This Cruel Love (A Dark Hearts Stand-Alone Novel Book 2)

by Nikki J Summers

  “Come on. Even you’ve gotta admit she looks hot.”

  I wasn’t hanging around to hear the response. I spun round and headed back into the changing rooms. I’d get the dress. If that was the reaction these two gave it, then Justin would love it too.

  My phone pinged with a text and I grabbed it out of my bag to see twelve missed messages. The girls had organised a Friday night out between them and were waiting for me to confirm I could make it too. What the hell. I wasn’t going to ask Jackson’s permission. This was my life and I needed a girlie night out. I texted back, telling them I couldn’t wait to see them Friday night, and the first round would be on me.

  I’d forgotten how much fun it was to dance around the room, sipping wine, and listening to my favourite tunes as I got ready. The bubble of excitement in my stomach. The anticipation for what the night would bring. It was making me giddy. A girls’ night out was well overdue, that was for sure.

  I felt like the worst friend ever for neglecting them since coming back from university. Everything with Justin’s addiction and now this deal with Jackson, it’d made me reluctant to reach out to them. They’d have given it to me straight, I knew that. They hated Justin almost as much as my parents did. Well, Daisy (my best friend since nursery) was a little warmer towards him than the others, but then Daisy never had a bad word to say about anyone. If they knew what he’d done. If they knew where he was and what I’d had to agree to in order to get him the help he so desperately needed, they’d have made me have my head checked. They certainly wouldn’t agree with it. So I decided that my current living situation would remain private. Nothing was going to sour this awesome mood I was in tonight.

  I fluffed my blonde curls and checked my make-up in the mirror one last time. I twirled around to check my red dress was covering up enough of my ass, and pulled it down slightly. I don’t know why, because it kept riding back up anyway, but it was a nervous thing, I think. It felt weird going out and having fun, knowing Justin was locked up somewhere, having a shitty time and probably feeling like crap.

  I couldn’t drink too much tonight, because tomorrow we were driving to the rehab centre to see him. I didn’t want to rock up stinking of booze and feeling queasy. Plus, I don’t think Jackson would appreciate having a puking woman in his car for the long drive up there. He was crabby enough in the morning as it was. I knew I needed a clear head to survive the few hours in the car with his sour face and snappy temper.

  “You look nice.”

  Wow! I couldn’t hide my shock at getting a compliment from the dark angel himself when I walked into the living area. It must’ve taken every ounce of politeness in him to tell me I looked ‘nice’.

  He was sitting on the couch, watching a football game, but when his phone rang he jumped up like he’d been stung by a wasp.

  “Caine,” he barked into the phone, and turned his back on me, walking over to the windows as he spoke. His shoulders tensed suddenly.

  “What’s wrong with her husband’s club? Why’s she gotta come to mine and give me the fucking headache for tonight?”

  I had no idea who he was talking to, or what was getting him all riled up. I reached into my clutch and grabbed my lip gloss, applying one last sweep as I eavesdropped on his conversation.

  “Fine. I’m coming in though. I don’t trust anyone else to oversee things. If shit were to go down, Marquez would have my head on a spike. I can’t risk it.”

  He shut off the conversation and threw his mobile onto the couch in annoyance, then rubbed both hands wearily over his face. I guessed his evening had just taken a turn for the worse, and this Marquez guy was trouble.

  “Problems in hell?”

  He shoved both hands into his trouser pockets and looked across at me, plastering a neutral expression on his face. He looked pale though, like he’d just been given a death sentence.

  “Nothing I can’t handle.”

  That response didn’t give me the information I wanted, so I bit my lip and pushed back a little harder.

  “Who’s Marquez?”

  He smiled through a chuckle.

  “You never give up, do you?”

  I grinned back. “Nope.”

  He picked up his phone and dropped it into the inside pocket of his suit jacket, then gave me a stern look.

  “Luca Marquez is a very important and very dangerous friend of mine. His wife is having a night out tonight, and she’s chosen to come to my club.”

  I was still clueless why that’d put him in such a bad mood.

  “And that’s a problem because...?”

  “Because if one guy even so much as looks her way, or breathes in her direction, I’ll have Marquez cutting my balls off. I could do without babysitting his wife tonight, what with you being out as well.”

  “What’s my being out got to do with anything?”

  “I might be needed,” he said in a matter-of-fact way.

  I couldn’t stop full-on laughing at him now. He wasn’t impressed.

  “What would you be needed for? Holding my hair back while I puke?”

  He grimaced.

  “Don’t panic, I’m not planning on drinking much tonight. There will be no puking. Not from me, anyway.”

  He checked his watch, then grabbed his keys and asked me where I needed dropping off.

  “Nowhere. I’m calling a cab.”

  He went to argue, but I stopped him in his tracks.

  “Did you think I’d let you drive me tonight? Yeah, ‘cos that won’t raise my friends suspicions and give me a million and one questions to answer when they see you. Thanks, but no thanks.”

  “Where are you going tonight?” he asked.

  He was sounding more and more like my dad every second.

  “Jackson, you’re not my boyfriend. What I do and where I go is of no concern to you. You aren’t responsible for me, and you don’t need to know everything.”

  “You’re living under my roof, so that makes me responsible whether you like it or not.”

  Yep, definitely heading into father territory here.

  “No, it doesn’t. All you need to know is I’m with my friends, I’m out of your hair for the night, and I won’t need you. Okay? Now go do your mafia princess bodyguard gig for the night and leave me to enjoy mine.”

  He grunted at my response and stalked out of the apartment, taking the air of awkwardness with him. I sincerely hoped that my night would improve from herein, but my gut told me something big was gonna happen. I didn’t know what, but I had a good instinct for these things. I just prayed it was big good and not something I’d regret in the morning.

  Hell, I’d missed my girls, my tribe. Each one of them was awesome in their own way. Daisy was my best friend, a petite brunette angel of goodness and kindness. She always had my back and I could tell her anything. Well, almost anything. I knew she’d be the first one I’d confide in about Justin and Jackson when the time was right. Lisa and Maddie were a little crazier, but both had a quirky sense of style and a wicked sense of humour. Being around those two would brighten up anyone’s day. Mind you, they’d have their work cut out getting someone like Jackson to crack a smile. Oh, God. Why was I thinking about him? What was the matter with me? Tonight was all about forgetting my current predicament, letting go, and living in the moment. He’d never meet my friends, not if I had anything to do with it. So why was thinking about their reaction to him bothering me?

  I pushed the images of Jackson Caine, in his perfect suit, with his perfect face and his superbly honed muscles to the back of my mind. Then I locked up the memories of my broken, beautiful fiancé, with his sallow skin and lifeless eyes, into a box for safe-keeping. Finally, I vowed to put my party head on and enjoy every minute of being with my favourite ladies in the whole wide world. Tomorrow, I could stress over the men in my life. Tonight, it was all about the girls.

  We started off in our favourite wine bar, sipping Bellinis and catching up on our news before the alcohol overtook our brains and the conve
rsation turned to random outbursts of love for each other, as it did most nights we were out together. It didn’t take long for the subject of Justin to crop up though.

  “Where’s lover boy tonight?” Lisa sipped through her straw, cleverly hiding her expression after asking me the million dollar question.

  “He’s away at the moment.”

  “Away where?” Daisy asked, looking concerned.

  “Just visiting relatives.”

  “What, he couldn’t take you with him? Doesn’t that strike you as weird? I mean, do you really trust him?” Maddie wasn’t holding back tonight.

  “Of course I trust him. He’s away, end of. Can we talk about something else, please?”

  Lisa and Maddie exchanged awkward glances. I didn’t even want to know what that was all about. Daisy, ever the sweetheart, put her arm around me and told me how thrilled she was to have me back.

  “I’ve missed you guys.” I beamed, hoping to inject some warmth back into our little gathering.

  I held my glass up for them to chink with mine and we all gave a ‘cheers’ as we downed our cocktails.

  “Enough of this tame shit, we need to get this party started.” Lisa nudged herself off her stool and headed for the bar. Next thing we knew, she was back with a tray of tequila, salt, and slices of lemon.

  “You know I always take life with a pinch of salt. Plus a slice of lemon and a shot of tequila.” She giggled as she passed the glasses around.

  I already felt a bit dizzy, but I couldn’t turn down a shot. To hell with it, I’d have to sneak in a glass of water between each round to try and sober me up for the morning. But I wasn’t gonna let my first girls’ night out in months go by without sharing in the drinking fun. Damn, I was such a lightweight though. I always swore I’d be sensible, but once I got with these three girls, all reason flew right out the window.

  Five tequila shots later and we were weaving our way down the street, our arms linked together, and singing Drake at the top of our lungs. So much for my plans to be the sober one tonight.

  “Mads, tell Rye about that date you had with Tom last week. Rye, you need to listen to this, Tom is such a loser.” Lisa could barely stand up and was using the rest of us to stay upright.

  “Lise, you’re an asshole. Don’t listen to her, Rye, she’s just jealous ‘cos Tom’s packing a hell of a lot more than you’d expect, if you know what I mean.”

  “Eww, Maddie. We don’t need to know about his package.” Daisy screwed up her face in disgust.

  “Speak for yourself. I haven’t seen my man all week, so I’ll happily hear your stories about his package.” I laughed, leaning forward to see Maddie give a smug grin.

  In all the time we’d been singing and slurring our words, I hadn’t paid much attention to where our feet were leading us. It was only when we turned the corner to stand opposite Jackson’s club that I stopped still and planted my feet firmly on the ground, as if they were glued to the pavement.

  “What’s the hold up?” Lisa slurred as she tried to yank me forward to join the queue of people lined up down the street, shivering and begrudgingly waiting their turn to get in.

  “I’m not going in there.”

  I pulled backwards, trying to get the girls to come back down the road with me and find another club to finish our night at.

  “No way. I love it here. The DJ is so hot. I’m gonna get his number tonight.” Lisa was on a mission, and no one was gonna stop her, judging from the determined look on her face.

  “This is just gonna be… bad.” I nodded at the queue, knowing I wasn’t making any sense, but hoping they’d pick up on my reluctance and get me out of there.

  “The queue isn’t that long, Rye.” Daisy smiled and put her arm through mine.

  “Oh, hell,” I muttered as we joined the back of the queue, next to a group of lads on a stag do.

  “Hello, ladies.”

  A cocky stag turned around and gave us what must’ve been his version of a sexy, smouldering look, but it just looked like he’d got grit in his eye. So not sexy.

  “Aren’t you an angel?” He swayed towards me, wrapping one of my curls around his finger and almost toppling over he was so inebriated.

  “That’s enough touchy feely, lads.”

  A deep voice cut through our crowd, and I turned to see Dennis looming over me.

  “So Emily, or Ryley as you’re otherwise known, I have instructions to see you straight into the club.”

  He gave me a knowing look and I felt my cheeks redden. I’d hated lying to him last time we’d met.

  “Sorry, Dennis.” I shuffled my feet and looked at the ground, embarrassed.

  “No apology needed. Come on.”

  He put his arm behind me to usher me out of the line. I shook my head, begging him to stop.

  “What’s going on? Why are you letting us in before all these other people?” Daisy asked, eyeing Dennis’s arm behind my back with suspicion.

  “Boss’s orders.” He grinned down at me. “He knew you couldn’t stay away.”

  I huffed in annoyance. “It wasn’t my idea to come here, trust me.”

  “Maybe not, but when the boss gives orders, we take ‘em.”

  Dennis reached into his pocket and pulled out his mobile. He tapped and scrolled away before turning the screen towards me, but out of view of the other girls. There on his phone was a photo of me. One I’d never seen before. It’d been taken at the department store the day we were shopping. I was biting my lip and looking off into the distance, and I could just make out Cillian’s arm out of the shot. Why was Jackson taking pictures of me?

  “Boss sent that out to all the security on duty tonight. We were told to make sure you were well looked after if you did show up.”

  “Better do your job then and get us in, big man. I’m freezing my tits off out here,” Lisa sang, walking towards the front of the queue and totally blocking out the calls of disgust from the others waiting in line.

  “She looks like fun.” Dennis smirked.

  “You have no idea.” I shook my head and followed, trying not to catch anyone’s eye as I did. The daggers in my back from being let in ahead of everyone else were painful enough.

  “Why do they get in early and we’ve gotta wait out here?” a girl at the front of the queue asked.

  “Because she’s dating the owner,” Dennis stated proudly, pointing at me.

  I felt the bottom fall out of my stomach.

  “What the actual fuck is he on about, Ryley?” Maddie’s eyes were bugging out of her head. Lisa was grinning like an idiot, and Daisy just looked like she’d been smacked across the face.

  “I’ll explain when we get inside, it’s… complicated.”

  I wasn’t looking forward to this conversation, and I’d certainly be having a few words with Jackson later. Why was he telling his staff I was his girlfriend? I knew we had to pretend when we were out together, at certain functions he attended, but tonight I could really have done without the drama.

  Dennis led us through the crowds and past the main bar area, where Steve was working his ass off and taking orders from the throng of customers that stood three people deep around the bar. I’d make sure I gave his station a wide berth tonight. Then Dennis opened up a roped off area for us to enter. A group of women had already taken ownership of the space, and were dancing on a table next to where Dennis was settling us.

  “Come on, ladies. You know you can’t dance on the tables in here.” He held his arm out for one of the women to take as she stepped down off the table.

  “Sorry, Dennis. We’ll behave, I promise,” a brunette with a mass of curly hair shouted over the music.

  “It’s okay, Chloe. I just don’t want you hurting yourself.” Dennis gave her a warm smile. I could tell he liked her. “Now, Ryley. Anything you need, just call me or one of the other security staff. I’ll have drinks sent over for you. Just please, stay in this area and stay out of trouble.”

  “I always stay out of trouble, Denn
is.”

  “I highly doubt that.” He shook his head and walked away, fastening the rope closed as he did.

  “So, Little Miss Ryley, spill. What’s the deal?” Lisa pushed me down into a seat and crossed her arms, standing over me like the police, ready for an interrogation.

  “There’s nothing to tell, honestly.” I shrugged, hoping that would be enough to get them off my back.

  “No way, Emerson. Something’s going on. Tell us.” Maddie sat in the chair next to mine. Considering we’d all been swaying and tipsy moments ago, they all looked highly alert and on the ball now.

  “I just… I’ve got this… arrangement going on at the moment. It’s nothing. It’s just…”

  “It’s obviously something if the owner of this place is telling everyone you’re his girlfriend,” Lisa shouted over the bass of the music.

  “Excuse me. Did I hear you right? Are you Ryley?” the brunette with the curls butted in. I’d never been more relieved for someone to interrupt a conversation.

  “Yeah, I’m Ryley,” I said, nervous for her reaction. I had no idea who this girl was.

  “Hey, I’m Chloe. Chloe Marquez. It’s really nice to meet you. When Luca said Jackson had started seeing someone, I gotta admit, I was shocked. In all the time we’ve known Jackson, he’s never introduced any of us to a girlfriend. You must be really special.”

  Oh my word, how cute was that? Chloe was sweet. I could tell straight away she was genuine and meant no ill will towards me or anyone else here. Her friends that stood beside her though, they were a different matter altogether.

  “It’s really not that big a deal…” I started trying to explain my way out of all this, but it was pointless. Chloe looked excited to meet me, like I was a movie star she’d gotten access to for the night, and her friends looked like they were ready to shank me at a moment’s notice.

  As for my friends, well, after a few evil eyes, they seemed content to enjoy the free champagne Dennis had brought over, and leave the interrogation until later.

  “So you’re the blondie Cill talks about all the time.” The tall blonde girl looked me up and down. She wasn’t as hostile as the redhead, but she was clearly wary of me.