“Why don’t I believe you, Case?” I demand. “Maybe I should just go ask her myself.” I start to walk to the door, and he grabs my upper arm. He jerks me back and looks at me with hard eyes.
“Don’t fucking say a word to her,” he growls. “Let this go, Blane. You have more important things to worry about than your sister and me. You know for a fucking fact that I can’t touch her. And I don’t break my rules.”
I take a deep, calming breath before I rip my arm out of his hold. He’s right. I am very clear on his rules. And I’m very clear about the job I have to do. “I’ll have an order for you tomorrow,” I say through clenched teeth. “The sooner I get this done, the sooner I want Taylor out of this situation.”
“I agree with you.” He nods.
I take a step up to him. “And when I’m finished, you had better promise me that you will never contact her again.” I need to know that not only do I get out of this alive but that she also gets out of his life completely.
“You have my word,” he says without hesitation. But for some reason, I don’t feel the satisfaction I should from that statement.
I walk back into the club and head straight for our table. I find Savannah still sitting alone but with a smile on her face as she sips her drink. I don’t even stop to explain why I left her because she knows I won’t tell her anyway. I grab her by the hand and pull her from her seat. She stumbles from my force but stays upright. I pull her through the club and out the front door to her car yelling a good-bye to Brecken over my shoulder when I see him outside.
As I pull out of the parking lot, I wonder what in the fuck I’ve done. I have us both so deep in a situation that I’m not sure I can dig us out. And even if I could, I’m not sure Taylor would want me to.
CASE
I’m walking back up the stairs that lead to my office when I feel the radio on my hip start to vibrate from someone yelling into it.
I stop and pick it up, placing it to my ear. I hear Bryan’s voice yelling into it. “Fight!” I spin around on the stairs and look around the club. I don’t see anything that looks to be a fight, but I see Bryan jump over the end of the bar and head down the hallway. I run down the stairs and before I hit the last one, Miller pushes his way through the crowd heading in the same direction.
I make a mad dash through the crowd, shoving people out of my way when I come up to the hallway and see there’s a fight in one of the private rooms. I walk in to see Miller pulling two guys apart while another guy swings at Bryan when another one jumps on his back.
I reach out to grab the guy and remove him from Bryan’s back when I feel a fist to the side of my head. It doesn’t really hurt with my adrenaline pumping; it just pisses me off.
I spin around to face the guy who hit me, and I knee him between his legs. He hovers over as he grabs himself and I take advantage of the situation and lift my knee to make contact with his face. He falls to the floor, holding his face as he rolls around like an idiot.
I turn back to Bryan; he is on the floor on top of one guy while the other is still on his back. I reach down and pull him off. As the guy stands on his feet, he goes to swing at me, but I duck and land a punch in his side. He falls to the ground, holding onto it.
I look over my shoulder to see that Miller has two men hunched over as they both grab their bloodied faces. He doesn’t bother to look at me as he drags them out of the room and toward the back exit to proceed with our protocol.
Bryan gets his guy under control, and I start to grab the last one when a pair of white shorts gets my attention out of the corner of my eye. I turn to see Taylor trying to push herself up off the floor over in the far corner.
“Taylor.” I run over to her and grab her upper arm. I help her stand as she sways on her feet. “Fuck,” I hiss through gritted teeth as I get a look at her face. “Which one hit you?” I demand as I reach up to touch the cut on her cheek. She pulls away, and I grind my teeth as a bruise has already formed. She tries to take a step back from me, but I hold onto her. “Which one hit you, Taylor?” I demand louder.
She reaches up and runs her hand through her hair, pushing it off her face before she goes to touch her cheek. I grab her other hand with my free hand and shake her a bit. “Taylor,” I snap. She finally looks up at me; her eyes are glossy with unshed tears and a look of confusion on her face. Whoever hit her, hit her hard. “Which one touched you?” This time, I ask softly. I don’t want to scare her; I can tell she’s a little dazed.
“I … I don’t know … It happened so fast.” She looks around at the room aimlessly. “I walked in and someone bumped into me …” She swallows. “I dropped my drinks and then went to turn around but was knocked down to the floor …” She blinks a few times. “I think … I think it was a shoe …”
“Listen to me, Taylor.” I wait for her eyes to focus on me again. “Go up to my office.”
“I can’t. I have tables …” she whispers.
“Fuck your tables,” I snap. “Go up to my office and wait for me.” She just stands there, looking up at me; her blue eyes still have that dazed look to them.
“What the fuck happened?”
I look up to the door to see Brecken enter the room, breathing heavy from just running from the entrance. “I’m not sure. But they’re all out back.” He nods his head, pushes off the door, and runs toward the back exit.
“Taylor,” I say softly as I run my thumb over her face right below the cut. It doesn’t look deep enough to need stitches. I think when she fell she might have hit her head, which dazed her more than anything else did. The blood that runs down her cheek is already starting to dry. “Go upstairs and wait for me. Okay?’
“Okay.” She finally responds softly. I walk her over to the door. Jackie comes up and gasps as she gets a look at Taylor. “Make sure she makes it up to my office,” I demand and then head toward the back door.
***
Have you ever been so mad you thought you could rip off the head of a grown man with your bare hands? I feel that way right now. My entire body shakes and my head pounds. I have a ringing in my ears that won’t go away. I haven’t felt this way in a long time. So mad I could light the world on fire with one fucking match.
“Case, man,” Miller says placing a hand on my shoulder. I spin around with my fists raised and he takes a step back from me. “We got this. Go make sure Taylor is okay.” He knows exactly why I’m so pissed. I guess the fact I said her name every time I fucking hit one of them gave me away.
