Speck meets me there, his face just as tired and fucking grumpy as mine. “Cocksucking fucking Demons… I’m over this shit.”
I scoff at him and get my shit set down in my office. I switch the security monitor in there on so I can keep an eye on shit while I work, mainly when Angel gets here and where she’s waiting around between dances.
“This shit is a part of being Unseen, if you can’t handle it you better hope some college is dumb enough to let you in because Keely will skin you alive if you try to move home with fucking nothing.”
He scoffs at me as he flips me off, walking out and getting to work watching the bar. No matter how much shit I give him, he’s a fucking good kid. He’s going to be a fucking great brother, never flinches before the hard shit or shies away from an order.
An hour after the club opens the cab holding Angel arrives, pulling my attention away from the keystrokes reports. She barely pays attention to what’s happening around her but that’s not what catches my eye. Nope, the warning bells are fucking screaming in my head now.
Rat be fucking damned, she has my full fucking attention.
I stop her in the hallway and jerk my head at her so she follows me into my office, shutting the door behind her.
I don’t have it in me to be subtle or gentle with her. “Where the hell is your phone? That one is even fucking worse than the last."
She looks down at the busted ass burner clutched in her hands, the blood red of her nails starkly luxurious against its shitty cover. Her hands still have that fucking tremble, only now her lip has this little fucking quiver that I don't wanna ever see outside of the goddamn bedroom. "I broke the old one. No big deal."
I feel like anytime the words no big deal come outta her mouth it's a giant fucking warning sign and it's a big fucking deal.
"Did you break the old one or did someone break it for you? Stop fucking lying to me, Angel.”
She blinks up at me like this is all out of left field. “I broke it. What the hell has happened? Why do you suddenly care about my shit? I do my job well and I’m no trouble to you, why am I the only girl here you question like this?”
She’s still standing there by the door with her trembling fucking lip and I lose my goddamn mind. “Why? Why do I care? Because you showed up here and messed with my goddamn stripclub. You’re nothing but fucking trouble! Tell me what the fuck is going on with you so I can get you the fuck outta my head. I’m sick of wanting some stripper who blows hot and fucking cold all the damn time!”
Her face crumples for a split second, just long enough for me to swear I’d seen it but it’s replaced with something I’ve never seen on her before.
Rage.
“I didn’t ask for you to want me! Hell, I’d rather you didn’t! I am nothing but trouble and that shit isn’t going to stop any time soon! There’s hundreds of girls in this town that want you and aren’t dirty strippers. Bring one of them back here to drop down to their knees for you.”
My jaw clenches as rage fills my fucking veins. It’s as if her words are a knife in the fucking gut. “Shut your fucking mouth. You’re mine, end of fucking story and you’re gonna stop fucking dancing.”
I don’t know where those words came from but the second they leave my lips I know it’s all I want. I fucking want her and I want her out of this place. I want her in my goddamn bed and impaled by my cock three times a fucking day for the rest of our lives.
Fucking cuntstruck.
“You’re firing me? It’s the last you’ll see of me then. I need the money.”
This fucking girl. This fucking stripper. “Why? You tell me why the fuck you need that kinda money and I’ll fix the fucking problem.”
She throws her hands in the air. “Are you God or something? I don’t see how you can fix my shit.”
“If I take on your problem, my brothers do too. You got something that needs to be taken care of and it’s fucking done. No one takes on the Unseen. Who the fuck is taking your money?”
Her eyes squeeze shut. “I don’t want trouble.”
I want to throw her over my fucking shoulder and carry her home. If she wasn’t so fucking touch-phobic I would. “I’ll sort them out, just fucking tell me.”
There’s a knock at the door and then Speck’s voice carries through the solid wood. “Is Angel in there? She’s due on stage.”
Her eyes open and she whispers, “I can’t.”
Chapter Nineteen
Angel
My stomach is in knots after my showdown with Tomi.
I get through my dances, I’ve danced under worse pressure to perform than this, but I still just feel as though I’m losing my fucking mind.
He said he wants me.
He said I belonged to him.
Hell, I’ve heard those words a hundred times before and it was always fucking terrifying to me. Terrifying. What is it about him that makes me want to push through the fear and the panic to… let him own me. I think maybe I want to own him too.
As soon as I think that I want to vomit.
He’s a biker and a fucking hot one at that. He has a family and a job and a whole-ass fucking life that has exactly nothing to do with me.
I have nothing to offer him.
When I get off from my last dance Law meets me at the back of the stage, his eyes on the ground and very far away from me.
“Tomi and Speck got called out. Rue sent me down here to keep an eye on you until Tomi can get back here for you.”
I clear my throat but my voice still comes out all thready. “Uh, thanks. I’ll just— uh, grab some clothes.”
He walks with me to the locker room, still not looking at me, which I kind of find sweet. It’s a little like Speck, that respect they all have around me.
For bikers, they’re very considerate.
I get a bra on and a pair of shorts while Law stands with his back to me, watching the door and running his mouth at a mile a minute.
“They got called into the clubhouse. Nothing to worry about, he’ll be back soon.”
I don’t get why he’s acting like I’m waiting around here for Tomi. After our little chat in the office I was planning on grabbing my shit and running out of here the second I was done for the night.
I shrug at him even though he can’t see me do it. “Honestly, I’m good. I’m going to call a cab and head home. No big deal.”
Law blows out a breath and scrubs a hand through his hair, glancing over his shoulder at me and then turning once he realizes I’m mostly covered. “Tomi was very clear about keeping you here until he gets back. I volunteered, it’s no problem at all.”
I chew my lip a little, trying to figure out how to get him to let me go but he misreads me and just tries to reassure me instead.
“My dad is back in Coldstone to see me and Lyn. Makes shit a little… uncomfortable around the clubhouse. He’s from another charter and there’s always tension with the crew over in Mounts Bay. Anyway, I’m happy to hang here and keep an eye on you.”
I nod and pull a shirt over my head. I don’t realize until the last second that it’s one of Tomi’s, the one he threw at me after Poe’s birthday and has the Unseen patch on the back, until it’s on and Diamond is scowling at me.