Chapter 17
EVE
My head spun at the sight of a gun, but it wasn’t anything like the first time Connor had pulled that weapon in my presence. This was just a touch of shock, and a bit of arousal. ‘Cause we were both fucked up in that way.
“Connor, put the gun down!” I demanded, locking eyes with the gorgeous, pissed-off dickhead while the drunk guy froze between us. “Put it down now!”
Connor’s left eye twitched as he held my gaze, then very slowly lowered his gun and it disappeared back under his leather jacket and he shoved the drunk guy to the side.
“I knew you couldn’t be trusted, brat.”
My jaw dropped in outrage. “Me? I knew you couldn’t be trusted! What happened to letting me live my life like an adult?”
“I never said that,” he shot back with a puzzled scowl. “None of us lied that blatantly.”
Furious and frustrated, I threw my hands in the air and stormed away from him. He’d totally ruined the mood, but I’d be damned if I let him ruin the whole night. I grabbed Lacey by the arm as I passed, and she swung on me. “Whoa,” I said, releasing her quickly. “You okay?”
She shook her head. “Connor pulled his gun on some guy here.”
I nodded, having seen that part clearly myself. Her gaze darted around the room frantically, like she was searching for something. “He was just being a puffed-up penguin,” I said dryly. “I told him to put the gun away and I think he listened?”
Lacey ghosted a smile and shook her head. “Puffed-up penguin is weirdly appropriate, but it’s a bigger problem than you realize. Uh, shit, this is bad.” Her gaze was following a pair of huge bouncers approaching from the direction of the bar. “Nina! Nina, come here quick!”
She wasn’t waiting for Nina to drunkenly process her words. She grabbed our friend and yanked her closer, ushering us both toward the exit. “Eve, you and Nina need to grab a taxi and go straight home. No questions, no arguments, just do it.”
Shouts erupted from the dance floor, and I got the distinct impression a fight had just broken out. I’d put money on Connor being involved.
“Lacey, what—” I started to protest, but she gave us both a forceful shove out of the club and I stumbled into Nina, who just barely caught me before we both fell over.
“Go! I’ll deal with Connie.” She disappeared back inside before either of us could protest, and my gut twisted with the feeling there was some mafia crap going on that I wasn’t privy to.
But Lacey had more than proved she was capable of handling herself, so as shit as it was… I sort of needed to do what she said.
Nina was more than a little boozed and confused, and started to follow after Lacey, so I took her arm to steer her toward the taxis outside the club. “Come on, tequila queen, let’s get a cab back to campus. Who was the guy I saw you with earlier?”
“Um, I think his name was Brian? Or Jordan? Or…um…maybe Eugene? Unsure.” She giggled, then yawned dramatically. “Holy shit, I’m tired. Are we going home?”
“Yes,” I laughed, holding on to her as we approached a waiting cab.
Lacey had arranged our driver to pick us up for the return journey, but I got the feeling she didn’t want us to stand around and wait for him to arrive.
“Hi, are you available?” I asked the driver through his window as Nina went ahead and clambered into the back seat.
At the driver’s confirmation, I gave him the address for Meadowridge dorms and waited while he put it into his GPS while I could see that it was the right location.
“Come on, get in!” Nina called out from her cozy seat in the back.
I bit my lip, hesitating a moment as I glanced over my shoulder. It felt wrong to leave Lacey behind, regardless of how capable she was. She’d been drinking just as much as we had, and some of the guys in that club hadn’t seemed like the most law-abiding of citizens. What if she got hurt or—
A head hand clamped down on my shoulder and a little squeal escaped my throat.
“Miss, you need to come with us,” the burly man who’d just grabbed me announced, and my mind was made up.
I quickly pushed the taxi door shut and tossed Andrew’s credit card through the window to Nina. “Go now, please,” I told the driver in a polite but firm voice. “See she gets home safe.”
To my relief, the taxi driver didn’t question my order and pulled away from the curb before Nina could fully comprehend that I wasn’t coming with her. The bouncer who’d grabbed my shoulder forcefully steered me back toward the club while I unsuccessfully tried to shake his grip off.
“I’m complying, you don’t need to manhandle me,” I snapped, attempting to shake him off for a second time.
The man just grunted but did drop his hand away from my shoulder. “Whatever. This way.” Instead of back into the club, he gestured to where an ominous sort of alleyway ran down the side of the building. A blacked-out car idled in the gap.
I swallowed hard, nerves twisting me up inside as I realized this was probably not going to end well. I was too drunk to talk my way out of a pair of pants, let alone a life-or-death situation.
“Get in,” the bouncer ordered, after opening the back door for me.
I bit my lip and gave a nervous laugh. “Um, no…I’m good. You must have mistaken me for someone else, but I can just catch a cab. Thanks, though!”
The bouncer was clearly not in the mood for my bullshit, and in the next instant he had a gun in hand, pointed at me, and with my ears ringing so loudly I caught nothing else of his demands, I dove into the back of the car.
He climbed in after me, and the car lurched into motion before I could even buckle my seat belt.
“Listen, I don’t know who you think I am, but—” I started to reason with my…uh…was this a kidnapping? Shit. Connor would never let me hear the end of this one.
“You’re the girl living with Connor Sullivan,” the man replied in a flat, no-nonsense tone. “Are you not?”
I wet my lips, debating the benefits of lying and ultimately deciding it was a waste of energy. “Yeah. Is that…why you’re kidnapping me? Because of Connor?”
He swiveled his head slowly and squinted at me with suspicion. “Is there another reason why you’d be taken at gunpoint?”
“Nope!” I quickly shook my head. “Definitely not. So, um, are you part of Connor's family gang, then?” Wow, that sounded lame as hell coming out my mouth, but I wasn’t down with the lingo around these matters.
And then there was the tequila. So…all things considered, I’d say I was doing pretty well.
The bouncer, or gangster maybe, said nothing, and I got the very broad hint we wouldn’t be chitchatting for the drive to wherever the hell he was taking me.
Weirdly, I wasn’t as terrified as I probably should have been, because I had the steady reassurance that Haze had been watching security cameras and was likely already en route to rescue me. Speaking of…
I pulled out the phone, only to have it snatched right out of my hands before I could make a damn call. Or press my alert button. So much for that being a security measure, but at least they could still track me.
It sucked that I even needed rescuing, but at the same time I wasn’t arrogant enough to think I had anywhere near the necessary skillset to save myself from this pickle.
A couple of self-defense classes did not make me capable in any way.
And besides, it was kind of a turn on that the Bluebell House boys were so very ready to play badass hero whenever danger loomed.
“We’re here,” my grouchy companion announced when the car stopped, my phone nowhere in sight now. “Get out.”
“Please,” I muttered under my breath, but did as I was told, nonetheless. We’d pulled up in front of another bar, this one named Vinnies, with even heavier security than the bar Lacey had taken us to.
“We’re closed,” one of the guards grunted as I approached with my new friend.
“I’m with Fennic,” my kidnapper stated, clapping a hand on my shoulder once more, “bringing a present for Vinnie.”
Well crap, I didn’t like the sound of that at all. I didn’t want to be a present for fucking anyone…except the boys I lived with. I’d happy let them unwrap me and—
“Move it,” my companion snapped, giving me a push forward as the security opened the door for us to enter.
Anxious flutters erupted within my belly when I saw how busy the interior of the bar was, given it was supposedly closed tonight.
But then again, I wasn’t dead yet, so things could always be worse.
“Eve!” The shout stunned me just moments before Lacey came crashing into me with a tight hug, jerking me out of my kidnapper’s grip. “Where’s Nina?” she whispered against my ear as she hugged me tight. “How did they get you?”
“She’s fine,” I quickly replied. “In a cab heading back to campus. Lacey, what’s happening?”
“Family drama,” she said with a small groan.
“I really wanted to keep you out of this, but…shit, girl, this could go really bad.” She grabbed my hand in hers and glared daggers at my kidnapper, tugging me over to a vacant seat.
It was barely big enough for both of us, but she put her arm around my waist to pull me close anyway.
“Lacey, what the hell?” I whispered as my gaze scanned the room.
Now that I was taking a better look, I didn’t think this was any normal club.
No wonder they’d claimed to be closed, because there were more than a few couples engaged in some seriously X-rated activity with little to no regard for how public the setting was.
“Okay, CliffsNotes version,” my friend whispered back with a tense look on her face.
“The club we were at was owned by my family. Connor pulled a gun, which is a huge faux-pas between our families on the best of days, but right now things are particularly tense because of our break-up and…it’s just spiraling into a whole mess. ”
I blinked rapidly, trying to keep up through my alcohol fogged mind. “Okay…so this is one of your family clubs too?”