Living in Sin (The Escort Series) (33 page)

Thankfully Emilie shows up with drinks.

“Liam is right behind us,” I say as soon as she sits down.

“No!” she gasps.

“Yes. Don’t look. I don’t want him to see us and come over.”

“I wish he would. I’d kick him in the balls.”

I laugh and take a sip of my drink. “Did you tell Troy hi for me?” I ask.

She rolls her eyes. “I didn’t go over there to talk to him. He followed me to the bar…after he saw me walk by him,” she says with a mischievous smile.

“What’d he say?”

“That I looked good tonight, and he wanted to dance with me later.”

“And will you dance with him?”

“Sure. Friends dance together. Me and you dance together.”

“Right, but I don’t think you like me like you like him…or do you?” I say with a wink.

“Oh, you finally caught on. I’ve been waiting for you to realize I was in love with you,” she says dramatically.

“I am loveable,” I say with a shrug.

We finish our second drinks while we sit there talking. Liam still hasn’t moved from his spot, so we’re gonna have to chance getting up and hoping he doesn’t see us. Otherwise, we’ll be sitting her all night, and we’d like to check out the other levels.

“Ready?” I whisper conspiratorially.

“Ready,” she responds quietly.

We ease off the couch and move quickly ahead and to the right. We get all the way to the stairs on the other side of the room before looking back.

“Good. The bastard stayed over there,” Em says.

We begin walking up the stairs when we notice Troy walking down. Him and Em share a grin.

“Can I get that dance now?” he asks her.

She looks to me as if she’s asking permission.

“Go ahead. I’ll go meet up with Jace in the office for a little while. Troy, can you open the door to that hallway?’ I ask. The offices on each level are behind locked doors that only they have keys to.

“Yeah, sure thing,” he says.

We walk over and he unlocks the door for me.

“Don’t lose your phone this time,” I tell Em. “I’ll need to find you eventually.”

“Okay, okay.”

They walk away and I stand there with my hand holding the door open, watching the way they interact with each other. I really hope they find a way to work it out. Jace and Troy being friends, and Emilie and I being best friends would make for great double dates. Plus, they are so cute together! They both have blunt personalities and don’t sugarcoat anything. It’s funny to watch them banter back and forth. They’ve both met their match.

I snap myself out of the zone I was in and turn to walk into the “secret” hallway. Spending some quiet time with Jace sounds good right about now. I just hope I’m not interrupting anything important.

As soon as I step into the hallway, I feel someone behind me. Somebody has followed me in here before the door was able to close. Right as I’m about to tell them they aren’t allowed back here, I hear Liam’s voice.

“I thought that was you.”

My body goes rigid. Jace’s office is at the far end of the hall, and he can’t hear that anybody is in here, especially if he has his door closed. When I face Liam it’s obvious he’s completely shitfaced. His eyes are bloodshot, his face is flushed, and he has a ridiculous smile plastered on his face.

“Liam, you can’t be back here,” I say calmly.

“You’re here,” he states simply.

“I know, but I’m allowed to be back here. You aren’t. Why don’t you go back into the club, and maybe I’ll see you out there in a minute.”

I try for a friendly tone hoping it will placate him and he won’t get hostile. Another thing that usually happens when he’s drunk.

“I wanted to come say hi,” he says as he stumbles closer. “You’re lookin’ really good tonight,” he slurs.

“Okay, come on,” I say as I step past him to open the door to the club.

He grabs ahold of my wrist as soon as my hand reaches the doorknob.

“No, you come on. I told you I was sorry. I thought you forgave me?”

I look down at his hand on my wrist and then back at him with my brows furrowed. “I did, Liam, but that doesn’t mean you have the right to put your hands on me.”

“Come on, Adrienne. My hands have been in a lot of other places,” he says with an eerie smile on his face.

“I don’t care, Liam. Get off me!” I yell as I yank my hand away from him.

His eyes narrow at me as he backs me into the door. “Don’t act like you don’t miss me. Don’t act like you don’t want me,” he says as he runs his finger along my jaw.

I turn my head and bring my hands to his chest to push him back. Instead he clutches my hands in his and pins them to the door behind me. I can smell the alcohol on his breath when he leans in and presses his nose against mine.

“Don’t fight me, Adrienne. It’s only going to turn me on,” he snarls.

When he leans in and nuzzles my neck with his face I bring my knee up and drive it into his balls. He releases me and stumbles back. While he’s bent over and cussing, I take off and run towards Jace. I really hope he’s in his office. Before I get there I’m being pulled back by my ponytail. I let out a screech and he pulls harder.

“You stupid fucking bitch,” he seethes.

He yanks me so hard that I lose my balance and stagger into him. He pushes me into the wall and I yelp again.

“Shut up!” he roars. “Why do you always have to fuck shit up? I was trying to be nice to you, and this is how you treat me? This is why I cheated on you. You never appreciated me.”

I don’t say anything. I’m too busy fighting back the tears.

“You owe me one last fuck. We’ll call it a goodbye fuck.”

I close my eyes, tears trickling down my face. “Liam, please. Please don’t”

“Yeah, baby. Beg me.”

I hear a loud bang that startles me. My eyes pop open and I see Liam crumpled on the ground, Jace standing over him. He must have tossed him against the wall.

Jace grips Liam’s shirt in his hand and lifts him up. Liam is conscious but he seems a little disoriented. Probably from both the alcohol and being slammed against a wall.

“I told you not to fucking touch her again!” Jace roars. He’s furious. “Did I not say that?” he demands. “Fucking answer me, you piece of shit. Didn’t I tell you to not touch her?” he seethes.

Liam finally nods.

“Next time you’ll take me seriously. She’s mine. You have no right to fucking touch her ever again. Come near her again, and I’ll fucking kill you.”

In the next second Jace’s fist is flying at Liam’s face. He hits him perfectly on the jaw and Liam drops to the floor. He’s out cold.

When Jace turns around and looks at me, I can feel the fury radiating from him. He takes a step and gently wipes the tears from my face with his thumb.

“Are you okay?”

I only nod. My lip quivering.

“Come here,” he says, pulling me to his side and walking me to his office.

He sits me on the couch and makes a phone call. A few minutes later two of the bouncers are carrying Liam to the door at the end of the hall.

“They’re putting him in a cab. They’ll get his address from his wallet. He’s lucky I’m not just throwing his ass in an alley somewhere.”

“You could have,” I say quietly.

He gives me a sad smile before sitting next to me on the couch. “You sure you’re okay? He didn’t hurt you did he?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“I’m so sorry I didn’t come out sooner.”

“It’s not your fault,” I say as I snuggle into his side. He has his arm around my shoulders and pulls me in tighter.

“You wanna go home?” he asks.

“Home?” I ask, hoping he doesn’t want to send me home in a cab.

“Yeah. To my home. I don’t have to be here anymore.”

“Yes. I’d like that,” I say through a smile.

He pulls out his phone and sends a text. A few seconds later his phone dings.

“Okay. I told Troy we’re leaving. He said he’d take care of Emilie and make sure she gets home safely.”

His phone dings again.

“Oh and apparently Emilie says you better call her in the morning,” he says with a laugh.

“Okay. Thank you, Jace.”

“For what?”

“For just being you.”

He squeezes me a little tighter and kisses the top of my head. We go ‘home’ a few minutes later.

After Adrienne and I come back to my place, I cook dinner while she showers and changes into one of my T-shirts. When she comes out I have spaghetti and French bread ready to eat.

“You better quit spoiling me or you’ll never get rid of me,” she jokes as she walks in the kitchen.

She wraps her arms around my waist from the side and rests her head on my chest. I let one hand fall over her shoulders as the other one is stirring the sauce. “Maybe that’s my plan.”

“To spoil me?”

“To make it to where you don’t want to leave me.”

She looks up at me with those beautiful eyes of hers and smiles. I lean down and give her a kiss. “Go sit down, and I’ll bring you your food.”

“Ooh, you are spoiling me.”

“Just treating you the way you should be treated, babe.”

I place the plates on the table before going to the fridge for drinks. “Do you want water, soda, wine, juice, milk?”

“Water is fine.”

I take two bottles of water back to the table and sit across from her.

“Are you tired?” I ask when I see her trying to stifle a yawn.

“Yeah, maybe a little.”

“Once we’re done eating, we can go to bed.”

“Sounds perfect.”

Once we’re done eating, I throw the dishes in the dishwasher and then go to my room. I strip down to my boxer briefs and crawl into bed with Adrienne. She’s flipping through the channels on the TV trying to find a good movie to watch.

“All these channels you have and there’s absolutely nothing to watch.”

“I know. I might as well cut it off, but I need my sports channels.”

“Men,” she scoffs.

“You don’t like sports?” I ask.

“I like watching football more than anything. Other than that, I don’t follow them.”

“I can deal with that. Football is my favorite, too. I like to watch basketball, too, though.”

“Basketball is fine, just don’t ask me to sit through something like baseball or tennis. I won’t do it. Not even for you,” she says with a playful gleam in her eye.

I laugh. “Okay, duly noted.”

She yawns again.

“Come on, let’s go to sleep,” I say as I take the remote and turn the TV off.

I place it on the nightstand next to me and pull Adrienne to my chest. One arm drapes over my stomach while her head lies on my chest.

“Why are you so good to me?” she asks through another yawn.

“Because you’re mine,” I state simply.

And then she’s asleep.

The next morning when I wake up, Adrienne isn’t in the bed next to me. I look towards the bathroom but the door is wide open with the light off. I get out of bed, throw on some pants and go to the bathroom to pee and brush my teeth.

I move towards the kitchen and hear her before I see her. She’s humming along to a song that’s playing from her phone. When I cross the living room I see her in the kitchen still wearing my T-shirt and cooking breakfast. It brings a smile to my face.

“Good morning.”

She jumps around like I frightened her. “You scared the shit out of me,” she says with her hand on her chest.

“I’m sorry,” I laugh.

“I’ve never made you breakfast before, but I hope you like this. I’m making scrambled eggs, bacon, smoked sausage, fried potatoes, and toast.”

“Sounds amazing. I’m starving.”

“I’m surprised you had all that in your fridge and pantry,” she says with a grin.

“I told you I cook.”

She smiles and continues cooking. “Need my help?” I ask.

“Nope. You go sit over there and watch sports or something,” she says, gesturing towards the living room with a spatula.

“Who’s spoiling who?” I say as I make my way to her and give her a kiss.

“You’re mine,” she says with a shrug and my smile grows even wider. “You can’t come in here without a shirt on. It’s distracting. I’m gonna burn the food.”

“Sorry,” I laugh. “I’ll go put one on now.”

Adrienne hasn’t brought up what happened last night with her ex, and I won’t talk about it unless I know she wants to. I know he was drunk off his ass, and I know he didn’t succeed in doing what he wanted, but I wanted to keep hitting him. I guess there isn’t a point after he’s already been knocked unconscious. If I ever see that bastard again, though, he’ll regret it.