Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
MILLIE
Electric is an understatement.
Bennet had Anna post a video of Heidi in Vegas and sponsored the post. Just a pit stop. That’s how it was posted, and I have to admit, it’s pretty ingenious. The entire club is charged. Even more so than the other night.
I can’t allow the excitement to consume me, though. I feel as if I need to be even more vigilant than normal. Dante could be anywhere. He could be lurking in any dark corner. I know he’s in North Carolina, and I know he’s been here in this building.
And I say yet because it’s only a matter of time. He will find me—to kill me. At least he’ll try anyway. Axton won’t let him. The Vicious Reapers won’t let him, especially now that I’m his old lady.
And I guess I really am just that.
Standing in the dressing room, I look at my reflection staring back at me in the mirror. I feel very unsure of myself right now. I know I shouldn’t, but I’m out of my element. I gave up the dream of being an old lady years ago—resigned myself to it.
But now it’s right here, ready and ripe for the picking, and it’s all mine. Axton is all mine. It seems unbelievable, like this is some kind of fever dream, but it’s real, and he wants me. I’ve always wanted him. And it’s all coming together.
But is this what I want?
I keep asking myself that, but apparently, I haven’t come up with the answer yet.
“You good?” Cecille asks from her station next to me.
Shaking my head, I turn and look over to her. I’m not sure how to answer her. Sure, I’m good, but I’m also very much not. I don’t want to worry her, and at the same time, I don’t want to have to explain my story or situation.
“It’s just really crazy,” I whisper.
“It’s like static electricity,” she states.
She’s right. That’s exactly what it is. Static electricity.
And I don’t like it, at least not right now.
I would probably like it if a man weren’t lurking around trying to kill me.
All of this would be a hell of a lot more fun if it weren’t for Dante, but then again, I wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for Dante, so there is that.
“Yeah. It’s exciting but a bit nerve-racking,” I mutter.
She smiles, but otherwise doesn’t have anything to add to my stress. She doesn’t realize just what kind of stress I’m under anyway. And I hope it stays that way. Nobody should be scared out of their brains that their actual brains are going to be blown to bits.
“Are you ready, Millie?” Anna calls out from the doorway.
I look over my shoulder and see her at the door, just one step inside, a man at her back. It’s Lightning. I’m surprised to see him there. He’s usually at the front or back entrance and not inside the club.
I look into the mirror again for a sweep of my body to ensure everything is where it needs to be, and then I nod once before I spin on my too-high heels and start moving toward the door.
Anna scribbles something down on her clipboard, then begins to move toward the side of the stage. Lightning doesn’t let me pass him, though. I feel his fingers curl around my elbow. They flex, then he gently shakes me just enough to get my attention.
Shifting my focus to him, I slowly tilt my head back as I look up into his eyes. Arching a brow in question, I wait for whatever it is he has on his mind. Clearly, there is something, so I wait, although I only have a few minutes before I need to be on stage, so I can’t wait too long.
“Be careful tonight,” he states.
I don’t know why he says it, but the way he does, I can tell he’s serious. I start to ask him what he knows, but don’t bother, because he wouldn't tell me even if he knew something.
“I will be,” I state.
He releases me, and I walk past him and head straight for the stage. I climb the stairs, then wait for the lights to dim, signaling it’s my turn to get up there and dance. Heidi is on after me, and I have to admit it’s been nice not being the headliner tonight.
When the lights finally dim, the music begins. Stepping out, I start to dance before the lights even turn on. They slowly come on, the stage glittering with the gold I adore. My body is covered in shimmer.
My back arches as I wrap my leg around the pole and spin, my hair falling back behind me. I could do this routine with my eyes closed. I don’t, but I could. I dance. I’m not trying to be sexy. I’m just making sure I hit every single mark.
Every move, every place, and I do it the way Heidi taught me. Peeling off my top, spreading my thighs, arching just the right way. It’s all natural to me now. It wasn’t always, but it is now.
And when the music ends, a hush falls over the crowd as the lights lower, then a round of applause washes over me. I stand, knowing that my money will be gathered by Anna and handed to me as soon as I exit the stage, but something else happens.
Something I don’t expect.
A hand wraps around my mouth, and my body is lifted off the floor before I’m carried away. I don’t go easily. I fight, but it’s fruitless. I become lightheaded. And then everything goes dark.
PIGGY
Garcia drives past me, flipping me off when he does.
I almost laugh, but decide to match his finger with a wave.
I’m not going to match energies with him yet.
Only when I have him completely by his balls and he’s not my issue anymore, that’s when I’ll gloat.
For now, I’ll wave. Maybe I’ll smile next time, too.
I walk toward my car, throw my shit in there, set up my computer, and get started for the night.
I have a long night of work ahead of me, and I’m already tired.
Not the way I typically like to start my night, but I have to admit it was worth it.
Getting everything ironed out with Millie was exactly what I needed.
It doesn’t take long until my first call of the night, and then it’s one after the other. On the way to my fourth call, I stop and look up at the moon. It’s a full fucking moon. Of course, it is.
That makes perfect fucking sense.
I glance at the clock in hopes my shift will be over soon. It’s one in the morning, which means I only have a few more hours to go. Thank fuck. Reaching for my cell phone, I look at the screen to check my notifications when I see several missed calls from Lightning.
Sliding my thumb across the screen, I unlock my device and call him back. I don’t even bother listening to his voicemails, even though there are a few. The phone rings, and he picks up on the second one.
“Pig,” he barks.
“What the fuck is going on?”
I ball my fingers into a fist and rub the center of my chest. I can tell something bad has happened, and I’m picturing the worst of the absolute worst. I can’t even speak. My heart is racing, and sweat breaks out over my skin as I wait for a response from Lightning.
Then he speaks.
And when he does, it’s the worst of my fears come to life. I figured that was why he was calling, but to actually hear it hit my ears is a whole wave of emotion that I wasn’t expecting.
“It’s Millie. She’s been taken.”
“Is she dead?” I ask in a whisper.
There is a moment of silence, or maybe hesitation—I’m not quite sure, but it takes far longer than I appreciate.
“He snatched her from the stage when the lights were low after her performance. I don’t know where she went or how the fuck he got her out. Goose was at the back door. Maverick was at the front.”
“What the actual fuck?” I ask, but I don’t scream or yell.
I’m more in shock and awe. I don’t understand how she could be taken from the stage. How she could have been taken from the actual fucking stage, literally in front of hundreds of people.
“Someone was in on it,” I snap.
“We have the whole place on lockdown. Bullet and Ivy are on the way.”
“Did you keep the customers there?”
There is another moment of silence, and then he clears his throat before he speaks again. “Couldn’t, as much as I wanted to. But we’ve got the employees, and I’m telling you, nobody is walking out until they are completely fucking cleared.”
I glance down at the clock again and wince. “I still have two hours of my shift left. I can’t get there until probably four.”
“I’ll text you updates, but I don’t know how this shit went down, Pig. It doesn’t make sense. No way could he have walked out of here with Millie. Not without one of us seeing. We have been posted up everywhere.”
Clearing my throat, I nod once, then pinch my eyes closed. “I know you’ll get to the bottom of this, and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
I end the call and try to get back to work. I have a whole fucking stack of reports to write. In two hours, I only get one report finished. Lightning sends me a few text messages with updates, but they aren’t worth shit.
He might actually know less by the time I finish my shift than he did when she went missing. Once I get everything finished up for the night, I run home, change out of my uniform, and then climb on my bike before heading straight for Raleigh.
By the time I arrive, only Heidi, Bullet, Ivy, and Lightning are at the club. The moment I open the door and walk into the floor area, their heads turn, and their eyes find mine. Heidi’s eyes are red, swollen, and bloodshot.
Everyone else is showing concern.