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“Hey, it’s going to be okay. We’ll figure this out.”
“What’s going on?” Auggie’s voice sounded so far away.
Luca pulled me down until I was kneeling on the floor, my face cupped in his hands. He drew me through the same exercises as the last time he had guided me to the other side of a panic attack. Auggie passed me a glass of ice water and Luca dug his fingers into it to put an ice cube on my tongue. The shock of cold grounded me and I crunched away, trying to keep myself steady.
“That’s it,” Luca crooned. “Breathe with me.”
He pulled me to his chest and took exaggerated breaths so that I could match my own to them until my head was no longer swimming and my heart didn’t feel like I was running a marathon while sitting still. Auggie crouched next to me, and every other performer backstage had crowded around.
My boss crouched on my other side. “Luna, tell me what happened,” he ordered firmly.
I spilled out how the two men that harassed me on the floor were heavily connected to the rest of my life. My finance job had no idea that I worked here, my friends and family didn’t know, and I had zero faith that either of them would keep their mouths shut.
“Okay, okay,” Arthur sighed. “Here’s what we’re going to do. Both of them will be permanently banned from the club. I’m going to ban their sponsor for bringing that kind of trash in here. You’re going to go home, security will get you safely to your vehicle, and we’ll cross any bridges we have to when they come. You know I’ve got your back.”
We ended up having to wait backstage until the assholes actually departed the property. Security did an outdoor sweep before they walked me to my car, Luca at my side.
“I’ll pick up some food. I know it’s been a long time since you’ve eaten.”
I nodded slowly. I knew I would need to eat, but I felt so queasy that the idea was wholly unpleasant. “Sure.”
I gave him my backup fob to get into the building. I kept it in my car for emergencies, though both of my sisters also had copies in case they ever needed to escape in the night.
I was looking forward to a hot shower, to scrubbing the glitter off my skin and pretending the last bit of tonight hadn’t happened.
The drive home felt agonizingly long, though it took no more time than usual. The parking lot was full but quiet this late, and I hustled inside, eager to be back in my apartment. I turned the key and stepped inside, dropping my bags to the floor without a second thought. My nose wrinkled, the stench of alpha and liquor thick in the air.
“Took you long enough.”
Rodney.
My prey instincts hopped into overdrive, a cold sweat breaking over my skin. “How did you get in here?”
He held up a set of keys and jingled them. By the rainbow of keychains, I knew it was Stella’s. “Borrowed the bitch’s car.”
Fury that he would talk about Stella that way clashed with a visceral fear I felt at him being in my apartment.
“She’s got so much shit up here,” Kevin called from the upper level.
“Get out of my nest, asshole!”
They were in my space. My sacred space.
“Oh, good, you’re back.” Kevin practically sprinted down my stairs with a bottle of whiskey in his hand.
I turned to the door, my brain finally catching up enough with the situation to order me to flee. Glass shattered next to my head and I shrieked, shying away from it.
“Where do you think you’re going, bitch?”
Rodney slammed my door shut and flicked the deadbolt. “We were going to have fun tonight and you ruined that. We decided you should make it up to us.”
Kevin joined in, grabbing a fistful of my hair and dragging me to the floor. “If all it takes is money to get in your pants, then you’ll get it. Consider yourself bought and paid for.”
I whined, a desperate omega sound as he yanked on my hair, their words turning to raw fear in my chest. The sound didn’t work on Kevin like it would with any decent alpha. He didn’t care if I was afraid or in pain. “Stop! Please, I?—”
A knock at the door had everyone freezing and I took the opportunity to gouge my nails into Kevin’s arm, biting as hard as I could as his grip loosened before hurling myself away, slamming into the door, and flipping the deadbolt. I screamed as one of them grabbed me, dragging me away, but the door opened before they could lock it again.
Luca took in the scene before him for a half second before his eyes went out of focus and he let out a terrifying growl that had all my little hairs standing on end. His fist cracked against Kevin’s face, and then his elbow against Rodney’s. He was like a wild thing, utterly possessed: he scratched, ripped at hair, bit down to the bone, even taking one of my breakfast stools and crashing the weight of it against Rodney. Luca fought dirty, hitting every tender spot their bodies had until they were both curled up to protect their dicks.
