Instead, I take off down the street in the hope that I can hide in an alley or something before he notices.
I can’t have taken any more than five steps when my feet leave the floor and I’m dragged around the back of the club, losing grip on my bag which falls to the ground with a thud.
My heart jumps into my throat.
This isn’t Spike.
I don’t need the dirty cigarette smoke or the stench of his body odour to tell me that. Everything about the touch, his movements, is different.
A blood-curdling scream is just about to rip from my lips when fat, sweaty fingers cover my mouth.
I fight to drag in the air I need through my nose as I’m thrown back against the rough wall of the club.
“Where’s my fucking money?” Jet growls, his nose only millimetres away from mine and his dark, cruel eyes boring into my light blue ones.
I shake my head as much as I can.
I don’t have his fucking money. Why does he think I’m working here, for Christ’s sake?
“Y-you gave me to the end of the month,” I say in a rush when he finally releases my mouth.
“Yeah, well. I changed my mind. I need a payment now.”
Where the hell is Spike? He wouldn’t let me out of his sight not so long ago, and now he’s fucked off when I need him most.
Jet takes a step back, his eyes dropping to my body.
“My other offer still stands. We can come to other arrangements.” He reaches out and cups my breast, squeezing just a little too hard and making me wince. “It would be such a shame not to put this body to use.”
My stomach rolls like I’m about to puke at any moment.
“What do you say, slut? Wanna prove to me how much money you could make me? Let me test out the goods?”
“Fuck you,” I spit at him. My head screams at me to fight, to run, but my body is frozen under his stare.
“No,” he growls, reaching out and tearing the thin fabric covering me in one single move. The material rips, exposing my bare breasts to him. “Fuck you.”
The next few seconds happen so fast, I’m not even sure if I imagine some of it.
What I can only describe as a roar sounds out from my left at the same time Jet reaches for me again.
One second, he’s there, taking advantage, and the next he’s flying away from me as two guys follow.
I watch in horror as fists fly, bones crunch, and grunts and groans sound out around the otherwise quiet alleyway.
I fight to catch my breath as I stare at the scene before me, attempting to pull my ruined tank around my body to cover up.
“I’ve got this. Go get her,” a vaguely familiar voice says before one of the shadowed bodies turns on me.
My instinct is to take a step back, needing to get away from whoever it might be, but I’m still against the wall and all I achieve is the brick tearing up my back some more.
I marginally relax when Spike steps into the light. I sag against the wall, but thankfully he’s quick enough and catches me before I hit the ground.
“Fucking hell, Tiny.”
His strong arms pick me up as if I weigh no more than a feather, and before I can blink, I’m cradled against his chest.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
Resting my head against his shoulder, I can’t help but breathe him in. He smells fresh, manly, sexy. The complete opposite of Jet, whose smell made me want to puke.
My heart continues to thunder in my chest as he walks us away from the scene and the moans of pain still coming from the darkness.
“It’s okay, I can walk.” I fight to get out of his arms, but he just holds me tighter.
“Who the fuck was that?”
When I glance over, I find Titch walking over to us, his breaths heaving as he looks down at his busted-up knuckles.
“Danni’s gonna fucking kill me,” he mutters to himself.
I flail about in Spike’s arms once again, and thankfully he releases me. I wrap my ripped tank around myself in an attempt to cover up. “It was no one.”
“Riiight,” Titch says. “Well, he shouldn’t be bothering you for a while. He’s out cold.”
“T-thank you.” I hate that I sound unsure of myself. I’m just struggling to get my head around the last ten minutes.
They rescued me. No one ever rescues me.
I’m always the one who takes the fall, hence how I ended up on Jet’s radar in the first place.
“We need to call the police,” Spike states, making a whole new wave of panic roll through me.
“No, no, no,” I chant. “Y-you can’t do that.”
“Kas, he just attacked you on the street. The fucker needs to be locked up.” His eyes bounce between mine as he tries to read what I’m not saying.
While I couldn’t agree more—Jet is the kind of man who needs to be locked up and kept off the streets—he’s not the kind of man you deal with through the law.
It’s just not how it works.
“Please, Spike. No police,” I all but beg. “He’s not that kind of guy.”
Spike and Titch share a look.
“She’s got a point, man,” Titch says. I study him for a beat, wondering why he understands and how he had the skills to take Jet down like he did. Have I underestimated him?
“You’re fucking kidding, right? He just attacked her.”
“Please,” I try again, running my hand over Spike’s shoulder and gripping onto the back of his neck. The move works, and his eyes find mine.
Our connection holds for a second while I silently beg him to just let this be. Titch taught Jet a lesson, and that’ll keep him at bay. At least for a few more days.
“Fucking hell,” he mutters. “Let’s get out of here.” Spike wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me into his side.
I try to shrug him off, but he just holds tighter.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking you home.”
“No,” I state, forcing my feet to lock onto the pavement.
He turns to me, his eyes hard and serious. “No?”
“You’ve already done enough tonight, don’t you think?”
“Really? You want to go there?”
“If you hadn’t stormed your way in and ruined everything, this probably wouldn’t have happened,” I say, flinging my arm out toward the back alley.
“You really believe that, Tiny? He was waiting for you.”
“I can handle him.”
“It didn’t look like it.”
“Fuck you, Spike. I’m not some weak and pathetic little girl.”
“I… uh… I’m going to head home,” Titch says, interrupting our argument. Neither of us look up at him, our eyes remaining locked on each other’s. “A bit of advice, Kas. Just do as you’re told, it’ll be much easier.”
The corner of Spike’s mouth twitches up in the beginning of a smile, but he doesn’t say anything to his friend.
Titch turns to leave, but he only gets a few steps away before I call out to him.
He looks over his shoulder as I rip my eyes from Spike’s intense gaze.
“Seriously, thank you,” I say, hoping that it sounds as sincere as I intend. I can’t deny that what Spike said only a few minutes ago was true. Jet was waiting for me.