Page 22 of Lost in Me

“Is that all?” I ask, not hiding my irritation. I love dealing. I hate dealing with fucking people.

“We will need another bag next week. Is that going to be a problem?” the man asks me.

What a stupid fucking question. “Has it ever been a problem, dude?” I snap back.

“Nope,” he answers, shaking his head. Damn right, it has never been a problem, and it never will be a problem.

“Then I will see you next week,” I state as calmly as I can.

The man and woman stand up. My guy opens the door, and I watch them quickly make their way out. I stand up from my desk and make my way over to the open window. Em is still at the bar talking to the bartender.

I hear my guy come next to me. He rests his arm on the window as we both look out at the club and my soon-to-be wife. “She has changed you, man,” Ethan states calmly.

He is not wrong. She has changed me to the point where people closest to me have started to notice.

“Yes, she has,” I say softly, taking a deep breath. The club is filled with people, and the line outside is getting longer. My clubs are always filled with people, but tonight, I really don’t care. I only care about Em and making sure this plan we have come up with doesn’t fucking backfire.

“It is a good thing,” Ethan states, reassuring me. Ethan has been in my life since I started dealing drugs, and over the years, he is the one that brought in more and more guys to work for me, and now in a fucked-up way, we are family. A very fucked-up family, but family all the same.

“I know,” I state, continuing to look out the window.

“I am glad you two found each other,” Ethan states in a confident voice. Out of all the men who work for me, Ethan is the one I trust the most. He is like my brother, and we have been through a lot together, but nothing compared to what we are about to go through with Jesse. This brings things to a whole new level, but I trust that when the time comes, I will be able to count on him for whatever I need.

“I am, too,” I whisper. I never thought I would say these things to Ethan, but we live in a world where anything can happen. Even me finding the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. I would have already married her as soon as she gave herself to me if I knew she would say yes, and she might, but I don’t want to push her into something she’s not ready for.

“You need to know something,” Ethan says in a low, concerned voice.

“What?” I ask, not knowing if I want to know the answer. Right now, things are calm, and I have a feeling once he tells me whatever he needs to tell me, things will no longer be calm. I will no longer be calm.

Ethan takes a deep breath making me nervous. He only does that when he is trying to prepare himself to tell me something bad, really fucking bad. “You need to know that he is here.”

I quickly turn my head and stare at Ethan. “What?” I am not able to hide the anxiety and rage in my tone.

“He came in a while ago when you guys were on the dance floor,” Ethan states calmly. We both look at each other amoment. I take my own deep breath, trying to slow down my heartbeat before I lose my fucking shit.

“Why the fuck are you just now telling me?” I ask him, knowing he has a reason for everything he does.

Ethan continues to look at me. “You didn’t need to know yet,” he states with confidence, as I am trying to protect Em. Ethan does everything he can to protect me. It is just the kind of guy he is, and if he can take care of things without letting me know, that is exactly what he does. I normally learn about shit after it happens, which used to drive me crazy, but over the years, I have learned to accept it is how he does things.

“And I do now?” I ask, hearing the worry in my voice.

“Yes, because he is making his way over to Em right now.” Ethan is looking from me to the window, at the people having fun. The people that have no idea what is about to go down.

I turn my head and look around, and that is when I see Jesse slowly making his way through the crowd toward Em. My heart sinks and races at the same time.

“Don’t worry, boss, this club is filled with us. He won’t touch her,” Ethan states in a low, dark, but confident voice.

I don’t respond because I shouldn’t be surprised. This was the whole plan, and it seems to be working. I watch as Em continues to talk to the bartender.

Jesse continues to make his way to her. My heart sinks as I turn and look at Ethan. He looks from the window to me, then nods. I am not taking any fucking chances. It worked. The plan fucking worked. He came out of the shadows, but I am not going to let him fucking near her.

I am not going to chance him putting his fucking hands on her, or worse, putting fucking thoughts in her head when tonight she has made such progress allowing herself to be free and happy.

We have prepared for this. I just seriously prayed itwouldn’t be tonight, not when she finally convinced me she could come to the club. I honestly just wanted her to have one night out where nothing fucked-up happened.

Now is when Jesse and I will finally go head to fucking head, and we will see who is fucking standing at the end.

Ethan and I both quickly turn around and make our way to the door. Ethan opens it. “Close down the club,” I instruct.

---