I stared up at the club where I’d spent many nights trolling for sex and picking up women. The neon of the signage lit up the parking lot.

Why did I agree to this?

Because what’s ours is in there, with other males.

As she should be. Finding someone who isn’t fucked up beyond repair.

The beast rattled at the bars, making me close my eyes and crane my neck, pulling at the tight muscles.

“Nate, how’s it hanging, man?” Jerome, the bouncer, asked as I stepped up.

We shook hands, and I smiled. “Good. How’s your wife doing?”

“Aw, man.” He shook his head and circled his arms out in front of him. “About like this. She’s due in six weeks and more than ready for him to come out.”

My smile faltered, but I picked it back up, forced it to reach my eyes. “That’s awesome! I didn’t know she was pregnant.”

He smiled and shrugged. “Well, you ain’t been around to tell.”

I nodded. “It’s been a busy time.”

“Well, go on. Lots of hotties in there tonight. Go get you some.”

I nodded and waved at him. “Have a good night.”

“I’ll see your ass on the way out.”

There was a sense of familiarity as I stepped inside. Looking around, there was a definite difference from six months ago. It felt like every time before, I was in a fogged-over, dream-like haze. Almost like I was seeing things clearly.

Then again, everything about me was blurred. All the way to the point when I met Lila. She was the shift for everything, all I could think about. She was the reason I was chaos incarnate.

The club was dimly lit with colored lights moving across the dance floor. At the bar, Alex was working his smile as he made a crowd of girls some drinks. There were tall tables by the bar and shorter ones on the edge of the dance floor, which was a few feet below the bar. Surrounding the rest of the floor against the walls were about a dozen half-moon booths.

I scanned each space, looking for my coworkers, searching for…

Shit. I am not searching for her.

Of course we are. She’s why we came.

Can’t you just shut up?

No. Not until you let me out.

You’re nothing but trouble.

We can work together, behave, even out.

I froze the second I saw her profile, watched her head tip back as she took a shot. Her tongue swiped across her lips, and the image shot straight to my dick. I couldn’t take my eyes off her, watching her from a different vantage point as she socialized—a rarity.

I stepped toward her, my feet acting almost on their own. Her posture straightened and she froze, her gaze locked on the glass in front of her.

“Hey, Nathan, you made it!” Caroline said with a smile.

I didn’t miss the glare Lila shot her as they all scooted around to give me some space to sit. She refused to look at me, to acknowledge me, and it pissed me off.

I wasn’t someone she could ignore.

My seat was right next to her, and as I sat down, I made sure to crowd her so much that our bodies touched at the shoulder and legs. There were no hands involved, but even that level sent a ripple down my spine. Lust and desire mixed with the anger and frustration.

“Wouldn’t have missed it,” I said with a smile.

Still no response or reaction from her, so I leaned into her. “Lila.”

Being so close, I felt her tense, watched the bob of her throat as she swallowed before she turned to finally look at me.

“Nate.”

Holy fuck. How much had she had to drink before I got there? Her cheeks were flushed, eyes glazed, and the smile on her lips had my cock thumping to life. She was pliable, vulnerable, and more alluring than I’d ever seen before.

I drew in a sharp breath, my jaw clenching to shut it down before anyone noticed. It was a test to keep from fucking pulling her out the back door, shoving her chest into the brick wall, and fucking some sense into her. She was a fucking mark for any guy in there.

“I’m surprised to see you out.”

“Oh, we used to see him here all the time,” Ian said. “Been months, dude. We thought you fell off the face of the earth or something. Finally find yourself a steady girl?”

I let out a laugh. Once upon a time, I’d tried to pick Caroline up. Ian didn’t like it, but somehow we created a bar friendship and I’d often sit with them.

“So, you’re a manwhore? Should have known,” Lila said, clearly, to me, annoyed.

I wanted to correct her. For some reason, I wanted her to understand. I wasn’t a manwhore, but just a man. Relationships were out, but I wasn’t going to live like some celibate monk for the rest of my life. My fucking PTSD made damn fucking sure of that.

She was ignoring me, giving me the cold shoulder.

I leaned into her again. “It was just sex, Delilah. Fucking.”

Her eyes unfocused, face relaxing as her mask slipped.

I glanced around the table, checking to see if anyone was paying attention to us before moving my hand to her leg. First light circles with my thumb, then I added more pressure.

“I don’t want them.”

Nothing. She was reserved, not melting into my touch, and I fucking hated it. I wanted her breath to pick up, her thighs to relax open. I wanted to know I was getting to her, and she refused to play along.

“I need another drink,” she said.

Every muscle froze, my hand tightening on her leg.

“Are you sure that’s wise?” I asked as I glanced down to the lineup of empty glasses in front of her. While she had shut me out, she was still vulnerable to others, and more alcohol was only going to increase her allure to every fucker in the room, myself included.

“Are you my fucking father? No, I didn’t think so. Let me the fuck up so I can get another drink.”

She was defiant, which was a strength I wasn’t sure she understood she possessed. Her nails dug into my arm as she pushed, forcing me to move or cause a scene. Since tipping Caroline off was the last thing I wanted to do, I relented, but looked after her as she walked away.

It was hard to take my eyes off her and return my attention to Caroline and Ian.

“No drink?” Ian asked.

I let out a chuckle, my lip twitching up. “You guys distracted me. Be right back.”

Ian nodded while Caroline leaned into him.

My trek to the bar was an exercise in recognizing Lila in a crowd of women in a dark room. Getting a drink was the perfect excuse to walk right the fuck up to Lila and crowd her, let any fucking bastard who was watching see that she was owned.

And I fucking owned her.

All I had to do was find her.

I was halfway down the length of the bar when movement at the end of the bar caught my attention. She’d somehow gotten a drink and instead of heading back to the table, was heading to the dance floor.

Watching her walk onto the dance floor and start swaying her hips was torture. She was prey, and as she passed by, more than one predator started toward her. All the men there touching her, thinking that because she was there they had some right to be physical with her.

I was going to kill every fucker who even looked at her.

I kept watch as she danced, the liquid in her cup sloshing. Not two minutes passed when some drunk fucker stepped up behind her and pulled her to him.

Hell fucking no.

It was the end of my ability to just watch. I pushed my way through the throng of bodies, slipped past couples grinding so hard together I wasn’t sure they weren’t fucking.

Ten feet away, I saw he was grinding against her and her eyes were closed as he mauled her with his hands.

“Can I cut in?” I managed to say through clenched teeth and the red haze that had taken over.

She opened her eyes and fucking smiled as she bit her lower lip.

“Wait your turn,” the guy said.

Bad idea, because the anger pumped through my veins like a poison, and my patience was gone.

“I’m not asking.”

He must have seen the violence vibrating within me emanating out, because he relented.

“Okay, man, shit, take her,” he said as he shoved her into me.

She gripped my shirt and leaned in, lips parted before pushing off.

“What the fuck was that about?” she asked.

My last fuse was blown. I grabbed onto her arm and dragged her from the dance floor. There was an empty table near the bar, and I stopped.

“You’re letting strange men put their hands all fucking over you!” I said with a snarl.

Every muscle was tight, ready for a fight, and caused my fingers to dig into her arm.

“What the hell do you care, Thorne? Huh?”

Was she fucking kidding me?

“Because you are mi—”

“This guy bothering you, Lila?”

Mine.

Mine.

MINE!

I instantly hated the familiarity to her in the words of whoever interrupted us. The tone was sharp, and he made sure to raise his voice over the music. Average build, above average height, topped off with average looks, and he was taking a stance against me, an unfamiliar male, trying to scare me off.

“Andrew?”

Again, an instantaneous hatred filled me. There was surprise in her voice and the way she looked at him was far too intimate than I was going to allow.

Andrew stared at me, his gaze moving down to Lila’s arm which I clutched harder as our eyes locked. If the blond fucker thought he was going to intimidate me, he was dead fucking wrong. He was a toothpick, and I had nothing to lose so there would be no stopping me from smashing his face into the concrete floors and breaking him.

“Let go of the lady.” His fists clenched at his side.

I glanced at Lila, then back to the fucker. Who the fuck was he to tell me to do anything? Instead, I pulled her closer.

The douchebag reached for me, and I let go of Lila, ready to lay him out. He was half a second from getting my fist in his fucking face when Lila stepped between us.

“Enough! Jesus, knock it off.” She pressed her hands against our chests while attempting to glare. “Nathan, you can let go now. Drew, back off.”

His eyes never left mine, refusing to back down. “He was grabbing your arm, Lila. Hard.”

And I fuck her even harder.

“Yes, after saving me from some drunk sleaze on the dance floor,” she explained. “Then he proceeded to lecture my drunk ass about watching out for myself.”

Andrew’s glare wavered and relaxed, his jaw flopping open like a fish before closing and looking between us.

“Really?” he asked.

I didn’t relax at all, the adrenaline flowing freely, my body geared up.

“What’s going on?” Caroline asked as she looked us over.

Lila rolled her eyes. “Just a misunderstanding and too much testosterone.”

Testosterone she was going to be fucking filled with on the dance floor if Andrew kept looking at her. I was caught between wanting to fight every guy in the building and fucking her right there.

“Okay, then,” Caroline said, looking between all of us. “We ordered another round of drinks back at the table. Join us, Drew?”

Fuck. I didn’t want the tool anywhere near me or her, so I hoped he declined.

“Sounds great, Carrie.” He smiled and held his arm out. “After you, Lila.”

I allowed no gap between us, forcing him to step behind me. When Lila wobbled, it was my hands that steadied her.

I forced a neutral look and a fake smile to keep attention off what just happened. It was a series of fucking slips, and I realized being out in public with her was not a good thing. All logic left, possession taking its place.

When we got back to the booth, I made sure to sit next to her, but Andrew secured the other side. I wasted no time placing my hand on her thigh again.

“Okay, so who’s this newbie?” Andrew asked.

The whole table laughed, so I remained silent, reigning the gut reactions in. My attempt to keep the peace was going to leave bruises on Lila’s leg.

I listened as they talked about Vivian, the woman whose position I filled, trying not to laugh when Caroline gave her surprised reaction that she just left. The truth and the rumors created an interesting dichotomy.

Jack had already given me Vivian’s job long before she left. She’d received enough warnings to suspect her end was near and just wanted to screw the company and Lila over by quitting without notice.

A waitress arrived with half a dozen drinks and set them down. Ian pushed a bottle of Dos Equis toward me.

“Thanks, man.”

“You don’t need that,” Andrew said.

Douche fucker says what? I looked over to find Andrew trying to push Lila’s Long Island from her. What fucking say did he have in what she did?

I smirked at the death glare she threw at him, almost laughing as she tipped the glass back and chugged the contents.

“Don’t mess with my drink, Drew,” she said, the glass half empty. “I need it.”

“No, you don’t,” he argued.

“It’s the only way I can sleep, okay?” Her voice cracked as she spoke, almost like she was to the point of tears. Even her body language mimicked it in the way her bottom lip trembled and she rubbed at her eyes. “I just want to get some fucking sleep. I can’t fucking drink every night, so let me sleep tonight. I can get more than a couple hours in and my brain will shut down.”

My brow scrunched as I looked at her. What the fuck was she talking about?

“Her insomnia’s back,” Caroline said.

Insomnia? More things about my enigma suddenly made sense. The way she passed out, not rousing as I moved her around, a result of pure exhaustion.

I also remembered the bottle from her drawer—Triazolam and Sonata. Not one, but two different options. Probably because of the dependency issues with the Triazolam, but I knew for a fact how it could help with night terrors, which I suspected she suffered from as well.

“All right, off topic Lila. I’m not interesting enough. Next topic,” she said, waving her hands in front of her, almost like she was trying to wipe away the conversation.

Andrew snorted. “I see you still love to be the center of attention.”

“Yeah, yeah. Drunk, depressed, center-of-attention-hating, stupid, ugly…”

There it was again. The self-deprecation painting an image of how warped she was inside. Evidence of how someone fucked with her, maybe even abused her.

By the look on Andrew’s face, I had a feeling I was on the right track.

“Okay, enough,” Andrew said as he took the glass from her. “I think it’s time to get your drunken ass home.”

She let out a whimper that shot right through my cock. “I drove.”

“You definitely aren’t driving. I can take you,” Andrew said.

My grip on Lila’s leg tightened at his words. There was no way I was letting him anywhere near her, especially in her current state. It was obvious he had feelings toward her, and not all in the past tense.

It was there in the way he looked at her, the way he tried to protect her.

He was her knight in shining fucking armor, and I was the conductor of the darkness.

“I can take her home.”

Everyone’s attention diverted to me. Four sets of eyes stared at me before Lila began laughing.

“Oh, Caroline, I forgot to tell you. The asshole lives in my building!”

The asshole? Apparently they’d talked about me a bit.

“You know I can hear you, right, drunkie?” I swept my fingers against the inside of her thigh, keeping her attention on me and not the idiot on the other side of her.

She stared at me, her glassy eyes moving in and out of focus. “Do I look like I care?”

“Don’t hold back on me now, Palmer. Let it out.”

“I was going to go into great detail on where to stick it, but thought it might be a little too rough for our party here.”

Rough? Oh, she was going to know rough soon enough.

Ian laughed. “Oooh, Lila’s getting surly.”

“Surly wench. That’s my name.”

The bleeding edges of her mask showed. Darkness leaking out and licking against me.

“I’m going to call you that from now on,” I teased.

“Bite me, Thorne.”

One more comment and she was leaving with my teeth marks all over her neck.

“You are so fucking asking for it,” I whispered against her ear as I slid my hand up her leg and under her skirt. I’d fucking make her come in front of the asshole, in front of them all.

“Alrighty!” She jumped, drawing everyone’s attention. “I need…home. Who’s taking me?”

“I can, babe,” Andrew said, smiling at her.

This fucker.

Rip his head off.

I narrowed my eyes at Andrew. “I live in the same building. Why waste the gas when we’re going to the same place?”

“Asshole has a good point,” Lila said.

I jerked my head to the side, teeth mashed together as I resisted showing her just how much she was going to regret the last hour in front of everyone.

“Would you stop calling me that?”

“Nope. You threatened to call me ‘surly wench’ at work. If that’s the case, I have every right to call you ‘asshole.’”

“Are you sure you’re okay to go home with him?” Andrew asked her.

I straightened, my lip curling up into a snarl. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“I just thought you’d want to stick around and pick up someone for dessert,” Andrew answered with a smile on his face.

Apparently my reputation preceded me.

My snarl turned to a sneer. “No, thanks. I’m full.”

“And on that note,” Caroline said in an attempt to deflate the subject.

“On that note, I’m calling it a night and taking ‘drunkie’ here with me.” I stood and stepped back so Lila could get out.

“Well, it’s been fun, all!” Lila said with a smile, then looked down to Andrew. “Drew…good to see you.”

Before I could drag her away, the fucker climbed out of the booth and wrapped his arms around her. She floundered for a moment before hugging him back.

“You call me if you need anything, okay? I’ll always be here for you. You know that, right?”

“I know, Drew,” she said, then kissed his cheek. “See you.”

One last wave and I grabbed her wrist. I’d barely had anything to drink, but was completely pumped up. A violent energy hummed through me, and I desperately needed some sort of outlet.

Jerome was still manning the door as we exited, Lila’s unsteady steps making her weave and bump into people.

Jerome grabbed my arm, but I kept my eyes on Lila. “Yo, Nate, that chick has some serious issues. She’s the clingy type, I can tell. Best leave her.”

I smirked at him. “That shit runs both ways.”

His jaw dropped, and he nodded slowly as he looked at Lila again. “All right, I see.”

I said goodnight, then made up the distance to Lila, directing her to my car. It was nearly a block’s walk to my car, and once we got there I held the door open. She reached out to steady herself, her hand on my waist, lips parted.

I reached down, under her skirt, and cupped her pussy, pressing my fingers against her clit. She drew in a breath, her eyes darkening.

The beast growled, ready to punish her.

“Sit, or I swear to God I will take everything out on you right here.”

With a swipe of her hand across my cock, she slid down into the seat. The car was nothing but a hotbox of swirling, dangerous energy. A heady combination of my jealousy, lust, and need. An explosive combination that would set fire to the air, and I was ready to feel the burn.