Page 64 of Lukas

Chapter Twenty-Five

Fuck.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Lukas just wanted to get back to the couch where he’d put Reina—the one closest to the door so he could take her home as soon as she agreed. But he had to face the fact that she might not want to be around him right now. He didn’t want to add more trauma to how badly he’d already completely fucked up.

He’d wrapped her in the blanket and carried her to the couch on the quiet side of the club after he’d stopped the scene. She still hadn’t opened her eyes, so he hadn’t said anything, just urged her to drink, to eat a little, then eased her head onto the cushion. He’d crouched there, stroking her hair for the longest time, hoping she would open her eyes, but she hadn’t.

They needed to talk. He needed some answers. But first, he had to make sure she was taken care of. He would’ve sat there all night stroking her hair, holding her if she’d let him, until she was finally ready to open her eyes.

But then Dominic and Roman signaled him to come over. He knew his brothers wouldn’t call him away from Reina if it wasn’t an emergency, so he left her, against every instinct. His whole life, the family business had come first. Nothing had ever been more important to him than his brothers and La Cosa Nostra. But right now, business was what was keeping him from where he truly wanted to be, and he resented it. He wanted Reina in his sights. In his arms. Not alone on a couch, even if she was sleeping and didn’t know he wasn’t there.

“Bruno got word a few minutes ago that the cousins of the Baton Rouge leader we took out is here in town,” Dominic said. “We just had an attempted break-in at one of the warehouses, but the men handled it. We need to be on high alert. This could get personal.”

They quickly talked about what security measures they were taking and where the gang members were likely to strike. They were having an all-hands meeting upstairs in a few minutes.

Lukas didn’t give a shit about the Baton Rouge gang and their petty plans for vengeance. All he cared about right now was Reina and trying to make up for the scene that had gone horribly wrong.

Everyone knew it.

It was one thing to watch a punishment scene like Timothy and Melinda a few weeks ago with all the sobbing, begging, and tears. Melinda’s suffering had been a great deal more painful and humiliating than what Reina had been through, not to mention hours longer.

But Jesus, nobody had enjoyed the heartbreaking sound of Reina’s soft cries as she’d apologized over and over. When Lukas had stopped the scene—long after he should’ve stopped it—even Thomas hadn’t given much argument.

His brothers had been right. Lukas should’ve found a way to wait, stalled everyone in their need for chastising Reina until he’d learned the details about what she’d done, and why she’d done it. The lieutenants wouldn’t have liked waiting but would’ve followed the order if Lukas had given it.

But he’d been pissed too. He’d wanted to punish Reina. Make her beg for forgiveness and cry. Wanted to watch her get spanked, plugged, and fucked in public by him as she apologized for wronging him.

But not like how her apologies had happened in the end, like her heart was breaking and she’d lost everything.

Hell, Reina was too tenderhearted to be a criminal, and too smart to steal from La Cosa Nostra. He should’ve known that from the beginning. But he was going to have some answers soon.

“You’re going to have to handle this without me,” Lukas told Roman and Dominic. “I can’t leave Reina. Not tonight.”

He expected arguments from his brothers but got none. Both just nodded. They knew what Lukas hadn’t been able to see clearly: Reina was everything to him. And he was going to make sure he and she did whatever it took—on both their parts—to right the wrongs that had occurred here tonight.

But when he got back to the couch, Reina was gone.

He didn’t wait to see if she’d come back, just began checking rooms: the bathrooms, the changing room, even private play rooms. When he got to the office-themed room where he’d found her earlier tonight, he realized her clothes were no longer sitting in the neat pile on the table.

Fuck.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

She had left. Lukas walked back to the bar. “Did you see Reina walk by?” he asked Brax. She would’ve had to pass by the bar to get out the door.

“Not since you carried her over to the couch. She’s not there?”

Lukas shook her head. “I can’t find her anywhere.” He ran a hand through his hair, pulling at it. He should’ve never left her on that couch alone, even for family business. “I think she left.”

“Damn. She wasn’t in any shape to go on her own.”

Because of him.

“I’m going to her apartment. Tell Dom and Roman if you see them.”

Lukas didn’t wait for an answer. Twenty minutes later, he made it to her apartment after having no success reaching her on her cell phone. There were no lights on, but he began banging on the door anyway.

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