CHAPTER 16
Travis
My hand froze, my whiskey glass halfway to my mouth. A few minutes ago, I’d seen the leader of the douches scoot in next to Scarlett, leering at her. Seeing how disgusted she looked, I shrugged off my jealousy and found my hands clenching.
My heart pounding, I tried to calm down, fearing I would crack the whiskey glass. I took a measured gulp and then I drained the whole glass.
“Would you like another, sir?” the barman said, appearing at my side. I looked at him, my eyes burning with poorly controlled anger, a visage of rage combined with years of suppressed emotion rising to the surface.
He stepped back with fear in his eyes, fleeing straight for the other end of the bar.
I looked back at the group, my tunnel vision setting in. I froze for a while, waiting for an excuse to approach the men.
A long minute later, the other girls rose, with Scarlett rushing off to the bathroom looking pissed. Lonette and Raven hurried after her, looking equally annoyed, but I could tell their frustration was with Scarlett, not the guys.
I looked back at the guys. The leader had a bottle of champagne in his hands, laughing. He then began rummaging around in his right pocket. Looking around, the others leaned over in attempts to obscure what he was doing, but I still saw.
He’d put something into Scarlett’s glass before filling it up with champagne that fizzed a little too vigorously.
I was on my feet in an instant, striding across the restaurant toward their table, reaching it in mere seconds. My cold stare was fixed solely on the leader with his stupid V-neck t-shirt.
He looked up at me and grinned. “We’re okay. Thanks, waiter. Just got some champagne, see?” He gave a patronizing smile and waved the half-full bottle at me. “You can go away now.”
I leaned over the table, smashing the bottle out of his grip with one strong backhanded slap of my left hand. The bottle flew toward his friend, breaking on his chest. Sharp glass shattered everywhere, and the guys shouted.
I swung on my hips, sending a vicious right backhanded punch that connected with the side of his face without even taking my eyes from the ringleader who’d spiked Scarlett’s drink.
The guy I’d hit flew backwards through the air, landing at Scarlett’s feet. She stood there, shocked. But I couldn’t concern myself with that right now.
“As for you, you piece of fucking shit!” I said, leaning across the table to the ringleader. “You’re dead!”
I grabbed him by the neck, my muscles bulging as I dragged him across the table and punched him savagely in the gut, knocking all the air out of him.
Scarlett was next to me all of a sudden, her hand on my arm.
“Travis,” she said, softly. I looked down at her as she held onto my arm, which I’d drawn back for another brutal punch. But as soon as I saw her face, my rage lifted.
Realizing I was still holding the guy by his neck, I dropped him to the floor, where he began coughing and sputtering, gasping for breath.
Raven and Lonette had just then arrived on the premises. “What the fuck are you doing?” Raven screamed. When she turned her gaze from the guy on the floor to me, her eyes widened. “Oh…my…God. Did you kill him?”
The two bouncers approached, although they stopped a distance away, neither wanting to come near me.
“These pieces of shit,” I said, my voice calmer, “needed to be taught a lesson.” I pointed to the guy on the floor in front of me. “Look in his right pocket.”
“You can’t search him, mate! You ain’t the police!” his friend behind me said, apparently feeling braver now that the bouncers were there.
I turned to face him, poking a hard finger in his chest. “Sit. The. Fuck. Down,” I said.
His face drained of color and he flinched away from my touch.
I turned back toward the bouncers. “Please,” I said, gesturing to the V-neck wearing punk again. “I swear, it was him. Trust me.”
The big bouncer hesitated for a moment, but then bent down and began rummaging around in the guy’s pocket, struggling with his massive hands. He froze, frowning. Then he removed a small bag of white powder.
He looked up at me, eyebrows raised. I turned around to grab Scarlett’s glass and showed it to him close up. A trace of sediment was still visible at the bottom of the champagne flute, slowly dissolving.
The bouncer looked down to the guy again. “You fucking scum,” he said in a deep voice heavily accented in French.
Not before long, the guy was escorted—or carried, rather—out towards the back entrance of the restaurant by the bouncer, disappearing out of sight. I suspected his punishment was not yet over.
I turned to face his friends. “I suggest you all fuck off before I get angry again. Nobody wants to see that.”
The other bouncer, roughly the same size as me, punched his fist into his hand and the remaining guys left swiftly, gathering their semi-conscious friend that I’d hit earlier.
I looked at the bouncer and he looked at me for a long moment before subtly nodding and leaving to follow the guys to the front entrance, making sure they left.
“I can’t believe you did that,” Lonette said, glaring at me. “You’re a psycho.”
I grit my teeth and kept my mouth closed.
“We’re leaving. You coming, Scarlett?” Raven said, her expression and tone indicating that she shared the same sentiments as Lonette.
It wasn’t until then that I noticed Scarlett was still holding onto my arm. Her grip was tight, and when I looked down at her, her gaze was hard. Yet, it wasn’t directed at me.
“Just go. I’ve had enough of you two,” she said, waving towards the front entrance.
My heart sped. She was taking my side? She wasn’t afraid of me?
The sneers on Raven’s and Lonette’s faces deepened.
“You’re choosing him over us?” Raven said, shaking her head and turning her nose up at me. “You’re just desperate.”
“Fuck both of them. Let’s go,” Lonette said.
With angry huffs, the two of them locked arms and headed for the door.
Scarlett sighed and leaned against my shoulder, giving me a quick hug.
She knew I was just doing my job, keeping her safe.
So many emotions ran through me, I could hardly make sense of them.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said, putting my arm around her.