I felt a body fall onto the couch beside me, pulling me away from my thoughts of Mikey I turned and looked at Adrianna. My sister hid her pain well unless you knew her circumstances, one could never tell she was breaking inside. She was wearing a black jumpsuit cut down to her navel exposing her cleavage. I prayed that I took after her and that when I had kids, I’d look as good as she did. Her hair was pulled from her face in a high ponytail so that you had no choice but to appreciate her beautiful face, her high cheekbones and almond shaped eyes demanding you to stare at her in awe. She smiled at me as she handed me a glass of champagne clinking her glass to mine.
“Happy Birthday baby sister,” she said exposing that she was tipsy and tipsy Adrianna was fun. She forgot all about her problems and went with the flow breaking free from the chains that bound her to reality and got lost in the freedom, allowing herself to be carefree even if it was only for just one night.
“Thanks, A,” I said, taking a sip of the drink she offered me. I watched wide-eyed as she downed her entire glass.
“I love this song!” She exclaimed happily rising to her feet. She took my glass from my hand, placing it on the table beside my flowers and pulled me to my feet. “Dance with me!”
I couldn’t deny her seeing her this happy was contagious, and I smiled at her, letting her drag me towards the dance floor. Rico stopped us as we were about to pass him and kissed my forehead.
“I’m going to go upstairs and get ready for my set,” he said, shouting over the loud music.
“Okay!” I said as she tugged me away from him.
“C’mon Nikki!” Adrianna shouted plucking Rico’s drink from his hand to claim it as her own. Rico laughed at her before treating me with a wink.
“Save a dance for me,” he said.
I smiled at him before she pulled me into the sea of people. I don’t know if people knew we were Victor’s daughters, or if they even cared as they circle around us encouraging the two of us as we shook our asses to the beat of the music one song bled into another and we kept at it thoroughly enjoying ourselves. I couldn’t help my wandering eyes that searched the span of the club in hopes of catching a glimpse of Mikey. I’m not going to lie and say that I wasn’t disappointed that he hadn’t come to our table once in the time we had been there or that he didn’t have the decency to answer the one text I had sent him before the club even opened. I suppose he had his hands full, still, it hurt me that he could just write me off as if I didn’t exist. I told myself that he wasn’t purposely staying away from me or ignoring me that he was just busy was all. However, I knew that even if that wasn’t the case I only had myself to blame as he was only doing what I had asked by steering clear of me.
My sister froze in front of me as her eyes drifted behind me. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned to face the person that my sister was staring at intently. Anthony tore his eyes from my sister and met my wide-eyed gaze.
“Happy Birthday kid,” he said leaning in to kiss my cheek.
“Thank you,” I said, smiling before I glanced back and forth between him and my sister. They stared at each other silently. It was enthralling to watch them focus in on one another and I felt as if I was a spectator watching them.
“A,” he said with a nod. He did a quick perusal of her body licking his lips before he lifted his gaze to hers again. “You look beautiful.”
I turned to her waiting for her to respond to him, but she never did. I wanted to pinch her or kick her something to let her know she should throw the guy a bone. The air was suddenly thick, and I felt as if I was invading a private moment between them.
I was about to excuse myself when he reached out and took her hand in his. There were no words spoken between them as he pulled her towards him as he wrapped his free hand around her placing it on the small of her back. I was a forgotten thought as he pressed her against him and led her away from the crowded dance floor.
Thankful for the reprieve I made my way to the other end of the dance floor, deciding to take a break and freshen up in the ladies’ room. I passed the main bar on my way and caught a glimpse of my parents sitting at the bar. They were smiling happily surrounded by friends and some of my dad’s associates. I paused for a moment, watching as my mother placed her hand on my dad’s shoulder. He was laughing at something Jimmy was saying, but absent-mindedly he took my mother’s hand and brought it to his mouth kissing it softly. Say what you may about my father most if it will probably be true, but you couldn’t tarnish the way I saw him. In my eyes, he was a great man who loved his family. You know that saying behind every great man is a woman who made him that way. That was the perfect way to describe my parents. I gave them one more glance before turning the corner to make my way towards the ladies’ room.
I groaned glancing at the line that seemed to go on forever deciding that it wasn’t really worth the wait. The house disc jockey announced that Rico would be going on in five minutes and the people cheered in anticipation. I found the staircase that led to the sound booth figuring I’d go upstairs and wish him luck before he blew the roof off this place. I climbed the stairs the sounds of the main floor, drifting away as I reached the landing my heels clicking along the wooden floor as I made my way to the door that was slightly ajar. I smoothed down the skintight pencil skirt I was wearing before I pushed the door open softly. My eyes roamed the darkened room, settling on the three people inside of it. Rico was hunched over a table the tip of a straw up his nose as he slid it across a mirror snorting the white powder until it disappeared up his nose.
I covered my mouth with my hand to muffle the gasp and took a step backward. I stood in shock as I watched him straighten up and hand the straw to the girl beside him. She looked oddly familiar, but I couldn’t place her. He cut the cocaine pushing it around with a credit card forming a straight line of the drug. I watched from the doorway my presence unknown as she bent her head to snort the line. She lifted her head dabbing at her nostrils with a napkin before wrapping her arms around Rico. My throat closed as his hand fell to her ass a smile blossoming across his face as she sniffled against his chest. He looked over her shoulder at a man I had never seen before and together they laughed. The man behind the cracked out whore handed Rico a wad of money. I watched my dickhead boyfriend push aside the blonde reaching into his pocket, he produced a handful of baggies that were full of what I assumed to be drugs.
“We all set?” Rico asked as he dropped the baggies into the other guy’s palm.
“We’re all good. Just waiting for Gino to give the order and then it's show time.”
“Good,” Rico said, turning to the blonde. “Time for you to get the fuck out of here before shit goes down.”
“But Rico…,” she whined.
“Do as I say,” he said gravely.
I backed away from the door slowly. I didn’t want the noise of my heels to give away that I had overheard or seen anything. I leaned against the wall trying to process what I had just witnessed, but where did I even begin? I even contemplated the idea that my mind was playing tricks on me. Maybe someone had slipped something into my drink? I didn’t just see Rico ripping lines with… that girl.
Fuck! She’d be coming out of the sound booth any second. I turned around and hurried on tiptoe to the steps so that I wouldn’t make any noise. I held onto the banister and hurried down the stairs in my six-inch heels. I had to tell someone what I heard, didn’t I? I mean he had said something was going to go down. I didn’t even know what the fuck that meant, but it couldn’t be any kind of good. My mind was racing my heart was pounding; I was on the brink of having an anxiety attack. I didn’t have time to have a fucking anxiety attack. I reached the bottom of the stairs and paused to draw in a deep breath hoping to get myself together.
I nearly screamed when I felt two hands take hold of my hips and drag me back against a hard body, but my sixth sense kicked into gear when I felt his breath against my ear.
I was safe.
It was him.
“
Happy Birthday Princess,” my Mikey whispered before he turned me around to face him. His smile hypnotized me making me forget everything all I could concentrate on was him and the way he looked at me. His heated stare robbed me of my ability to speak invaded my thoughts and took my breath away. One glance at him dressed in that suit his eyes full of desire as they scanned my body completely inebriated me.
He reached out his fingertips grazing my cheek.
“God you’re so fucking beautiful,” he whispered, leaning his forehead against mine. He was so close his breath mingled with my own soft pants. I lifted my hand closing my fingers around his wrist. His hand stilled against my cheek and he let out an agonized groan.
“I’ve been watching you all night waiting to get you alone. I’m going to kiss you, Nikki. I’m going to put my mouth on yours and show you what it’s like to be really kissed. I’m going to make you forget about any other kiss you’ve ever had so that you’ll only remember mine. I’m going to own that pretty little mouth of yours.”
A gasp escaped my lips as his groin brushed against my leg he leaned closer, pressing his hardened cock against my thigh.
I was paralyzed watching the slow smile spread across his tantalizing mouth and then his lips brushed against mine.
“Get ready Princess, there’s no turning back,” he said, whispered his voice full of promise before his mouth claimed mine.
His lips fused with mine working them tasting them sucking them between his. His tongue slid along the seam of my lips begging for entry into my mouth. My lips slowly parted inviting him to devour my mouth as I dreamed countless times that he would. His tongue slipped between my bruised lips invading my waiting mouth. Holy Christ! Our tongues met and there were fireworks honest to god I heard fireworks go off in my ears.
Mikey pulled away from me abruptly dropping his hand from my face. I opened my eyes startled at the sudden change, but before I could gauge his reaction or understand why he had ended our kiss, I heard someone scream out.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Get down!” He shouted at me, reaching behind his back, he pulled out his gun. My eyes widened as I stood still unable to move. “Nikki get down!” He ordered as he raised his gun aiming it behind me.
I could hear screaming coming from every direction. Mikey’s voice became muffled, and all I heard were those damn fireworks again, only they weren’t fireworks they were actual gunshots. It hit me at that moment, everything I overheard upstairs flashed through my mind shouting at me that I should’ve warned someone. I should’ve warned my father, oh god my family was in there! I slowly turned around prepared to run to my family when I was thrown to the floor. Mikey’s body fell on top of mine acting as a shield.
I felt a tear slide down my cheek as I closed my eyes and listened to the blazing sound of the gunfire.
Chapter Fourteen
I pointed my gun down the center of the smoke-filled hallway prepared to shoot anyone who dared to come toward us. I had no idea what was going on in the main area of the club, but it didn’t sound very promising in fact it sounded scary as all hell. The music had come to a screeching halt the booming sound of the bass of the music replaced by the screams of people and gunshots as they blasted off the walls.
I glanced down at Nikki her body shaking beneath mine as she cried. Fuck this wasn’t how I pictured it would be when I finally had her underneath me. I dropped one hand from my gun keeping it steady as I continued to aim it down the hallway. My eyes shot back and forth between her and the end of the corridor. I placed my free hand on her head, stroking her hair soothingly
“It’s okay baby just please try to calm down,” I asked desperately. “I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do here, I’m a fuck up not a gangster so work with me Princess,” I said hoping that she’d muster up some sort of control. I had no fucking idea what was happening, and I wasn’t really experienced in this shit. I was having a hard time keeping my own shit together, but seeing her so terrified, forced me to keep myself focused.
I glanced around trying desperately to come up with some sort of plan. I needed to get her out of here and to safety. I was about to head to my office but thought better of it, how safe could that be? I didn’t know what these people wanted, but they didn’t come charging into a nightclub guns blazing for nothing. They’d tear this place apart until they got whatever it was they craved. I looked down at Nikki again, she lifted her head off the floor turning her head slightly so eyes met mine the fear reflected in them sent me over the edge. I reached for her hand and scrambled off her to stand up slowly. I looked around cautiously before looking back at her
“You trust me?” I asked her watching her nod. “I’ll keep you safe,” I vowed. I may not have a fucking clue as to what I was doing, but I had never been surer of anything in my life as I was in that very moment promising to keep her out of harm’s way.
I pulled her to her feet and brought her body to lean against the wall that was behind me. I spread my free arm across her shielding her while I pointed my gun towards the main dance floor. The gunfire wasn’t so loud anymore, neither were the screams that echoed through the club. I motioned to the other end of the hallway the smoke clouded our vision, but I knew the emergency exit was down that way.
“Start walking,” I told her keeping my arm across her as we walked sideways along the wall. She covered her mouth, coughing as the smoke attacked her lungs. “The fire exit is down the hall.”
“Mikey… what about everyone else?” she choked out as we made our way struggling to see the door. I had no answer for her. The truth was grim people died here tonight I just hoped for Nikki’s sake, it was no one she loved.
People were shouting in the distance ordering directions sirens sounded in the distance. The dust was settling and I couldn’t help but wonder what the newspaper headlines would read tomorrow. We made our way to the exit, and I pocketed my gun pushing the heavy metal door with all my might but it was jammed or fucking locked all I knew was that it wouldn’t budge. Nikki whimpered beside me clutching the sleeve of my suit holding onto me as if her life depended on it for all we knew it might.
“Fuck!” I shouted as my forehead touched the door and my fist slammed against it. I took a deep breath, trying to figure out what I should do next.
“Is there another way out?” she asked me nervously. “Or do we have to go through the main floor,” her words sounded full of dread. I couldn’t blame her I didn’t want to see the ruins that undoubtedly filled the main floor either. I glanced at her reaching out to touch her cheek, I opened my mouth to speak, but I had no idea what to say. Suddenly the metal door opened abruptly I pushed Nikki behind me quickly as she screamed in terror I reached for my gun. I raised it aiming it directly at the person who opened the door, holding my breath as I psyched myself up to pull the trigger.
“Don’t shoot it’s me!” Anthony said, pulling me by the lapels of my suit through the door before he grabbed Nikki and forced her out the door. Just as she cleared the doorway, someone fired down the hallway we just left. Anthony returned the gunfire as Nikki and I crouched down to the concrete along the side of the building.
“There’s a car waiting for you down the alleyway. Go!” He hollered as he continued to fire down the smoke engulfed hallway. “GO!”
I grabbed Nikki’s hands pulling her back to her feet. I took her hand in mine ready to run, but she wouldn’t budge. She turned around to face Anthony her face streaked with tears.
“My sister’s in there! Anthony, you have to get her out of there!” She thrashed as she pulled her hand from mine and grabbed onto Anthony’s arm. “Please!”
I grabbed Nikki from behind and Anthony shrugged free of her hold on him. Christ, didn’t her father teach her not to latch onto someone when they were firing a fucking gun?
“I’ve got her,” he said to Nikki quickly diverting his eyes to me. “Get her out of here.”
I nodded, pulling her against my body, but she wriggled to break free. She shook he
r head and cried out. “My family is in there! I can’t leave them, Mikey!” She screamed at me fighting with every fiber of her being.
That was the difference between Nikki and me her family meant everything to her, she was so afraid of losing them as opposed to me who had already lost mine. I knew that place she was in I lived there the night before my mother died, I succumbed to that hell and I wanted more than anything to take her away from it.
I hauled her over my shoulder, her fists beating against my back as I ran down the alleyway with her secured in a firefighter’s hold. She kicked her legs, her heels nearly colliding with my crotch the last thing I needed was to be kicked in the balls right now.
I skidded to a stop when I reached the curb taking in the black SUV that was running. I cocked my head to the side readjusting Nikki in my arms to see if I recognized the driver and nearly toppled over when I saw Jack “Bulldog” Parish behind the wheel. Ah, shit!
“Get the fuck in the car!” He shouted out the window. I didn’t know if he was the enemy or the ally I didn’t know who the fuck to trust. I looked behind me, but Anthony was nowhere in sight. I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked back at Jack. I could hear the roar of motorcycle engines creeping closer to us.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I spat, looking all around the deserted area for an escape. He must’ve heard the suspicion in my voice as I answered him back because he sighed exasperatedly.
“Look, kid, I told Vic I’d see to it that you and his daughter were safely tucked away. Now I’m telling you if you don’t get the fuck in the car you will be the one responsible for your death and hers,” he glanced in the rear view mirror as half a dozen Satan’s Knights pulled up behind him. I tore my eyes away from Jack to take in the badass men and their bikes the first biker closest to me nodded to me assuring me that he had my back.
The Tempted Series: Collectors Edition Page 15
