Chapter Nine
Evander was probably going to be upset that she’d left the apartment and hadn’t told him where she was going.
She hoped Evander would just finish loading the boxes and then she’d be back before he was done.
Guy’s Titties was not that far from where she lived.
It would be quick to go and help Leah out, and then she’d be back.
Maybe bring the kids over for a bit until things calmed down for their mother.
It wasn’t like he said she had to stick around.
He wasn’t keeping her prisoner. Their relationship wasn’t like that.
Violet was not her favorite person, so it was a shock to see the other woman coming to her front door.
In the past, Violet had been quite violent, especially if she felt like some of the other girls were stealing her customers.
If there was anyone at work who felt like there was a line drawn and it was a battle, it was Violet. Without a doubt.
If Leah sent Violet to her, then that meant her friend was in serious trouble and needed the help. There was no time to talk to Evander and explain everything.
Violet didn’t say a word to her, not as they made their way out of her apartment building.
She didn’t even ask if she had been okay since she left.
After all, she hadn’t returned to work after the attack, not even a hello, or to ask what had been happening in her world.
Violet was a huge gossip. This was strange.
Although Violet was not an all-round nice person, that never stopped her from faking it but also trying to get the gossip on anyone.
“How have you been?” Callie asked.
“Fine.”
That was it. No bragging about any special customers or the earnings she’d made from the dancing. Violet was a bragger.
“How’s Leah?” she asked.
“Fine.”
This made Callie stop in her tracks as she looked toward Violet. Something wasn’t right, and she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
Violet looked back toward her, and she shrugged. “What more do you want me to say to you? You want me to ask about your life? You want to brag to me about how you got out of Guy’s Titties and don’t have to look back?”
Callie felt that guilt sweep up and take complete control. “I didn’t mean—”
“No, you didn’t, because like everyone else you look at us as if you’re better than us.
Do you think I want to take my clothes off and have men drooling over me?
Do you think I like it? My mom, bless her soul, told me if I didn’t take school seriously, I’d regret it.
” Violet suddenly laughed. “She wasn’t wrong.
You don’t think I don’t know how fucked up my life is? ”
“I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just trying to make conversation. I’m so sorry.”
“Shit!” Violet said shaking her head. “I can’t do this. You’ve got to run.”
This made Callie frown. “What?”
“I don’t know what shit you’ve done, or who you’re involved with, but you’ve got to run. Leah always said you were one of the good ones and we had to watch each other’s backs, and now, fuck. I don’t want to do this.”
She was so confused. “I have no idea what you’re talking about right now.”
“What shit are you into, Callie?” Violet asked.
“There are some bad guys. They came in earlier tonight, and they started … trashing the place. Beat the shit out of Guy, tried to get him to talk.” Violet laughed, but it was not an amused laugh.
She sounded hurt, and a little hysterical.
“All the time I’ve been working for him, I thought he was a sellout.
That he was only interested in making money and didn’t give a shit what happened to us girls. ”
Callie saw that Violet was crying and immediately went to her.
The moment she was close enough, she wrapped her arms around Violet and felt the other woman shaking.
This was not how she imagined Violet ever being.
She saw Violet as a strong woman. A woman who didn’t give a fuck about the world, and was only after a good, comfortable life.
“You know, he didn’t say a word about you, even though they kept hurting him,” Violet said.
“Guy took a beating for you, and he tried to get them to leave us alone. Leah’s there, and they’ve threatened her kids.
They knew you’d come. They knew you were close.
I don’t know how they knew, but they’ve got Leah, and they said if we didn’t help, they were going to kill her kids. ”
Callie gasped and felt her gut twist. Leah loved her babies. It was why Leah worked at Guy’s Titties. This couldn’t be happening.
In a brief moment, she looked behind her, knowing if Violet had told her this, she could have gotten Evander to help. There was no time to go back. Violet looked terrified. She couldn’t just walk away.
Fear ran up her back. What could they want with her? She was nobody. There was no way she could leave Leah and Violet, and even Guy in the hands of thugs. She had no cell phone, no way of contacting Evander. She had no idea if he was even still there.
“What do I do?” Violet asked.
There was only one thing they could do, and Callie grabbed her hand. “It’s going to be okay.”
She had no way of knowing that, but she was not going to allow these women, or her ex-boss, to suffer. She had no idea what she had done to deserve this. All she knew was, she had to trust in Evander to come for her.
“Wait,” Violet said, pulling on her hand. “If you go to the bar, they’re going to hurt you.”
Callie took a deep breath because she needed to. She needed to get her senses together. Right now, it felt like every nightmare was merging into one. She was not going to let Leah suffer, or her children. She was not that kind of person.
“They have Leah and they’re threatening her kids?” Callie asked.
Violet frowned. “But we could leave.”
And she saw the real fear in Violet’s eyes.
“You can go,” Callie said. “I can deal with this on my own.”
She didn’t expect anything from Violet. Whoever these people were, they were looking for trouble. Callie had no money, nothing of value, and never crossed the line with anyone. There was no good reason strange men would want to hurt her.
“No,” Violet said. “I’m not letting you face this alone. I’ll deal with it.”
****
Evander made his way to the bathroom and quickly washed his hands, looking at his reflection in the mirror. It felt good to have all the shit off his chest. Callie knew the truth, and she hadn’t gone running for the hills. This was good news.
Running fingers through his hair, he made his way out of the bathroom, still completely naked. He saw Callie had put on her clothes, but as he looked around her small apartment, she wasn’t even here.
“Callie?”
He figured the woman who had been knocking at the door might have been a neighbor who was pissed with them fucking. He hadn’t been quiet, and he couldn’t hold back.
Evander moved to Callie’s boxes, and it was kind of sad that her life fit into a couple of small cardboard boxes, but that was how it was for most people.
Would have been the same for him if he hadn’t taken his life into his own hands.
If he needed to leave, he had a small bag of stuff.
There was nothing of real value in his possessions.
Sure, there were a couple of personal items, but again, they were just trinkets.
He had memories. In his line of work, he’d never grown attached to anything.
Callie was the first real person he had ever felt anything for, and this was deeper. It was crazy to him.
Evander heard the buzz of his cell phone in the quiet apartment, and he didn’t like exactly how quiet it felt.
Why would Callie leave? Where could she have gone?
He assumed she was across the hall talking with that neighbor.
She’d be leaving for good, after all. He wanted to give her space and not appear to be the obsessed man he really was.
He picked up his cell phone, and rolled his eyes when he caught sight of Bastian’s number. It had been a couple of days since Bastian had talked to him.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“Is your little woman there?” Bastian asked.
Evander clenched his hands into fists. “Really? What do you want?”
“Look, if she’s not there, then you need to figure out where she is. I heard whispers of a few of your enemies reaching out.”
Evander rubbed at his temple. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“We all have enemies, but something about a disgruntled customer talking about you and a run-in he had. I think they’ve figured out what you’ve been doing, Evander. Someone must have put a tail on you and figured out the rest.”
Evander didn’t like this. He still remembered the one night he came home to find Callie gardening in his front yard.
He hadn’t put his SUV in the garage and it had bothered him since.
He thought he was just paranoid thinking he’d be tagged in such a short time.
It could have been then or any other time. His mind was racing. Callie was gone.
They were not far from Guy’s Titties and her old boss. Maybe that asshole was mad he stole Callie away from the job.
“I’ve got to go.”
Before Bastian could say anything more, Evander snapped the phone closed, grabbed his clothes, and pulled them on. He didn’t linger, nor wait.
He had a lot of fucking enemies. Every single hitman had a lot of enemies. He knew going to Guy’s Titties to stalk Callie had been a big mistake. He knew he shouldn’t have had her. If someone had been following him, he wasn’t aware of it. He was always aware of it.
Leaving the apartment, he made sure to close and lock the door behind him.
He made his way down to his car, and he didn’t hesitate in grabbing two more guns from the trunk and locking them to his holster within his jacket.
He didn’t even try to hide what he was doing.
He had two more guns placed at the back of his pants, then he closed up the trunk of his car and started to make his way across the street.
There was only one place Callie would go.
Someone must have come to collect her. He had to fill in the blanks without really knowing.
Callie was naive, and even though she didn’t talk about Guy’s Titties that much, she did mention a woman named Leah.
He should have known to deal more thoroughly with this side of Callie’s life.
Now as he made his way closer to Guy’s Tittles, he felt that rage slowly starting to build.
The darkness. For the past few weeks, since having Callie in his life twenty-four-seven, he’d been able to ignore it.
He didn’t need to be angry or cruel. He was just a guy.
Callie didn’t bring that side out of him.
One smile from his woman was enough to calm the beast within.
He didn’t go to the front door of Guy’s Titties, instead, he made his way up the side of the building and snuck into one of the open windows on the top floor.
The moment he stepped inside, he was aware of how silent it was. He’d been in Guy’s Titties countless times, and this place was never quiet. He held a gun, locked, loaded, and ready.
Each room was empty as he did a sweep. That was another sign that shit was not right.
There was always some activity, every day of the fucking week. There were a lot of men, married and single, who were happy to use the girls that took their clothes off. There was nothing.
He made his way down the stairs, keeping to the wall, and he was shocked to see there was no security. Whoever had decided to come for him clearly hadn’t given it a lot of thought, or put a lot of planning into this.
He got onto the ground floor, and as he did so, he was able to glance through the small piece of glass that showed the main club.
It was dirty, but the lights were on, and in the far corner near the bar, he saw several women.
A couple were bleeding, and he spotted Guy as well.
He didn’t look good. It appeared both his eyes were swollen shut and several teeth were missing.
But what fueled Evander’s rage more than anything was the sight of Callie, kneeling on the floor, blood trickling from her mouth.
He didn’t even need to see who the man was. That sight alone fired venom through his veins, and his temper went into overdrive. Someone had taken his woman, lured her here to get to him, and he didn’t even need to get the answers to know this is exactly what had happened.
Anger unlike anything he had ever felt consumed him. It was burning, twisting in his gut, and he just saw red. In all his life, he had known control. Everything was about timing and precision. He had known the value of keeping his cool.
When the bastard reached out and grabbed her hair, twisting it in his fist, making her face contort, Evander didn’t hesitate. He reacted and charged into the room.
He had no way of knowing who was where, or what the real situation was, all he saw was his woman being hurt, and his need to protect her took over.