It’s not what I think, but I don’t have time to answer him because Jagger pulls him off me, and Cruz throws a punch in his direction. I scramble the hell out of the kitchen as quickly as I can. This family is messed up. I run for my bedroom and slam the door closed, locking it behind me. I know I will have to face Cruz again, but I’m hoping next time I do, Jagger of all people has been able to talk some sense intohim. Even if it ends up being with his fists. Because I’m not budging on this decision. If anything, he just gave me the push I needed to really go through with it.
I turn on the shower and let the warm water block out the damn Stryker brothers and all their shit. What the hell was that? I don’t stay long, too tired to stand anymore. I scrub myself quickly with body wash and get out of there.
I throw a towel around my middle and tuck it under my arms, walking back into my bedroom ready to take a nap.
I cringe and falter my footing when I find Jagger sitting on the end of my bed like he is supposed to be there. Quickly, I clutch my towel tighter, the soft fabric a small comfort against the chill in his gaze. “What are you doing in here?” I snap. I thought I locked the door. In fact, I’m sure I locked the door, just like I did last night.
“I’m letting you know Cruz has gone for a ride to cool off. He gets a little irrational when things don’t go his way.”
I stay in the doorway, not wanting to go any further in my state of undress. Especially with the way Jagger is casting his eyes down my bare legs. “Irrational? He’s damn deranged, and you know it.”
“He’s passionate about causes he believes in. And for some reason, he has made it his personal mission to protect you from yourself and what goes on in that club.”
I roll my eyes. “I don’t need protection.”
He stands, moving closer to me, his face hardening. “Let me break down my brother’s crazy for you. You have just arrived in this town, but we grew up in that place. That club was our home. And one night while we were out working, our mother was violently raped and killed while working her shift as a dancer. Cruz was barely a teen. He hasn’t been the same since.”
I blink back at him, not sure what to say. I’m surprised he’s being so honest with me. This is as much as he has talked to me since I got here, and to share something so deeply personal and painful is shocking on many levels. “Jagger, I’m so sorry that happened to your mother. That’s awful.”
He doesn’t even look affected, that same cold distaste for life featured on his face as it always is. And for a split second I wonder what it takes for Jagger to feel emotion of any sort. “People deal with trauma differently. Sloane took it upon herself to turn that place around so it was safe for the girls working there, Asher has dedicated his life to loving every female that walks in the front door, still seeing that place as home, and Cruz avoids it like the plague. It makes him trigger-happy.”
My eyes lock with his, and I pull my towel in tighter. “What about you?”
His lips twist. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
I stare back at him. Yes. Any insight into why this man is such a grumpy asshole would help me be able to live with him.
His lips twist and his eyes light up with a look that tells me he’s imagining how he deals with his trauma, but he doesn’t answer me. “This isn’t about me. But you can see why on a crazy scale, Cruz tips into psycho when it comes to matters of this nature.”
“It makes sense, but I’m nobody to him. He shouldn’t be worried about what I do.I’m nobody to him.”I repeat myself, still trying to wrap my head around how intense he was when I didn’t just go along with what he was saying.
“That’s where you’re wrong, Flower. Cruz doesn’t let many people get close to him. He is normally sharp and calculating in everything he does. A bit of a loner, he always has been. But from the moment he watched you step off that bus the other night, he has been acting like a teenager with a hard-on. He’s acting on impulse. Going againstmy direct instructions and acting just plain crazy when it comes to anything you. Looks like you’re someone special to him whether you like it or not.”
I gape back at Jagger, a little lost for words. That kiss with Cruz at the airport was explosive. I mean, I have never felt that kind of connection with anyone before, but this, this is all too much for some guy I have just met, no matter the chemistry. “Maybe I shouldn’t be living here,” I mutter almost to myself.
Jagger’s eyes rise to meet mine, and I think he looks happy for the first time since I met him, if you could call that wicked grin happy. “That’s what I have been saying since you got here.”
“I’m not going back to Italy, Jagger.”
He shrugs. “It would be the best option for all of us if you did. You don’t want to hurt poor Cruz, do you? And I’m sure your family are missing you. I can have you on a plane first thing in the morning.”
What the hell? I stare back at him. So this was a ploy to get me to leave. He wasn’t trying to be honest with me; he was trying to scare me away. Guilt me into leaving. Asshole! My eyes narrow in on him. “Get out of my room,” I yell so damn over his attitude toward me.
“If you don’t leave and go back home to your brother,” his eyes flash with something dark and dangerous, “you won’t like what happens next.”
I flinch but try not to show how he’s affecting me, forcing my chin up defiantly. “You might have the rest of this town running scared, Jagger, but you don’t worry me.”
His glare is just as intense as mine, and I really wish I weren’t standing here in just a towel right now. “You should be,” he roars, his voice booming off the walls in my bedroom. Then he storms out of my room, slamming the door behind him like a child having a tantrum.
Grumpy bear didn’t get what he wanted for once. Well, screw him for thinking he could come in here and manipulate me. I won’t bow down to him.
Chapter 10
Queen of the Night
Nervousbutterfliesdanceinmy stomach as I take the backstage stairs onto the main stage at The Raven’s Nest. The air carries a mix of desire and expensive liquor, a combination that leaves me feeling a little lightheaded. At night, I can see why this place is so popular. Sloane has done an excellent job of creating a playground for the wealthy. The women look like they have stepped off the stage of a Victoria’s Secret runway. I’m not quite sure how I’m going to compete.
I’m dolled up in a gold glittery number with my dark hair hidden under the strawberry-blonde wig Sue, the make-up artist,picked out for me. My make-up is painted to perfection, all dark and smoky, and my lashes are fake and long enough that I’m concerned with seeing the stage in front of me as I dance. Sloane sent me to her day spa next door to have everything waxed and tanned to perfection this afternoon. I might be dressed the part and look nothing like my ordinary self, but I have never felt more self-conscious in my life. The thong rides up my ass, my heels feel like I’m on stilts about to topple over at any moment, and the sequins of my top dig into the side of my boobs, but at least I look the part.
