Chapter 6
6
D espite Alex thinking he could forget the sight of Leslie in the sex club by taking the blonde up on her multiple offers, he couldn’t go through with it. He’d apologized and offered to get her an Uber, which she’d accepted, albeit a little nastily. Then Alex had texted Leslie’s bodyguard for the night, Elvis, telling him to keep close eyes on her. Once he’d gotten a thumbs up from Elvis, Alex and gone to the second level of the club and nursed a club soda while he decided what to do.
Because what he was about to do was drag Leslie out of this club and away from Doctor Dickhead even if he had to do it with her kicking and screaming the whole time.
Only as Leslie’s friend, he knew how important it was to her that she be treated like a grown woman who could make these types of decisions for herself. She was here for her own reasons, even if it was just that she was horny, and he had no right to fuck with that.
He played that argument in his head for about fifteen minutes before he finally accepted they were all true but he didn’t give a damn.
He was getting her the fuck out of here. If she was curious about this lifestyle, she could ask him her questions. Or if she was looking for someone to play with, he would set her up with someone he trusted. It would damn near kill him, but he’d do it. He just didn’t want her getting in over her head with her date, who had checked out clean on all the reports Alex had run on him too clean , and Alex still didn’t trust him worth a damn. Standing, he strode through throngs of people to get to the staircase and started down it. From that purview, his eyes instantly found, Leslie. Her date had his arm around her and she was trying to pull away.
Alex saw red.
Where the fuck was her bodyguard?
Elvis was through. Done. He’d never work security again a day in his life.
Swiftly, Alex pushed through the lower floor crowd. He was steps away from Leslie when he heard Doctor Dickhead say, “Alex doesn’t want you, Leslie. You’re nothing to him but his friend’s little annoying sister. Someone he’s hired to protect. That’s all you are to him. In other words, you’re nothing.”
Motherfucker!
With a growl, Alex grabbed David by the throat. Calmly, with controlled and methodic movements, he backed David up until he hit a wall. Without letting go of the man’s windpipe, he leaned in close and said, “You’re dead.”
Leslie gaped at Alex, who still held David by the throat. Her date practically dangled from the larger man’s hand. She struggled with a feeling of disorientation. Alex hadn’t left the club with the blonde after all. Relief coursed through even as she shamefully acknowledged how aroused she was by Alex brawling with David, the same man who’d laid his hands on her without her consent and said such nasty things.
In all fairness, though, they weren’t brawling since Alex had him pinned and David couldn’t move. When David started to turn blue, Leslie leaped forward. “Alex, put David down,” she ordered.
Alex didn’t obey.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a young muscular man in a business suit moving toward them, his eyes fixed on Leslie. He had to be her bodyguard, she realized. Where had he been? She’d noticed him enter the establishment shortly after she and David entered, but had mistakenly assumed he was just another customer. He rushed to her side and gently took her arm. “Please come with me, Ms. Duke,” he muttered.
Leslie pulled away from him. “No. I need to stop Alex.”
The young bodyguard’s eyes widened at the very suggestion that she could stop his boss from doing anything, let alone ripping out the throat of the man who’d been acting aggressively towards her.
“Leslie,” Alex said, his voice deadly, his jaw set in a grim line, his gaze still on David. “Go with him.”
“Alex, let David go.”
Slowly, Alex turned to face her. “Do as I say, Leslie.”
“Alex—"
With one look at his bodyguard, Alex communicated his message. The bodyguard instantly wrapped his arm around Leslie’s waist and carried her toward the entrance.
“Stop!” she yelled.
“Please, Ms. Duke. Let me get you outside. I’m already losing my job as it is but let me go out with at least some dignity, please.”
That stopped her from struggling. “Where have you been?”
“I—I was in the bathroom. Then I got a drink. Club soda.”
“Aren’t you always supposed to keep your eyes on me?”
“Yes, but…”
“But what?”
“I thought Mr. Samuels said he had close eyes on you. By the time I reread his text and saw that wasn’t the case, well, shit had already happened.”
They were almost to the front door. Leslie looked over her shoulder and saw Alex leaning close to David, who at least now had his feet on the floor. Alex pushed David in the chest and said something to him before he started walking away.
Relief filled Leslie until she heard the bodyguard say, “Your date is an even bigger idiot than I am.”
“What?” The dimly lit club seemed to blur in front of her as Leslie watched David, consumed by drunken rage, wielding a beer bottle to strike Alex in the head.
“Alex,” she screamed.
Before his name was out of her mouth, Alex swiftly turned, his reflexes lightning-fast and almost effortless, and clasped David’s wrist, twisting it and forcing him to drop the bottle. Alex expertly took David down with two swift and precise shots, leaving him passed out on the floor.
The club's bouncer, who had already reached them, attempted to take control of the situation, but Leslie couldn't tear her eyes away from Alex. Her emotions were a whirlwind of fear, relief, and confusion. David had transformed into a violent stranger before her eyes, and Alex Samuels had come charging in like a white knight to save her. After the bouncer and Alex had words, Alex strode toward Leslie.
“Bring her outside,” he snapped to her bodyguard.
“Yes, sir,” the man said. He released his hold on Leslie, however, evidently knowing she would follow Alex willingly. Once they were outside, Leslie stepped in front of Alex.
“Alex—”
Alex held up his hand. “I’m not mad at you, Leslie. You have every right to be here.” He turned to her bodyguard. “Elvis, you’re fired.”
“Yes, sir.”
Leslie winced. “He misread your text. He thought you had eyes on me.”
“I should have,” Alex said. “That was my mistake. But he’s fired anyway.”
“Alex—”
“Do you have anything to say?” Alex asked Elvis.
Elvis shook his head. “Just I’m sorry, sir. I’ll keep training. And hope with my next job, I’ll do better.”
With that, the bodyguard left. Alex pulled out his phone and as Leslie watched, he called Luke, his second in command while Alex’s brother Lee was on leave. Alex explained the situation, and told Luke he would take her home. After he hung up, he said, “Do you want to say anything to Doctor Dickhead before we leave? Because he’s never coming near you again.”
At his commanding voice, Leslie shivered. She looked toward the entrance of the club, where the bouncer was dragging a now conscious David out the door.
David somehow managed to look contrite. Weakly, he called to her. “Leslie, I’m sorry.”
She turned back to Alex. “What’s happening to him?”
“The bouncer called the cops. They’ll deal with him.”
“Doesn’t that mean I have to talk to the police?”
“Maybe eventually, if they even press charges, but enough people saw what went down, including the bouncer. He can talk to them. So do you have anything to say to him?” he said, his jaw clenched.
Slowly, Leslie shook her head.
“Then I’ll take you home. Come on.”
He stayed protectively close to her, but she was all too aware that he wasn’t acting like she’d expect him to act in this situation. He wasn’t comforting her. Asking her if she was okay. Was he resentful that he had to intervene? Had she ruined his plans to fuck the blonde?
“Doctor David was wrong.”
She jerked. “What?”
“He was wrong when he said you mean nothing to him. He was wrong when he said I don’t want you. He was wrong in implying you don’t mean something very important to me. You know that, right?”
Even though his words soothed something raw inside her, she shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter, does it?”
He stopped walking and stared down at her. “It does matter. Tell me you know he was wrong. That you know I lied to you in Montana about only wanting to fuck you. Tell me you know I keep distance between us, but not because of lack of desire or affection for you, Leslie. I need to know you know that.”
“Why?” she whispered.
“I just do.”
She swallowed hard then nodded. “Then okay, I know it’s true. But like I said, it doesn’t matter, because you were in that sex club, too, and you were looking to fuck someone, weren’t you?”
“Were you?” he shot back.
She shook her head. “I was just curious, and David said he was curious, too. Only he’d already been to sex clubs before.”
“And you never have? What about that picture you sent me? The one with you restrained, your mouth stuffed with a ball gag?”
She smiled sadly. “That was just me trying to play at being experienced so you’d stop thinking of me as the sweet little sister of your best friend.”
Alex narrowed his eyes. “So you’re not experienced in the lifestyle?”
She shook her head.
He looked contemplative before he continued walking her to the parking lot where they reached his truck. He helped her inside. Then he climbed into the driver’s seat. When he started the ignition and put the truck into gear, Leslie sighed.
“I can’t believe I was so wrong about him.”
Alex stared ahead before slowly turning to face her. “Everyone has a side of themselves they don’t let others see,” he said.
“Even you?”
“Especially me.”