Page 52 of Chasing Lynda

The man sounds more and more agitated, the smell of liquor on his breath is strong enough to make me take a step back.

Maybe the explanation shouldn’t surprise me but it makes my stomach roil nevertheless. I’m being sold like a commodity.

“Your staff was selling the upgrade as an exclusive benefit. There were only ten dance vouchers available.”

Fuck.

But is that so hard to believe when my own parents sold me to a psychopath, forcing me to marry him? At least Monroe and I aren’t blood and him being a disgusting excuse for a human being doesn’t make me feel as unloved and unworthy as my parents’ behavior.

If I feel slightly nauseous at the thought of being “sold” by Monroe, Bennett’s reaction is way more vehement. His words are polite, but I can see that he’s hanging by a thread. He’s clenching his fists so hard that his knuckles are turning white. “I’m afraid there must’ve been a misunderstanding. The VIP tickets included access to the VIP lounge and a complimentary glass of champagne. Nothing else.”

The man won’t have any of it. “Dude!” he complains, his eyes fixed onto me. “I paid two-hundred and fifty bucks extra for a dance with this bitch. You took my fucking money; I better get what I paid for!”

Bennett’s tone is razor sharp when he snaps. “I’ll have a refund issued to your account, if you’re a hotel guest. If not, reception will give you cash. And I’d really watch your language, sir, or I’ll have security escort you out.”

Bennett’s threat doesn’t have the desired effect because the guy pushes him to the side and grabs my forearm, pulling me roughly toward him. “I’m gonna get what I paid for! And since the service here is so bad, I think I’m entitled to sample the fucking goods. See if those tits are real or not!”

I struggle to get out of his grasp and to keep him from from grabbing my boobs.

I see the black outfits of the bouncers approaching from the entrance to the VIP lounge but Bennett and Dodge are faster than their security staff.

Bennett pulls the guy on the back of his shirt but Dodge is the one who frees me from the unwanted contact by slamming his fist into the man’s face.

The two men crash to the glass floor of the nightclub, with Dodge straddling his “paying guest” and delivering blow after blow to his face.

When security and the other guys get involved, trying to break up the fight, I step back covering my mouth with my hands.

All I can think of is that Dodge and Bennett did that for me. To protect me.

The men in my life so far, aside from Kelley, have only ever exploited me and used me with complete disregard for what I wanted.

I feel tears spilling from my eyes, burning hit tracks down my face and making my throat throb.

I don’t even know why I’m crying; it doesn’t matter at this point.

Carter and Bennett pull Dodge off the guy on the floor. I’m surprised to see that his face is contorted in pain rather than anger.

Zane rushes to help his friends as he lets the bouncers lift up my attacker from where he lies coughing and wheezing on the floor.

“Dodge, dude, are you ok?” Zane looks worriedly at his best friend as Dodge grabs his right shoulder with his left hand.

“Fuck, no.” He grunts. “But I think the other guy is doing worse than I am.”

Bennett sighs, running a hand through his brown hair. “Have you lost your goddamn mind? As if your shoulder wasn’t already fucked up enough!”

“What was I supposed to do?” Dodge half-yells, half-growls. “He fucking grabbed her!”

Zane’s and Bennett’s expressions darken too and Zane sighs. “Yeah, I saw that. But Bennett, Carter and I were there. You could’ve let one of us or security deal with his ass. Like the other night on the beach. You have to understand that by doing shit like this, you’re only making your injury worse.”

Dodge opens his mouth to say something, by the look on his face, he’s probably about to argue with Zane, but one of the bouncers approaches us. “Sir, the ‘problematic guest’ was here with two friends. They’re downstairs in your office and his ‘injuries’ are being attended to by Dave, our first aider on shift tonight. I’m going to go talk to them in a sec but by a preliminary chat I had with the friends, it doesn’t sound like they intend to press charges.”

Dodge snorts, immediately whimpering and clutching his shoulder tighter. “Press charges? The asshole assaulted Lynda! He’s lucky he isn’t leaving this club in a fucking body bag!”

The bouncer nods. “Yeah, we all saw that. We were about to step in before you ... intervened. We’ll be more than happy to give the cops our statement. That’s why I came to see you. We haven’t called them yet, I just wanted to find out if you’re going to the hospital first or—”

I take an instinctive step back as panic makes my pulse quicken. Of they call the cops, I need to get out of here fast.

I can’t risk being asked for a statement, if they see my ID, they’ll see that I’ve been reported missing and they’ll call Aaron.

---