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I was thankful that my staff was competent enough to handle things without needing my constant supervision because I couldn’t have helped them even if I’d wanted to right then. Not unless I wanted an entire club full of people to know exactly how affected I was.
“Boss, London and Genesis are here.” Tiny’s voice came through loud and clear over the Bluetooth system on my desk.
I bit back a groan, wondering what those two wanted now. Genesis and London were in the new band I’d hired to take over the Thursday night shows when Tainted Knights’ contract expired. The Blonde Bombshells had increased my revenue tenfold in the few months since they had been doing the shows. Of course, seventy-five percent of the attendance was dudes, but as long as they kept bringing in the money I wasn’t going to complain.
Not about their shows at least.
Their constant bickering, which I had to play referee to, was getting old. I felt more like their fucking father than their boss. Especially when it came to Genesis and London. They couldn’t get along at all and that was one of the main reasons Emmie Armstrong was hesitating to offer them a contract when the one with First Bass was up. I couldn’t see the all-chick band lasting past their contract anyway.
“Not in the mood to deal with their shit, Tiny,” I told him, not caring if they heard me or not.
“Sure, boss. I’ll get rid of them…Er. Wait!” My head of security said something vicious under his breath I didn’t catch, but I heard the familiar voices of Genesis and London crying foul. “Heads up, boss. Miss Thornton is headed right for you and she’s not happy.”
My dick twitched at just the mention of Lucy’s name. “I can take care of Lucy. Just get rid of the blondes, man.”
“You got it, boss.”
I stood and crossed to the office door that led out into the lower level of the club. Opening the door, I was just in time to see her marching toward me. Tiny had made the understatement of the year when he’d said she looked unhappy. Her eyes were red and puffy, telling me she’d been crying, but there was no sign of those tears right then. There was venomous anger glaring out of her dark eyes as she came toward me with the force of a tiny freight train.
“What happened?” I demanded, stepping through the door to catch her around the waist.
She struggled against me, her curls flying in all directions and smacking me in the face more than once. “Did you think no one would tell me?” she seethed. “Did it even cross your mind that you should have been the one to tell me?”
Confused, I released her waist to grasp her wrists when her fists started hitting my chest. Fuck, she had a good left on her. The spot just under my collarbone she’d connected with was already smarting. “What the hell are you talking about? Tell you what?”
“About Tessa,” she screamed. “You didn’t tell me about Tessa.”
Fucking hell.
When I didn’t say anything, Lucy tried fighting me harder. “You should have told me,” she yelled, causing the waitresses that were getting the lower level ready to open to stop and stare at us. “Not them, you!”
“Fuck, Lucy.” I lost hold of her r
ight wrist in my surprise and she slugged me in the jaw, causing my teeth to snap together and I bit my tongue. I turned my head, spit out a mouthful of blood and then bent, catching her around the waist once more and tossing her over my shoulder.
“You fucking pig,” she raged, her fists pummeling down on my back in sharp blows. Jesse Thornton had taught his daughter to defend herself well, that was for sure. “I hate you right now, Harris. I hate you.”
“That’s my kidney, Lu.” I groaned when she hit me in the exact spot again.
No one bothered to move as I got Lucy into my office and kicked the door shut behind me. Before the door closed I saw Nate standing up on the VIP floor grinning down at me. I wanted to go punch him in the face. Nate had been just as moody as I was when Lucy left for Georgetown. Our once easy work relationship was gone, replaced by my jealousy over the friendship he and Lucy had once had.
Behind closed doors now, I sat Lucy on the edge of my desk and struggled with her until I got control of her flailing arms. My mouth was full of blood once again and my tongue was starting to swell, made worse when one of her fists connected with my chin. Shit, my little spitfire was beating the fuck out of me.
And it was turning me on in a way that belied my earlier release inside her incredible little body.
“Will you stop?” I growled and shook her as carefully as possible until her head jerked back and she met my gaze. When I saw the pain in her eyes I nearly let her go so she could beat the shit out of me a little more. Instead, I grasped both wrists in one hand and pushed her hair back from her face with the other, cupping her jaw so she couldn’t lower her head and block me out. “Who told you?”
“Dallas,” she snarled. “Not my mom or Lana or even Aunt Emmie. It was Dallas.”
Turning my head, I spit out more blood, giving myself time to think. Why had Dallas told her? She had no reason to tell her or anyone else what she’d made me understand months ago. The relief I’d felt when I’d realized I hadn’t done the things those fucking videos had made it look like I had was short lived when it hit me that I’d let Lucy go without even trying to fight for us. Something that she had begged me to do. Something I hadn’t had the balls to attempt.
Because I’d been too twisted up. Too ashamed of not having control of a situation I wouldn’t have ever been a part of had I not been drugged out of my mind. I’d been weak and I’d hated that weakness.
It shouldn’t have made me push away the only thing that had still been pure and good in my world. I shouldn’t have told her to go. I shouldn’t have made her think that I didn’t need her as much as she needed me.
All those regrets had been eating at me, but until I realized Lucy hadn’t moved on, I hadn’t wanted to ask for another try. She deserved so much more and if she had moved on, I wouldn’t have even approached her again. But she hadn’t and now I wanted a second chance.
“You should have told me.” She was starting to lose steam now, but the glare was just as fierce as it had ever been even as tears filled her eyes. “I had a right to know.”
