Page 28 of The Eleventh Hour

“Fucking idiots,” I mutter. I turn to Rafael. “Can we please meet up tomorrow? My friend’s sisters are being absolute morons, and he’d never forgive me if I left them there,” I snap my head in Mason’s direction. “Ring River, Eddie, and Richard.”

Mason flinches but pulls out his phone and does as I order.

I turn to Dane. He’s rubbing a finger up and down his jaw and watching me with a very thoughtful expression.

I raise my eyebrows. “What?”

“You’re driven by a need to protect and help people.”

“So? I’m allowed to be altruistic.”

“Sure, I’m just trying to work out if everything I’ve read about you is wrong or if you changed out of guilt.”

He may as well have slapped me. Guilt? Guilt!

I spin away, ignoring Rafe, who tries to catch my eye. “Meet me here at dawn.” I don’t say anything else as I stomp over to Mason and climb into his SUV. I even ignore the superior smirk he flashes Dane and Rafael.

For a minute, I’d forgotten about the note, but it comes back into my mind, sending me into a cold sweat. Who is this stalker? How does he know about my brand? Has he seen me naked? When? The thought is nauseating.

The drive to Red Shard is short, and Mason parks in the car park behind the club. I climb out of the car and march towards the road. The building looks like nothing on the outside. A dirty brick building with no signs or anything to indicate what it really is. A huge bouncer with bulging biceps grins at me.

“Long time, Jax.”

“Too long, Astaire.” I grin back and throw myself into his arms. “Far too long.”

He doesn’t have much of a neck, and his nose has been broken too many times to call him handsome, but Astaire has a quiet, calm intensity about him that has always made me feel safe.

“Going in?”

“Yeah, I’m sent to monitor the Harmon sisters for the night. Oh, the things we do for money, am I right? They in there?”

Astaire’s face twitches slightly, and his mouth turns down. “Watch Titan tonight. Yeah, the boss has a hard on for those girls.”

My face drains of blood, and I feel slightly dizzy. “Shit.”

“Yeah. Tell me about it,” Astaire growls. His voice is so deep and gruff, it literally sounds like a growl.

He pulls open the door, and I slip through just as Mason comes jogging around the corner. The hallway is covered in splatters. I walk straight down the middle, avoiding the walls at all costs. Some of those splatters are drinks, vomit, and food, but there are other rust-coloured ones I recognise as blood. The stink of cigarettes burns my nose and makes me cough.

I descend the stairs, ignoring the couples fucking up against the walls. They look and sound like animals, grunting and pawing, the stench of booze wafts off them. I resist the urge to wrinkle my nose. As soon as I reach the bottom level, the bass explodes into my body, disorientating me for a moment. It’s so loud I can barely hear my own thoughts. I look around the dimly lit red room.

People dance in the centre of the room with tables full of empty glasses, and drunk people weave and laugh around them. I edge through the crowd and make my way to the bar.

It takes me a minute, but I get to the wood and dig into my spot, waving the woman who’s working tonight over. She pauses, and her eyes widen. She’s pretty with thick eyeliner and long fake lashes, but it’s the v-neck top that covers half her breasts that draws the eyes of the men who grossly outnumber females here. Still, she’s all right. I’ve had no problems with her in the past.

“Harmon sisters!” I shout when she gets close.

“Over there.” She jerks her head towards the dance floor.

I slide a twenty across the bar to her, and she puts it in her bra and rushes off to serve the next customer.

I twist around, refusing to give up my spot just yet, and see Stevie on the stripper pole, twisting and spinning like a damn expert. Andy is laughing and leaning on one of her friends. They stand out from the rest of the crowd with their flawless makeup and designer clothes.

The men watch with leering, predatory gazes, and the women glower. I chew my lip and wonder how I’m going to get both of them out of here in one piece without any of the journalists finding out. Hurricane might be small, but Edward and Richard run a successful lumber business, and this kind of attention would hurt them.

I see Titan making a beeline towards the girls. He’s a giant of a man with a long beard and a tight drum-like stomach. There is a meanness in his eyes that scares the shit out of me. When I used to work here, we ended up having one run in too many. I had to go. But Titan holds grudges, and I don’t forget. I can’t forget what happened that night. I move quickly and intercept Stevie as she dances towards a table and her drink.

“Stevie?”

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