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Feral.
Unhinged.
Out of control.
It’s both a fucking a revelation and an irritation.
Shoving the card in her hand, I turn back to my desk. “Go. I will see you at the spa tomorrow. Leo will arrange for one of my men to take you home.” Without another word, she is dismissed. I hear rather than see the door open, then close.
Dropping down in my chair, I sigh. Fuck. I need to practice my restraint when it comes to Ocean. Otherwise, I am going to end up in a situation I have no control over.
Simply put, that cannot happen.
***
“I’m sorry Nico,” Shawn screams as I start cutting through the last remaining finger on his right hand. The hand that touched Ocean. The hand that touched something that he had no business touching. Someone who is mine.
I huff a sardonic breath. “I’m sure you are Shawn, but the thing is, if I don’t make an example of you, people will think they can get away with touchingmyshit. They can’t. You touched something that doesn’t belong to you.” I tsk. “It’s only fair that you pay the price,” I growl out, as I slam the knife down, breaking the bone and slicing straight through. He cries out, tears pouring down his face, snot dripping from his nose, as the tip falls to the floor and blood gushes from the wound. I lean into his ear. “Forget what I said earlier. I want you to let the wholecity know what happened here tonight. I want them all to know that there will be consequences for messing with what’s mine.”
My jaw clenches when a dark chuckle sounds behind me.Motherfucker.Straightening, I glance over my shoulder to see Dante with a big grin on his face. I glower. He knows exactly why I have done this. And it’s not just because Shawn ignored our no-touching policy. It’s because ofwhohe touched. He holds his hands up in surrender. “I don’t think anyone will touchanythingthat belongs to you when they see the state of this asshole.”
I grunt, moving away from the fingerless fucker who is now writhing around on the floor, crying in pain. I don’t know what the big issue is. He still has the fingers on his left hand. He just needs to remember to keep them to himself and he will be in no danger of losing them, too.
“Get him out of here and call in the clean-up crew.” I bark, pinning Dante with adon’t fuck with me right nowlook. He nods in acquiescence, pulling his cell from his pants pocket to do my bidding.
With one last look of disgust at Shawn, I leave the cold basement to head back to my office. Anticipation thrums in my veins, the closer I get. There is one more thing I need to do before I leave this place tonight.
It’s completely irrational of me, but it doesn’t change anything.
Ocean will not work at any other club.
I will make sure of it.
Chapter 14
Ocean
The asshole wasn’t lying.
I have been to twelve strip clubs today, begging for a job, but came out of each one even more deflated with every no. As soon as I gave my name I was turned away without so much as a reason why. I then realized that Nico had done as he said he would – he had me blacklisted from every damn club in the city. It’s frustrating to say the least. I need a job, but I refuse to bow down to Nico’s demands and work at his spa. I want to dance. Yeah, I didn’t grow up dreaming of becoming a stripper, but circumstances didn’t give me much choice, so it’s where I am. It’s honest work, I earn good money, and even though I have to take my clothes off, I also get to dance. Well, it’s past tense now considering Nico’s interference.
“Fuck,” I growl, rubbing my temples as I stare at the white table. I’m tired, irritated and have a tension headache that just won’t quit. After walking around for hours, I decided to stop at a local diner and take a much-needed break. I want coffee and need to think about my next move. I could always leave New York and go somewhere else. But why should I? I already ran once. And though I don’t have much, I was making it okay on my own. I can’t let some obnoxious asshole, whom I barely know,think he can take over my life just because somewhere along the line he decided I am his property. It’s bullshit.
My shoulders slump, angry tears pricking my eyes. Why is this happening to me? I didn’t ask for or want his attention. Yes, I admit I like it and last night when I was on his office floor with him invading my space? Well, it was the single most erotic experience of my life. He does things to me and affects my body in ways I don’t want to even think about right now. There is something between us, something I can’t explain, but the question is... Do I really want to get into anything with Nico? My head tells me no, but the butterflies taking flight in my stomach and the pulse beating between my thighs tells me that I do.
I blow out a frustrated breath. I am a walking contradiction right now, not knowing which way is up or which way is down. I could always talk to Leo about what is going on. Ask him to go against Nico and put me back on the roster, but with the sympathetic look he threw me last night I would bet my life on it – he won’t disobey the boss’ orders. No way.
I drum my fingernails on the table, my mind racing. I could always just show up at The Executive Club like nothing ever happened. But even as the thought forms, I know it would be pointless doing that. Something tells me I wouldn’t even make it to the stage before I was stopped. There are too many security guards that have surely already been informed about the situation. My lips purse. My attempt to go back to The Executive Club may be pointless, but for right now it’s all I have. I need to at least try. Fuck Nico. He doesn’t get to tell me what to do. I have lived my whole life with men controlling me. It’s why I ran. I am not about to fall back into that pattern. I need to fight back.
Determination surges through me. I smile. Tonight, I will go to The Executive Club as normal, to test things. See how far I get before I am stopped. I grin wider. There also might be asmall chance that Nico hasn’t informed anyone yet. It’s highly unlikely, but I am willing to try anything at this point.
Dropping some bills on the table, I climb out of the booth and leave the restaurant. With renewed hope and a spring in my step, I make my way towards the hostel. It’s only a couple of blocks away. I will have time to rest for an hour or so, shower, change and get to the club for my shift.
Coming to a crosswalk, I take a left down the street where my building is located. I only make it about ten steps before I come to a complete stop. My mouth drops open, eyes widen in disbelief, at what I find waiting for me.
Nico.
Leaning against a shiny, black SUV like it’s a normal occurrence.
