Chapter 11
Daisy
My heart thumped in my chest. Lacy was working tonight and sashayed over. “Hey, are those the same guys you told me about?”
My eyes shot over to Vinny who was noticeably tense and staring the bikers down as they casually walked inside. “Yeah. Fuck. What are they doing back here?”
Lacy’s hand gently wrapped around my wrist. “Just be cool and I’ll stay close. I’m not due on stage for another hour.”
I shook my head. “So we both can get our asses beat?” I plastered on a fake smile and spoke through my teeth. “I need to try to hide out or something. If Tony sees us talking, he’ll think I’m in league with them for real and it won’t be as easy as last time. ”
“Let me try to distract them. Which one is yours?”
“The one with hazel eyes.” What ? What was I saying? “But he’s not mine.”
Lacy grinned. “Sure thing. Scoot. I’ll try to cover for a while. Maybe you can talk a regular into a room?”
I pulled her toward the other side of the club. “Lacy, I don’t like this. You need to stay away, too. I won’t be responsible for him knocking you around. He knows we talk.”
She shrugged. “And? A lot of us do. Hell, maybe I’ll get a few days off.” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes.
My heart was beating faster by the minute. I couldn’t put her in danger, too, but if they asked one of the other girls about me, they’d have Vinny come find me. Then he’d know they specifically asked for me. Fuck .
“Shit. I don’t know what to do.” This man had invaded my thoughts and dreams since the last and only time I’d seen him. I wanted to talk to him, touch him. But my shitty life choices put me in a position where that wasn’t smart. “I need to think.”
“About what?” A deep, slightly Southern accent asked.
I didn’t know if it was the fear that shot through me or the timbre of his voice, but my nipples could suddenly cut glass. Swallowing hard and putting my perfect, pretty mask back on, I turned and steeled myself against looking him up and down. “Well, hey there. Couldn’t stay away?” Gross. Did I just give him that line?
He rubbed his hand down his beard with a smirk. I just wanted to grab it. Shit . I had to focus.
He finally answered. “Something like that. We had business up this way and figured we’d stop by to blow off some steam.”
Lacy looked him up and down then craned her neck around him to look at the others. “You boys looking for some company, then? Want a dance? Or maybe a room?”
If looks could kill, she’d be dead. What the fuck was she thinking? We’d end up dead if we went into a room with them.
He shrugged. “What’s that for, like a private dance?”
“Something like that,” she crooned. “You know, you can bring one of your friends and I can come, too.”
If we lived through this, I was going to kill her myself. What the hell was she doing? “I actually think we already had one, but maybe one of the other girl–”
“Everything good over here?”
Fuck . Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“Hey Vin, we’re good.”
Mr. Sexy Biker Beard turned around and straightened to his full height. There was some sort of reaper surrounded by Destiny’s Enforcers on the big patch on the back of his vest. “These ladies were just telling me about a room. I think we’d like one.”
Vinny stepped in closer to him. He was a little taller but not by much. Something about this guy made me think he could take Vinny down fairly easily. He surely wasn’t bothered by him, or at least he didn’t seem like he was. The other bikers stood up and started walking over .
“Everything okay?” one of the other biker guys asked. He was pretty big, with black hair, short on the sides but longer on top. His eyes were crystal blue. He was here the last time. If my biker wasn’t in charge, this guy had to be.
Vinny turned to the side and stepped back, so he didn’t have his back to any of them. My eyes darted around. Tony had guys outside the back and front door at all times. The bartender was big enough to also jump in if needed. But there were four bikers inside right now. None of the clientele here would intervene. They’d scatter before cops showed up, so they didn’t end up with their names on a police report.
The guy outside was supposed to pat people down, but he did a shitty job. I’ve grinded on enough laps to know what a pocketknife felt like. I wasn’t sure if these guys made it inside with any weapons, but I wasn’t sure they’d need them, either.
“Fellas, this is a private establishment. We can’t have you starting any trouble around the ladies. Maybe it’s time to go.”
“No trouble from me. I was just trying to speak to the lady here when you interrupted,” my biker said. Fuck it, I was going to either get killed later or disappear so I may as well end it thinking this man was mine.
“Maybe you didn’t hear me,” Vinny said with his chest puffed out. You had to hand it to him, he was either really brave, or really stupid. “It’s time for you fellas to leave.”
“Or what?” my biker asked.
The one that seemed to be in charge shot him a look but didn’t flinch. They all stood there waiting for Vinny to enlighten them. A few of the customers were watching now, and some ladies were looking over, trying to figure out what was happening. The music was too loud for anyone to really hear anything, but it was pretty obvious something was going down and people were innately nosy. I’d be watching if I was on the outside, but here I was, right in the middle of some bullshit. Before I could ponder on how I went from being independent and doing alright to running from a psycho ex and stuck being whored out, a commotion broke out.
I wasn’t sure if Vinny was dumb enough to try to jump four guys on his own or if they were tired of his warnings, but limbs were flying around. Everyone not involved was scattering. The exits were flooded with men running and nearly naked women squealing and going to the back as fast as their platforms would take them.
It was when I saw a glint of brushed black metal that I realized why everyone was running. Someone got a gun inside.
I was frozen, unsure of what to do. It was dumb to sit and wait for this to play out, and probably get shot or beaten in the process, but my legs wouldn’t allow me to move. All I could do was watch as Vinny and Jimmy, the guy from the back door, wrestled around with these guys.
Lacy started tugging on my arm. “We need to get out of the way!” she shouted as I kept my feet firmly planted.
My head shook then I glanced up to see Jace, the front door guy, running in toward the brawl. Gasping, I realized if Vinny, Jace, and Jimmy were all right here, nobody was watching the doors. For a moment I considered grabbing Lacy’s arm and dragging her out into the night, but we were both clad in nothing but little scraps of fabric and only had the money from our G-string on us. It was highly unlikely anyone would be willing to help us with clothes, a phone, or even a meal unless they intended to do the exact same thing Tony had, or at least something like it.
Tony’s desk was in the dressing room where our clothes were, so we couldn’t get in there and past him without him noticing. There was nowhere to go and nothing to do but wait. Time seemed to stand still but the fight was playing out in a matter of seconds.
The bikers were definitely getting the upper hand on the bouncers, and the fight was moving closer, so Lacy forcefully shoved me off to the side. The bartender came around and started whaling on the other guy with longer brown hair before the biker pulled away, turning to nail the bartender right in the nose.
I looked over my shoulder and watched as Tony came running in with a gun in his hand. My eyes shot back over to the pile of bodies and my biker stood, pulling his arm back ready to throw a blow to Jimmy.
He didn’t see Tony coming. I didn’t even know this guy, but I couldn’t let this happen. Tony was closing in and my stomach tightened into knots. Lacy still had my arm in her grasp as she watched with her mouth wide open, her eyes just as wide. I turned and gripped her shoulders, causing her to release me, then I flung her away from the brawl and she headed for the ground with a screech. Before she even landed, I grabbed a metal chair and rushed toward Tony, slamming the chair into him as hard as I could.
A few onlookers still watched and covered their mouths in shock as the music kept playing. Still holding the chair, my knuckles white from holding it so tightly, I swung it again but panicked when arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me away. I kicked my legs and wouldn’t let go of the chair, shouting “no” over and over.
“Darlin’, put it down.”
I looked down at the pile and my biker wasn’t in it. Tony was laid out, blood dripping down the side of his face where I landed the blow, and the sound of flesh hitting flesh filled the air as the bikers kept beating on the men. His arms squeezed tighter as he walked us backward. I let go of the chair and sagged in his arms.
My feet hit the ground and Lacy rushed over. “Holy fuck, you knocked out Tony!”
“Go grab your clothes and head on home,” my biker said.
“No!” I shouted before I could stop myself. We had maybe a few minutes to get out, but the taste of freedom was so close. Lacy and I clasped hands. “We can’t go back there.”
One of the other bikers, the black-haired guy that seemed to be in charge, shouted over the music, “We gotta get the fuck out of here. Now.”
My biker rubbed his hand down his face. “Well go get some fucking pants on and let’s go. You can’t wear that on a bike.”
Lacy squeezed my hand harder, but when I looked over her eyes were pleading. “What about my friend?”
“Both of you get your shit and let’s go before the cops show up.”
I nodded furiously and dragged Lacy toward our dressing room. Looking back, my biker had followed behind and was carrying Tony’s gun as he looked around. When we got down the hall, I told Lacy to get my change of clothes and meet me in the bathroom.
Running into the restroom, I looked around and there were feet in the stalls, but it was other dancers from the looks of their shoes, probably hiding from the chaos. I reached my hand through the hole in the counter and felt around for my cash. I was still trying to tug the whole bag down when Lacy came in with our clothes and shoes.
“Get dressed, quick.” I stopped trying to pull the bag off, yanked off my heels, and grabbed my clothes, jumping into my jeans and pulling my t-shirt over my sparkly top. Looking down at our slip-on shoes, my mouth twisted. I hadn’t ridden on a motorcycle, but I was pretty sure those weren’t recommended riding shoes. At least we had jeans and not the leggings we often wore at home.
We had no other options and had to move fast, so I slipped shoes on and then reached back under the counter. I must have taped it too well, because I couldn’t get it off. I unzipped it and started pulling cash out as Lacy watched in confusion.
The door flew open after a bang and we both jumped and screams came from the stalls. “We gotta fucking go,” my biker said as he grabbed my hand.
“But my cash!”
He didn’t even look back, just kept pulling me. “Unless you want to stick around for the cops and wait for the asshat to wake up, we’re leaving.”
He was dragging me behind him, and Lacy caught up. We rushed out the back and he pushed Lacy toward the other guy with hair like his. He picked her up and put her on his bike and she looked over at me, her eyes like saucers. He slammed a helmet on her head then climbed on as my biker lifted me onto his bike and did the same.
Once he straddled the bike, he reached back and grabbed my arms. “Hold on tight. If you fall off, you’ll lose a foot with those fucking shoes.”
Before I could say anything back, he revved the engine and all four bikes hightailed it out onto the road.
My whole body was wracked with confusion. I was tucked up right against my biker, but I didn’t grab much cash and had nothing besides that and the clothes on my back. Was I free, or riding into some more bullshit?
I wouldn’t know for a while, so for now, I let myself relax against him as I held tight. But just as I did, my body began to tremble uncontrollably.
His hand reached down and rubbed over my arm then squeezed my hand. While it didn’t help the shakes, it did give me a little reassurance. But I couldn’t be so gullible. The last two men I thought were decent humans turned out to be terrible.
Trying to focus on holding on tight, I decided I’d get with Lacy once we stopped and we could come up with a plan. For now, I was just thankful to be flying away from Tony and the hell I’d endured for months. I could at least pretend for a while that this was my biker, and I was safe.