“Ouch,” Nikos said, hissing dramatically, and Honey had to stop herself from rolling her eyes as Nikos peeked at her through low-lidded eyes. “Shouldn’t you feel sympathy for me?”
“I did at first, but now I don’t,” Honey said stubbornly, though, in actuality, she did feel sympathy for him because he had gotten hurt protecting her.
“I still look good, right?” Nikos asked, winking at her, and Honey rolled her eyes this time. Nikos laughed as if that was the reaction he wanted from her before his face turned serious, and she found herself staring into his blue eyes.
“Are you okay?” he asked her, and for the first time, Honey actually thought he looked handsome. She quickly looked away.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”
“I’m fine,” Nikos said. “I usually don’t fight men that weigh twice as me because it’s not recommended, but I’ll be your hero anytime.”
Honey pinched the bridge of her nose, exasperated. Before she could ask him if he ever turned his charm down, even though she knew she would be given another one-liner in turn, Antonis stepped into the room with two of his men and James. Knowing how Antonis could be with her closeness with other men, she stood up, creating distance. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with tantrums after what happened. But Antonis stared at her face, and there was a dark look in his gaze.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Some asshole outside tried to force me to go out on a date,” Honey repeated with disgust, still annoyed by what just happened. “That’s when Nikos came out and helped me. If he hadn’t been there…”
She hated to think about what would have possibly happened. She doubted it would have ended with her giving into the date under duress. Men like him were crazy.
“You were actually holding your own,” Nikos commented as he pressed the icepack against his cheek. “I thought you were going to take his head off with your purse. Do you have bricks in there?”
“I should,” Honey said, wondering what she could carry now after this happened. Usually, Roland was out back, but just the possibility of this happening again was spooking her out.
“Why were you out there?” Antonis asked.
“I was going outside to take a smoke break,” Nikos said, and Honey eyed him, hearing the suspicious tone in his voice before she rolled her eyes, having a feeling he had planned on taking a different kind of break with one of the girls. “When I saw him grabbing her, very big guy—
“Tattoo on his neck?” James questioned, and Honey thought about it before she nodded.
“I know who you’re talking about,” James said. “Roland’s seen him lurking in the back, but he had to help me get a couple of guys from out the front. He’s a very big guy, bigger than me.”
“Put more men out in the back,” Antonis demanded. “I don’t want anything like this to happen again and go find the guy who did this.”
James nodded along with the two men behind Antonis, and they left to act out his orders. Honey stood there uncomfortably, having a feeling that Antonis wasn’t going to show that man any mercy, and though she didn’t care about that man at all, an uncomfortable feeling formed in her chest, thinking that he might possibly die tonight because of her. It was one thing to beat him up or send him to jail, but it was entirely different for him to die. She shook away the thought, not wanting to think about that crazy man any longer.
“Are you okay?” Antonis asked as he walked over to her, and when he reached to cup her cheek, she blocked his hand away, not wanting him to touch her so casually.
“I’m fine,” she said. She knew there was a cut on her cheek from where he had grabbed her, but she would tend to it on her own. An uncomfortable silence stretched over the room, and Honey really wished none of this happened tonight, just to avoid this.
Suddenly, Nikos stood to his feet. “I’m going to get some bandages.”
“Heal up,” Antonis told him. “You don’t have to make the drop with us tonight.”
Honey could see the relief in Nikos’s eyes even if he didn’t say it. He turned to leave, but Honey stopped him. Nikos looked at her with an arched brow.
“Thank you,” Honey said, and she could see the shock in his gaze as if he hadn’t expected her to say it. She was stubborn, but she wasn’tthatstubborn. “I genuinely mean it. Thanks for helping me tonight.”
And then she did something that she only did with people she liked— she smiled.
Nikos’s blue eyes widened before he nodded. “It’s no problem.”
It looked like he wanted to say more, and usually, Nikos loved to say a flirtatious line to her even if it had no meaning behind it, but he winked at her instead before leaving. Once it was just herself left in the room with Antonis, she went to grab her purse so she could leave, but suddenly Antonis grabbed her face. Honey stared at him in shock.
“Get off of me,” Honey demanded angrily, wondering what gave him the audacity to touch her like this. He was no different from the man outside, a barbarian who had no care about her consent.
“Why did you smile?” he asked her, and the darkness in his eyes scared her. She pushed him off her as she stared at him in disbelief.
“What the hell is your problem?” she asked. Now, she couldn’t smile unless he allowed her to? She needed to get away from this club and Antonis.
