Chapter 15
Edmund
Goddamn, our girl is beautiful. I can’t look away from her as I wrap an arm around her shoulders.
I make sure her dress is back in place. Maybe Troy is cool with other people looking at her, but I’m half ready to dress her in a turtleneck and sweats before throwing her over my shoulder and hauling her somewhere private.
I like sharing her with Troy. Not so much with the rest of the club.
But seeing how turned on she is, how happy, makes me reevaluate my feelings on the matter. Maybe it makes me a little jealous, but I can deal with that in exchange for seeing her flushed cheeks and fever-bright gray eyes.
“All right, my little angel princess.” I kiss the side of her cheek. “Let’s get out of here.”
She sways against me as we start for the door, still dancing, still orgasm-drunk.
“Hey, Edmund, Troy!” Jaden waves at us. “I think Greg abandoned the door.”
It wouldn’t be the first time. We’ll need to fire him.
“Let’s call Fletcher in to take his place,” I say.
“Do you have his number?” Jaden gestures at the busy bar with his chin. He’s actively serving drinks and taking orders and trying to manage this.
“I got it.” Troy turns to me and Danica. “I’ll be right out. But it would be a shame if I got to the truck to find you two fucking around.”
“Yeah, a real shame.” I laugh, but I’m already making a mental inventory of things I can do to Danica in Troy’s truck.
Danica’s hair smells good, sweet and flowery.
Just inside the front entrance of the club, I push her against the wall and inhale her scent. “I liked your little show on the dance floor with Troy.”
“You did?” She gazes up at me.
I nod. “But it was torture. I’m in pain here, angel. Think you can ease some of my torment?”
“Yeah…in the truck, or here?” Her hand creeps down my chest, toward my waist.
I grab her wrist, stopping her. “Get your sexy little ass to the truck. Now.”
We head out the front door. I look toward the bouncer’s usual station, unsurprised to see it empty. Fucking Greg. Maybe he took a smoke break, but it’s more likely a girl or guy caught his eye and he’s around the corner in the alley, fucking them.
I start to turn the other direction, but a shadowy movement catches the corner of my eye. I throw myself in front of Danica.
A sharp pain catches me in the side of the head. Everything goes gray and wavy. The street tilts to the side and down I go.
The last thing I hear is Danica’s scream.
* * *
Troy
I text Fletcher’s contact info to Jaden so he has it. “Do you need me to call him for you?”
“Nah, there’s a lull. Thanks.”
“Tell him there’s a bonus for him if he comes in. And if Greg shows back up, tell him to go home. He no longer has a job at Salt.”
Jaden’s eyes widen. “Got it.”
We take security seriously here, and there’s no shortage of men who want the position. It comes with free membership, and that’s a lure on its own. Greg fucked up once—he doesn’t get another chance.
I head to the front door. I’m not in a huge hurry. I like the idea of “surprising” Dani and Edmund while they’re in the middle of something kinky. My cock is half hard at the thought. I could’ve fucked her in front of everyone. Claimed her for me and Edmund.
The cool, summer night hits my face as I step outside. But my hackles rise. There’s a hush in the empty street. Danger in the air.
Something’s wrong.
A groan, movement on the ground.
Fuck. “Edmund!”
He’s struggling to his feet, but sees me and points down the street. “There. Go.”
A flash of white disappears around the corner, going into an alley. Dani.
I yank Edmund up so he’s leaning against the wall, then I run.
I round the corner into the alley. It’s darker back here, out of the streetlights’ reach. It’s bright enough for me to see Greg, unconscious on the ground. He’s breathing, I think.
And it’s bright enough for me to see the asshole holding onto Dani.
Tate Vorsong. His usually slicked-back hair is out of place, messy. He’s in one of his usual, expensive suits, but it’s wrinkled, like he’s been living out of his car.
I don’t know how the fucker got out of jail, but my immediate concern is Dani.
He has one hand clamped over her mouth to keep her quiet.
His other is wrapped around her chest, half-lifting, half-dragging her toward a car parked at the other end of the alley.
Dani kicks her feet, catching him repeatedly in the legs.
Her arms are mostly restrained, but she’s managing some good scratches against his hand and arm.
She buckles and struggles, trying to get away.
Vorsong grunts in pain every few steps, so she’s getting some damage in.
He hasn’t seen me yet—he’s too distracted with the fighting girl in his arms.
Good.
I rush forward on silent feet. Dani sees me and pauses in her fighting, but just as Vorsong is about to turn around, she resumes.
It gives me the opportunity to get my arm around his neck. I lift him, and he lets go of Dani.
She tumbles to the ground. I don’t have a chance to see if she’s okay because Vorsong swings around and lands a punch on the side of my head.
Pain explodes through my temple, but I don’t go down. I don’t let go. From the side, I catch sight of Edmund staggering into the alley behind me. He’s in no condition to fight. Fuck. It’ll just be me against Vorsong.
We stagger over to the car—a shiny Mercedes. The trunk is open. Was he going to put my girl in there? Rage consumes me, a red haze taking over my vision. Dani has been through enough.
Vorsong breaks out of my hold, but I tackle him again, throwing him against the back of the car.
He swings. I dodge, but he clips my jaw.
I shake it off. The pain doesn’t hit me—I’m fighting on pure fury.
I reach up and yank down the trunk, slamming it over his head.
I get him twice before he scrambles out of the way like a cockroach.
He whips around, pulls a gun from his pocket. Dani screams.
I don’t give him a chance to pull the trigger. I grab his wrist with one hand, shove the gun up, and tear it from his grasp.
The sound of sirens fills the night. Someone called the police. Either Vorsong doesn’t hear the emergency vehicles because of the concussion I just gave him, or he doesn’t care.
“Fuck you and fuck the Laytons.” He advances on me again.
I swipe out with my legs, taking him down.
He falls with a grunt and tries to swipe out with his own legs. I dodge out of the way. While I’m in the middle of my spiral, he recovers. He reaches for something. Another gun?
A knife. The sharp blade gleams in the darkness. I square off, readying for his attack. I know knives. They’re my preferred weapon. Sharp, quiet. Speed and strength go well with them. I can handle this, because I’m superior to Vorsong in both.
But Vorsong only feints toward me. Before I realize what he’s doing, he spins around. Lunges for Dani instead.
Edmund and I both shout in alarm. Dani tries to scramble out of the way, but she wasn’t expecting Vorsong’s attack.
Edmund reaches him first, taking Vorsong down in a tackle. My momentum takes me right into them, so I land on them both.
Vorsong yells in pain. He isn’t fighting anymore.
Cautiously, I get up and tug Edmund after me. He’s unsteady on his feet.
“You all right, man?” I ask.
He blinks. “More or less. He hit me hard.”
Dani gets to her feet and edges away from Vorsong.
I stare at the groaning man lying on the ground. The knife juts from his ribcage. “He won’t be hitting anyone for a while.”
Looking down at the knife handle, Vorsong reaches for it.
“Don’t pull it out, you fucking idiot.” Dani’s voice is harsh. She tears off part of her skirt and cautiously returns to Vorsong’s side. “Don’t hurt me.”
“I—I won’t,” he wheezes.
Carefully, she applies the fabric to the area around his wound—it looks like the knife tore into him a bit, based on the blood soaking through his shirt and Dani’s makeshift bandage.
She kneels next to him while the sound of the sirens gets louder and louder. Edmund and I look on, half-bemused, half-wary. I don’t trust Vorsong, but Dani seems intent on saving his life.
He’s very lucky she’s here. Otherwise, Edmund and I would’ve let him pull out the knife. We might have done it for him. We might have stabbed him a few more times for good measure.
“How do you know what to do?” I ask Dani.
She shakes her head. “I don’t. But I watched enough first-aid scenes in Academy of Ghosts, I have an okay idea.”
“I like…that show,” Vorsong says.
“Shut up,” Dani and Edmund say at the same time.
Red and blue flashing lights fill the alley as an ambulance and several police cars block the entrance.
As EMTs put Vorsong on a stretcher, he reaches toward Dani. I move to block his arm, but all he does is say, “Thank you. You saved my life.”
Dani nods. “Never touch me or my loved ones again.”
“I won’t.” He gasps in pain as the EMTs lift the stretcher. “It’s a promise. I owe you a debt.”
I’m tempted to jostle the stretcher, but I restrain myself. It’s more important to hold onto Dani while the EMTs check over Edmund and Greg for concussions.
Dani holds tightly to my hand. “It’s over, now, isn’t it?”
I lean over, breathe in her sweet scent. Tate Vorsong won’t be getting out again, and even if he does, that life debt will keep us safe forever. “Yeah. For good.”