CHAPTER 8
Nirah
AFTER HAVING GAINED enough courage, I walked through my entire house with precaution.
I confirmed that the house was empty, then got in contact with the locksmith, and now my house was safe again. At least for now.
“So he really took you to his house?” Silvia immediately blurted out as I opened the front door. “Please, talk to me, Nirah… I’m genuinely worried about you.”
I think it was time I told my best friend what was going on.
“Come in,” I sighed, closing the door behind her.
Silvia and I got comfortable on my bed, and I told her exactly what happened. I ended up telling her everything . I finally came clean.
She stared at me with tears in her eyes a few times and made sure to engulf me in her arms every now and then. After we cleared the air, we cooked up something to eat and got comfortable in my living room.
“Does Antonio know about all this?” she asked.
“He knows some of it. He asked me questions, and you know me, I’ll blubber on and on.”
“Are you sure you can trust him?”
“I don’t know…” I hesitantly trailed off, shifting on the coach with my pillow on my lap. “I know it sounds weird, but I feel comfortable with him. Safe almost. It’s like I can tell him anything,” I murmured, looking down in embarrassment. “I know… I sound dumb.”
“No, of course not,” she chuckled. “You have a crush, and it’s cute.”
My head snapped up to her in denial. “I do not have a crush on him. He’s arrogant, mean, doesn’t hold his tongue, and thinks that he’s better than everyone in any aspect.”
“Sounds… like your type, yeah,” she nodded, and we both started laughing. “Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?” she asked, sounding hurt.
I shrugged my shoulders lightly. “I was afraid to drag you into my mess, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to lie to you anymore.”
“Well,” she heavily sighed and took my hand in hers. “I’m glad you told me. Now you don’t have to go through this alone. I’ll always be here for you, okay?”
“Okay.”
* * *
Silvia and I swayed our hips with ear to ear smiles as we walked into the club.
One of my favorite songs boomed through the speakers, and we sang it at the top of our lungs. We fought our way through the crowd until we finally made it to our dressing room with a heavy exhale.
“We’re getting a drink after my performance,” she grinned, touching up her blush.
“Silvia, you know I don’t like drinking when I perform.”
“Just one…” she hopefully pleaded, looking at me through the mirror. There was momentary silence until I finally agreed, and she excitedly hurried over to hug me before leaving the room. I shook my head at her as I plopped down in front of my vanity.
* * *
My performance tonight went smoothly, but my excitement on stage vanished as soon as I made eye contact with Sylvester. He held a ridiculous grin on his face as he sat near the back, covered in black clothing from head to toe. I let out a shaky breath, and I hurried off the stage.
“Hey hey, hey,” Marco stopped me. “Everything okay?” he asked, his voice laced with concern. “What’s wrong—Nirah, you’re shaking.”
“Please Marco, I need a favor,” I said before looking around as the music boomed and strobe lights flickered all around.
“Anything.”
I reached up, holding the back of his neck, and lifted my lips to his ear. “You see the guy in the back? He’s wearing a black baseball cap at table 9.”
Marco looked over and nodded.
“He can’t come into the club anymore. Please, get him out,” I tried to steady my voice and looked up at Marco, feeling my legs go numb.
“Did he hurt you?” he asked, and I glanced up at him.
“Not yet but…” I trailed off, but Marco shook his head, not needing to hear anymore.
“Done.”
“I’m sorry, I know he’s a customer and—”
“I don’t want anyone in my club who hurts my girls. Got that?” he asked, and I nodded. “If you want him gone, he’s gone. I’ll let security know.”
He hesitantly pulled away, but I assured him that I was okay.
Wrapping my arms around my bare stomach, I watched Marco leave and head straight for Sylvester’s table.
They had a heated conversation, and Marco grabbed Sylvester by his collar, making my heart race in anticipation.
They shared a few words until security arrived, practically throwing Sylvester out of the club.
“Hey, mi amor ,” Silvia teased, walking toward me with a drink, but her face softened with concern. “What’s wrong?”
I nodded my head toward Sylvester, and she scoffed. “It’s what that asshole deserves,” she shook her head. “Actually, no. He deserves a lot worse.” She took my face in her hand and turned my head. “He’s not ruining your night, okay?”
With a deep, calming breath in, I slowly nodded.
Silvia and I proceeded to enjoy the rest of our night, and I saw a text from Jordan that I had missed. He let me know that he’d pick me up in the next hour or so.
“Are you two talking yet?” she slyly asked, peaking over my shoulder.
“Yeah,” I cleared my throat, whipping around as I hid my phone behind my back, and she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Really?” she scoffed—clearly not believing me. “Because a ‘Be there in an hour ’ text doesn’t really sound like the ‘ Nirah and Jordan ’ relationship I know.”
“He’s just… mad at me, I guess,” I sadly admitted. Jordan had spotted Antonio and I together a few times at the club, and when I disappeared—to Antonio’s place—he quickly put two and two together.
“Because of Mr. Hottie?” she asked, and I nodded. “Yeah, I figured. I understand where he’s coming from.”
“What?”
“I mean, think about it,” she paused. “Jordan has been your go-to guy for years, and suddenly, some random hot guy shows up, and he knows more about you than Jordan himself does?” she rhetorically asked, and I pondered on her words for a second. “Jordan’s jealous, and I completely understand.”
“I’m not replacing Jordan with some guy I met, just because he’s hot.”
“Does Jordan know that?”
In guilt, I shook my head. No, he does not . “Well, make sure he knows.”
“I will.”
“And, now, would be a good time to do that since they both just walked in through the door,” she nodded behind me.
“What?” My eyes shot open as I whipped around. She was right. Antonio and Jordan both stepped foot into the club, looking around. “Christ,” I groaned, hurrying over and Silvia followed behind me. “That was fast,” I said to Jordan, and he gave me a single nod.
“Right this way,” Silvia smiled at Antonio.
“I know the way to Nirah’s table,” he said to her, then looked over at me with a devious twinkle in his eyes.
“She’s actually quite busy so—”
He instantly cut Silvia off. “I’m a patient man. She should know.”
“Don’t start with me,” I pointed a playful finger at him, and he winked in response. “My shift is over anyway, and I’m just about to head out.”
His tatted hand lifted to his heart . “You won’t even pour me one drink?” he mused, acting hurt but I knew the fucker was only teasing me, so I couldn’t help but smile.
“You can’t seem to take ‘ no ’ for an answer, can you?” Jordan irritably asked, turning to face Antonio completely and my heart dropped.
“And you can’t seem to mind your fucking business,” Antonio shot back, fully facing Jordan. In this unfortunate moment, Jordan’s demeanor had shifted to protective—in the most caring, wholesome manner.
Antonio, on the other hand, had nothing caring nor wholesome about his demeanor.
“What’s with all this macho manliness? Come on, now,” I crossed my arms over my chest. When neither of them budged, my stomach dropped.
“You know, you’re really starting to rub me the wrong way,” Jordan finally broke the silence.
“You can drop the protective older brother act,” Antonio shot back but Jordan scoffed in response.
“Trust me. This is not an older brother act.”
“You both do realize that I can take care of myself, right?” Nothing .
“Okay, calm down,” Silvia awkwardly chuckled—shifting her eyes between the two of them.
“Yeah, if you guys don’t chill out, we’re going to ask Marco to kick you both out,” I put my hands on my hips but they didn’t seem fazed as they held eye contact.
Silvia and I looked at each other then back at them.
“Oh no, Silvia,” I said to her, loud enough for them to hear.
“They’re doing that thing where they stare deep into each other’s souls, waiting for the perfect moment to passionately crash their lips onto each other,” I said and Silvia snickered.
“I can already see the sparks flying,” she smiled, doing jazz hands and both the guys’ heads snapped to me. Gotcha .
“Works like a charm,” I smiled at Silvia. “My bags in the back, let’s go,” I said to Jordan, grabbing his arm.
As soon as we reached my dressing room, he grabbed my bag but I stopped him. “You’re going to sit down, and you’re going to listen to me,” I demanded. “Sit.”
He dropped my bag and sat down, resting one arm on the back of the couch and looked up at me. “What is it, Nirah? Is there a problem?”
“Yes, Jordan,” I said, pulling a chair in front of him to sit down. “We do have a problem.”
He looked away then back at me, waiting for me to continue.
“Let’s get one thing straight. You’re my best friend and no guy is going to come between us, no matter what. Got it?” I asked and he nodded.
“Yeah, whatever Nirah,” he shrugged his shoulders. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”
“It seems as though I do. I hate that there’s this weird tension between us. I have too much on my plate right now for you to be mad at me too.”
“I’m not mad at you,” he said, making me sigh. “I’m not,” he sternly repeated himself.
I smiled, nodding my head. “Okay good.”
We finally left but Silvia pulled Jordan aside so I decided to head out in the meantime. As I reached the doors, my eyes grazed over Antonio at one of the VIP tables, accompanied by a blonde woman.
I stepped onto the sidewalk with my brows drawn together in confusion. The icy air nibbled at my skin as I took a step to my right, standing against the wall. I rummaged for my cell phone in my bag until a large, strong hand wrapped around my throat, shoving me back against the wall.
“Getting me kicked out of your little club? Not very nice,” Sylvester grunted, choking me harder as he pushed his body up against mine. Shit .
“Sylvester,” I managed to choke out as my hands came up to grip his forearms. “Let go.”
“Now, you listen here. You ran. I chased you. It was fun. But play time is over, so you’re going to get in that car with me and you’re going to talk. Understand?”
“Fuck you,” I groaned, trying to pull his arm off me and his spine chilling chuckle filled the silence.
“Wrong answer, princess ,” he squeezed my throat and I dug my nails into his forearm with wide, desperate eyes—barely breathing.
My throat tightened and my lungs burned as I fought back tears at the gut wrenching thought of dying here tonight. My legs went numb as my eyelids grew heavy. Soon enough, my vision blurred and all I could see were his white teeth as a frightening grin played on his lips. No …
My trembling fingers wrapped around the knife strapped to my thigh and I yanked it out, stabbing it into the side of his throat.
A heap of oxygen filled my lungs within a matter of seconds when he stumbled back. I coughed in relief as I fell to my knees—my hands hovering near my throat.
“Fuck!” he growled, pressing the palm of his hand to his neck. My heart hammered in my chest as fear pulsed through every vein in my body.
I hurried away from him, watching him stumble toward me.
“Oh my God—sir, do you need help?” A brunette rushed to Sylvester.
Adrenaline forced my feet to move and I found myself back inside the club, pushing the dancing bodies. I lifted my head, seeing Jordan hug Silvia in the distance before he was walking in my direction. I need to get out of here…