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“I wouldn’t need help if you’d kept your hands to yourself,” I hissed at him.
The sound of his slap across my face rang in my ears, reverberating around the inside of my head even as I reached up and clutched my cheek, now stinging from the impact. I reacted on instinct—meet violence with violence—and curled my fingers slightly, slamming the base of my palm into his nose. He roared and recoiled before being yanked to his feet, blood spilling from his nostril as he fought against the men pulling him upright. I heard the click of heels behind me before I, too, was helped to my feet by two of the girls.
“Are you okay, sweetie?”
Rubbing my cheek gently, I hissed through my teeth again. “Yeah, I will be,” I said to the waitress who came to help. I didn’t know her name, and with the adrenaline surging through me at the coppery scent of his blood, I didn’t care.
“Get him the fuck out of here!”
Silence.
Looking up, Emrick was leaning over the edge of the balcony, his knuckles white as he clenched the railing. His lip was lifted into a snarl, and my jaw dropped as the blanket of silence fell across the club, only the beating heart of the bass continued as everyone realized who was speaking.
Because Emrick never interfered with what went on in the club with the patrons, he couldn’t care less as long as it didn’t interfere with his business. I’m sure it wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. Customers can get handsy, and I’d seen at least two fights break out since I started. The bouncers would tear them apart and throw them out, but there would never be a shout from Emrick like that. Loud and commanding, he had the attention of the entire place.
If this was some ploy to get me to go upstairs with him…
Well, it was kind of working.
Dangerous.
Dammit.
There was real fear in the eyes of the man who had hit me as he was dragged from the club, and I watched his progress across the dance floor, the heels of his shoes squeaking as he was pulled and my hand still resting on my tender cheek. Maddie came running, shifting my hand before touching the mark on my cheek and ushering me toward the bar.
“Can one of you please clean up the glass?” she called over her shoulder before sitting me down on the bar stool and reaching over the counter to wrap some ice in a dish towel and hold it against my face.
“Thanks, Maddie.”
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
She sat opposite me, concern flooding her face as her brows furrowed and dabbed the ice against my cheek.
“At least it’s good money, right?” I said, and she chuckled.
“Yeah, it’s good money.” Her smile dropped as I withdrew the note from between my breasts and slapped it onto the bar. Neither of us mentioned how Emrick had intervened. I didn’t know what to think of it, and I doubted Maddie did either.
“You didn’t have to hit him, Cara.”
I snatched the ice from Maddie, holding it against my cheek. “Excuse me?”
“He’s a good tipper.”
“Hestruckme, Maddie.” Her shoulder twitched as though she was going to shrug, and anger flared in my eyes. Some things weren’t worth the money, and being smacked around by some arrogant rich guy was one of them.
Maddie pressed her lips into a thin line, then said, “Think we can get the rest of the night off?” She lifted her glance to Phillip, who let his eyes flicker from me to her before he nodded stiffly. “Fuck yeah, girls’ night!” Maddie cried, and I smirked despite the ache in my cheek.
“Tequila, please, Phillip.” I moved to slide the hundred-dollar note to him, but it was gone. Eyeing Maddie, she slid the note to him, crumpled from being gripped in her fist. My eyes narrowed, but I said nothing to her and looked at Phillip again, “And keep them coming until this is spent.”
They didn’t even try to hide it.
Hell, I knew they were bold, and that Emrick and therefore his men ran half this damn city, but Christ, I thought they would have made some effort to keep their business private.
Emrick strode back into the club after disappearing for hours, flanked by three of his men and with another less fortunate man under his arm. He struggled uselessly against Emrick’s grip, clawing at his forearm as Emrick crushed him against his side in a headlock, practically dragging him through the club while he had no choice but to keep his feet moving so he wasn’t being dragged by his neck alone. Emrick didn’t look at him and barely seemed to acknowledge the man’s weight, walking with the same purpose he always did.
I couldn’t help but suck in a breath as they walked past, and when Emrick was close, he threw a glance at me. I couldn’t see his eyes behind his sunglasses, but as usual, his expression was blank, lips turned down and pressed together in grim determination. His glance lingered longer than it needed to, and with my hand pressed against my chest, I could feel my heart drumming against my ribs. My fingers snaked up to my cheek where I had been struck earlier, and while I watched the fear in the man’s eyes, I remembered the act of protectiveness Emrick had shown when I had been hurt.
