I clamped my jaw shut. Wanker. Of course, he dragged me out then ditched me for some girl. Bullshit.
I stole another glance toward the door before finally making a move.
The girl, the one with all the curves and the big green eyes, I'd just ask her a simple question.
When I cleared my throat, she pulled herself away from her snogging session abruptly.
She flicked me a glance and then squinted. "Can I help you?"
"I'm looking for your mate. We were dancing and she pointed you out. Said she was going to take a phone call."
The woman glanced around. "Gorgeous black woman, the kind of face that probably belonged to Nefertiti?"
"Yeah, that's her."
She smirked. "Who are you?"
I had to laugh at that. The look she was giving me said she would sever me permanently from my balls if I did anything untoward to her mate. "My friends call me Lock."
"Lock, like lock and key?"
"Lachlan."
"Right. Of course, your name would be Lachlan." She eyed me up and down. "Broody. Stupid good looks. If you're mean to my mate, I promise you I'm more than capable of being very unpleasant toward you."
I laughed at that. "Noted. Any idea where she went?"
She shook her head and glanced down at her phone. "It says she's right outside the club."
"You have a locator on your mate?"
She laughed. "Yeah, you know, us girls got to stick together."
I pondered that for a moment. "Yeah, actually, that’s probably really wise."
"Do you want me to go get her? Did you upset her or something?"
I shook my head. "No, she had a phone call."
She looked down at the phone again. "Oh shit, yeah, I know exactly who called her."
I frowned at that. Not that it mattered. He’d clearly been lacking as a boyfriend if he wasn’t out with her. Not to mention, she didn’t touch me like a woman with a boyfriend. "Does she have someone special?"
She grinned and shook her head. "Smitten, are you?"
"Do people say that still?"
She shrugged. "I say it. And I have a ridiculous love of romantic period pieces, the whole thing. So yeah, I say smitten.”
"She's all right. Smart, gorgeous, obviously, but a little locked away. But when she shows you part of her, it's like you're seeing her for the first time.”
She grinned at me. "Oh, you'll do nicely."
I rubbed the back of my neck. "Right. So I'm just going to go check on her. Make sure she's good."
"Yeah, you do that. Remember what I said about those balls of yours. Do you like them where they are? Be nice to my mate."
"Is there something about me that screams not nice?"
Maybe she can see your black heart.
She laughed at that, showing perfectly even white teeth. She was beautiful. But there was something obvious about her. Like what you saw was what you got. And while some blokes might like that, I liked a bit of mystery.
I'd always loved puzzles. Cracking them. Unraveling them.
I was probably coming on too strong, but I couldn't let go of the feeling that I needed to see her and confirm that she was okay. I had zero explanation for it. Hell, all we'd done was dance. It wasn't like she'd shared her whole life story with me. But that look she'd given me, the shy smile but blatantly honest gaze... It was hard to ignore. It was like she had seen straight into my soul.
There was no looking away, no hiding who I was, and no pretending that everything was fine, that everything was perfect. It was like she could see me. And that should have fucking terrified me, but all it did was make me want her more.
We're just going to see if she's okay.
That's what I told myself. That I was just going to have a quick look. What could it hurt?
Shoving through the crowd, I made a point to ask the bouncer, "Mate, have you seen a woman come through here? Black, total stunner, long braids?"
He nodded. "Yeah, she went out to the right. Do you want me to check the security cam for you?"
I shook my head. "She wouldn't leave without her mate. Thanks."
He nodded as he checked the ID of the girl who was eyeing me up and down. She gave me a warm and inviting smile.
I ignored her and pushed at the doors, nodding at a mate of mine as he was coming through the door. "Hey, Lock, what are you doing here?"
"Just heading out."
"Oh, come on, mate. I'm sure it's wicked inside."
"Sorry, I can't."
When I rounded the corner, I froze. All it took was a solid two seconds before the injection of rage into my blood sparked to life. And I released the anger I kept so tightly concealed. That motherfucker was trying to hurt her, and I was going to kill him.
Today was a perfect day for him to die.
Chapter Six
Saffron
I put my hands up in front of me as if I could ward off any impending assholery with my palms. If only I had magic or something. I could still remember me at eleven, Gabe at sixteen, teasing me about how I still loved Harry Potter and how all that fantasy bullshit wasn’t real. I'd never forgiven him for that actually.
"Look, I understand that you're upset." I backed up an inch. I'd walked too far from the light. Would anyone even hear me if I started screaming? I’d already put my phone away, so I couldn’t send a quick text without being obvious.
I could just turn and run. The question was, how fast was he? And how fast was I in my heels?
"You were a right cunt to me in there."
I licked my lips nervously. "To be fair, you were a little handsy. But you know, we're going to let bygones be bygones, okay mate?"
If it was strict hand-to-hand, I wouldn't be worried. But did he have a weapon?
He started moving forward slowly. "You are going to apologize for how you talked to me in there."
My toxic trait was clearly that I had zero intention of apologizing to pompous twats. The problem was that toxic trait was going to get me killed one day. So I really needed to learn to shove it down or go to therapy and take care of it.
"To be fair, you were being a twat." Who the hell said that? Was that me?
Yup, you. So smart.
He narrowed his gaze at me. "I’m going to teach you a fucking lesson."
"You don't want to do that. And honestly, I'm thinking with your safety in mind here."
"You're a cunt. You're not even that pretty. You're only mildly attractive for a Black girl. You certainly don’t hold a candle to your fucking mate."
I swallowed hard at the insult and forced myself to smile beatifically. "Ow, again. If you're going to do this, I insist that you start with some fresh insults, but you're probably not that bright, are you? Are those the only ones you found on the internet and you're trying them out?"
Way to lay low, Saff. Way to not antagonize the twatwaffle. Way to play it safe. Now we're going to get into a fight. Gabe is never letting you out of his sight again.
The rush of anger in my veins was unexpected. The fact that because of this arsehole, Gabe was going to ground me, and likely, he'd make sure that from now on wherever I went I had an armed escort.