Page 20 of Lucian

Sure enough, under the hum of the crappy music and the faint sound of voices, there was a cry. It was low but filled with terror. Clearly female. Only a brief moment passed before another higher shout from a male responded.

Lucian didn’t even think about it. He was practically running down the remainder of the hallway, crossing the distance in large strides in what felt like milliseconds. Gio was fast on his brother’s heels, not questioning Lucian’s motives at all.

The metal door slammed open under Lucian’s palm with a bang. At the same time, the Eagle Lucian had kept tucked in the back of his dress pants was firmly seated in his free hand, the safety clicking off and the hammer pulling back in one swift motion.

The gun, his most trusted and favorite of the many weapons Lucian had, was eleven inches long from back to barrel. With brushed chrome, it shined under any light. Just the size alone was frightening. The weight of the gun, if someone didn’t know how to handle it properly, could weigh down any man’s grip.

Not Lucian.

Instantly, the barrel of Lucian’s Eagle met the temple of a man he recognized as being one of the bouncers at the front of the strip club that let them in earlier without checking. In the man’s one hand was Jordyn’s throat. His other hand was between her thighs, touching parts of her body he clearly wasn’t allowed to be feeling. By the look of fear and revulsion in Jordyn’s eyes, she didn’t want his hand there, either.

The blues of Jordyn’s eyes were filled with tears, a redness creeping in over her face. The bouncer was holding much too tightly to her throat. She probably couldn’t breathe properly. It hurt Lucian to see a woman, especially this one, in that position.

“Remove your goddamn hands from her body,” Lucian said, a darkness creeping into his tone.

The man laughed. “Fuck you, pretty boy. This isn’t your business here or your place. Step off.”

“Let me explain what this weapon will do to you. From this range, it will remove over half of your skull and face. It will turn your brain to mush. They will not recognize you after I kill you. They will be cleaning your matter from this alley for months because that’s all that will be left of your head. When the bullet rips into you, it will toss your body ten feet from mine. I’m sure death will be instantaneous, unfortunately, but it’ll be awfully fun for me to pull the trigger.”

Lucian pressed the barrel harder to the man’s head. “Go on, keep touching her. Piss me off more. Make my night a little bit better. Maybe I’ll have my brother blow your kneecaps out before I turn your face into a mass of bloody goo.”

“You wouldn’t make it out of here alive, Mafioso.”

“Speak for yourself.”

Lucian bared his teeth and growled a sound that came from somewhere in the back of his throat. He didn’t recognize it. He’d never made a noise like that before. Frankly, nothing had ever pissed him off quite like this man hurting Jordyn did.

Jordyn choked. “Let me go, Chaz.”

“Now she’s asked for you to let her go, so I suggest you do,” Lucian said.

Chaz’s grip loosened slightly, but he glared hatefully at Jordyn without even bothering to consider Lucian or the threat he posed. “Doesn’t matter anyway, chica. We’re all gonna see it and have it whether you want to give it up or not. Club Property, Jord. No one’s gonna save your ass after tonight. Got that? It’s all you are now. Club Property.”

With that, Chaz released her throat and removed his hand from between her thighs. Lucian dropped his gun to his side, but made sure his shoulder hit the man’s as he passed.

“Don’t touch her again,” Lucian threatened. “Ever.”

Again, Chaz laughed. “Club Property, pretty boy.”

The door didn’t close behind the bouncer as Gio was there to keep it open. With a single glance at his brother, Gio got the point and let the door close, but Lucian knew he was waiting for a knock to let his brother back in.

“You okay?” Lucian asked, turning back to Jordyn.

The girl was holding her neck with one hand, tears beginning to spill over her cheeks. Splotches of reddish color had saturated her face and throat as she gasped in a lungful of air.

“Hey, it’s all right,” he said when she didn’t answer. “Bastard is gone.”

“No, it’s not!”

Lucian jerked away from Jordyn as if she slapped him. “Excuse me?”

Anger flit over her pretty features as she stood toe to toe with him. “Why would you do that? Christ, do you even know what you just did?”

“Saved you from being raped?”

“From Chaz?” Jordyn spat out a laugh, bitter and dark. “That fool has been chasing after me since I was sixteen. I’m not worried about him. I can handle his dumb ass.”

Lucian frowned. The scene he walked in on was not one that looked to be in her benefit.