Two staff members came in through the exit door, breezing past me without a second look. I didn’t think they even saw me, though they saw my guard. Both staff paused, checking him out, before walking past. One paused and said something under her breath, but the guard only smiled and shook his head briefly. She started forward, only then looking back over her shoulder and seeing me. Her eyes widened, and her mouth opened, but she kept going.

A few minutes later, she came back with a drink in hand.

I watched, expecting her to offer it to the guard, but she didn’t. She sent him a coy smile, going past and holding it out to me. “Compliments from the bar.”

“Really? What is it?”

“One of the girls said you were sitting in the VIP earlier. She said it’s the same drink you had down there.” She touched my shoulder lightly, a small smile on her face. “Have your Mr. Tall, Dark, and Delicious nod to me downstairs if you want another. I’ll be watching.”

I was momentarily stunned, then nodded. “Thank you.”

The small gesture of kindness was appreciated.

The guard came forward when she left. He took the drink, testing it first. I waited, and after a few minutes he nodded. “It’s fine.” He handed it back to me. “You can drink it.”

Thanking him, I sipped the drink, and by the end of it, I was ready to head back. This time, as I went, I got a different reaction. People watched me. They moved aside. Eyes tracked me as they had watched Matt cross the club, and his friends. I got that same reception. It was an unsettling feeling, until I glanced over my shoulder and saw that my guard was closer than I had realized.

I was pondering that when a hand came out of nowhere.

I was yanked down a hallway. It happened so fast, I couldn’t react.

A door was opened. I was dragged inside, then a decisive “Stop!” barked out and the door was slammed shut behind me.

The light was never turned on.

I had no idea where I was, but it didn’t matter. I felt him, whoever he was, in front of me. He placed two hands on either side of me, trapping me in place, and as I was frozen, he bent over me. I felt his breath, warming me, teasing me. His body pressed in. He was crowding me. He wasn’t plastered against me, but I was flattened as much as I could be against the wall, still feeling his heat before he spoke into my ear.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

TWENTY-SIX

I was jarred.

It was abrupt. It was harsh, and it sent me back to that night.

I was in that dark room, but I wasn’t. My mind was back there, in my mom’s house, in my room. A hand was over my mouth in my home again.

I was remembering …

“Stop fighting and pay attention.”

Who was here?

“Bailey.” A sharp rasp. “I asked you a question.”

I was feeling pulled down, down. I was falling. The smell of that room again, feeling a cold breeze from him as he pressed against me. The sound of his silent footsteps as he caught me before I could run, as he pushed me to the wall.

“They’re going to think I raped you, and you’ll cry.”

“Bailey.”

I looked to the side, but it was just darkness. I could only feel him, sense him. He had trapped me again. A fog was clouding over my mind, dragging me still down, back into my memories.

I didn’t want to go there, and a whimper left me.

“Bailey.” Softer this time.

A hand slid to the back of my neck. His forehead touched mine, and I felt his chest. My hand raised there, touching him, holding him back.

“I will not let them hurt you. Got it?”

“Your house. Your territory. Your only shot of living.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. A hand moved on my neck—not Chase’s hand, but a different hand. Kash’s hand.

Kash was here.

I was not there.

I was safe. Here. With Kash. Not. There.

His thumb stroking back and forth, sliding up into my hair. A whispered, “Bailey,” before he moved even closer, his head falling beside mine. His cheek against mine, holding there, steady there. Never leaving there.

I sucked my breath in at the reminder of that night.

“Shh.”

A gargled cry had slipped from me. I was moving my head back and forth. It was hard to breathe. Harder still. An invisible pressure was pushing me down. The room was closing in on us.

I grabbed for him, my hand splaying out. Up. Over his strong chest, over muscles that I was faintly registering, over tight shoulders, around a rigid back.

He held still over me, above me. His head lifted back and he was watching me. I couldn’t see his eyes, but I felt his gaze.