Shelly
“Mommy! I’m ready to go to Auntie’s house,” Ryker whines, holding his backpack over his shoulders.
I chuckle and shake my head. “Give Mommy a few more minutes and we’ll be ready to go.” I’m really excited for a night out. I’ve been getting great write ups from the doctors I’m working with for school, and the victory over Eli was the icing on the cake. Of course it’s not fully done and over with, but I’m praying that when he goes back to court he’ll be put in jail for a long time and I’ll never have to worry about him again. For now I’ll take a fun night out to celebrate this first step in keeping him out of our lives.
“I’m ready, baby. Are you?” Mikey leans on the door to our room.
“Yeah.” I grab my wristlet and follow him to the living room, where he is bouncing on the couch in front of the TV.
He tells Ryker it’s time to go, so he jumps off the couch, shuts off the TV, and runs to the door, excited to see his aunt.
We pull up to Eric’s apartment and park in one of the visitor spots. Ryker has his belt unbuckled the second the car is in park. He tries to open the door, but the child locks are on, leaving him stuck in the back. “Ryker, calm down right now or I’m taking you home.”
“I’m sorry, Mommy. I’m excited to see Auntie. I miss her.” I open the door as he finishes his statement. Ryker jumps into my arms with a huge smile on his face. It’s infectious. I burst into laughter.
“God, I love you.”
He giggles. “I love you too, Mommy.” He smooshes his lips to mine, giving me a really big kiss.
I start laughing. “Okay, okay, let’s get you upstairs.”
I let him press the doorbell, and when he hears his aunt’s voice asking who it is, he shouts, “It’s me, auntie!” She laughs and presses the buzzer to let us in. When we get up to the door, he’s totally excited to see my sister standing there. He runs at her and leaps into the air. “I miss you, auntie.”
“Awww, I miss you too, buddy. Are you ready to have some fun with Eric and I?” He nods. “Good, because Auntie has made us mac and cheese, with chicken nuggets, just the way you like, and then we’re going to play board games and watch movies together.” Her eyes are wide and hold as much excitement as Ryker’s.
“Well, since you two are good, we’re going to go because Mikey has to drop me off and then head over to Temptation. His lazy butt hasn’t been to work in a while.”
“I’ll show you lazy a little later.” He pinches my ass.
I giggle. “Promises, promises.” I hug my sister goodbye and we leave so Mikey can drop me at Club Thrive.
When we pull up to the back of Club Thrive, Slade is already there waiting for me with Kara by his side. She’s working tonight, so it works out good that he’s working too. Mikey gives me a chaste kiss and tells me to be alert, but have fun.
“I will. Go get some work done.”
“Bye baby.” He gives me one last kiss and he’s gone. He’s coming back to pick me up later tonight.
Slade, Kara, and I walk to the employee entrance. Slade pounds on the door and Kelly appears a moment later to let us in. She’s now managing Club Thrive since Shane was moved to Club Heat. Logan is doing a nice job setting himself up with a team that will really work hard for him, and he rewards them well. Kara and I both give Kelly a hug before we go to the bar. Kelly let’s Kara know that she’s on bar one as we walk through the club. It’s going to open shortly; they need to get a move on to make sure everything is good.
I’m sitting in the VIP section by myself when Sky, Miranda, and Sadie all come walking in together. “Hey girl.” I jump up to give the girls a hug.
“Did you ladies all come together?”
“Yeah, drove Jonah crazy, but he’ll get over it.” They burst into a fit of giggles.
Slade takes a seat next to me. “Listen, one of the bouncers called out tonight, so I’m not only going to be watching you but backing them up as well. I want you to have a good time, but pay attention too.”
I give him a tight smile. “I will.” He nods and takes his place by our section. There’s always a bouncer here as well as Slade, now tonight we only have Slade. I take a deep breathe to try and relax.
“It’ll be fine,” Sky encourages as Shawna comes over to get us our first round of drinks. No sooner do we order, the music kicks on, and the doors open, letting in a sea of people. At first it makes me a bit nervous, but when Shawna delivers my rum and pineapple, I take a healthy sip and shake away my thoughts. It’s a night to have fun, not worry. I’ve spent enough time doing that lately.
The girls are busy talking baby talk, but Sky’s had enough. “Come on, it’s time to dance, ladies.” She grabs my hand and pulls me to the dance floor. We make our typical circle in front of Slade and start shaking our asses. We’ve danced straight through the first eight or ten songs and we’re already starting to sweat like crazy. “I need a break,” I shout to Sky over the music. She nods and waves the other girls off the floor.
Shawna sees us make our way back to our section and automatically delivers another round. She knows that we always order the same things. Sky drinks Blue Hawaiian, Miranda drinks beer, Sadie drinks Cosmos, and I drink a Malibu and pineapple. It’s great for all of us because she can save herself a trip. She doesn’t have to ask what we want and then run for it. The only time we switch it up is if we are celebrating an occasion, then sometimes we have champagne, but this isn’t that kind of night. When she brings our drinks, this time she brings us each a water as well. Another thing I love about Shawna.
We thank her and go back to looking at pictures of Taylor. Miranda has a ton of them on her phone. She and Stone have been spending a ton of time with Katie and the baby. They’re best friends, and from what I gather, they have been for years. Sky excitedly moves to the edge of her seat. “You know what we need to do?”
“What?” My brows furrow, trying to figure out what she’s so excited about.
“We need to plan a family vacation. A few days away somewhere fun where we can all hang out and enjoy our time, not only with the kids, but as adults too. You know, put the kids to bed and then we have some fun.”
“Yes, that’s what I’m talking about.” Sadie fist bumps Sky.
“Okay, not to be the Debbie Downer, but how are we going to get the entire Club Thrive family away from this place so we can go away, and there’s no way Katie is going to go on vacation with a newborn,” Miranda says with her brows raised.
“We don’t have to do it right away, but we can start planning. Maybe if we do it enough in advance, Logan and Mikey can figure something out.” Sky shrugs.
“Yeah, it’s not like anyone is pregnant right now, so we have no family babies due in the near future. It’s a great time to start planning and we don’t have to go far. We can rent a huge beach house and spend a few days on the beach with the kids. They’ll love it.” Even I’m getting excited. I’ve never been able to take Ryker on any sort of vacation, this will be great for him.
“Okay, I’ll talk to Logan and you talk to Mikey. If they agree, they can make it work with the clubs. We’ll come up with a time that works for everyone!” Sky announces.
We all agree and then hit the dance floor for another round of dancing. This is turning out to be an amazing night, and all I keep thinking about is how excited I am to tell Mikey about the plan. I know he has a crew that can easily run his club for a few days. It’s just a matter of making sure that Club Thrive, Heat, and Oasis are good to go. Logan doesn’t hire a ton of excess staff and we would want Slade to be with us, so he couldn’t fill in. Hopefully he says it’s a go.
The club is really packed, but the music is good and we’re having a great time. The night is flying by because we’re having so much fun. Suddenly Slade runs from his post. We see some commotion on the other side of the club, but we ignore it and mind our business. “I’ll be back. I’m going to hit the ladies’ room.”
“Want me to come with you?” Sky asks.
I roll my eyes. “I’m a big girl. I’ll be fine.”
“I’m not letting you go alone,” Sky insists. She leans over and tells Sadie to wait for us there, that she and I are going to the bathroom.
The bathroom isn’t far from where we’re dancing. We hurry over to get into the short line that has formed in and out of the restroom. The line is going quickly, and I’m really happy because I really have to go. Between the alcohol and the water, it’s no wonder there’s always a line. We finally get inside, I quickly do my thing and exit the stall so the next woman can get in, but it’s really packed in here. I wash my hand and use my wet paper towel to wipe away my running mascara. I’m a mess from sweating. Tossing my paper towel into the trash, I shout to Sky that I’ll meet her outside to make more room for the woman waiting. When I exit the bathroom, I suddenly feel my hair being pulled from behind me. It throws me off and I lose my balance. Strong hands grab me and pull me backwards. I’m trying to shout, but it’s no use—he’s covered my mouth.
“You stupid cunt, stop fighting me.” I’m being dragged, and I can tell from the voice it’s Eli. “You think you can keep my son from me. You’re out here shaking your ass like the whore you are and I’m not allowed to see my kid,” he growls into my ear. I’m fighting Eli with all I have, but he’s bigger than me and stronger than me. I’m not sure where he’s taking me, but I’m starting to panic. I’m panting and trying to fight him off when he slams me into a wall. Pain shoots through my head. “You know the fight you’re putting up is turning me on.” He gives me his nasty grin. “I was originally just going to kill you so I could take my son back, with no interference from you, but maybe I’ll dip my cock into that pussy of yours one last time. Then I’m out of here with our boy.” I try biting at his hand, but the way he’s cupping it I can’t get to him. I think I’m in the dark hall leading to the employee area of the club. He opens a door and shoves me inside. It’s dark, but my eyes are starting to adjust. It’s a small closet, there’s not much room, and even if I yell no one will hear me over the music. “I’ve been watching you two for quite some time now. I know our son is at Brea’s house, and trust me—I have a plan for getting him too. You see, I’ve had time to think this through and plan this out. I even had my girl apply for a job at Oasis so she could keep an eye on you while you were there. You never suspected a thing. You assumed she didn’t like you because you were fucking the boss, but you were wrong. All I had to do was bide my time and wait for the right opportunity to attack.” He starts to unbuckle his pants.
“Fuck you.” I start to scream at the top of my lungs, hoping someone will hear me.
He backhands me hard, sending more pain shooting through my head. “Oh, I’m going to fuck you, and then I’m going to leave you dead in this closet.” He chuckles. “Then, there’s no one to stop me. I’ll get our son and hit the road—no one will ever find us.”
I start to kick and scream, but he’s too strong. He’s pinning me down, cutting off my airway. “You know…” He licks his lips. “I’ve always hated the name Ryker.” He laughs. “I already have all new paperwork for him. His name is going to be Owen, like I wanted, and then my girl will show him what it’s like to have a real mom.” He’s fighting his way through my pants. My vision is starting to blur from lack of oxygen, but I have to hold on, it’s the only way to save my son. I use all the strength I have to claw at his eyes. He jumps back slightly, but recovers quickly. It gives me just enough time to take some huge gulps of air. I need to regain my composure or I’m done. He punches me in the face and rips at my shirt. He pulls at my bra, tearing it in half. I’m still putting up a fight until he pulls at my nipple hard. It causes me to scream out in pain. He punches me again, nearly knocking me unconscious. With his hands on my throat one more time, I quickly start to fade. I’m not strong enough to hold him off any longer. My eyes start to droop—fuck, I’m going to die, and he’s going to get my boy.