Secret Love (Love Stings Series Book 2) (8 page)

I’m probably going to need to go to the emergency room to have it x-rayed, but I’ll wait until Damien gets back and tell him. She tells me she’ll call me tomorrow and disappears out of the room when Damien comes back.

“How’s it feel, baby?” He says “baby” in almost a whisper. It does bad things to my insides when he calls me that, and by bad, I mean very good.

“I should probably have it looked at. If it’s not broken, then it’s probably sprained. What’ll happen if I can’t dance?”

I worry my bottom lip with my teeth. I was supposed to do some sort of special lap dance for someone in one of the private rooms tonight. He supposedly asked for me. Will I be fired?

“Nothing’s going to happen to you, I promise. I’m going to have Taylor help you get changed back into your street clothes, and I’m going to take you to have it looked at.” He looks toward the door, which is still closed, and turns back toward me. Damien’s lips touch mine before he pulls away. “Come on.”

He helps me off of the desk and leads me out into the hall. Behind Rafe’s door, I can hear flesh hitting flesh, grunts and groans. I look up at Damien with wide eyes and let him lead me away. The guy was just some drunk asshole. I didn’t want him getting hurt. I just wanted him to let go of me. We stop at the bar, where Taylor is standing.

Damien instructs her to help me change and to bring me out front when I’m done. Taylor is such a dork. She gives Damien a salute before leading me to the dressing room.

***

“Do you need anything else, baby?” Damien tucks me into my bed and kisses me. We just got back from both the ER and the all-night pharmacy. My hand isn’t broken, but I did sprain my wrist. Now I have to wear a splint and can’t dance for at least two weeks. I’ll have to go to my doctor to follow up next week. The pain pills they prescribed are starting to kick in, and now I’m feeling a little woozy.

“No, I’m good. Thank you for taking care of me. Are they going to be mad that I can’t dance?”

He strips down to his boxer-briefs and climbs in on the other side. Damien pulls me into his arms before answering. “No, babe. They completely understood when I called Rafe to tell him. They’re just worried about you and feel bad that the douche bag even laid his hands on you at all. Get some sleep, yeah?”

I snuggle up to him so my back is against his front and feel my eyes drift shut.

Chapter Ten

Damien

My footsteps echo on the tile floor as I walk back toward Rafe’s office. He called me an hour ago and requested my presence. I really wanted to tell him to fuck off because Carrington was kissing a trail down my stomach, toward my dick, but I wasn’t sure if he wanted to talk about the guy from last night. I knock and wait until I hear someone tell me to come in.

I close the door behind me and take a seat in the chair across from Rafe. Tucker sits in the chair next to me. “What’s up, guys?”

“How’s Carrington?” Rafe asks.

“She’s okay. The pain pills have knocked her out, so she’s not up for long after she takes one. She is worried about losing her job since she can’t dance or waitress.”

Rafe leans forward. “Tell our girl that she’s got nothing to worry about. Also tell her that the piece of shit is banned from here.”

“Not like he’ll be doing much moving yet,” Tucker says with a snicker.

“Did you guys fuck him up good? It sounded like it.”

“Fuck yes we did. He touched our star. We lost at least a grand since she didn’t get a chance to work the back room and do those lap dances we promised those customers. I’ll call her later and let her know that she doesn’t need to worry about money while she can’t work. We’ll make sure she’s taken care of.”

It’s taking all of my strength to keep my face impassive. I’ll be damned if they make sure she’s taken care of. She’s fucking mine.
Fuck
, I think to myself. That thought needs to go. She’s not mine; she can’t be.

“Great. I’m sure she’ll appreciate that. I know she was worried about losing her job.” I get up to leave, but Tucker stops me.

“We just wanted you to know we have another run for you to do. We made two thousand dollars in profit the other night. We’re already booked until December.”

“That’s great! That’s what you guys wanted. You know me—I’m here to help with whatever.”

I need to find out who’s pulling Rafe and Tucker’s strings. The guy I bought the blow from didn’t give us anything useful, so I’m going to keep working the brothers.

I head out to my Jeep and then make my way toward Carrington’s apartment. She was asleep when I left, so I grabbed her keys. When I went to leave earlier, I peeked in on her. She was hugging her wrist to her chest, pissing me off even more.

With a box of donuts I picked up, I make my way toward her apartment. I unlock the door and am greeted by silence. I set the donuts on her kitchen counter and start a pot of coffee. While it brews, I head back to Carrington’s bedroom and find that she’s knocked out and snoring. I head back to the kitchen and grab an ice pack out of the freezer and again head back into her room. This time she’s sitting up, looking disoriented and in pain. She looks at me, and I feel something shift inside of me. Warmth spreads across my chest, and my heart beats rapidly in my chest. It feels like the bottom drops out of my stomach. Her hair is in a haphazard ponytail that’s moved to the side, her face is free of makeup, and there’s a dried drool trail on her chin.

“What time is it?” Her voice is sluggish. I walk toward her, reaching out and tucking her hair behind her ear.

“It’s eleven. How’s the wrist?”

I sit down next to her and carefully take her wrist in my hand, holding the ice pack on it. She winces a little, but they said they pain should lessen in forty-eight to seventy-two hours. It’s too soon to take a pain pill so she’s going to have to suffer for a bit longer.

“It’s sore, but I’ll live. They’re not firing me, are they?”

“No, baby, they’re not. They’ll make sure you have money. They don’t want you to worry about anything. I’m going to go, but there are donuts on the counter and I made you coffee. Wait until after you eat before you take another pain pill.” I stand up and feel her hand on my arm.

“You’re leaving?”

“Sorry, I’ve got shit to do. I’ll check in with you later.” Bending down, I kiss her lips before leaving.

As soon as the door to her apartment closes behind me, I take a deep breath. She’s working her way under my skin, and it’s not a good thing. I’m great at reading people, and I can tell that she has feelings for me. I have to pull back—I have to. Everything she knows about me is a lie, and that’s not fair to her. How could we really work? When she finds out I lied about who I am, she’d break up with me anyway.

Plus, at any time, my case could go south and I don’t want her caught in the middle. I’d never forgive myself. I can’t help but feel pissed off as I move toward my truck. Not being ready to end things but knowing I need to fucking sucks. The best way to do that is just to begin treating her like shit again.

***

It’s been a week since Carrington got hurt, and I haven’t spoken to her since. She texted me and called me the first couple of days, but I didn’t respond. I know when she sent her final text because she didn’t hold back.

I don’t know what your problem is, but if you’re done with me at least have the balls to tell me. You don’t need to though, because I’m done with you, you asshole!

At least I’ll get another week before I have to see her again. I thought about going out and banging as many women as I could so I could forget about her, but I couldn’t do it. It’s not like my dick’s broken, but none of them hold a candle to her. She’s who I want, but I can’t fucking have her. Now it’s got me in a perpetually bad mood.

I step inside the club and freeze. Carrington is standing at the bar in a tiny skirt and a top tied up under her breasts. The brace on her wrist still gets my blood boiling, but it’s no longer my job to worry. Well, that’s at least what I tell myself.

Schooling my features, I stomp over to her. “What the fuck are you doing here? Didn’t they tell you to take at least two weeks off?”

She looks up at me, and there is a fire in her eyes. “Not that it’s any of your business, but my doctor cleared me to come back to work. Rafe says I can wait tables for a week and then go back to dancing. If you don’t like it…Fuck…Off.”

She grabs her tray and heads back toward the rooms for the private parties. My blood starts to boil. I don’t want her back there.

I make my way back to Rafe’s office and walk right in. He’s in his office, alone. “We need to talk.”

Rafe looks down and starts moving around. Next thing I know, one of the working girls pops up from under his desk, wiping her mouth.

“Get out of here and go get ready,” he tells her.

When she walks past me, she strokes my chest, but I grab her hand and pull it away from me. “Don’t touch me.” She shrugs her shoulders and exits the office. “I thought you weren’t going to touch the girls?”

“Free pussy, man. They’re whores. They’re not going to get attached. What’s up?”

“Why is Carrington here, and why is she working the rooms?”

My face stays impassive, but I’m holding on by a thread. One of our waitresses quit after last weekend because one dickhead cornered her and tried to shove his hands up her skirt. Carrington is extremely popular. This could go bad really fast.

“I don’t want her dancing until her wrist is completely healed. These idiots renting the rooms are willing to pay top dollar to have our featured dancer working the room. She’s agreed to doing lap dances, thank God, and she’s getting to keep all of the tips and percentage of the room.”

This does not make me happy. Too many things could happen to her. Blow and alcohol are a bad combination

“Who’s working security in the room?” I don’t want to seem too eager, but dammit I need to be in there.

“I figured you should be in there, but I do have a couple of guys coming to talk to me on Sunday. They’ll be hired strictly for the back rooms. If you can, I want you to be here to feel them out.”

“I can do that. Just let me know what time. I’m going to head back out to the floor.” I stand up and make my way toward the door, but his voice makes me stop.

“I’ve been impressed with the extra stuff you’ve been doing for us. We’ve got big plans, brother.” He dismisses me, and all I want to do is tell him that I’m not his fucking brother.

Back on the floor I find Bridgette talking to Carrington. God, I hate the way she’s always touching some of the girls. I know she’s bisexual because last night Tucker and a dancer I hadn’t met yet disappeared into her office, and by the noise it was obvious what they were doing, but I don’t trust her. I had her run through the system, and there is no one by that name. Bridgette Bishop is a fucking ghost.

***

She’s trying to punish me. Carrington has the jackasses in this private room eating out of the palm of her hand. The only reason she’s doing it is to get back at me for what I did, or at least that’s what I’ve convinced myself of. Carrington is flirting up a storm and smiling wide at each of these motherfuckers. She’s down to her skimpy bikini top but still has the skirt on. I don’t know if she’s blocking out the fact that the guy next to the one she’s giving the lap dance to is doing blow or that in the corner one of the guys is getting a blow job, but she’s acting totally oblivious to it.

When the lap dance is done, the prick shows a wad of cash into her skirt and tries to hold his hand there, but before I can do anything about it she leans forward and says something and the guy backs off. It’s not until she moves to stand next to me that I can feel a weird energy coming off of her. I look down and see her good hand is clenched so tightly her knuckles are white. I can see her chin is wobbling, but you wouldn’t notice unless you got really close to her.

I lean down until my lips are against her ear. “Are you okay?”

She bites her lip hard and stares at the guy who now has a whore against the wall, fucking her. Her head barely moves, but it’s obvious she shook her head no. Carrington seems to be losing it. I grab her good hand and ignore her refusal to come with me and drag her out of the room.

Rex, one of my team, is standing in the hall. “She needs some air. We’re going out back.”

Neither of us says anything, but as soon as the back door shuts behind us, she rips her hand away from mine and shoves me.

“So what? Are we whores now? Is that what you were doing, sampling the goods first? You can’t make me do it!” She reaches up and shoves me again but immediately cries out and grabs her wrist.

“Baby, are you okay?” She jerks away from me.

“Don’t call me baby. Damien, I’m not a whore. I won’t sleep with anyone for money.” Big, fat tears spill from her eyes. I reach out and wipe them away.

“I wasn’t sampling the goods. The whores and drugs are a new thing they’re doing. No one expects you to do it. You are so far from a whore, it’s not even funny. I wanted you, Carrington, because you’re beautiful, sexy, and so funny.”

Her chin wobbles, and I just want it to stop. She stares up at me with those blue eyes of hers, and my heart fucking stutters in my chest.

“Then why didn’t you call me or text me back? You just left.” She hangs her head. I know I’m such an asshole.

I bend down so my head is next to hers and speak quietly. “There are things—fuck, there are things you don’t know, things I wish I could tell you, but I can’t. Trust me, you staying away from me is for your own good.”

Carrington doesn’t say anything to me. She just shakes her head, moves around me, and heads inside. I stand there for a minute, trying to get my shit together. How did this get fucked up? I know how. I never should have touched her, but now that I’ve had a taste, I want more.

With reluctant steps, I head back inside and find Carrington coming out of Rafe’s office with his arm around her. Every inch of me is ready to attack him if he tries anything with her. I follow behind them as they head toward the front. Rafe leans down, whispering in her ear. Carrington smiles up at him and then heads toward the dressing room.

“What’s up?” I ask when I move to stand next to him.

“Hey, man. Her wrist is starting to swell up, so I’m sending her home. I gave her her portion from the room. I’m going to go check on some stuff. Will you make sure she makes it out to her car safely?” He doesn’t even give me a chance to answer before he’s heading down the hall.

I make my way toward the dressing room and wait for Carrington to come out.