Chapter 19
Clara
Getting into the club without my normal primping felt sacrilegious, but I’d already spent too much time with Zee. I didn’t have time to shower, do my hair and makeup, and likely have to do it all over again.
Instead, I called a car to bring me home, and even had them wait while I ran upstairs to change. With my hair still pulled up into a ponytail, I painted my lips bright red.
That was it.
That was all I had time for.
I couldn’t allow myself to get caught up in the million little rituals that were sure to surface if I gave them a chance to breathe.
Back to the car I went, then off to Club Sentinel. Kylo was at the front door again, and he gave me a cautious smile as I approached.
“You know you shouldn’t be here,” he said, thick arms crossed over his even thicker chest. “You’re gonna get me fired if you pull a stunt like you did last time.”
My mouth dropped open and my eyes burned. Words failed me for a long minute before I finally pulled myself together and hissed out, “He assaulted me, Kylo. I didn’t do anything!”
The big man lifted his chin, staring down his nose at me with narrowed eyes. “You expect me to believe your brother let someone hurt you, then threw you out on the sidewalk?”
A scoff left my chest. “My brother would rather watch me get mowed down in a gang war than lift a finger to help me.”
He pursed his lips, and my own trembled. Tears I couldn’t afford danced in the corners of my eyes.
First Zee.
Now Kylo.
Did I matter to anyone?
Without a word, the bouncer reached for the rope, unclipping it to let me through. Ritual or not, there was no fucking way I was going to kiss the bastard’s cheek.
It served him right for not believing me.
Served him right for thinking for one minute that Stephano gave a flying fuck about me.
As long as I was hidden away, my brother didn’t give two shits. God forbid I try to do anything on my own. God forbid I live my own life and be something other than a pretty little doll without a brain.
Pushing through the crowd, I made my way toward the stairs leading to the VIP section. But I stopped in my place, and it had nothing to do with the hard shoulder of some partier that slammed into my chest.
Jimmy was there at the bottom of the steps, and there was no way in hell he’d let me up. If Kylo, a man I’d always considered a friend, gave me grief about getting in, Jimmy would likely dump my ass on the sidewalk without my brother even knowing I’d been here.
Fucking traitor.
Ugh! I spun in a circle, bouncing off some girl who was dancing like she learned all her moves from a video game. There was only one other way upstairs, and it wouldn’t be easy to get to.
Not with this crowd.
I strung my way through the throng of bodies, heading for the loading dock that sat beyond the bathrooms and the staff-only area.
I had to keep my head down, for fear that I’d be caught, pointed out by the people who knew me upstairs.
That only led to more bodies crashing into me, and I felt bruised and broken before I made it to the hall leading to the bathrooms.
Once at the door to the staff area, I glanced down the hallway back toward the dance floor.
Beyond a group of girls I’d never seen before, no one even bothered to notice I was there.
I sucked in a deep breath, righted my dress over my breasts and my thighs, then pushed my way through to the back room with my head held high, as if I belonged.
If the club hadn’t been as busy as it was, there would have been people milling about and talking. But the few that were there were too busy grabbing crates of booze to stock the bars and rushing carts of food from one entrance to another.
The service elevator leading upstairs took its pretty little time coming down to get me. When I was locked inside, my pulse was thumping so heavily it drowned out the noise that was pumping through the club.
“Just breathe, Clara,” I whispered to myself, smoothing my hands over my thighs before drumming out an irregular pattern that continued even after the elevator dinged and the doors slid open.
They damn near slid shut again before I could get my hands to stop. With burning eyes and a solid lump in my throat, I stepped out, forcing myself not to touch anything for fear I’d be here all night.
This was bad. This was so, so bad. The pills I’d stolen from my mother hadn’t been as strong as what I’d gotten from Jayden in the past and using them so sparingly made what I was going through feel like withdrawals.
The problem was, this wasn’t withdrawal. This was my life. This was who I was without my pills.
Without Zee.
Haltingly, I made my way down the back hallway, taking care to peek around corners before moving on to keep from getting caught. I was past the staff bathrooms, almost to the door behind the VIP lounge bar, almost tasted the freedom of that smoke-filled room, when a hard hand bit down on my arm.
It whipped me around, then I was slammed up against the wall. My breath left me on a huff and tears sprang to my eyes as pain radiated through my head, starting at the point where my face smacked the solid concrete blocks.
My cry had barely left my lips when I was pushed forward, squished between the wall and the hard body behind me.
“Ah, kitten,” he purred, and any fight I had in me fled. “I knew you’d come back for me. Who’d ’a guessed it’d happen like this?”
Jayden’s hands were everywhere, gripping and squeezing and causing me pain as he pressed himself against me and said things I didn’t want to hear.
“Been dying for a taste of your pussy, kitten. Been dying to fuck your cunt. Gonna do it now, and you’re gonna fuckin’ enjoy it. You’re gonna like it so much you’ll be begging for it again and again.”
He wrapped my ponytail around his fist and yanked, jerking me back so hard I swear I felt my hairs rip out. Then it wasn’t only his words I heard.
It was the sounds of him fumbling with his pants.
“Fuck, kitten, I’m gonna enjoy this so much.
” He grunted, his body shifting as he tore down his pants.
Then his hand was on me, shoving up my dress and yanking my panties until they snapped.
He stuffed the fabric into my mouth, stifling the scream that ripped up my throat.
Then he was touching me, his fingers probing into me, biting, hurting, before he grabbed his dick and lined himself up.
Pinned against the wall, there was nothing I could do. My body was frozen, and even my tears wouldn’t fall, as I waited for my world to shatter in two.
That waiting led to pain, led to my hair ripping, my body slamming into a wall. Led to me whipping around with tear-filled eyes as Jayden’s entire weight left me and I almost toppled to the ground.
Stephano was there in the hallway, slamming Jayden against the opposite wall. So fast I barely caught it through my tears, my brother’s fist pounded into my attacker’s face.
“The fuck!” Jayden screamed, hands covering his nose. “The hell is wrong with you, Vinci?”
“What’s wrong with me?” Stephano spit, pointing at me without looking. “That’s my fucking sister, you sick fuck. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Jayden sneered, throwing a glance my way. “Just taking what she owes me.”
“What she owes you?” My brother moved so fast, I didn’t realize what he’d done until it was over. Jayden’s exposed dick was bent at what had to be an excruciating angle, judging by the screams that were coming from his throat.
Footsteps pounded through the hall, and within seconds, three of Stephano’s men were standing at the T-intersection, mouths gaping as they watched the horror show I’d become part of.
“How’s that for what she owes you?” Stephano hissed, staring down his friend.
Jayden glared up at him through his own tear-stained eyes. “You’re fucking over, Steph—”
Before he could finish his thought, Jayden’s head jerked back. The wall behind him was splattered with red, and my ears rang as if a bomb had gone off.
But it wasn’t a bomb.
It was my brother’s gun.
He heaved out a long breath, then tucked the gun into the waistband at the back of his pants. Pivoting to face the men at the end of the hall, he said, “Clean this shit up.” He turned a scowl my way before reaching forward and tearing my panties out of my mouth. “I’ve got my own mess to clean up.”