Goddamn, they were dangerous, and that blonde hair made my fingers curl just watching it bounce around her shoulders as she approached our table.
“You kept your promise.” She sounded surprised, and judging from the gorgeous smile that split her angelic features, It was clear she was happy to see him.
“This your ol’ lady?” I huffed, under my breath.
“I don’t have one of those,” he reminded me, as he took a seat beside me.
The smell that girl carried with her, when she shifted her gaze between us, and slid a long, manicured nail along the edge of the table stole every ounce of my attention.
“You brought a friend.” I’d been so hypnotized by her perfectly manicured, claw-shaped nails, that I’d lost track of her, until the other hand teased along my shoulder and playfully swiped at the column of my neck.
“I sure did, Doll. This is Anthony. Ant, this is Jade.”
“Jade,” I spat the name out, rejecting it on instinct alone.
She wasn’t a Jade. That was what they called her; the men who paid her to dance, and thirsted after her for five minutes in the champagne room.
I wasn’t them.
I wanted to pin her down and learn every truth she had, starting with her name. I didn’t wait for him to distract her, or someone else to call for her; I reached out like we were in one of those low-end, ‘hole in the wall’ places back home.
She didn’t get loud, but the fear that registered in her crystal-blue eyes when I snagged her by the wrist left me instinctivelyreaching to sweep the hair from her face with twice the questions.
“Easy,” Big Vick growled.
“Oh, n-no. We’re fine here.” Jade spoke fast, her hand coming out past my shoulder.
My attention snapped after it, and the size and number of the shadows behind me sent me into action before I’d even fully confronted the men.
“What the fuck?” The words flew from me, as I shoved her between me and Vick and stood up to face the two bouncers that were already within arm’s reach.
“Hey, no,” she pleaded, her nails digging into my arm and drawing my attention back to that beautiful face. “They were just making sure I was in good hands.”
Her soft touch grazed my chin and slid up to palm my face the way I had hers, and I swear to fuck, nothing in that room existed but the angel in front of me.
She flashed a smile that could have lured the devil himself and let go of my arm. That girl grazed her nails up my chest and froze just beneath my neck like it killed her to stop.
It definitely did me.
I didn’t even realize I was turning to glare at the bouncers, until her nails pressed into my shirt and flesh. The hand at my face firmed, forcing me to look back into her pleading, blue eyes.
The rowdiness of the place instantly died down.
An awkward laugh sounded and a short man in a suit hurried toward us, fanning various bouncers away as he drew closer.
“A misunderstanding! A misunderstanding, friends! Please, a round on me. Hmm?” he snapped and some girls hurried over to take our order. “Jade will dance for you now.”
He plucked her away from me and pushed her toward the stage. She didn’t hesitate, but that didn’t stop him from looking back at her like she was dragging ass.
“Right now!” he growled.
I didn’t know this girl from anyone, but the terror in her eyes was something I’d recognize anywhere; I was raised by a battered woman.
“Sit down, son,” Vick grunted, tugging on the chain to my wallet a little.
I glanced down at it and shoved my wallet into my back pocket and reluctantly took a seat.
“Let me tell the bartender that you gentlemen drink for free the rest of the night,” the suit stammered, when I kept glaring at him.
