“Come.” He tugged on my arm, pulling me toward him. “With. Me.”
“No,” I pulled out of his hold. “I’m here with Kim and we’re having a good time.”
“Being pawed by a couple of grade A douchebags is a good time?” he challenged.
“We could have handled it,” I said with a little more confidence than I felt at the time.
He leaned forward so his mouth was against my ear. “Get the fuck out of the booth and come with me Dani, or I swear to God, I will remove you.”
I gasped and glanced at Kim who was being schmoozed by Mack... the traitor. He did look frickin’ delicious, but still, she should have been as mad as I was.
Austin held out his hand and I slid from the booth, ignoring him, and stepping toward Kim. “Hi, Mack. You look really nice.”
“Thanks, babe,” he said, sending a smirk over my shoulder, and then focusing back on me again. “So do you.”
Austin’s hand settled on my lower back and I was being guided (pushed) to where he wanted me to go, which was toward the back of the club. He walked me down a dimly-lit hallway and through the fourth door on the right (I know this for sure, because I counted).
The room was surprisingly warm with the same mahogany finishings as the club, but instead of the red leather booths, there was an overstuffed sofa, flat screen television and a desk in the corner. I heard the door click behind me and I turned to face Austin. “Where’s Kim?”
“Mack’s taking her home.”
“What? Why? You have no right to blow up girls’ night, Austin.”
He crossed his arms and frowned. “I told you not to come here tonight, Dani. Told you I’d pick you up and take you anywhere else you wanted to go. What the fuck?”
“It’s a nice place. I don’t know what your problem is. We got in, which is somewhat of a miracle to begin with, so I was looking forward to having a good time.”
“You got in because I let you in.”
“What?” I squeaked.
“The Dogs own it, babe. I run it.”
“What?” I repeated.
He sighed. “I told Tommy and Tiny to watch for you and Kim.”
“What?” I threw my purse on the sofa. “So are you saying you’ve known who I was all along?”
“No, babe. I have two rules. No troublemakers or good girls. Nothing will get a club in hot water faster.”
“How could you possibly—”
“Have you ever gotten in?”
“Well, no,” I conceded.
“You would have been denied access because my team is good. Better than good. And they would have seen you coming from a mile away. No one looked close enough at you for your name to raise any red flags. Harris isn’t an uncommon last name and your father and brother work out of Washington.”
He had a point.
“So, they don’t know I’m a cop’s daughter?”
“They do now.”
“Is that why you’re here? To make sure I don’t tell my daddy?” I snapped.
“You’re here, because tonight’s the worst fucking night for you to be here.”
