A man sitting at the corner table waved her over, bills already in his hand, a grin plastered across his face like he thought he’d won something. Ant tracked her every step as she crossed the floor and sat astride the chair facing him.
The man’s hands hovered over her body, eagerly waiting for her to begin his personal dance. Ant’s fingers curled into fists. He told himself it was none of his business. That this was the job Ruby had signed up to do. That she was handling herself just fine, and didn’t need him to step in. But when the man’s hand slid too far up her thigh—lingering where it shouldn’t—Ant’s vision narrowed. Scarlet’s smile didn’t falter, but her body went rigid. He noticed a subtle shift in her demeanor. It was a warning anyone paying attention would’ve seen, but the man chose to ignore it.
He reached for Ruby again, and that was about all Ant could take. He was moving in her direction before the thought finished forming in his mind that he shouldn’t but in. He crossed the room in long strides, music pounding in his ears, rage buzzing just under his skin, as he grabbed the guy’s wrist mid-reach, his grip iron-hard.
“Hands off,” Ant said calmly.
The man scoffed. “Relax, man. I paid?—”
Ant leaned in, voice dropping. “You paid to look. Not to touch.” Ruby slid smoothly off the man’s lap, stepping back without a word. She didn’t look at Ant. Not once. But he felt her anger like a live wire.
The guy tried to yank his arm free from Ant, which was a bad move. Ant twisted his arm just enough to remind him who was bigger, stronger, and in charge. “You want to stay?” Ant continued evenly. “You keep your hands where they belong, and you’ll be able to walk out of here on your own.”
The man swore under his breath but nodded, rubbing his wrist when Ant finally let go. Ant didn’t bother to look back at the guy. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her. Ruby stood there for a heartbeat, breathing steadily with her chin lifted before turning away and disappearing behind the curtain like nothing had happened. Like Ant hadn’t just butted into her business again, after promising that he wouldn’t.
The music picked back up, and the crowd moved on, seeming to forget the scene he had just made. Ant stayed where he was, his heart pounding, and his thoughts colliding as he tried to decide what to do next. One thing was perfectly clear to him now. She hadn’t lied because she was ashamed of dancing on stage. She’d lied because this world—his world—didn’t forgive women for doing what it took to survive.
Ant exhaled slowly, dragging a hand down his face. He searched for proof that he was right, and he found it. The worst part was that it didn’t make him want her any less. It made him want to protect her from every man in the room—including himself.
When the set ended, and she slipped past him toward the back hall, their eyes finally met. Just for a second. There was no denial, and no lies—just recognition. Her expression was unreadable, and he was sure that his was anything but.
She disappeared before he could stop her. Ant stood there long after, his chest tight, knowing one thing, for sure—Valentine’s Day wasn’t about him being curious anymore. It was about wanting to be with her, and he could see in her eyes that she felt the same way, even though she was angry. And sooner or later, they were going to have to stop pretending that they didn’t want each other.
He didn’t plan on sticking around to wait for Ruby; it just happened. That was what he was going to tell her if she caught him lingering in the back alley—not that he expected her to believe him. Ant even found himself rehearsing what he was going to say to her as he waited in the alley behind the club, the bass still vibrating through the brick building. Smoke curled from the end of a cigarette he wasn’t actually smoking. He was just holding it, crushing it between his fingers until he damn near burned them.
He didn’t want to corner her. And he wasn’t there to interrogate her. Tonight, he wasn’t an FBI agent, or a bouncer—he was her friend, if she’d allow him to be that for her. He was here because, after tonight, pretending didn’t feel possible anymore—not with Ruby.
The back door creaked open, and he felt as though he was holding his breath waiting to see if it was her. Ruby stepped out, wrapped in a hoodie too big for her, with her hair still loose, and her face bare of stage paint. She was no longer Scarlet or Doctor Monroe. She was just Ruby.
She froze when she saw him. “Are you going to arrest me?” she sassed.
The question hit harder than it should have, given that she was joking. Ant straightened. “No.”
“Okay, then let me guess,” she said, “you’re here to report me to our boss for leading a double life, right?”
“No,” Ant breathed.
She studied his face like she was trying to find the trap that he had laid. “Then what are you doing here, Ant? The club is closed, and I don’t need your protection anymore.”
He swallowed. His voice came out rougher than he meant for it to. “I just want you to stop lying to me. I want us to be friends.” He wanted to be more than friends with Ruby, but they’d get to that at some point. Right now, he just needed her to forgive him, and then, they’d figure the rest out.
Silence stretched between them, thick and heavy. The alley light flickered overhead, casting shadows across her face. He saw exhaustion there. It was the kind that didn’t come from just one night going without sleep, but from years of holding herself together with grit and willpower alone.
“You already know the truth, Ant,” she reminded. “I thought that we covered all this back at Savage Hell. You stuck your nose in where it didn’t belong and pissed my friends and me off. Now, you want us to be friends? I don’t see that happening.”
“I know,” he said. “I was wrong to look into your story using my FBI resources, but you were lying to me. I can admit that I was wrong to stick my nose in your business, but I want to hear the truth from your own lips. You’ve never admitted the truth to me, Ruby, and I’d like to hear it from you.”
Ruby looked away, jaw tightening. The last thing he wanted to do was to give her more space to hide from him, so he took a few steps toward her, and she backed away from him. “I don’t dance because I want to,” she admitted.
“I figured,” he breathed. He took a step closer to her, and Ruby backed away until she was standing against the brick wallof the club. She had nowhere else to retreat to, and Ant knew it, but he didn’t back down. Even when he saw the fear in her eyes, he could not seem to bring himself to step back from her.
“I stayed clean in here,” she admitted. “Hell, I never did drugs. I didn’t sell myself to earn extra money, like some of the girls have had to. I didn’t let men touch me unless the rules allowed it.” Her voice trembled now, but she didn’t stop. “I danced because med school was expensive and scholarships don’t cover everything. I danced because I refused to quit, and I wanted to become a doctor more than I’ve ever wanted anything else in my life.”
Ant felt something inside his chest loosen, and he couldn’t stop himself from reaching for her. He took her hand into his own, shocked that she allowed it. “I was Scarlet at night,” she continued. “And Ruby during the day. I memorized anatomy textbooks during the day, while my feet ached from dancing at night. I studied between sets. I stitched my own injuries in the dressing room so no one would ask questions if I had gone to the hospital.” She finally looked at him again; her eyes bright, defiant, and if he was reading her correctly, a little bit terrified.
“I became a doctor because of that club. Not despite it. Dancing made me who I am, and I’m proud to be a doctor,” she said. Ant exhaled slowly, like he’d been holding his breath since the moment he first recognized her eyes.
“You think I’d judge you for surviving?” he asked quietly. “You did what you had to do.”
