He smirks but nods, disappearing into the crowd.
It doesn’t take long. Minutes later, she’s storming back, eyes blazing, curls bouncing with every furious step.
“Seriously?” she snaps, stopping in front of me, hands on her hips.
I smile, slow and unbothered. “Problem?”
Her glare could cut glass. “You’re such an ass, Warren. I really don’t understand what your problem is.”
I lean forward, my voice low, the noise of the club fading around us. “You, Leoni.” I pause, just long enough for her to catch her breath. “You are my problem.”
Her phone buzzes in her hand, and she jumps, startled. She glances down, frowns, and answers.
“Hello?”
It’s followed by a pause. A long one. Then her face drains of colour.
Without a word, she grabs Courtney’s hand and starts dragging her toward the exit, shouting into the phone, “I’m coming, I’m coming, just stay there!”
I move before I even think about it. The idea of her disappearing into the night without another word, without finishing whatever…thiswas, burns in my chest.
Outside, rain batters the pavement. The street is chaos with drunk bodies swaying around us and cabs already full and speeding past. Leoni is frantic, her arm in the air, waving wildly at every taxi.
“Is everything okay?” I ask.
She doesn’t look at me. “None of your business,” she snaps, her voice shaking, not with anger but fear.
She steps off the curb into traffic, still waving at cars. Horns blare. She doesn’t even flinch.
“Lee, what are you doing?” Courtney cries.
“I need a fucking cab! My brother needs me… he’s hurt.”
A bus barrels toward her. She doesn’t even see it. I move quickly, wrapping my arm around her waist and yanking her back hard. The bus roars past, inches away.
“You’ll be joining him in an ambulance if you keep doing shit like that,” I growl.
Her hand presses to my chest, soaked and trembling. For a second, she looks at me like she’s seeing me, not her boss, not the man she hates, but a lifeline. Heat punches straight through me.
Then we both blink, and the moment shatters. I release her.
“I’ll take you,” I say, my voice rougher than I intend.
My Mercedes rolls up, and before Anthony can get out to open the door, I do it myself. She slides in without hesitation, and Courtney scrambles in after her.
“Hospital,” I tell Anthony, getting into the front passenger seat.
“He’s not at the hospital,” she mutters. She’s staring out the window, breathing fast. “He’s waiting outside my apartment.”
I frown. Panic like that and he isn’t being treated? Still, her fear was real.
“Where?”
“The Riverside Apartments.”
Anthony’s eyes flick to mine in a side glance.
“Richmond?” I ask, surprised. She nods.
