Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHARLIE
“Athena!” I shouted, shoving past people in the club to follow her out.
Fuck, this looked bad. Really bad.
If Athena knew who Nadia was, it would make this all even worse.
Athena’s red hair disappeared past the doors, and I continued to push people out of the way, only to be stopped by someone’s hand wrapping around my wrist and tugging me back. I hit the edge of a couch and twirled around.
Pissed and upset.
But what the fuck was Athena doing here anyway? At a sex club? Alone?! Had she come here to find me? To make me jealous? I didn’t know, and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to find out. What if she had been here with someone else?
Derek perhaps.
“Are you really running after that ugly bitch?” Nadia asked.
Her words made me freeze in my tracks, my entire body shaking in anger. I balled my hands into fists so tight that my nails cut into my palms, my vision blurring. “What the fuck did you just say?”
Nadia crossed her arms. “Why are you running after that ugly bitch?”
I would never lay my hand on a woman out of anger, but when those words came out of Nadia’s mouth … boy, I had to stop myself from doing just that. I blew a breath out of my nose and stepped closer to her.
“If you say anything like that again about Athena, I’ll fucking destroy your career,” I snarled, taking another step closer and glaring down at her with so much more hatred than I’d ever had.
“I will destroy everything you have. I don’t care how dirty my hands get from it.
I don’t care how much money it’ll take. I’ll make sure you’re nothing to the world. ”
The smug expression on Nadia’s face suddenly disappeared, and she shuffled back.
“Don’t you dare insult her ever again—you understand?” I snarled.
All she could do was nod, and I refused to spend any more time making sure that she did. She had one fucking warning, and if she crossed the line again, I would make good on my promise to her.
“Charlie, where are you going?” Nadia asked. “What about our scene together?”
“Take a fucking hint,” I shouted through gritted teeth. “It’s not happening.”
Nadia grabbed my elbow and yanked me back. “We have a contract.”
I ripped myself away from her. “Fuck the fucking contract.”
Once I slipped out of the main room toward the lobby, I bumped into Heather and Sierra with Sun and Evelyn in tow. I scanned the area, seeing no sign of Athena, which meant she had probably run out of here.
And I didn’t blame her.
If I had seen her with another man at a sex club, I would lose it too.
“Charlie,” Sierra said. “What are you doing—”
“Leaving.” I pursed my lips and twisted my head to look back at Nadia, who pouted near the bar, her dress way too tight for her body, screaming desperation. “See that girl in the pink dress? She told me that Athena was ugly.”
“She what?” Heather exclaimed, gritting her teeth.
While I couldn’t hit a woman, I knew Heather had no problem with it. She wasn’t one to get into fights, but her boyfriend owned this club, and I knew she wouldn’t take anyone’s shit who hurt her friends.
“Oh, hell no,” Heather exclaimed, storming over to her.
The last thing I saw before hurrying out was Heather grabbing a fistful of Nadia’s hair and winding her fist backward. I snatched my coat and keys from the coatroom and hurried toward the exit.
When I stepped out of Radiant, wind seared my face.
I looked down both sides of the street, hoping that Athena was within walking distance, hoping that she hadn’t gotten far.
It was dark, and while Pittsburgh was relatively safe …
Athena was a pretty girl, and I wouldn’t doubt that someone would try to pick her up.
“Athena!” I called over the harsh wind. “Athena!”
Nothing.
I slipped into my car and double-checked the security cameras in our apartment to make sure that Athena hadn’t gone home yet. Once I was sure, I started the engine and drove down the streets, one by one, slowing down by any young woman to see if it was her.
It was dark, cold, and raining, and I doubted that Athena would stay out here long.
While driving, I called her phone over and over and over, but it went to voicemail every time. Everyone who was close to her was at Radiant, which meant that there was only one person left to call.
The dickhead that I had been calling all day, who refused to answer.
Except this time, he did on the first ring.
“Didn’t think you loved your big brother this much,” Derek hummed, amused on the other end. “Calling and texting me all day. The desperation really, really doesn’t suit you. Maybe that’s why Athena stayed over at my place last night.”
That bastard. That fucking bastard!
“If you know where she is, tell me,” I growled. “I don’t have time for your games.”
“Games?” Derek repeated. “If I was playing games with you, you’d know it.”
I flared my nostrils and glared out at the street, seeing smears of lights blazing down the road. “Cut the fucking shit and tell me where she is.” I balled my hand into a tight fist at the mere thought of Athena with him.
Of him using her at her weakest.
“Saw her earlier, running down the street and crying,” he said, and I could just hear the smile on that fucker’s face. “That could’ve been the rain, so I asked her what happened, and she asked me to bring her back to my place.”
“If you’ve—”
“Of course, as your big brother, I couldn’t betray you like that,” he said like he was some god. “I know you’ve got the biggest crush on her. So, out of the kindness of my heart, I brought her back to your apartment.”
“You’re lying,” I said through gritted teeth.
“I did bring her back to your apartment.” He paused with a slight chuckle, like my life was some sort of wild comedy to him. He had probably set this up from the start. “Not my fault she didn’t want to get out to see you.”
“I’m not going to ask you a-fucking-gain. Where the fuck is she?”
In the background, I heard some shuffling, then a female’s voice. “Derek?”
“Go back to sleep, baby,” Derek cooed. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
“If you fucking touch her, I will kill you,” I shouted, slamming my fist against the steering wheel because I could do nothing. This was all my fucking fault. “I’ll fucking kill you!”