The man grinned, digging into his shirt pocket and withdrawing a dirty napkin. “Ned,” he said, extending it to me. “Ned Fleck.”
“Well,Ned, you’re not getting an autograph,” I said, barely restraining myself from swatting his hand away. “In fact, you’renever setting foot in one ofmyestablishments again.” I inclined my head toward Delia. “Wanna go for broke?”
After a beat in which the man’s gaze darted back and forth between me and Delia, he settled for spitting, “Fuck you, you stupid bitch,” at her.
That was a mistake.
Rage boiled my blood, a killing calm settling over me. Like it was fourth and goal with the game on the line, and the linebacker across from me had me in his crosshairs. Like he’d just insulted my mother, and I was going to make him live to regret it.
With a gentle palm against her stomach, I pushed Delia out of the way, behind me and into the embrace of her sisters…
And drove my fist into the bastard’s face.
One hit was all it took before he was on the ground, blood spurting from his nose. From his back, the man hissed like a snake, threatening to call the cops, to sue me, to take all my money and businesses away from him.
He continued to spew vitriol at me as my team lifted him up and carried him out the door.
In the wake ofthe physical altercation, the chaos in the club died in an instant, the building becoming so quiet I could probably easily hear a whisper from the other side of the dance floor. Once the douchebag was gone, I saw no reason for me to stay open any longer.
“Everybody out!” I shouted. “Lawless is officially closed for the night!”
Groans rose from the crowd, but I simply met Hugo’s eyes over the heads of my guests. With a knowing nod, he began ushering people out onto the street, and I breathed a heavy sigh of relief that this nightmare was finally ending.
“Where the fuck is she?” a voice yelled from the entrance.
Or maybe not.
“I’m sorry, sir. You can’t come in here,” the bouncer at the door told whoever it was, though he was short enough that I could only see the top of his head.
“My girlfriend is in there, you dumbass.Get out of my way!”
“Alfie?” Ella whispered from behind me, and I turned to her as she pushed past Delia and Brie, weaving through the crowd to greet her guy.
“What is he doing here?” Brie asked quietly.
“Who the fuck knows,” Delia replied, then grabbed her sister’s hand. “C’mon. We better go see what the fuss is about.”
Silently, I followed behind the Delatou women as they made their way toward the door.
I didn’t know much about Ella’s boyfriend beyond the fact that I hated him. He was the opposite of everything I stood for, especially where women were concerned: misogynistic, prideful, overly invested in archaic gender roles. Even a few hours in his presence made me realize how much he belittled Ella. And if I knew anything about the Delatou women, first from that summer with and subsequent years knowing Amara, and now working side by side with Delia, it was that they didn’t take kindly to men telling them what to do. This guy must’ve had a really magical dick to make Ella act this way—or he was gaslighting the shit out of her. Either way, I didn’t like it one bit, and I could tell her sisters didn’t either.
All through dinner, I hadn’t missed how the corners of Delia’s eyes pinched with worry as she silently observed their interactions. Alfie managed to put Ella down at every opportunity, even over things as inconsequential as her asking for a second glass of wine or wanting the last little piece of bread.
The guy needed to be taught a lesson, but unfortunately, it wasn’t my place to do so.
“What the fuck are you doinghere?” Alfie spat at Ella, and instantly my hackles rose. I inhaled deeply, schooling my temper.The last thing I needed was to drop another guy with a fist to the face tonight.
“My sisters wanted to go out,” Ella said simply.
“You didn’t need to go with them,” he said. “In fact, I’m fairly certain I told you not to.”
“She doesn’t answer to you,” Delia said coolly, and though I couldn’t see her face, I knew that whiskey gaze was burning a hole through Alfie.
“She does, actually,” he said. “Mind your own fucking business.”
“Excuse you—” I started, fully preparing to—well, I didn’t know what yet, but I knew it didn’t involve sitting here while this little twit insulted Delia and Ella.
But Delia’s warm palm settled on my chest, somehow instantly soothing me as she said, “He’s not worth it.” Then she angled her head to look at her sister. “Remember what I said in the car.”
