Page 16 of Protecting Christina

“Bitch,” he hissed as he staggered to his feet, but turned and walked away.

“If he bothers you again, miss, just holler.”

I smiled, but waved him off. “He won’t be bothering me again.”

As soon as the security guard left, my server returned with my drink. “Thank you,” I said and sipped it slowly through the tiny white straw.

“You’re welcome.” She turned to walk away, but changed her mind and stepped back closer. “I’ve got a move that will knock them out with a pull on the ear. I can show you later if you’d like.”

I lifted my gaze, taking the first real look at my server. She was around my age, mid-to-late twenties, but had red hair and green eyes. Her smile was sweet despite having to deal with assholes all day. I envied that.

“Sure. That’d be great.”

“I get off at midnight.”

I nodded. “I’ll see you then.”

Settling into my seat, I watched the rest of the show. But two drinks and two hours later, Simon still hadn’t shown up.

I pushed away from the table and walked toward the exit. When I’d only reached halfway down the room, the tiny hairs at the back of my neck stood up. I looked around for someone hovering too closely, but there was no one there.

But then, I saw him. My stomach clenched and a feeling I couldn’t describe passed through me.

His six-foot-four frame stalked slowly as he entered the room. He wore black pants and a gray sweater that clung to every curve of his chest.

He stared after some man who’d gone directly to one of the bouncers. He spoke quickly, and they let him through.

Will turned to look away, but his attention was drawn back. A woman walked onto the stage. This one wore nothing at all, but she carried a whip.

I intended to walk by and ignore him. I thought I would make it by stiffening my neck to avoid his eyes as I walked past him. But he saw me, and he placed his hand on my shoulder. I couldn’t ignore him now, but I would make it short.

“Christina?”

“Hi, Will.”

He looked around, as though he was just now realizing where he stood. “What are you doing here?”

“Enjoying the show.” I crossed my arms. “How about you?”

His mouth opened and closed, seemingly befuddled by my response, or perhaps by my nearness. For a second, I was surprised he didn’t put his hand over his balls reflectively. But he quickly recovered and said, “Um, same. Yeah. Same.”

I wasn’t sure why his reply bothered me. What did I expect? Just because the man wanted to be a hero didn’t make him one. He was just like the rest.

I pushed past him and felt his eyes on my back the entire time. I was tempted to look over my shoulder and see if the heat I’d felt back in my office remained in his eyes.

But I forced myself to push open the front doors and forget all about Will Nash.

***

The smell of stale beer hit me as I opened the door, even before I stepped one foot inside the establishment. Fifteen minutes after seeing Will, I walked into the second location Lucky had suggested I would find Simon. Surprisingly, this place was scuzzier than the first one. My sneakers stuck to the wooden floor and country music blasted from a jukebox at the back. I didn’t think there were many country pool halls in New York City, but I happened to find myself in one of them.

Several men wearing leather vests with a skull and crossbones insignia on the back sat at the bar, holding their beers. Their white beards gave away their age before their wrinkled tattoos did. I couldn’t imagine Simon in a place like this, but I assumed he was here for business rather than social reasons.

My fists curled at my side when I spotted him at a back table talking to three other guys. They were huddled close together, leaning over a black bag.

Basic human survival instincts shouted in my head to wait and not approach the table. The odds of Simon giving me information about my sister would be better if I spoke to him privately. But I also knew that he’d been avoiding me for days and I worried that if I waited, he would leave through a backdoor before I could reach him.

No. I’d confront him now.

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