flashes Tony another look, his eyes filled with rage. It presses down on my chest, making it hard to breathe, and my panic starts to rise up my throat.
“Who’s Vince?” I push the words out, nearly gagging as anxiety attempts to close up my throat.
“Someone who has made a huge mistake.” Devin’s voice drips with disdain as he growls out the words. “Someone who needs to be reminded of what we’re capable of.”
He glides across the room to the bar, pouring himself a finger of whiskey. He throws it back in one gulp and pours another without hesitation. He looks as though he’s about to throw it back, too, but Tony clears his throat. The sound rings out in the room as the glass stops at Devin’s lips, hovering there as if he’s contemplating whether to ignore him or not. He lowers the glass slightly, a slight sense of calm coming over him as he takes a small sip.
Tony’s eyes are glued on the screen, his hands alternating between clicking his mouse and his fingers flying across the keyboard. The room goes silent, the only sounds being Devin swirling his glass and Tony’s clicking.
I want to speak and ask them more questions, but the look in Devin’s eyes tells me to keep my mouth shut. The power that he exudes swirls through the room, seeming to hold me in place. I watch as he scans his eyes between his phone, the security footage, and me. I’m used to being under a watchful eye, but somehow this feels different.
The difference is that he’s watching me like a mother would watch their child. With a sense of care and adoration. It’s a strange feeling, because I’ve only ever been used to being under scrutiny as someone waits for me to fuck up. Waiting for me to step out of line and to be struck down by punishment.
The comfortable silence is cut off by someone pounding at the door, making me jump. The door clicks open and two men enter the room, dragging a third. They grip him under the arms, his hands tied behind his back, his mouth covered with duct tape.
The man is struggling, his large body thrashing as they let him drop to the ground with a heavy thud. I gasp, because I recognize this man as the bouncer who let us into the club.
Vince.
He lands face first onto the floor, rolling himself onto his side, a groan of pain muffled by the tape across his mouth.
Vince looks up at Devin, panic swirling in his eyes. Devin closes the distance between them and, without any warning, kicks the man in the face. A muffled scream sounds from under the tape, blood gushing from his now crooked nose. His eyes are already swollen, and it looks like he took a beating before Devin’s foot connected with his face.
I’m frozen in place on the couch with my fingers digging into the cushion like an anchor. The two guards take a large step back, as if they already know what could happen if they get too close. Get caught in the crossfire.
Devin reaches down, his large hands wrapping around the nape of Vince’s neck, wrenching his head back. “Look at me, Vinny.” The growl in his voice sends a shiver across my skin. The man whimpers as Devin wrenches his head back farther, the man’s labored breathing rushing through his crushed nose, spraying blood across the floor. “I said look at me, you fucking piece of shit.” Vince’s eyes widen, nearly bulging out of his head. His pleas press against the tape, begging to be let out to no avail. “Nothing you say will save you now. You fucking did this to yourself.”
Devin pulls Vince where he holds him by the nape of his neck, forcing him onto his knees. Tears run down the bouncer’s face, mixing with the blood that now drips onto his white shirt.
Blood usually makes me queasy, but for whatever reason, I can’t take my eyes off the scene in front of me. The man in front of me. The way he has taken command of the room and grabbed another man by the nape like a dog nearly sends a thrill through me.
What the hell is wrong with me?
Devin wrenches his arm back, his fist connecting with Vince’s face, splattering more blood. His head flies back and he screams in pain. Devin’s bloody hand wraps around Vince’s throat, pulling him closer as he punches him again and again. Blood coats Devin’s knuckles, and while every part of my brain is screaming at me to look away, I just can’t. Devin’s eyes have nearly gone blank as he grits his teeth through every blow.
I didn’t even notice Tony until he was right next to Devin. He reaches out and grips his shoulder, keeping an arm’s length away as Devin throws another punch. The veins on the back of his hand that is wrapped around Vince’s throat bulge, his grip tight around his neck, completely cutting off his air supply. His fist is cocked and ready for another hit, the blank look masking his face. Tony’s large hand squeezes Devin’s shoulder and he immediately freezes, halting his punch midair.
As if Tony’s touch brought Devin back, he slowly lowers his fist, his breaths heavy, and removes his hand from the bouncer’s throat, his body falling to the floor in a heap. Blood flows from Vince’s nose and mouth as he lies on the floor, whimpering. Devin looks in my direction, his eyes still vacant.
Soulless.
Tony hasn’t let go of his shoulder yet, his grip is still just as tight, like he’s holding back a rabid dog. Devin heaves in deep breaths, his blond hair falling over his face that’s now speckled with blood.
“Take him downstairs,” Devin commands, his voice hollow. “I’ll deal with him later.”
The two guards grab Vince under his arms and haul him up. He grunts as they drag him across the floor, back toward the door, leaving a bloody trail. His head drops, chin pressed to his chest, as he fights for consciousness. All three disappear through the doorway, leaving us in complete silence.
Devin straightens himself, running his clean fingers through his hair, pushing it away from his face. He rolls his shoulders back, trying to ease the tension from his body as Tony’s hand falls away. My eyes are wide at the scene that unfolded in front of me, nearly as violent as the one that happened downstairs.
I should be running and screaming at the violence that has surrounded me this evening, but I stay seated on the sofa, my body full of lead. Both men stare at the door for a long moment, as if they’re anticipating someone else to be drug through the door, before turning their full attention to me.
The tension fills the room, nearly drowning me, as they watch me. They’re waiting for a reaction that I don’t think I can give them. I should be cowering in fear, but I just watched a man beat another man within an inch of his life, and all I can do is think about the way I came all over those same hands tonight.
Tony breaks his gaze from me, huffing out a breath as he stalks back to his desk, continuing his work as if nothing even happened. Devin flexes his hands at his sides, Vinny’s blood still dripping from them.
He looks like a monster, splattered in blood, with a smile so sharp that it could rip me to shreds. His eyes are cold and calculating as he watches me, making note of every breath I take. Like a wolf watching its prey, ready to rip open its throat.
My tongue darts over my lips and his cold gaze heats, a spark lighting behind them. He chuckles darkly and I know what I’m doing is insane, but my skin heats and all I want are his hands on me. I want him to smear the blood that’s on them across my skin.
Marking me.
My senses awaken and my heart thunders at the thought of those powerful hands on me, the pulse between my legs has me nearly squirming in my seat.
Tony clears his throat, causing Devin’s eyes to soften, his body relaxing slightly as he comes back to reality. He gives me a once over, and even though the life is coming back in his eye, they’re still burning hot. He moves to the kitchen, washing the blood from his hands and face, washing the evidence away.
He stalks to the bar cart and pours himself another finger of whiskey. He throws his back with even more ease than earlier, pouring himself another, but this one stays in the glass.
“What did he do that was so terrible?” I ask quietly, trying to gauge the entirety of the situation I’ve found myself in.
He watches me over the rim of his glass, his bright blue eyes flashing from hot to cold. “He broke rules. Rules that are made to protect everyone in this club.” He takes a tentative sip, dragging his tongue across his lips, licking them clean. “And now he must pay the consequences for his actions.”
I gulp, thinking about the way he so easily flipped a switch from a charismatic gentleman to a wild-eyed assailant. “Did he hurt someone?” I can picture the way Vince looked when we entered the club, taking in each woman from head to toe. Sizing each of us up. He had a friendly demeanor, but there was something dark about his eyes. A look that not everyone would notice unless they were looking for it, or used to having one just like it, looking back at them.
“He might as well have,” he grits out.
“What’s going to happen to him?” I already know the answer, but part of me wants to hear it from him.
“He will no longer be employed here after tonight,” he replies, his shoulders tensing as he raises the glass to his lips. “And you’re not safe to leave on your own.”
Fear courses through my veins, my body stiffening at his words. “What the fuck do you mean by that? Are you going to do something to me?” My words are sharp, and I shift myself to the edge of the sofa, my body on high alert.
“What I mean is you can’t leave here on your own.”
My eyes widen and my cheeks flush with anger from this man's sheer audacity. Who does he think he fucking is? My hackles rise and my legs twitch with the need to run. I curl my toes in the rug, ready to gain traction, as if I would make it far before one of them caught me. I know damn well that I wouldn’t even make it to the door.
He rolls his eyes at me, but not with sincere agitation, because a smile hints at the corner of his lips. He leans against the island, sitting his whiskey down on the marble. “What I mean is, you can’t leave here without an escort and some security measures.”
I open my mouth to protest, because I refuse to become someone’s prisoner again. But before I can say anything, he raises his hand as if to silence me. “Love, we’re not going to let anyone hurt you and we’re not going to trap you here. Okay?” His voice is soft, but there’s an edge to it, like he’s trying to talk someone off a ledge and won’t accept ‘no’ for an answer .
“Then what exactly is the plan, if not to trap me?” My words are clipped. I don’t mean for them to be so sharp, but for some strange reason, I feel comfortable enough to throw them at him. He’s coming off stern, but there’s something about the way he looks at me that is throwing me off.
He lifts his glass again, taking a long drink before answering me. “We’re going to escort you home tonight, because we see that you took an Uber here.” His eyes flash to the TV, which is now showing the CCTV outside of my apartment building. How the hell do they?—
“Then we’re going to have our men stake out in front of your apartment building to ensure your safety while we investigate this entire situation.”
I stare at the screen as other views of my apartment building fill the other squares in it. I watch as a black car pulls up on the opposite side of the street and parks. My face goes hot as the anger starts to build, pulsing through my veins. “You don’t even know me, so why the fuck are you helping me? Is this some kind of trap?”
Devin closes the distance between us, crowding me and forcing me to lean back onto the sofa. He cages me in with a hand on either side of my head, hovering over me and forcing me to look up at him. The smell of the whiskey on his breath floods my nose, along with the tinge of copper from the blood that is splattered across his shirt. “If I wanted to trap you, love, I would have dragged you down to the basement and left you to rot in one of the cells.”
I suck in a breath as he continues. “And you think I haven’t been following your every move since the last time I laid eyes on you, just hoping that you would make your way back here?” I stiffen as the memory floods my mind, realization of why he seems so familiar finally hitting me. His sharp, blue eyes looking down at me all those months ago, the way he made me feel like I was the only woman in the room.
I’ve thought about this place since the night I left Matt, because running into Devin that night was what drove the final nail in the coffin for my relationship. I had looked up the club a few times online and mentioned briefly to the girls how much I like the atmosphere, but didn’t know if I could ever go back. But, just last week, I received an email from Masquerave, like I had signed up for their newsletter or something. I thought it was just a coincidence, but now, I’m not sure I believe that.
My eyes widen as I connect another dot. “You sent me the email.” He smirks, and I so badly want to slap it from his perfect face. “You wanted me to come here, didn’t you?”
He leans in closer, his nose nearly touching mine. “It had been over three months since I last saw you, love, and I had to make sure you were okay.”
My mouth gapes at his words. Make sure I was okay? We were strangers that night, and I still considered us as such tonight, but he apparently had a different idea. I should be worried about that, but oddly enough, I’m not.
I watch him closely, his predatory eyes burning into me. “But why?”
He pulls back, a puzzled look on his face as if I missed the punchline of a joke. “Because your fiancé is the leader of one of the groups filled with elite criminals. You showed up on his arm, sporting their ring.”
“What does my ring have to do with this?” I feel as though I am standing on the ledge again and one slight breeze will have me tumbling over it.
He stands up, his tall, powerful body casting a shadow over me. I fight the urge to curl in on myself, because I feel like I just failed a test. His brows furrow at me and this time I look over to Tony, who is also staring at me with disbelief in his gray eyes. I look down at my now empty ring finger, the thin line etched in my skin where my unique engagement ring used to sit.
“You really don’t know, do you?” Curiosity fills his voice as his question hangs heavy in the air. I avert my gaze, refusing to look at him .
I try my best to think back. All I can think is the rooftop dinner over the city, Matt going down on one knee and asking me to be his wife. It was romantic and extremely out of character for him. The giant, four-carat, black diamond ring left me speechless, not only for its size, but the uniqueness of it. The oval cut diamond glittered in the moonlight; the black diamonds crusted the band like little black stars. It was everything I didn’t know I wanted in a ring.
The next night, I found myself in this very club, perched on Matt’s lap, flashing the ring for all to see. That was nearly two years ago, and after the newness of our engagement wore off, so did my frequency at the club, only letting me come every so often so I wouldn’t be suspicious.
I press my palm to my chest as even more realization pounds into it, my heart nearly breaking all over again. It was all for show. For fucking status. I see now that the ring wasn’t unique, especially by the way that Devin mentioned it. My neck flushes with heat as tears prick at my eyes.
I was nothing more to him than the cost of that ring and the status boost it brought him. He paraded me around like a prized pony. How could I have been so blind? So fucking stupid?
Devin’s finger crooks under my chin, slowly lifting my now pounding head. His expression doesn’t change, but his eyes are filled with understanding.
“I was nothing but a pawn for him,” I croak around the lump in my throat. “He kept me around for his image, not because he loved me.” My chest grows heavy, the weight of my own words trying to suffocate me.
I was willing to look the other way, to ignore all the red flags, because I thought that was what I was supposed to do. What a good future wife would do—all for love.
But his love was nothing but smoke and mirrors. A devious lie. One I believed until the rose-colored glasses were shattered from my face, and I saw everything for what it was. Bleak and bruised .
Devin presses his thumb into my chin, keeping my head up and forcing me to look at him. “You’re worth more than that, Lena.” His eyes flash to Tony, who is still staring at me, his expression once again unreadable. “Let us help you and we’ll all get what we want.”
My brows knit. “And what’s that?”
He raises his brow. “Revenge, of course.”