Page 14 of Forbidden Deviant Games

The girl—Valerie or Victoria or something—freezes at the sight of me and as if she can conjure her friend up with sheer willpower, she scans to the side and then looks back at me. “She was right here,” she says. “She’ll be back soon. Is there anything I can get you, Mr. Vikson?”

I shake my head. “Don’t cover for her,” I snap. “When was the last time you saw her. I need to know—it’s important.”

The woman’s face falls. “Twenty minutes ago,” she says. “She doesn’t normally stay away this long.”

My dread only grows. My instincts are rarely ever fucking wrong and right now, they’re telling me that Haley fucked up. She’s in trouble. I lift a hand, calling over the same bouncer that I bypassed. For a big man, he makes it to me in no time at all.

“Yes, Mr. Vikson?”

“Find Haley Montgomery,” I snap. “And get this girl another waitress to cover this section.”

The man glances at the bartender and then nods. “Yes, sir.”

I turn and pull open my phone, pressing the button to call her. It rings for several long seconds before it finally cuts through. “Haley?”

“Is that what her name was?” Ice freezes my veins as an unfamiliar, but very male voice answers. “Pretty name for a pretty girl, Mr. Vikson. Or shall I call you what she has you labeled as in her phone? Asshole Boss?” The man clicks his tongue. “You must not be very good to your employees.”

Before I can stop it, a growl erupts from my throat. “Where is she?”

“Who? Your waitress?” The man laughs. “She’s fine. Wish I could’ve taken her with me. In fact, had you not called, I would’ve been having a grand time with her right now. I’m quite peeved that you ruined it. I suppose you calling, though, means you’re in the club.”

“Where the fuck is the girl?” I demand again even as my eyes start to scan the room. Twenty minutes. If it’s only been that long since her partner has seen her, there’s no way she could’ve been dragged off site in that time … right? But even as I think that, experience tells me the truth. She absolutely could have. The man’s words, thankfully, tell me the truth. He’s left her and taken her phone with him which means she must still be in the club.

“Why talk about the girl when we could talk about why you’re really here, Viks?” he asks. “Tracking down your drug dealer? In other words … me.”

Tension flows through my veins, tightening up every muscle in my body at the man’s words. How careless had I been for this man to not only know who I am, but he knows that I’m onto him? I force myself to move, scanning the crowd as I hunt through the club, searching—in spite of myself—for a hint of Haley’s whereabouts. Were it anyone else, I would be focused solely on the conversation happening in my ear. I’d be listening for a hint of whereheis. Not her.

“My employer doesn’t take too kindly to lowlifes such as yourself intruding on his territory,” I comment, keeping my voice even, though my anxiety is mounting with each passing second.

The man on the phone chuckles and I hear a door open and close, the sound of noise on the other end I hadn’t even noticed cut off. He’s outside, I realize. He’s gone. In the wind. But that, too, is a clue.

Now, I’ve got a choice—I can choose an exit and go after him or I can take this information and search for Haley.

It’s not even a competition. If he’s leaving, then Haley is still in the building and I’ll look for her. There’s no telling what he did to her before taking her cell.

“Nicholas Carter is still a pup behind his ears,” the dealer says. “I’ve been in this business for a long time—maybe not on his level, but still.” There’s a brief pause and in that time, I cut through a group of drunken girls heading to the dancefloor and make my way into a back hallway, eyes roving down the empty space. I spot a door to a storage room hanging slightly open and head towards it, heart jack hammering inside my chest.

Adrenaline races through my system. What the fuck am I doing? I need to track the dealer. I need to find him, but the all of my focus lands on that door and I know. I just fucking know she’s behind it. What state she’s in, though … I’m fucking terrified to find out.

I’ve never been this scared in my life. Not since I was a child, learning that adults don’t always want to take care of you. That sometimes, all they want is for you to die so they can go back to how things were before you were ever born.

“Well, enjoy my little gift, Mr. Vikson,” the man on the other end of the phone says. “It’s too bad I couldn’t enjoy my time with her more.”

The line goes dead as I push into the storage room. The first thing I see are her legs, strewn out as she’s collapsed over on her side, eyes closed. I drop the phone and go to my knees, shaking hands moving to her throat as I check for a pulse. A soft, repetitive thump finally gives me what I need—relief and the knowledge that she’s still alive.

“Haley?” I heft her against me, gritting my teeth as I realize that her shirt has been removed and she lays there, her shorts undone, half naked. She doesn’t react. I tap her face lightly. “Come on, sweetheart,” I urge, “wake up and call me an asshole. I know you want to.”

Still nothing.

I don’t think. I don’t hesitate. I lean back, releasing her briefly as I rip off my shirt and drape it over her. My hand reaches for my discarded phone. I type out a quick succession of texts before shoving it back in my pocket and lifting Haley against my chest, getting to my feet.

I’m going to catch hell for this later, but there’s nowhere else I could be now. No fucking way I can leave her like this. Already, my mind is trying to supply a number of excuses I can give to Carter when he inevitably asks, but the only thing I can think is—she needs me.

I shoulder the door to the storage room open and step out into the hallway as a gaggle of girls comes around the corner, giggling in their drunken stupor as they head to the bathrooms. They don’t even spare me a glance. Who the fuck knows what could have happened to Haley back here? She could’ve been … hell, she might have already been—no, the dealer said he wasn’t able to finish.

Gritting my teeth, I shove those thoughts aside and head towards the end of the hall and the waiting exit door. Just as I step outside, a dark sedan comes careening to a stop at the curb and Andrei pops open the driver’s side door. I was right to leave him with the vehicle when I first arrived. "What happened?” he demands as I hurry to the back door.

“I’ll fill you in later,” I snap. “First, we need to get her to a hospital.”

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