Chapter Three
Opening night is always the busiest night. I’m sitting in my office, above the club floors. My windows are well hidden, so I can see what”s going on in both areas. Sitting in my chair with a whiskey in hand, I watch everyone coming in, seeing how busy it gets in such a short time.
The advantage of my office’s location is that I can see if there’s anything dodgy going on, or if people are getting to merry with their drinks.
We’ve only been open for a couple of hours when I see a guy trying to pour some powder into a girl”s drink.
Fucking prick.
I phone down to Liam, who’s on the back bar.
“Yes, boss?” he shouts down the phone over the music.
“Guy at the bar in the black button down, just dropped some powder in the drink next to him. Get it sorted.”
“No problem, boss.”
I end the call and watch as he walks from behind the bar, knocking the drink over and apologizing to the girl. Liam then begins to talk in the guy”s ear, and just as the guy is about to respond, security comes over and escorts him from the building.
Night one, and someone has already been banned for life.
I chuckle as I throw back the rest of my drink. Just as I finish, my phone rings. When I see it”s my brother, I answer.
“What’s up, Reid? I’m kinda busy with opening night.”
“Busy? That would be a first. I can guarantee you are in the office with a whiskey in hand, watching it all unfold from above,” he chuckles.
Prick. He knows me too well.
“All that’s correct, brother, apart from the fact that I’ve just finished my drink. Now, I know you haven’t called to ask me about opening night.”
He sighs. “No. I rang to let you know that the meeting has been arranged for next Friday, and I’m gonna need you there, okay?”
I zone out for a few seconds. I knew it was coming, but I didn’t think it would be this quick.
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be there, just give me the details as soon as you can.”
“Yeah, will do, brother. Have a good night and I”ll call tomorrow,” he says as he ends the call.
I stand from my chair and make my way over to the side table in front of the window that overlooks the front bar. I pour myself a shot of whiskey and throw it back, feeling the burn as it goes down. I pour myself another one, this time adding some ice to it. I look out the window and watch a new group of people coming through the door.
This group of girls grab my attention as they walk through. They’re laughing at something, but that’s not what draws me to them. What draws me to them is the one at the back of the group, looking around the room and actually taking it all in. She’s smiling as she looks around.
Everything surrounding her just fades out and all I can see is her. She has long black hair, the black dress that just hugs at her curves. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so fucking beautiful before. Fuck me. My dick literally hardens at the first sight of her.
I continue to watch her get dragged into the back room by her friend. My phone starts to ring again, pulling me away from her, which pisses me off. I answer it.
“This better be fucking good.”
“Boss, sorry to disturb you, but there’s a situation down here. We’re in the back room.”
“Say no more. I’m on my way.”
I head to the doors that lead to the back corridors, walking in the direction of the back room. The corridors are dark back here for a reason. I swipe myself in using my card.
As I enter the room, I see that two of my doormen have got a man tied to a chair.
I drag another chair along the floor and set it right in front of him. Sitting down in the chair, I roll my sleeves up.
“So, what seems to be the problem here, guys?”
The man begins to shout at me.
“Your fucking henchmen here dragged me into this fucking room and tied me to a fucking chair. What do you mean ‘what’s the problem’? I could get them done for assault… Fucking pricks.” He spits towards them.
“ My, my, aren’t you an angry little one? You see, these ‘henchmen’ wouldn’t do this kind of thing without a very good reason, my friend.”
I turn to my doormen. “So what has he done?”
“Sir, we watched him taking videos and pictures of women on the dance floor.”
“Okay. That doesn’t sound too bad.”
“No, sir, these videos and pictures were from up their skirts or dresses.”
I can feel my jaw clenching. I turn back to the pathetic excuse of a man sitting in the chair.
He must sense the change in me, because he looks like he’s about to either throw up or piss his pants. By the time I’m through with him, I bet he’ll end up doing both.
I lean forward and look him in the face.
“See, things like that don’t fly in my clubs, my friend. These women come here to have a good time, not to get harassed by small pricks like yourself.” I tell him through gritted teeth.
I hold my hand out for his phone. Once it”s in my hand, I hold it to the guy”s face to unlock it. I go onto his storage, I scroll to see he has taken quite literally hundreds of pictures in the couple of hours we have been open. Fucking disgusting pervert.
I delete every single trace of them on his phone, and then, just for good measure, I throw his phone at the wall, making it shatter.
He flinches and looks towards where his phone is laying, broken.
“What the actual fuck, man? I don’t think there was any need for that.”
“No? I think there was every need. See, I don’t know where you got your fill from before, but in my club, we don’t tolerate shit like that,” I tell him as I stand.
“So, can I go now?” he has the audacity to ask,
“I mean, I’m gonna let you go now, but I’m going to leave what to do with you up to my men, but just know this,” I say as I get down to his eye level, grabbing his face and making him look me in the eye, “if I ever see you in or around my clubs again, you’re gonna wish you didn’t go, because I will kill you. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir. I’m sorry, sir, it won’t happen again,” he cries at me.
I stand up and slap him on his cheek. “Oh, trust me, I know it won’t happen again.”
I nod towards the men and walk out the door.
I’m in the shadows of the corridor when I see her again.
The woman who got my attention the minute she stepped foot into the club.
I stay hidden as I watch her walk out of the women’s bathroom. I stay still. She looks even more beautiful up close…those curves in that dress. Fuck. It should be illegal. I shake my head and try to rid myself of my thoughts.
She stops walking and turns her head slightly. I sink back into the shadows a bit more. It”s almost as though she can feel me near her. Her head snaps around quickly, but she can’t see me—but I can definitely see her. She walks off, and I watch her walk up to her group of friends, who have now got a booth.
Just as I’m about to walk back to my office, some creep comes behind her and snakes his arm around her waist. I can tell from watching that she is not impressed with this situation. I wait around a little longer, just in case I need to step in.
I watch their interaction. Even from here, it’s obvious that she doesn’t want him around her. My body is tense, and if I clench my jaw any more, I will end up breaking my teeth—or his. He doesn’t seem to understand that she doesn’t seem interested in him. When she removes his hand, I chuckle to myself. Clearly, she knows how to handle herself. She sits next to her friend, and I can feel the tension leave my body slightly.
Making my way back into the safety of my office, I make myself another drink, taking a seat in my chair by the windows again. I can feel myself gravitating towards where the mysterious girl is, seeing what she’s getting up to, making sure she’s not getting into any more trouble. I see her getting attention from every male down there, yet she doesn’t seem to notice one little bit. Why is that?
I go back to monitoring the rooms, making sure things are going smoothly. With everything looking good for the moment ,I start going through some plans for the next club that we have in line to open up.
After what feels like hours staring at the computer screen and sending emails to a lot of people, I stand up so I can give my legs a good stretch, standing to look for her again. It takes me a few seconds longer than I like, but then I spot her. This time, she’s sitting at the bar in the front part of the club, which is the less busy and quiet side. She is sitting with her friend, having a cocktail. From here, I can see her body tense up, like she can sense that she’s being watched.
Her friend gets up and makes her way to the booth in the back again. Before I realize what I am doing, I pick up my phone and ring down to the front bar. Ricky picks up.
“You see the women at the bar in black? Make her another cocktail and deliver it to her, please.”
“Right away, sir.”
He puts the phone down and I slide mine back into my pocket. I watch him slide the drink over to her and she looks confused, which is adorable. I’m not sure what Ricky says, but he then winks at her. The jealousy that overtakes me is nothing that I’ve felt before. Why the fuck would you think its acceptable to wink at a woman that I just told you to give a drink to? What a shame. I liked Ricky, but it seems like I need to have a word with him tonight.
She takes out her phone, I watch her open it and load an app. The sight makes me laugh to myself. This beautiful woman is sat in a club, reading a fucking book. Who even does that?! She is just too pure and innocent.
Just as I’m about to head away from the window, I see the creep from earlier come and sit down next to her again. This fucking guy is really starting to piss me off. He needs to step away from her, or I will actually cut him up and feed him to the fucking lions.
I down another shot of whiskey whilst I watch their interaction. He is looking pissed off, and she looks like she’s having the time of her life, pissing him off. This woman may look innocent and sweet, but she is pure fire, and I am here for it.
He is starting to look very angry at her, and I do not like it in the slightest. My knuckles are turning white from clenching them too tight, and I’m seconds away from losing my shit. Who does this guy think he is? There has got to be some history between them. The thought of that alone makes me want to punch him in his creepy ass face.
He stands up and begins to walk away. I start to relax, but then he turns back and gets too close to her face, tucking strands of her hair behind her ear.
Before I can even register what I’m doing, I’m out the door and heading down the stairs. I can’t wait to get my hands on this guy. He has been getting under my skin the second I saw their first interaction. I don’t like him.
As I get to the front bar, she is nowhere to be seen, and neither is the fucking creep. I can feel my heart racing in my chest. Where the fuck have they gone?
Just as I’m about to ask Ricky, I see her walking back from the dance floor. She looks absolutely fuming. I take a step towards a table to the side to stay hidden. She flies past me and makes her way to the front doors. I follow but stay hidden. The doormen go to open the door for me. I shake my head at them and they step away.
Looking through the glass door, I watch her look at the sky and take in a breath. I notice she looks deflated, and I can’t help but think that the creep has done this to her. How fucking dare he? Looks like I might have another one on the banned list. Three on the banned list for opening night is a record; we don’t normally get the list out until about a week after opening.
I”m about to walk out of the door to go and see if she’s okay when a car pulls up in front of her. She gets in and I watch her disappear into the night.
I”m walking back through the club when I decide to go through to the back part, flagging down the security in the back and get them to follow me. I walk up to the booth where they were all sitting. It makes me happy to see the creep still sitting there, but it pisses me off that he has his arms around another woman, like he wasn’t all over another just a minute ago.
I walk up to him. “Get up. Get out.”
“Sorry, what? I’m not going anywhere, thanks,” he laughs back.
“That wasn’t a fucking question. Get the fuck out of my club. Now,” I shout back. It’s taking everything in me to not punch this dick in the face right now.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t believe I have done anything wrong. I’m just sat here with some beautiful women, having some drinks,” he smirks.
This fucking guy. My jaw clenches again.
“I have had people watching you all night, and you have done some things that we as a club don’t agree with. Now, I won’t ask nicely again.”
“That was nice? You need to work on your manners then, my friend.”
I look at my men, nodding at them to come over. They waste no time in physically picking him up by the arms and dragging him toward the back door.
I turn back to the table, and they all have a shocked look on their faces. Apart from the one he had his arm around; she looks like she’s about to cry. Oh, wow, come on. A guy like that is not worth a single tear from anyone.
“Apologies, ladies. We didn’t mean to ruin your night. All your drinks are on the house the rest of the night.”
I walk toward the back door, I step out in the alley and see my men having a “conversation” with the guy.
He gets up off the floor, blood dripping from his nose.
“Look, man, just tell me what I did.”
I chuckle whilst walking up towards him. Grabbing his face with my hand, I shove him back in the wall. My men grab his arms again to keep him still, and I deliver one single punch to his stomach, winding him in the process.
“ Not so tough when you don’t have the women around you. Listen to me carefully. I don’t want you around my clubs ever again. Do you hear what I’m saying?”
He starts nodding his head at me. He actually looks scared. Good.
I nod to my men to let him go, they drop him so he falls to the floor, he scrambles back and gets to his feet and starts to run off down the alley.
“Oh, one more thing before you run away.”
He stops and I walk towards him. I get close to his face and then move to his ear, so only he can hear me.
“Stay. Away. From. Her.”
He looks at me, confused, and nods, running out of the alley towards some oncoming traffic.
Next stop is to uncover who she is…
I”m coming for you, darlin’.