I look across the candle-lit table to Miley, who looks so fucking perfect with the soft orange light illuminating her features. The idea of that fucking scumbag so much as talking to her has my blood boiling. I’m ready to go rampage through the club, shaking down my bouncers and staff until I find which incompetent idiot was responsible for letting him into the club. One thing’s for sure though, if I thought I was going overboard in my preparations to keep him out of here before, I’m about to set a new fucking bar.

“Wait here,” I say, starting to slide out of the booth to stand.

Miley’s arm snaps across the table, gripping my wrist. “Please,” she says in the smallest, most fragile voice. “Please don’t go.”

I sit back down, fighting every instinct in my body that has me ready to rip Cade’s head off. “I might still be able to catch him.”

“And then what?” she asks.

“Then I’ll teach him what happens when he comes near you,” I say.

“Like last time? You could’ve killed him in my apartment, and he still came back. Jayce… Kyle has been acting like an enforcer for me my whole life. Once a guy mistreats me, he shows up and kicks his ass. You know how much that has helped me avoid getting treated like shit from the next guy that comes along? None.”

“So I’m just supposed to sit by while this ex keeps showing up and harassing you? Fuck that.”

“No,” she says, pinching the bridge of her nose and hesitating a long time before she speaks again. “My dad never treated me right… not even close. And every time I tried to fight back it only got worse. So I learned a long time ago the best way to make it stop is just… play dead.”

I shake my head. “No,” he says. “I refuse to accept that. You don’t deserve to have to cower when this fucker comes around. You deserve to be free of that shit, and so help me God, if he makes the mistake of showing his face when I’m around, he’s done.”

“It’s not about whether you accept it or not,” she snaps. “It’s about what I want.”

My lips twitch at the sound of her raising her voice to me. “Be careful how you talk to me,” I warn.

“Or what?” she asks defiantly. “Are you going to hit me too? Slap me around? Show your true colors?”

I grit my teeth. “Don’t,” I say.

“Don’t what? Don’t make you mad, because then I’ll see what kind of man you really are?”

“No,” I say, forcing myself to calm down. “Don’t push me away when you need me most.”

She makes an annoyed sound and gets up like she’s about to leave. I get out of my side of the booth and cut her off, forcing her back into the booth. She struggles against me briefly, swinging her hands wildly and trying to free herself, but I pull her in tight, forcing her to accept my embrace as I hug her to my chest. “Don’t push me away,” I whisper, stroking her back as her hands slowly wrap around my back and she digs her fingers into me, shaking with sobs. “Let me look out for you, princess. I’ll keep you safe. I’ll protect you.”

After I’ve dropped Miley back off at her apartment for the night, I decide to do a little research. I know she wanted me to let it be, but I also know I won’t be able to sleep as long as this fucker is out there, just looking for his chance to harass her again.

Finding his address isn’t hard, because all members of the club have to submit payment information, including their billing address. He lives about five blocks from Miley, which is about a thousand blocks too close for my liking. I park outside his place, straighten my jacket, and walk into the lobby of the apartment complex. It’s a nice place, and probably costs almost twenty grand a month, if my guess is any good.

His apartment is on the second floor, last one at the end of the hall. I knock a few times and wait. I want nothing more than to deck him again, maybe harder this time so he doesn’t get back up, but that’s not what I came here for.

When the door swings open, Cade is squinting at me through bleary, drunken eyes. His hair is a mess and his tie is halfway undone and his shirt is untucked. From the looks of it, he came straight home to drown himself in some booze after he fucked with Miley at the club.

“Mind if I come in?” I ask stonily.

He makes a dismissive sound and tries to slam the door, but I plant a firm palm on the door, holding it open, even as he struggles to force it closed. He eventually realizes it’s useless and sighs dramatically. “The fuck do you want from me? Wanna know how she liked it in the sack? Or maybe--”

“It would be smart if you stopped there,” I say through clenched teeth. “I told myself I wasn’t going to fuck you up tonight, but I only have so much patience, asshole.”

Cade considers me, probably replaying the moment that left him with the swollen nose and dark bruise he still wears on his face. “What?” he asks petulantly.

“I’m giving you one last warning. If it was up to me, your warning would be the beating I want to give you, but you’re getting a warning instead.”

He raises his eyebrows. “That’s supposed to scare me?”

“No, dumbass,” I say. “It’s supposed to make it painfully obvious that you need to fuck off.” I lean forward so I’m close enough to smell the stink of his breath. “If I hear about you harassing Miley again, I’ll come back, and it’s not going to be for a warning. Understand me?”

He licks his lips, taking me in from head to toe, as if he’s trying to decide if he really should take my threat seriously. “Whatever, man. She’s not worth my time anyway.”

He slams the door on me.

I let out a long breath. Fuck. Not hitting him might have been the single greatest act of love in the history of mankind, because if I wasn’t sure I was falling for Miley, I would’ve killed that asshole. But every time I think about her my pulse races and I can’t get my mind off the next time I’ll see her and the things I can’t wait to do to her.

I already know exactly what I’m doing to her tomorrow night, though, whether she does or not. I’m taking her to a party at my house, but she’s not going to see much of the party. I’ll be too excited to show her the surprise I have waiting upstairs.