Chapter 50

Rainey

I shouldn’t have let Tessa call the Uber. When we arrived at Kadia, I pinched her arm.

“Ow!” Tessa cried out.

The driver looked back at us through the rearview mirror.

“I told you I didn’t want to come here,” I said.

Tessa waved me off before scooting over in the seat to push me out of the car. If I was in the right frame of mind, I’d let her out, get back inside, and go home, leaving her there to whatever fate her dating app picked for her.

Instead, I stood at the curb, crossing my arms over my chest and glaring at her.

“This is the reason I didn’t tell you,” she said, rubbing her arm. “You really hurt me.”

“You deserved it,” I said.

“Listen, I knew you weren’t going to come unless I didn’t tell you.”

“You’re right. I wouldn’t have.”

“He picked the place, though,” she said. “I don’t want to appear inflexible with my plans. First impressions are everything, you know?”

I did know that. And she looked amazing tonight. She went with a simple black and white dress that hugged her curves yet allowed her to dance as much as she wanted. Her five-inch heels would come off at some point. After every club night with her, Tessa’s feet were black from dancing on dirty floors and walking around the city sidewalks barefoot. Anytime I said she should wear flats she’d snort and tell me I was ridiculous.

“I want to make a good impression when I arrive, muscly calves and all,” she’d said.

“You told me you were meeting at a bar, not a nightclub.” I looked down at my simple red dress. It was made for sitting, not dancing.

“Well, technically this is a bar,” she said with a sheepish smile.

“Tessa, I don’t want to run into Michael here.” Especially after our confrontation that morning. I needed to get away from him if I was going to have any fun.

“You won’t,” she said.

“How the hell do you know that?”

She chewed on her lip. “I don’t.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Come on, it’s freezing out here,” she said.

“No,” I said. “I can’t do this.”

“You said you would do it for me. Come on, are you going to stand in the way of me and love?”

“Love?”

“Well, maybe not love, but possibly great sex?”

“Fine!” I said. It would be stupid to go home now anyway. Mom would have a million questions for me about why I came home early.

We jumped into the line outside and within a few minutes were let inside.

I stared at every tall guy with dark hair that we saw, looking for Michael. What would he think if he saw me there? That I didn’t take anything seriously? Would he think I was looking for him or stalking him? He knew I knew his brother owned the place. And I had asked for space. This was the complete opposite.

We walked downstairs to the club part of the place and with the open dance floor, I was going to be a sitting duck if he was in the VIP rooms.

“Can we at least sit across the room, away from our normal spot tonight?” I asked.

“Absolutely,” Tessa said.

As we crossed the room, I kept my head down. I glanced upstairs at the rooms overlooking the dance floor, but we were there early enough that there weren’t many people up there. And definitely no Michael.

I let out a relieved breath when we finally made it to the high top tables under the balcony of the VIP rooms. If Michael were here, he’d never see me. And I had a good vantage point of the stairs leading up to the rooms and the entrance to the dance floor. If anyone was going to see him first, it was me.

That eased my mind a little bit.

“He’s at the bar,” Tessa said, without looking up at her phone.

“Go,” I said. “I’ll be fine.”

“You know the signal right?” she asked.

“A double hair toss,” I said. “This isn’t my first rodeo.”

“Are you going to be okay here?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said. “I can fend for myself.”

Tessa kissed my cheek then let out an excited squeal before strutting over to the bar. She found her guy, and he was hot. Like, smoking hot. From there I could make out his stubbly cheeks and chin. Tessa loved a good scruff. Why was this guy on a dating app? Though by her sex on the first date comment earlier, that might have been his motivation as well.

I watched her for a few minutes, she was smiling, but that didn’t mean anything. I couldn’t quite tell if it was an “I’m having fun” smile or an “I'll act polite until I can run away” smile. Then I got the signal.

It wasn’t the help-me-hair-toss, it was the crossed fingers behind her back, telling me that all was okay.

I let out a relieved breath and sat back in my chair. Now I could focus on keeping out of Michael’s sight, at least only if he decided to come to the club tonight.

A group of guys sat down at the table next to me. I placed my purse on one of the other chairs at my table, signifying that someone would occupy it soon. One of the guys leered at me, and I quickly turned away.

Tessa and her date moved onto the dance floor. I thought she’d stop by the table—I actually wished she would— but I wasn’t so lucky.

I wanted to grab myself a drink. Maybe it would calm my nerves for the possibility of seeing Michael tonight.

But the guy that leered at me before banged his glass on the table, startling me.

“Those fuckers better watch themselves tonight,” he said to his buddies. “Those brothers think just because they have money that their shit don’t stink. I have the right mind to report their asses to the police for all the shady shit goin’ on around here.”

I couldn’t help but overhear. He was so loud. I glanced over at them, hoping that my annoyed look would turn down the volume of his voice.

One of his friends looked at me and then bumped his arm. He turned around to face me.

I looked away quickly, but I saw them out of the corner of my eye, still watching.

My heart beat hard in my chest. Why couldn’t they mind their own business? What creeps!

“If Frederick even comes down here tonight, I’m going to lay into him for what he did.”

Were they talking about Michael and Frederick? What did they do to this guy? He was huge, more muscles than brain function, though. I’d have to warn Michael if I saw him. Then the guy continued to say vulgar things about both Michael and Frederick. His plans to harm them started to get more gruesome. Maybe instead of waiting for Michael, I could try to find him and warn him. It was the opposite of what I wanted to do tonight, but I felt an obligation to him. We were involved for a little while, and I still cared for him as a person. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to him if I could stop it.

I stood up, determined to tell Frederick or Michael about these guys when I felt pressure on my arm. I glanced down and saw the leering guy holding me in place.

“Take your hand off me!” I said. Over the music, my words weren’t as efficient as a threat.

“You leaving so soon?” he said, his beer breath made my stomach turn. “I thought you might be interested in joining us since you were so eager to listen to our conversation.”

“No, thanks,” I said, ripping my arm away.

I turned and bumped into another one of his friends. Was this happening? Did they know I was going to find Frederick? How? Had they seen Michael and me together? Were these more of the men who were following Michael around? Coming to the club was a terrible idea, and now I was being attacked for it.

“Move!” I screamed. And that time they heard me. They didn’t obey.

“Come on, sweetheart,” the leering guy said. He touched the small of my back, and I whirled around and shoved him away from me before his hand moved any lower.

“I didn’t hear anything, I swear,” I said.

The guy looked a little confused, but his smirk held firm. He was bad news, and I trapped myself in the middle of it, just as I had with Michael.

“I-I thought you were someone else, that’s why I was staring,” I said. “I’m s-sorry.”

“Well I’d like to get to know you better,” he said. “But sorry, darling we haven’t met before.”

I shoved away from the guy blocking me and left the guys laughing at me. Heat moved behind my eyes. My hands trembled. I searched for Tessa, but I didn’t see her in the crowd. I wondered if she and her date were getting comfortable elsewhere. I wished I never came. I was such an idiot. Tonight had turned out much worse than I thought and Michael wasn’t even here.

I went to the bar and ordered a shot of whiskey and a beer. The whiskey helped calm my nerves while the beer gave me the anchor that my hands needed to stop shaking.

I looked up at the VIP rooms. I didn’t see anyone I recognized, but I couldn’t go up there right now. Then those guys would know I was going to warn Michael or Frederick about their threats. The only thing I could do was to pretend that I didn’t hear anything important. As much as it pained me to do so, I went back to the table and sat down. I sat so that I could keep them in the corner of my eye but I didn’t look at them again. They continued to talk among themselves, but I didn’t hear Michael or Frederick’s name again. They were careful not to talk about them around me.

They seemed to lose interest in me after our little encounter, so after a few minutes, I got up again, leaving my beer at the table as if I was going to the bathroom. Once I reached the hallway for the bathrooms, I glanced behind me to make sure they weren’t looking and then made a sharp turn toward the stairs leading to the VIP rooms. Once I reached the top of the stairs, I knew I was in the wrong place. The VIP rooms were across the way. I stood at the end of a hallway with several doors on one side. Maybe these were private VIP rooms. I wrinkled my nose thinking of what was going on in there.

I slinked down the hall, staying close to the wall. Closer to the luxurious VIP rooms that were visible from the dance floor, there was a marked door for the office. I wondered if Frederick was inside. Now that I was up there, I wondered if I should say anything or mind my own business. I wanted to be away from Michael, not involve myself more in his dealings.

Voices carried from the hall behind me. It was the same men that were sitting next to me. Did they come up to stop me?

I shoved through to the office and pressed my back against the closed door. I let out a breath and hoped that they wouldn’t catch me in here.

Someone cleared his throat, and I whipped around to see Michael and another man sitting across the room. It wasn’t his brother, but a severe looking man. A smile curled the corner of his lips.

I swallowed, trying to dislodge the lump in my throat. When I came up here, I expected to find Michael’s brother. He always seemed like a happy man, but coming into this room was as if I entered a poker match where I was the obvious loser.

“Rainey,” Michael said, standing up from his chair. He buttoned his suit jacket and sauntered over to me. “What do I owe the pleasure?”

His eyes were hard, but not for me. I’d interrupted something.

I licked my lips, attempting to make the words form against them. “Michael, I think you’re in danger.”