by Cat Miller
“I will fucking kill you!” Tony snarled and lunged for her again.
“Get away from her you idiot! This one is mine!” Archie bellowed, but Tony looked beyond hearing his boss’s order.
Stunned but still conscious, Everly was in no hurry to feel Tony’s fist again. She lifted one bare foot and struck Tony squarely in the knee with all the energy she had left. That leg shot backward with the force of her blow and buckled. Tony toppled over to crush her under his weight. The oxygen was squeezed from her lungs, and her head hit the floor with a thud.
“Get off of her now!” Archie demanded of Tony and kicked him.
“Get her out of here quickly while I deal with this mess,” he directed Marco. “I’ll call you shortly with directions. Tie her ass up tight. Just keep driving around until you hear from me. After all the trouble she’s caused tonight I won’t have her getting away now. I can’t wait to find out why Christianson wants her back so badly. Must be a sweet piece to get that cold bastard fired up.” He continued rubbing himself through his pants.
“Yes, sir,” came the reply before Tony’s weight was rolled away from her. Tony cursed her name and promised retribution when it was his turn. Everly felt herself being scooped up off of the carpet.
Darkness moved in around Everly. Lack of air to her lungs and the blow to her head took her under. This was it. She had no hope of escape. Archie had won. At least she had the comfort of knowing Dolce had gotten away. Dolce wouldn’t share Everly’s fate.
In the distance, she could have sworn she heard a deep throaty growl. It was a familiar sound. She’d heard it several times when she’d tried Luc’s patience beyond his endurance. She thought he sounded like a caveman when he growled at her that way. This growl didn’t have the same sexy rumble that promised punishment she’d enjoy and make her toes curl. No, this sounded more like a dangerous, snarling animal. Or a devil.
SIXTEEN
The sedan came to a screeching halt in the valet parking lane in front of Harlot, the upper crust nightclub Luc was about to rip apart looking for Everly and Dolce.
He and Rourke jumped out of the car and headed straight for the front door. As they passed the valet, he tried to stop Rourke to get the car key. It wasn’t happening. They needed the car ready for a fast exit if it came to that.
“Don’t touch that car if you value your fingers. Leave it right there.” Rourke gave the parking attendant a glare that froze him to the ground.
“Y… Yes sir.” The kid scurried out of their way.
There was a line of people waiting to enter the club but Luc didn’t give a shit. He needed in now. Rourke approached the door ahead of Luc. With the slightest nod of his head, the doorman with the big muscles and even bigger chip on his rather large shoulders let Rourke pass, no questions asked. Rourke didn’t slow down to wait for Luc. He moved quickly into the crowd beyond the door. Luc, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky.
“Sorry, buddy. Back of the line.” The glorified bouncer stepped into his path.
“I’m with Rourke,” Luc growled in frustration.
He needed to find Everly and Dolce before that slime ball Archie touched either of them. Luc tried to step around him, but the bouncer wasn’t having it. The fucker smirked in his face and shook his head.
“No go, pal. Back of the line. I don’t care if you’re with the bloody queen. You’ll wait your turn.”
You see, this was why Luc didn’t frequent these places. There was always some asshole with a power trip who thought it was cool to flex his muscles in front of a wealthy man just to prove he could.
Luc suspected Rourke knew he was going to get some flack at the door. That’s why he kept moving without looking back for Luc. Rourke was going in after the girls with or without Luc. He’d be annoyed if it weren’t the right thing to do.
Now Luc had a choice. He could go to the back of the line and wait with his thumb up his ass, or he could show the muscle who the fucking alpha really was. Option two was going to get him inside far faster. So he went with it.
People made the error of thinking a man with security staff couldn’t defend himself. Big mistake. Luc was no pussy and didn’t have time for posturing or chest thumping. Luc had the advantage of surprise because he would be underestimated right off the bat.
Luc attempted to pass the guy again. As soon he put a hand on Luc to stop him, it was over. Luc went into action. Luc grabbed the offending hand and twisted the guy around to face the building, putting pressure on the center of his palm and using that arm as leverage. It happened quickly and without remorse.
Bent forward with his head down and arm twisted behind him, the bouncer’s face met with the club’s brick façade. He crumpled over in a heap. The people in line made a racket behind him. It wouldn’t be long before He-Man had backup.
Luc didn’t stop to see if the bouncer was down for the count or just stunned. It didn’t matter. He entered the doors of Harlot and pushed into the crowd, but something was definitely wrong with the picture that greeted him inside.
The orchestral version of a modern rock song pumped through the club’s state of the art sound system, but no one was moving. Dancers stood looking dazed. Waitresses held their trays of drinks but didn’t serve anyone. It was like time had stopped, but the music kept playing.
Luc followed everyone else’s line of sight and his breath froze in his chest. They were all transfixed on the same point above them where Dolce and Everly dangled precariously from a balcony over the dance floor.
Luc began forcefully pushing through the shocked crowd. Everly moved down the rail to avoid someone in the shadows above her. Luc could see hands stretching and grasping at her.
Archie’s nasal New York accent could be heard cursing and shouting.
While he watched in horror, Dolce dropped to the floor. No, not Dolce. She was like a sister to him. Fuck! She wasn’t ‘like’ anything! She was his sister! She and Rourke were his only family. Someone was going to fucking die if she was hurt.
The crowd parted enough as he jostled people out of his way that Luc could see Rourke’s large form ahead in a clearing below the balcony. He was setting Dolce on her feet. Dolce was fine. She was safe. Rourke had been there to save one of their asses again. Luc was going to give the man another fucking raise.
Rourke shouted up to Everly who stared down at him with lines of sheer terror etched on her face. Luc could see in her eyes that she wouldn’t trust Rourke, strong and capable as he was, to catch her as he had Dolce.
Everly screeched and moved as if she were crossing monkey bars on the playground when another pair of hands came close to getting a grip on her wrist. Luc had to reach her before those bastards did.
“Get that girl back up here now!” Archie leaned over the railing to curse at Everly. “Are you fucking crazy?”
Archie looked past Everly and met Luc’s damning glare. Archie paled under his florid complexion. There would be hell to pay when he got Everly safely on the ground, and Archie was staring down at his fucking fate. But instead of doing the smart thing and running, Archie doubled his efforts to recapture Everly. He got down on the ground and reached through the bars to help his man.
Luc broke through the crowd with his arms extended. He called her name and Everly’s eyes met his with a sigh of relief. He was her hero. He was her man. She would trust him. It was there in her beautiful flushed face.
“Everly, let go! I will catch you, baby, let go!”
The drama of the last few days and hurt he’d caused a few hours ago disappeared. She trusted him with her life. Luc would catch her. He wouldn’t let her down. Not again. She swallowed visibly, closed her eyes tight and released the railing she was clinging to for dear life, but it was too late. That fucker at the door was going to get another lesson in manners for holding him up when Luc was done.
Archie’s man had anchored his leg around one side of the railing and straddled it. He bent over far enough to grip her wrist just as she released her death grip on th
e bars. Archie himself, had gotten down on his belly and reached through the bars and grabbed a handful of her long, thick hair.
She screamed and looked to Luc for help as another even bigger man reached over to help haul Everly back up to their level. She disappeared into the darkness above.
Luc cursed loud and long, promising to take Archie apart for touching his woman. The red spread across his vision when Archie’s pudgy hand had wrapped itself in Everly’s tumbling red hair. Everly was not a fucking possession to be passed between her father’s debtors! She was a bright, beautiful woman who was too damn good for the lot of them.
Rourke ran after Dolce who was engaged in a fight to break through the wall of resistance provided by the security guard at what Luc assumed was the entrance to the balcony above.
The red exit sign caught Luc’s attention, and he yelled to Rourke. He gestured toward the darkened hall below the sign. He didn’t wait for them. Luc trusted that Rourke and Dolce would follow.
He’d visited Harlot in the past and knew a men’s room and noticed the light from an emergency stairwell down that hall. Luc reached the solid steel door and ripped it open. The bright light in the stairwell was blinding at first. He started up the first flight taking the stairs two at a time.
On the next level he opened the door to find offices and a private suite. Back in the stairwell, Rourke and Dolce had caught up with him and were examining the stairs and wall.
“What is it?” he asked.
Rourke’s response confirmed Luc’s fear.
“It’s blood.”
“A lot of it,” Dolce said from the landing above them. “It’s all over.”
Rourke and Luc swiftly joined her, and they moved past large bloody handprints on the wall and smears on the railing.
As if she was reading his mind or could hear Luc’s internal prayer that this was not Everly’s blood, Dolce turned to say, “I saw her before we went over the balcony, Luc. She was limping and banged up, but she wasn’t bleeding.”
Luc nodded, feeling slightly relieved. He passed his friends and rushed through the heavy door on the third floor. The red hadn’t faded from his vision. It deepened to a crimson bloodlust as he barreled toward Everly and her assailants.
Without warning, Luc was tackled into the wall. His arms were trapped in a tight vise behind his back. His cheek pressed to the cold stone wall.
“What the fuck! Let me go!” he snarled at his closest friend.
Rourke shook his blond head and spoke quietly right against Luc’s ear.
“I can’t do that, man. You’ve lost your shit. You’re going to get yourself or someone else hurt or worse.”
Luc struggled against Rourke’s hold. Everly was somewhere nearby and he had to get to her. They could be doing anything to her while he and Rourke tussled in the fucking hall.
“You’re fucking fired! Get out of here and take Dolce with you!”
“Fire me if you like, but I won’t let you go until you calm down enough to see sense.” Rourke’s cool, unruffled demeanor and low voice were infuriating.
“Luc, honey, you can’t just run in there. They’re all armed,” Dolce reasoned. “I want to bust in there, too, I did once already tonight. You see where that got me. Jumping for my life, that’s where. And I left her behind.” Dolce’s voice cracked at the end.
“Take a breath, man. We need a plan. Our team will be here any second. I’ve been in contact with them the whole time.”
“Good, let’s go get my girl,” he hissed. Luc had picked up the need for quiet. He was coming back to himself. That caveman that lurked under his skin who watched Everly’s every move had gotten the best of him for a moment. He relaxed in Rourke’s grip.
“And if they start firing? Are you armed? What if Everly or Dolce take a hit?” Rourke asked.
Luc sucked in a lung full of rage at the idea. He had to slow down and think. He blew it out and pulled in the cool wrath he needed to get them all out alive and uninjured. The longer he let his temper get the better of him, the less likely Everly would come out of it unscathed. She was already banged up according to Dolce.
“I need a gun,” he told Rourke once he’d fully regained his fucking cool. Christ, that woman made him a damn head case.
Rourke released Luc and patted his back. He handed him a sidearm from a hidden holster under his jacket. Luc switched off the safety. He was a good shot at the firing range, but he’d never shot at a person before.
Dolce had disappeared through a set of swinging doors. She popped back through looking furious.
Rourke touched his earpiece and spoke, “Get your asses past the security blocking the VIP entrance. We came up the emergency exit. We’ll meet you in the middle. Don’t fire at us or the boss will not be signing your paychecks.”
“There are three of them. Archie and his two assholes. Those are even odds.” Dolce grinned at the men she considered family with an evil glint in her angry, dark eyes. There was no hesitation. She would always have their backs.
Damn it. They should never have taught her to fight and shoot like a man. She thought they would let her walk into danger? Not a fucking chance. She’d had enough fun for one day.
“They’re all packing. I had a peek. We need to move fast. Things are getting sketchy in there. Archie is losing control of the one Everly showed the business end of a frying pan.” She reached for another magically hidden gun on Rourke’s person.
“Fuck, man! How many guns does a man carry when on a date with his wife?” Luc had to ask while checking the number of rounds in his clip and switching off the safety.
Rourke rolled his eyes at Luc before turning his attention to Dolce. He swatted her hands away from his holster.
“You’re not going anywhere but home, Dolce. If we have to worry about you as well as Everly, we’ll be distracted. Do you want to see one of us hurt because we were distracted?” Rourke knew just how to shut Dolce down.
Her shoulders slumped in defeat. No matter how much she wanted in on the action, Dolce would never knowingly endanger either of them.
“Assholes. Both of you. I’ll wait downstairs. I’m not leaving until I see Everly, and the two of you jerks are out of here in one piece.” Dolce stepped out of their way.
Luc raised his gun and silently slid through the door to the kitchen. He and Rourke approached the next swinging door, ready for anything.
“On three,” Rourke mouthed to him.
He held up three fingers and began to count down. Luc didn’t wait. He wanted to be first through the door, and Rourke would never allow it. Gun at the ready and a rage burning in his gut, Luc went on the count of two. Rourke cursed behind him.
The scene that met them in the private dining room brought a roar from a place so deep and dark he was sure his namesake had heard it in the pit of Hades.
One of the thugs who had yanked Everly up and over the railing was holding her limp body. She hung lifelessly there in his arms while he attempted to make an escape with her. He froze, eyes wide with fear. He was caught with no weapon in hand.
Luc pointed his borrowed weapon directly at the man’s face. His chest heaved with the need to pull the trigger. He could end this guy without harming Everly. She’d just be a little messy, that’s all. The blood would wash off.
Archie was too busy cursing his other man for hitting Everly so hard he knocked her out and for disobeying orders to notice the gig was up. That one must be Tony, the one Dolce said Everly had taken out. He was a big fucker, too. He was trying to get to his feet when he saw Luc and Rourke join the party. His gun was up and pointed at Luc in an instant.
Luc held his gun steadily on the man before him. He wanted to pull the trigger. He’d never really considered ending another person’s life. Not until the moment he’d seen Everly in this man’s arms. Luc took a step closer. The barrel of the gun was inches from the other man’s face.
Rourke’s gun was trained on Tony. Archie aimed at Rourke. Tony’s pointed at Luc. Luc’s still held
his gun on the guy holding Everly. It was a Mexican standoff. Archie was the only man who didn’t have a bullet with his name on it. Though Luc was sure Rourke could take out Tony and get another shot off before Archie knew what hit him.
A commotion at the bottom of the stairs made it clear reinforcements were near. The tension in the room was thick. If one person flinched, there would be a lot of bloodshed.
“Get the fuck out of my club, Christianson! You’ve had your fun. You received payment for Parker’s debt to you. The girl is mine now. You have no reason to show up here waving guns,” Archie shouted.
“I think we should a take a deep breath here and relax, right Luc?” Rourke suggested in his calm negotiator voice.
No, Luc didn’t agree. He thought he should shoot that fucker in the mouth. Everly was not to be shared. She was his. And at the moment he was becoming more and more concerned that she still hadn’t moved.
Beads of sweat began to roll down the face of the man holding Everly. It wasn’t the strain of her weight getting to him though. It was the certainty that Luc would fire that weapon to get his woman back. Their eyes remained locked together and Luc’s glare promised the end of anyone coming between him and Everly.
“You will put down your gun now, Archie. I will take Everly, and we will leave, or I will shoot your employee and take Everly from his cold body. Then you and I will have problems that far surpass your poor judgement this evening. I’m not a man to be reckoned with Archie.” Luc did his best to express a calm he wasn’t feeling.
His eyes were boring into the man who held Everly when Archie responded to his demands.
“Marco can be replaced. Shoot him, Tony. Now!” Archie shouted.
All hell broke loose then. Luc’s security team ascended on the dining room with guns drawn.
Marco didn’t seem to agree that he was expendable. He used the distraction to his advantage. He tossed Everly at Luc. Luc’s gun clattered to the ground as he scrambled to catch her. Marco dodged around Luc and out the swinging kitchen door.
