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The attack stopped dead with the roar. The bouncers turned, finding a blond guy, flanked with his own dangerous-looking bodyguards, striding toward us. He glanced my way, scowled, then turned to Tobias. “You know better than to come here.”
“Yeah, well, not like I'd planned on it.” Tobias yanked his arm free, shooting the bouncer a glare. “I came for my brother, and I’d already be out of here if your fucking attack dogs had let me.”
The bouncer with the bloody nose growled and stepped forward.
“Ryth?”
I spun at the voice, trying to tear out of the bouncer’s vise-like grip as Gio stepped out from behind the bullies. “Gio?”
I caught the flinch from Tobias, then a low, menacing chuckle. “Of course. It’s just like you, isn’t it, Lazarus?”
Lazarus? As in…Lazarus Rossi?I froze.
“Let her go, James,” Lazarus muttered, and the asshole at my back released his hold.
“Jesus.” Gio came closer, his wide eyes fixed on me. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
I adjusted my dress, rage simmering close to the surface as I stared at Gio. “I could ask you the same thing.”
He glanced at Tobias as he answered. “I decided the party wasn’t worth attending. So, I came here instead.”
I glanced at the nearest dancer, who spun around the pole and spread her legs for all to see. “To a stripclub?”
“Tomyclub,” Lazarus muttered, before directing those intense eyes my way. “Ryth.”
I focused on thepunkwith his fucking attack dogs. When I looked at him, all I saw was my father’s bruised and beaten face. I hated him for that…for the fucking men he had behind the prison walls, men who obeyed their commands. The Rossis. I took a step forward, drawing a flinch from one of one Lazarus’ men, until he waved his attack dog back.
“I know what you did,” I murmured, glaring right into his eyes. “To my house and my father.”
There was an explosive glint in his eyes as Lazarus regarded me carefully. “Oh yeah? And what’s that?”
I flinched, then looked around the club. He was calling my bluff, seeing if I was really going to spell it out for everyone to hear. He was seeing if I was going to be…stupid.I stilled, my mind racing. I faltered, caught in a trap of my own making. Was I making things worse for dad, just by being here?
It’s okay, Ry…I’m going to get out of here…
Dad’s words echoed in my head as I stared into Lazarus Rossi’s clear blue eyes and tried to think. Was I one step away from making things worse…?
First, dad’s arrest…
Then, our home…
Where would it end?Not with me being stupid, that’s for sure.I swallowed hard, the hate in me cooling just a bit.
“Well done,” Lazarus murmured. “Looks like you’re not as stupid as the company you keep. There might be hope for you yet, Ryth.”
He looked at Tobias when he said it, triggering him to lunge.
“Uh-uh.” The towering, musclebound guy next to Laz shook his head. “You and I know you don’t want to do that, T.”
Anothercrashcame from the back room, echoing through the door.
“Yeah? How about you tell them to let my brothers go, Logan?” Tobias demanded.
Lazarus glanced toward the door and motioned him forward. In the blink of an eye, the massive bodyguard left his side and disappeared through the door.
Gio stepped closer and reached for my arm. “Come on, Ryth, let’s leave these two to piss it out.”
He was trying to drag me away…so they couldwhat?Hurt him? I shook my head and took a step toward Tobias, my voice shaking. “Get the fuck away from me, Gio.”
