Then I noticed that the Hulk had left
Lucas
’ side and had gone
over to the small crowd watching Angel. I saw him say something and
they all hastily got up and made their way to the exit. Perplexed,
I looked back to Lucas who’d almost reached us. I almost recoiled
when I saw his face up close. His rage was barely contained. Those
black eyes were boring into Scott’s as he demanded that Chad take
me and Angel home. Before Chad could move, I turned to him and told
him to take Angel but I was going nowhere.
I felt Lucas
’ glare before I saw it. I turned to face him,
determined that I was not going anywhere and about to tell him so
but I heard Angel shriek. I whipped my head around to see the Hulk
lifting her off the swing. Chad shot to his feet in indignation but
then seemed to reconsider taking on such a massive adversary.
Instead, he trotted over to where Angel had discarded her clothes
and picked them up. Seeing the giant set her down, Chad then
hastily ran to her and gave them to her. She quickly pulled the
black dress over her head and shoved her feet into her pumps before
marching over to me, eyebrows raised questioningly.
I looked from her to Lucas, who was still
pinning a motionless Scott to his seat with that murderous
glare.
Chad joined her,
followed by the Hulk. Nobody spoke for what seemed an age.
Eventually, I said, “Chad, take Angel home please.”
“
I’m not leaving until I know what the
hell’s going on,” she said, indignantly.
“
Angel, please. Just go. I’ll explain
later,” I replied.
She looked torn as she tried to decide
whether to obey.
My wide
eyes and insistent, and my pleading expression must’ve convinced
her. “Come on, Chad,” she said, her eyes not leaving mine. “I hope
you know what you’re doing, Issy. I’ll see you at home
later.”
I nodded but Chad muttered, “We can’t go.
We came by cab.”
Angel turned to the giant behind her and
politely asked him to call them a cab. He didn’t move a muscle
until I saw Lucas nod his head slightly. He motioned for them to
walk in front of him towards the exit. Angel gave me one last
questioning look over her shoulder and I nodded. She walked through
the door into the reception area, closely followed by the
Hulk.
For a couple of minutes, nobody
spoke.
The tension was
becoming unbearable. I looked around and realized we were totally
alone in the huge room. Even the barman had gone. I wondered why
the palms of my hands were damp, why my throat was dry, and why my
stomach was lurching yet my feet felt immobile. Then I mentally
berated myself for thinking of trivial things when I should be more
concerned with Lucas being so mad at Scott. Surely Scott telling me
he thought Lucas was cheating on me with Ava wasn’t enough to make
Lucas so angry. And I couldn’t understand why the Hulk had cleared
the place or where Ava had gone. If she was the manager, surely she
should have been keeping an eye on the proceedings.
I sneaked a look at
him and could almost feel his silent rage
radiating from him. I knew it was barely controlled and I think
Scott knew it too because he was looking down at the floor and
keeping very still, presumably to avoid engaging or antagonizing
Lucas. I began to feel very uncomfortable. I should have trusted
Lucas more and not listened to Scott. Just as I shouldn’t have
listened to Joel, although I doubted that Scott was being malicious
as Joel had been. I genuinely thought that Scott had seen Ava and
Lucas being so close and had assumed the worst. Hell, even I’d
thought the same when I saw them. But I knew that Lucas believed
Scott was jealous of him and our relationship so I didn’t think
Lucas would believe Scott to be totally innocent. Either way, I
reasoned I was at the center of it so I should help to smooth
things over.
“Lucas,” I whispered, trying to sound more
confident than I felt. “Could I have a private word with you
please?”
I waited but he seemed not to hear. I
tried again, speaking a little louder but he ignored me or was too
angry to respond.
I stood up and I saw his eyes flick in my
direction before settling once more on Scott.
“
Lucas, please,” I begged as I tried to
force my unsteady feet to walk in his direction. “I can see you’re
angry but Scott didn’t mean anything. It was an honest mistake, I’m
certain of that.”
Abruptly, his head turned and that stare,
so full of loathing, almost made me recoil in fear. His mouth
sneered contemptuously before he looked back at Scott. My heart
sank but I couldn’t give in. I closed the small space between us
and tried to hold his hand but he shook me off without a second
thought.
“
Lucas, this is stupid. I know
you
’re pissed with me
for overreacting and not giving you chance to explain but now
you’re doing exactly that to me. Listen to me, I know Scott, and I
know he didn’t mean anything by it. Give me a chance to explain
properly, please. There’s no need for this. What are you going to
do? Trade insults? Start fighting like school kids?”
Lucas turned to me and said in a voice
that made my blood run cold, “No, Issy. I
’m going to break his fucking neck.”
I gasped and grabbed Lucas’ arms and was
about to hold him and plead for him to calm down when a thud
sounded nearby. We both whipped our heads around to see that Scott
had jumped over the back of his seat and was running for all he was
worth towards the exit. I heard a low growl and then Lucas was off
in pursuit.
Oh fuck!
I cursed my heeled boots as I tried to run
after them.
Scott had
slipped through the door to reception and Lucas had almost reached
it when I was only halfway across the room. I finally reached the
door and almost howled in frustration when I realized I didn’t have
a key card to open it. I banged my fists on it and yelled but I
knew it was a thick, solid steel door and nobody was likely to hear
me. I paced up and down but nobody came. Eventually, I walked over
to the bar, grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels and poured it down my
throat until it burned and I coughed and spluttered.
“
I hope you
’ve paid for that,” a voice said suddenly. It was
the kind of husky voice that could be sexily seductive and I’m sure
I heard a trace of an Italian accent but it held a disdainful edge
when it spoke to me. I didn’t turn around; I just knew I wouldn’t
like whoever it belonged to and that they wouldn’t like
me.
“
That
’s a little tricky when the barman appears to have deserted
his post,” I muttered.
“
So you just help yourself? That figures,”
said the voice scornfully, and I instantly knew who it belonged to
. . . Ava. And she was jealous of my relationship with Lucas, of
that I would bet good money.
I plastered a huge smile on my face and
turned to face her. “Ah, you must be Ava. I’m Issy Prince, Lucas
Hunter’s significant other. How delightful to meet you. I’ve heard
so much about you.”
Her usually breathtakingly beautiful face
was contorted as her eyes and lips narrowed.
Bingo! She’s definitely
jealous.
I couldn’t
understand why, she and Lucas were ancient history because he
couldn’t give her what she wanted . . . but she still wanted
him.
“
Yes, I
’m Ava and I’m the manager of this club. I’m afraid that it
is a members only club so I’m going to have to ask you to leave the
premises immediately.” She smiled but it didn’t reach her
eyes.
“
Nothing would give me greater pleasure but
I can
’t open the
security door,” I said, returning her fake smile.
“Well, let me assist you with that,” she
replied, waving a key card in front of my face.
“
Oh thank you, I don’t enjoy being held
captive,” I said drily and then, for pure devilment, I added,
“Except when Lucas restrains me to inflict all manner of pleasure
and pain on my poor body, of course.”
Her eyes narrowed again and her jaw
muscles worked furiously. I’d bet anything that she was resisting
the urge to slap me. Abruptly, she turned on her six-inch heel and
spat over her shoulder, “I think you should leave.”
“With pleasure,” I muttered as I followed her
to the door.
As we reached the exit, she waved her key
card across the wall-mounted panel and the door clicked open.
Immediately, Lucas’ angry voice reached my ears and I rudely pushed
Ava out of the way to see what was happening. I’d been distracted
by her and now my thoughts were once again on Lucas and
Scott.
I pushed the door and hurried into the
inner reception lobby. The scene that met my eyes was beyond
belief. Lucas had the Hulk up against a wall, pinning him with one
hand around his throat, as he called him every name under the sun,
berating him for allowing Scott to escape. Two other guys wearing
black shirts and pants were standing motionless nearby, clearly
trying to be invisible, presumably to avoid Lucas turning his
attention on to them. I assumed they’d probably already received
the sharp end of his tongue and were unwilling to experience it
again.
I still couldn
’t understand why he was so angry about Scott
telling me about him and Ava—it was a ridiculous overreaction in my
opinion. I decided I’d wait for Lucas to notice me, rather than
risk upsetting him even more. He virtually had his back to me so I
slid sideways a little, keeping my back against the wall. I could
feel my heart thumping in my chest. Something told me he wouldn’t
be pleased that I was witnessing his outburst.
I looked across at Ava, who was still
standing in the open doorway. Her face was white and her eyes
conveyed her fear. I wondered if she’d seen Lucas’ temper before
and whether that was why she looked so scared. It made me question
just what he was capable of in that state. Just as I started to
look away, I saw her slowly and quietly tiptoe backwards into the
club until the door closed with barely a sound. I couldn’t blame
her for wanting to keep out of the way. Much as I wanted to know
what exactly was going on, I also wished I was still inside the
club with my friend, Jack Daniels, to keep me company.
I became aware that Lucas had stopped
ranting and the room was totally silent. I looked over and saw that
he
’d let go of the
giant’s throat but hadn’t moved away. I was glad that I couldn’t
see his face; I’d seen it contorted with rage and it was enough to
make the bravest man’s knees tremble. A beep sounded and I thought
for a moment that Ava was back but it was the door to the outer
reception that opened, and a very harassed Carter walked into the
room. He looked to Lucas and simply shook his head. I saw Lucas
clench his hands into fists at his sides. Then he turned, running
his hand through his hair, a gesture I knew was born of
frustration.
His eyes locked with mine for a second
before he abruptly turned to Carter and barked at him to get every
member of his team out searching.
Then he turned to the Hulk and ordered him to make
himself useful and go with Carter. The Hulk muttered something
about the club and Lucas shouted that it was closed then demanded
to know what they were all waiting for. They quickly filed out,
leaving us alone. Lucas remained standing with his back to me for
what seemed an age. I could see the tension in his frame and wanted
to walk over and wrap my arms around him in an effort to relax him,
but it was too much of a risk.
I saw his head fall forwards a little and
heard him sigh deeply before he said, “I
’ll take you home.”
I couldn’t read anything into his tone; it
was pretty expressionless. “It’s okay, I can see you have a lot
going on so I’ll call a cab.” My voice was tiny and he immediately
turned around, his face the image of concern as he walked towards
me.
“
Oh Issy, please don
’t be scared. I’m sorry you had to see
that. I didn’t know you were there, honestly. I’m not angry with
you, just that lowlife,” he muttered as he folded me into his
arms.
I sank into him gratefully and resisted
the inexplicable urge to burst into tears. I think it may have been
relief that he wasn’t angry with me too, although he had every
reason to be after I’d misjudged him again. Or it could have been
sheer relief that the horrid situation had passed. I’d never seen
him like that before and frankly, I never wished to again. It was
pretty awful to witness but to be on the receiving end must be
terrifying. I still couldn’t believe that a man so huge and
obviously able to take care of himself would stand there and just
take Lucas’ onslaught without batting an eyelid, never mind
retaliating.
It occurred to me then that Lucas had just
declared the club was closed and he
’d ordered its staff to do his bidding. Several
questions ran through my mind.
Just what power does Lucas wield at this
club and why? Is his connection to Ava that strong?
It couldn’t be easy for a woman
to run a club on her own, especially a BDSM club. Perhaps he helped
her out occasionally with security issues at Odyssey, loaning her
his security staff from the Orion Building. Something flared in the
back of my mind but try as I might, I couldn’t grasp it. It was
annoying, like trying to remember the name of something and
failing.