And with nothing more than a flick of his wrist, Dominic releases the man, letting him fall to the ground in a wheezing heap. He turns aroundand his eyes are pools of molten darkness and heat. Almost like he’s mad at…me?
I swallow. That can’t be right. Even he isn’t asshole enough to blame me for the actions of a drunk. Somewhere in my mind, I know that to be true, but I’m struggling to make sense of the events of the last few minutes. The man grabbing me. The scrape of his teeth on my neck, his fingers digging into my flesh. Dominic coming out of nowhere. The relief I felt at seeing him.
Andthe rage.
His rage, and the way it coated the words he said to the man. Words that dripped with a pure animal urge to protect, to defend what was his.Except I’m not his.Dominic takes a step toward me, and my instincts tell me to take two steps back, shrinking away from the dangerous look that’s spearing me.
“Alright, folks, that’s enough. Break it up or I’m going to have to call the cops.”
A burly white man with red hair breaks through the crowd. He’s wearing a black shirt with the club’s logo embroidered on the sleeve and is holding a walkie-talkie in his hand. A security guard.Of course they would come when everything is over.
He ambles over to me and places a hand on my shoulder. Dominic glowers at him, and he removes it. “Anybody want to tell me what happened here?”
Dominic speaks first. “What happened here is you’ve got paying customers on the floor doing your job while you’re sitting on your ass letting predators run loose!”
Holy fuck, is he angry. It’s more evident now. In the slant of his brows, the flare of his nostrils, and the heat in his eyes that’s charring everything his glare touches. And right now, it’s focused solely on the security guard whose skin is now as red as his hair.
“None of my guys saw anyone doing anythingpredatory.” He spits the last word out like it’s an affront to his character to even say it. “They did see you punching another paying customer not once, but twice, and then choking him half to death though.”
A dark, sarcastic smile tilts Dominic’s lips. He takes two steps toward the guard, moving over the heaving man on the floor and looking like committing another act of violence in such a short time frame would mean nothing to him. “Are you—”
I step forward, putting myself between the two men. “Dominic, please don’t.”
My hand is on his chest, but I’m not fool enough to think I could stop him if he made a move for the guard. Slowly, as if he isn’t sure he actually wants to, Dominic looks down at me. The muscle in his jaw is ticking again.
“I’d listen to your girl if I were you, pal.” The guard laughs, bending down to help my groper up off of the floor. “If you’re not out of here in five minutes, you’re going to be spending the night in the drunk tank. Might even find yourself facing a drunk and disorderly conduct charge.”
“You’rereallynot helping, sir,” I say sternly, resisting the urge to tell him to shut the hell up. I mean, who thinks it’s a good idea to antagonize a man who’s just left another gasping for air? “Dominic, let’s just get Mal and go.”
With one last withering look at the security guard, Dominic nods his head then turns to walk away. It isn’t until I’m running to keep up with his long strides that I realize he’s holding my hand. His palm is rough and warm, and his fingers cradle mine in a grip that’s firm but gentle.
“Stop. You don’t need to…” I fight against his hold, barely slowing our progress as he parts the crowd with the sheer force of his will.
He glances back at me, disbelief marring his features. “Do you want me to go to jail, Sloane? Because that’s exactly what’s going to happenif I let you go and another fucking person in this shithole touches you tonight.”
“What? I—”
Words fail me. Disbelief and alcohol have made my brain sluggish, and Dominic uses my delayed processing skills to his advantage, tightening his grip on my limp hand and barreling back toward the booth where Mal and Chase are still sitting.
Her mouth drops when she sees us, and I can only imagine what we must look like. Me, shell-shocked and disbelieving, being dragged around by Dominic, who looks no worse for wear after his physical exertions but still has murder in his eyes.
“Sloane, what’s going on?” she shrieks, attempting to stand.
Dominic gestures for her to sit back down. He’s still holding my hand, using his free one to grab my clutch from the table. “We don’t have time to go over all the minute details, Mallory. We have to go.”
I grab my purse from Dominic and glance at Mal, who’s looking more confused by the second. “Some drunk guy got a little handsy with me when I was heading to the bar. Dominic saw and—” Six eyes land on me, watching me struggle to find the right word for what my supposed enemy did for me. Turns out, there’s only one. “—savedme. But things got a little violent, so we’ve been asked to leave.”
“Oh, shit. I guess that means…” Chase trails off awkwardly, standing to free Mal, who is scrambling out of the booth.
I can’t believe he’s leaving an opening for Mal to invite him back to her place after hearing her sister-in-law just got groped. And from the look of disgust on Dominic’s face, he can’t believe it either. I’m increasingly aware of his skin on mine. He’s applying steady pressure to my wrist. Like he doesn’t want me to forget for one second that his hand is there.
As if I could.
“Chase, honey. I’ll give you a call tomorrow, okay?” Mal’s voice issugary sweet, but I can tell she’s been rubbed the wrong way by his lack of consideration too. She presses a kiss to his cheek then smiles at me and Dominic. “You guys ready?”
I nod. I’m more than ready to get the hell out of this club. Mal waltzes over and takes our hands in her own, breaking the contact so she can step in between us and link our arms together. She looks up at Dominic, ready to fire off a thousand questions at him as we walk out.
Warm summer air caresses my skin as we step onto the sidewalk. It’s late, at least two in the morning, but the street is still buzzing with people. Groups of friends who are staggering into another club, their laughter filtering through the night. I’m staring a little too hard at a couple devouring each other on the corner when Mal finally lands on a question.
