Chapter 18
Grace
The club lights strobed all around us, whirrs of blues and reds and purples making my head hurt worse than before. Henley must’ve noticed my wincing, because he pulled two pills out of his pocket and held them my way.
I looked down at his hand, then at the side of his face. He was surveying the mass of people on the first level, bodies bouncing and banging against one another to an insufferable beat.
“What are those?” I asked over the loud music.
“Tylenol,” Henley answered.
I gripped the railing, skeptical that he was trying to drug me rather than help me. He might have reassured me he wasn’t going to kill me, but I’d be a fool to trust so easily. “Why do you just have Tylenol loose in your pocket?”
“You claimed your head was fine in the truck, but I know you’re stubborn, Grace.” He moved his hand closer, hovering it in front of my chest now.
Scowling, I took the pills and swallowed them dry. “Insulting me is not the way to make me feel better.”
He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “It’s a good thing your pain is physical and not mental.”
I crossed my arms, moving my attention back to the crowd. “How do you know?”
He moved until his chest was pressed to my back, arms braced on the railing on either side of me. His chin rested on my shoulder, and I was helpless to the urge to lean back into him.
“Because I fucked the mental toll that asshole took right out of you before I cleaned his remains off the floor.” His lips brushed my neck with each word, sending chills over my skin.
If there were two things I could give Henley props for, they’d be his ability to bring me to orgasm, and how efficiently he disposed of bodies.
I tried to ignore how close his hands were to mine as the weight of his statement settled. He’d not only killed for his own reasons, but because that man had hurt me. He’d said as much before sinking a bullet into the man’s neck.
Did he…care about me?
Henley’s body stiffened behind me, pulling me from my thoughts.
I glanced at him before following his line of sight.
“Do you see him?” I asked. Earlier, Henley had quickly filled me in on his name, but I didn’t know that it was a smart idea to be airing out who we were in search of, no matter how quiet I was talking.
His hands twisted on the bar, his grip tight. “Stay here.”
His arms dropped at the same time I spun around and grabbed his shirt. “Wait.”
“Grace?”
I froze, the hairs on the back of my neck rising.
That voice.
My head turned to face the direction it had come from, a sour feeling settling in the pit of my stomach. “Tyler.” It wasn’t a question, and I didn’t sound excited to see him. Henley would kill him if he knew about my past with him.
Henley’s gaze moved from me to my ex, skepticism mixed with pure judgment filling his eyes.
“What are you doing here?” Tyler asked, focus shifting between me and the man who stood stiff as a board in front of me.
“I’m out with my, uh…boyfriend,” I blurted, and instantly cringed.
Shit.
Tyler looked up and down Henley’s form, judging him right back. “Boyfriend, huh?” With his hands in his pockets and hood pulled up, he said, “Move on quick, do you, Grace?”
I blinked, confused. “Quick? Tyler, it’s been months.”
“He’s your ex,” Henley said blandly, still not giving Tyler the respect of facing him fully.
Tyler dropped his hands from his pockets, shoving his sleeve up to check the time. “Yeah, I’m her ex.”
Wait—the time?
“Since when do you have money for a Rolex?” I questioned, not missing the reflection of the lights off the shiny watch.
He grinned, turning his wrist over as he admired the piece before dropping his arm. “Since I started selling a shit ton of real estate. Amazing what a fancy car will get you in terms of clients and trust.”
My forehead creased, putting the pieces together. I shook my head subtly, not sure why I cared so much to know—but also confused how he got to this point when Tyler had been barely out of prison when I met him, unable to get a good job because of the tattoo on his temple. “What fancy car?”
Henley stood there, seemingly disinterested, but I could tell he was keeping an eye on Tyler and every one of his movements. Any small act out of line would likely end terribly for Tyler. Henley was on edge, and Tyler was getting in the way of our plan.
Tyler stuffed his hands back in his pockets, his rapt focus on me making me slightly uncomfortable. Flashes of our past threatened to appear in my mind, but I shoved them away, instead forcing my attention to stay on the subject.
My grip must’ve tightened on Henley’s shirt, because his hand came up to rest on my waist, grounding me.
“Oh, you don’t know yet?” Tyler asked, a cocky smirk on his mouth. I remembered that look from all the times he’d treated me like I was stupid. “That little stash of cash you hid behind your plants in the living room was a big help, if I must say.”
My body went rigid at the same time as Henley’s fingers dug into my skin.
“You stole from me?” I asked, incredulous.
He shrugged, hoodie opening as he gestured wide with his pocketed hands. “You were my girlfriend, Grace. What’s yours was mine, remember?”
I shook my head, hands dropping from Henley’s shirt as I stepped toward Tyler. I tilted my chin up, glaring at him. “That’s for married couples, Tyler. Not what we were.”
He angled his head down, pasting on a fake pout. He patted me on the head, and I could practically feel the heat of Henley’s rage from behind me. “You’ll make it back, sweets. Don’t worry.”
My jaw was stiff as my teeth ground together, fighting against the Tylenol attempting to kick in and only making my headache worse.
Henley stepped up beside me, eyes narrowed on Tyler. “Call her that one more time and see where your tongue ends up.”
Tyler’s brows rose, yet he wasn’t intimidated. “Big mouth for a guy who barely knows her. Because if you did? You’d be trying to get some other chick here.”
I hid the insecurity his statement bloomed in me, refusing to let my head drop. Henley stepped closer to him, and I looped my hand in his, figuring he needed someone to anchor him in this moment before the rage took over and he gutted Tyler where he stood.
“Stick around, would you?” Henley led me behind him, his shoulder bumping Tyler’s a bit too hard as he passed. In response, Tyler grabbed my other hand, forcing me to a stop. Henley turned and, without hesitation, grabbed Tyler’s wrist. Something cracked beneath the bass thumping through the floor.
The only indication Tyler felt any pain was the slight flaring of his nostrils as he released me.
Henley stepped between us, getting in his face. “Touch her again. I dare you.”
Tyler’s jaw clenched beneath the shadow of his hood, restraining himself from making things worse for once. Henley dropped his wrist, glaring for a few seconds longer before he turned and set a hand on my waist, leading me ahead of him through the crowd.
“Where are we—”
“I’m going to kill him,” Henley ground out, only loud enough for me to hear.
As we reached the top of the stairs, I stopped, turning to face him.
I set my hands on his cheeks, making him look at me.
He was consumed by anger and the need to draw blood.
I didn’t blame him, but there were too many targets in here.
Too many things to set him off. If we walked down there and someone accidentally bumped me, there was no telling what he’d do.
“Look at me.”
His eyes dropped to mine. He was so stiff, a weapon waiting to strike. People shouted, danced, took shots, and acted like idiots all around us. But I didn’t notice any of it. Not with his eyes on me.
“Kiss me,” I murmured, looking back and forth between his eyes.
His chest rose with a fuller breath this time before he closed the distance. His lips met mine with a need so deep, I nearly collapsed. I kissed him back, my tongue sweeping into his mouth. I moaned at the taste of him, my heart aching at the intimacy of what we were doing.
My fingers threaded into his hair, tugging him closer.
My back arched as he wrapped his arms around me, devouring me with his mouth.
The music drowned out in the background as our breathing became the only thing I was capable of hearing.
His touch was the only thing I was capable of feeling. He was the only thing that mattered.
Not the man with a hit on his head downstairs. Not my ex likely watching our encounter from afar.
Only Henley.
His hands fisted the back of my shirt, knuckles digging into my flesh as he pressed my body to his. The universe shifted, any question about his feelings for me becoming solidified in this one moment.
He wouldn’t kill me with a gun or a knife. He’d rip my heart from my chest and I’d call it romantic. We both knew the organ was no longer mine, despite the three words not passing my lips.
Every evil, depraved thing about him called to every dark part of me. Never had two people been more meant for each other, or in such a fucked-up way.
His forehead pressed to mine as our lips finally parted, the two of us panting. He held on to me for dear life, my body the lifeline he needed to stay sane.
“You’re breaking me,” he murmured, nose pressed to mine. Our eyes were still closed, like if we opened them, the bubble we’d formed might shatter.
My palm ran down his cheek. “You’ve already done the same to me. It’s only fair.” No one knew me as well as he did. What I did, and why I did it. What happened that night all those months ago in that alley.
He knew my debts, and he didn’t so much as blink an eye.
So attuned to each other, we looked at one another at the same time.
“Let’s get this over with,” Henley said, straightening. He grabbed my hand, leading me down the stairs.
“You’re not going to kill Tyler?”
He didn’t glance back as he said, “I have something much better in store for him.”
“Henley, man, what are you doing?” Jody’s frantic, desperate voice floated back to me as I followed Henley out of the back hallway, his hand gripped tight to the back of the man’s shirt.
Henley didn’t reply as he shoved Jody through the door. The man lost his footing, landing face-first in the dirt. Thankfully, we’d caught him as he was heading to the bathroom, so no one had noticed Henley grabbing him.
He flipped around, scrambling back from Henley as he approached. “We’re friends, aren’t we, bud?”
“Friends who want each other dead, bud.” Henley pulled his gun from his waistband.
I crossed my arms, leaning back against the outer wall of the club to watch.
Jody blubbered a laugh. “Dead? What are you—”
“This is a waste of my time,” Henley muttered, putting a round in the chamber.
Jody’s eyes widened, hands raising as if they’d stop a bullet. “Wait, wait!”
“Ears, Grace.”
My palms came up to cover my ears, and not a second later, the gunshot rang through the alley and onto the adjacent street.
The music from the club was so loud, it was unlikely anyone inside had heard.
As for out here, the area was sketchy. I was sure people were used to hearing guns go off frequently.
Blood poured from Jody’s mouth, his pleas inaudible as he choked.
“Hmm,” I hummed.
Henley tucked the gun back in his waistband, turning to face me. “What?”
I shoved off the wall, glancing at the blood-soaked man. “I thought you would’ve drawn that out. Made him pay for putting a hit on your head. Or explain himself.”
A muscle in Henley’s jaw feathered as he stared at me. “It’s not my fault he bet his family’s heirloom in a game of poker.”
I studied him. This didn’t seem like the Henley I knew. He enjoyed drawing out people’s pain, saying his piece so they’d die with his words echoing in their mind.
“What’s your plan?” I asked, curious.
He moved toward me, grabbing my chin to tilt my face up to his. “I have someone else I want to hurt tonight.”
My eyes lowered, feeling shame for taking the limelight away from his kill. “Henley, this was more important than some petty drama with Tyler.”
He arched my head back farther, making me lift my gaze to him. “Nothing is more important than you. Not to me. It’s best if you learn that.”
My focus moved between his eyes, wondering if he really meant that. He must’ve sensed my slight skepticism, because he lowered his lips to mine and erased all uncertainties.
He was becoming the most important thing in my life, too.