“Hey,” Nikos called as he walked over to the man, loosening his tie. His suit jacket was gone, and his sleeves were rolled up.
“What?” the white frat guy snapped, looking annoyed himself, but that annoyance disappeared and a look of surprise replaced it when Nikos cocked his fist back before driving it directly into his gut. A hush fell over the crowd as the white frat guy dropped, finally releasing her ankle, but unfortunately, on his way down, he tugged her with enough force that she lost her grip. Her heart dropped as she felt herself fall. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the fall, but instead of feeling hard marble, she felt strong arms beneath her, and when she opened her eyes, she saw Nikos, who had caught her. Honey sighed with relief, ready to thank him, but that dark look on his face hadn’t disappeared, making her hesitate.
“Nikos,” she called, but he didn’t respond as he continued to glare darkly at the white frat boy, who was on the floor, coughing loudly while holding his stomach in pain.
“Nik,” she called again, using her son’s nickname for him, the one she had started to occasionally call him, which would make Nikos grin every time. It seemed to have done the trick because he finally looked at her before he carried her behind the curtains. He didn’t say anything as he carried her to the backroom and sat her down on the couch. A moment later, Georgios cameinside, and if this were in the past, he probably would have badgered her about how she needed to be more professional and control the situation better even if a man were touching her inappropriately, but instead, he spoke to Nikos.
“What do you want me to do?” Georgios asked like a soldier waiting for his general’s command, and sometimes she forgot that Nikos was in charge now, and Georgios answered to him. At moments like these, Nikos seemed like one of the most powerful men in the world. It was a daunting thought because it was so different from how she usually saw him.
Nikos didn’t immediately respond. His jaw was clenched tight enough that she could see his veins and that dark look had still not faded in his eyes. A tense air hung in the room as they waited for his response. Suddenly, his heavy gaze turned to her as if he would find the answer in her eyes. They stared at each other for a beat, and though it seemed that Nikos had finally found his answer as his jaw loosened enough for him to speak, it didn’t seem to be an answer he was happy with.
“Toss him out, and make sure he never steps inside this establishment again,” Nikos said, his voice tight as if he were forcing out words he didn’t mean before he stiffly left the room and Georgios followed him. Honey sat alone in disbelief, trying to process his actions, but before she could even question what happened, Allison, Amber, Rachel, Sweetie, and Rita burst into the room.
“Are you okay?” Allison cried out, dropping beside her and pulling her into a hug.
“I’m fine,” Honey said, though her ankle felt stiff in a way that it wasn’t supposed to be.
“Has anyone seen that asshole before?” Amber asked, pacing back and forth with fury. “I should have kicked his ass.”
“I think he’s new here,” Rita commented, patting her shoulder apologetically, and Honey smiled.
“Yeah, he is. That douchebag smacked my ass so hard earlier, and it still hurts,” Sweetie complained as she rubbed her ass.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Rachel said. “I was so worried that you were going to get hurt. But I was busy trying to stop your fan club from going on stage to rescue you. It was crazy out there.”
Honey sighed, still in disbelief about what had happened. It wasn’t as if this were the first time a customer had gotten rowdy at the club. Plenty of times before customers had gotten too handsy from drinking or were just assholes on their own. Usually, James and Roland grabbed those men and threw them out of the establishment on their own. But it was the first time since she had started working here that someone had gotten on the stage and tried to yank her from the pole. Honestly, it was somewhat scary, and she could still feel her heart racing. That was one of the terrifying things that came with this job. It wasn’t just enough that these men were seeing them naked. They always wanted more, and she and the dancers had to pay the price for it. Now, she didn’t just have to worry about being attacked outside of the club but being attacked inside of it.
“I hope James beats him up real good,” Sweetie said, and before Honey could comment, Nikos stepped back inside with an ice pack in hand. Honey hadn’t realized a knot had formed in her stomach since he left until it unfurled just now from seeing him return.
“I think Nikos already did a good job of that,” Rachel said.
“You were so cool, Nikos,” Sweetie exclaimed as she went over to him and hugged his arm. Immediately, Allison came over and grabbed his other arm. Both women glared at each other as if Nikos were a toy they were fighting over.
“It was nothing,” Nikos said.
“It was definitely something,” Amber argued. “Antonis would have never done that.”
And as Honey thought about it, it was true. Some girls had similar experiences before, and if it had been an important client, he and Georgios would tell them to put up with it. They had no problem throwing out customers who clearly weren’t as wealthy as others. But the bigwigs had free reign. The only exception was her, and that was only because Antonis saw her as a toy that he did not want anyone else to touch, which was why he didn’t like her doing floor performances. It made it easier for her to avoid situations like that if she could only perform on stage.
“Well, you know it’s my job to save beautiful women,” Nikos said, smiling and taking in the praise with his normal charm. Honey hated to admit it, but Nikos’s smiles and good energy could be infectious which was why the girls were smiling along with him and still praising him. But Honey could not smile herself because she could tell his smile was not quite reaching his eyes as they usually did. They conversed more until Nikos stopped it.
“Okay, okay,” Nikos said, unlatching himself from Allison and Sweetie. “You girls get back out on the floor. I’ll take care of Honey.”
“Aww, that sucks. This is the first time I’ve spoken to you in a while. You’re always busy,” Allison complained, and Honey wasn’t surprised because if Nikos weren’t busy with work, he was busy with her. But none of the girls here knew about their relationship still, and she planned to keep it that way.
“Let’s go, Allie,” Rachel said as they ushered Allison and Sweetie out of the room. Once they were all gone, Nikos cameover and sat down next to her, gingerly taking her right foot in his hand before he pressed the icepack against her ankle. Honey hissed, not realizing how bad her ankle hurt until now, and now as she looked at his clenched jaw, she wished she hadn’t made a sound.
Nikos continued to take care of her gingerly. It was quiet, and Honey realized this was the quietest Nikos had ever been with her. Usually, he couldn’t help but flirt with her, and if he weren’t flirting with her, he would be kissing her senseless. The atmosphere between them was odd, and Honey didn’t know how to fill the void, but thankfully, Nikos finally spoke.
“Are you okay?” Nikos asked her.
“I’m fine,” Honey said. She wanted to leave it at that, but she knew now wasn’t the time to be childish but to be grateful.
“Thank you,” she said. “I guess you are my hero, after all, Cap.”
She expected a one-liner in turn, one that would make her roll her eyes and wish she hadn’t said anything at all, but there was none. Instead, he said something that shocked her.
“I want you to quit.”
