Emmalin
Grayson wasn’t kidding about being sore for a few days. It distracted my boredom around the house. He worked from home, I guess to keep an eye on me. I was becoming restless. I was in the middle of rearranging the living room for the third time when my phone beeped with an incoming text. I cringed. I did that now, whenever the phone beeped, thinking it could be Carson. I calmed when I saw it was Edith.
Edith: Can we PLEEEEASE have a night out tonight???!!!!
I giggled. Grayson has been keeping me on a short leash lately, but I missed my girls. Of course, our last night out almost ended up with me and Grayson having sex in one of the rooms at the club. I was mad at him. I texted back.
Me: Sure why not. Send out a group text. I’ll find us a place
I decided, I wasn’t going to let Carson stop me from having a life. Or Grayson. I wasn’t asking him to go out. I was telling him. I made the short walk to Grayson’s office. He had just gotten off the phone, and I lightly knocked.
“You know you don’t need to knock, Emmalin. I’ve told you that before.”
I sauntered over to his desk. “I know, but it’s your office. Your domain.”
He leaned back in his chair, inviting me to sit on his lap. “It’s also our home.” I gingerly sat down, leaning into him. He wrapped his arms around me.
“I’m bored.”
He kissed the top of my head and chuckled. “I noticed. You’ve rearranged the living room a few times.”
“Edith texted me. A group of us are going out tonight.”
He paused. “No.”
I sighed. “Grayson. I’m not staying cooped up in this house because you said so, and for the record, I’m not asking you.”
“Your attacker is still out there. I’m not going to risk anything happening to you.”
“But it’s a group of us. The chances of anything happening is nil, right? We’ll all be together.”
He let out a low growl. “Fuck, Emmalin.” His hand tightened around me. “One of my clubs. I pick the place, which means I’m going to be there, and I don’t want to hear your complaints. There’s going to be extra security, so you’ll just have to deal with it.” He rolled his eyes and I smiled.
I kissed the crook of his neck. “Thank you.”
After convincing Grayson, it was a ritual that the girls and I had to get ready together. Our car pulled up in front of his club six hours later. ‘Elm.’
“Well shit, this one looks bigger than the last one we went to. Do we get to be VIP again?” Everyone looked at Edith as she took a shot of something Gwen passed her.
“Um, he’s the fucking King, and she,” Isabella jerked her chin toward me, “is the goddamn Queen. We’re the royal court. We go where they go. That’s the rules.”
I threw my head back and laughed. We had started drinking early. More so them than me. My stomach was still bothering me, so I nursed my wine.
The door opened and all of a sudden we grew quiet as Grayson poked his head in. “Ladies?” All of us burst into immediate laughter as Grayson gave us a curious look, then he shook his head and helped us all out the car. I was the last out, and Grayson took a half step back to look me up and down.
Isabella helped me dress again, and of course, she left little to the imagination when she introduced me to a rose gold colored bodycon dress that, if it wasn’t for the sparkles, would almost be flesh colored.
“My, my, my. So this is tonight’s choice? I’m glad I have extra security, but clearly it’s not enough for all the men I’ll have to keep from looking at you.” I blushed. He circled his finger, and I did a small twirl, since he was still standing close. He took a deep breath. “I’m tempted to fuck you on top of this car,” he growled in my ear. He pressed into me. His erection digging into my stomach. “Would you like that? Would you like it if I spread you out and fucked you right here in front of everyone, so they would all know who you belonged to?” I whimpered. He traced his fingertips down the side of my face.
“Hey, dammit! None of that; we’re supposed to be having a good time out tonight, remember? Not the kind you two are trying to do.” I groaned at the sound of Isabella’s voice. Grayson silently laughed and grabbed my hand. “Come on.”
Upon entering Elm, I was in awe. The beautiful crystal Chinese lanterns, the water fountains, the exuberant colors. “This is amazing. How long have you had this one?” I turned to Grayson as he closely watched me.
“It just opened six weeks ago. You like it?”
I nodded, still looking around. “I love it. It’s beautiful.”
He pulled me close as he guided me up the stairs. “Good, because it’s yours.”
I stopped in midstride. “What?”
“It’s your club. I named it after you.”
I looked at him in confusion. I watched as a waitress walked over, setting down drinks. She seemed to know what we wanted without any of us ordering. I smiled as I took mine.
“It’s an anagram of your name. I took three letters.” He kissed me on the nose, and I smiled.
“That was sweet. You didn’t have to do that.”
He leaned closer as he nipped the side of my neck. “Don’t tell me what to do.”
Over an hour later, we were dancing hard. Grayson kept his distance at first, but quickly called in reinforcements. He got tired of being the only guy. Chace showed up with a few friends, and it didn’t take long before Chace glared at any guy Isabella danced with.
“We’re going back down!” I yelled over the loud music. Grayson jerked his chin over to a guy standing a few feet away to come our way. Anyone wearing a green pin on their lapel was security. And there were a lot of them. He escorted us down as Gwen and I made our way into the crowd. Isabella was already in the middle dancing with some guy. I couldn’t quite see his face. Gwen was twirling me around and Isabella sidled up next to us, laughing, and shouted, “Partner switch! I need a drink.”
I kept spinning, and spun right into the guy she was dancing with. Right into the arms of Carson. The laughter died right out of my face. His grip around my waist tightened as I tried to step back.
“I wouldn’t make a scene here if I was you.”
I looked back behind me. Both Isabella and Gwen were gone. I searched the crowd. Green pin, green pin. “I should’ve known you would dress like a whore; just like your mother. Definitely runs in the family.”
I was still looking around for the green pins. Too many people were in my way. “I want my money. You owe me my money. Do you have any fucking idea what I will do to you? How I will destroy you?” He hissed in my ear. I finally pushed him back and he smiled. I covered myself in my arms and felt the panic attack starting to brew. All of the people around me and the lights were starting to make me dizzy. I watched him sink further into the crowd, and he disappeared. Gone just like that. Someone in the crowd bumped into me.
“Hey! Where’d that hottie go?” I felt someone nudge me. I couldn’t move. I thought it was Isabella’s voice but I wasn’t sure.
“Emmalin?” She gently shook me, and I flinched.
Keep it down, keep it down. You can control this. Don’t freak out here. Don’t freak out here. Just breathe. Just breathe. Don’t let him win. Don’t let him win. I felt the tear roll down my cheek. Fuck. Keep it together. I heard someone snapping their fingers. What was that? Doesn’t matter, just keep your eyes down, you’ll be fine.
“Free champagne service, courtesy of Elm, at the second floor bar. Please make your way up, and our hostesses will gladly serve you.”
Loud cheering and whistles followed as the crowd started to ascend their way to the bar. A warm blanket was wrapped around me, and hands cupped my face gently. I shut my eyes as Grayson’s voice whispered softly, “I got you.”
I must’ve dozed off, because I woke up back at home, feeling completely groggy. I jumped at the sound of Grayson’s voice shouting from the other room. It was full of pure rage. My head was pounding, and nausea washed over me. I stood up carefully as the room started spinning, and walked slowly to the door.
“I don’t give a fuck. He was obviously threatening her. Scared the shit out of her enough that she completely went despondent.”
“She didn’t appear to be under any duress at first, Mr. Mandrake.”
“Don’t tell me she didn’t look like she was under any duress. Michael Leaks was clearly bothering her. No one should’ve had their fucking hands on her.”
Thank goodness the wall was there to hold me up.
“His name is Carson.”
No one heard me. Grayson kept shouting. I took a deep breath. I couldn’t figure out why the room was always spinning. I was tired. So damn tired.
“His name is Carson,” I said louder. Everyone stopped talking and turned to me. “Not Michael Leaks.” I took another deep breath. This time everyone looked like they were moving in slow motion. “It’s Carson Ross. He’s my stepbrother,” I vaguely heard myself say. I needed just a minute as I slid down the wall. Then everything turned to black.