Page 21 of Reckless Pawn

He went inside, forcing the thoughts of Izzy out of his mind. JD had an ability to smell weakness and Houston wasn't in the mood for a fight with his President tonight. He had enough trouble being civil with everyone else to add one more.

The place stood empty except for a few employees working in the back of the room. He scanned everything looking for JD and came up empty. Fuck. He'd have to hit the clubhouse after all. He turned to leave.

"Let me go, I can walk on my own."

Houston froze.

He recognized that voice.

Before he could stop himself, he whirled around and searched. The three women he'd glossed over at first glance were moving in his direction. A blonde, a redhead and a curly haired brunette. This was either the start of some sick joke or he was—

"Goddammit, Izzy. Just let us help you. You're heavy as hell to begin with, let alone when you struggle."

His blood iced. Seriously. It felt like the temperature in the room had just dropped ten degrees. He moved swiftly, grabbing Izzy from the redhead's manhandling and pulling her into his arms.

"What the fuck is going on here?" His question cracked through the room like a whip and both the blonde and redhead reared back.

"Houston?" Izzy looked up at him then, her eyes glossy and dazed, her face pale.

"Is she drunk?" He was getting dangerously close to losing his shit. She did not look well.

"Not exactly," the blonde answered.

"What the fuck kind of answer is that? If she's not drunk then what's wrong with her?"

"She was freaking out earlier, so I gave her a sedative," the brunette said. "I guess it kicked in quick." The brunette said.

He scooped Izzy into his arms and headed toward the entrance.

"Wait. Where are you taking her?" the blonde followed him. "I promised Eva—"

"Home."

"You can't. I mean.Weneed to take her home. It's too dangerous."

He turned back, letting them get a good look at how little patience he had for this scene.

"The sedative. I mean. She shouldn't be with you. We should take her home."

"Fuck it," the brunette said. "Let him have her. She's more trouble than she's worth anyway."

"Shut up, Mandy. You are such a bitch. Izzy doesn't deserve this."

"Whatev—"

"Enough fucking chatter," Houston snapped. "What's wrong with the sedative you gave her and why does it matter who takes her home?"

"Uhm…" the blonde looked down at her feet.

"Oh Jesus fuck. You all are such pussies. It was a roofie okay, and I think bleeding heart Sasha here is worried you're going to take advantage of poor sweet little Izzy while she's high."

His body locked up tight, unsure he'd heard her right. "You gave her a fucking roofie?"

The woman nodded, sneering at the same time. It wasn't a good look and he wanted to…

"You have got to be kidding me."

The stupid redhead glared at him. "What's the problem? It's not as if we did it to have sex with her. She was freaking out and it calmed her down."