Page 90 of Resist
Squaring my shoulders, I dug deep within to find the strength I’d been building ever since the day I left him. “So have I.”
“I can see that.”
His eyes travelled the length of me, and every fibre in my being wanted to flee and disinfect myself. But I knew I had to stay composed and keep him calm, keep him passive.
“I can’t talk about this right now. I’m busy. I’ve got to go.”
This time, I walked away without turning back, and as my hand settled on the handle to the function room door, his voice echoed across the lobby like a vicious roll of thunder. “This isn’t over, Helena.”
Ithought it best notto tell Lucas about Colin. Tonight being our first show in Cairns, I didn’t want him or the others distracted. Colin was a master manipulator, a fear monger. He derived pleasure from seeing others in pain. He was a sadistic fuck that loved to play games, so I wasn’t about to let him play games with my revue. The less attention I gave him, the better. My hope was that when I left town, he’d go play another game somewhere else with someone else.
My hope was that he’d get bored and move on.
Standing by the door that led to the bathrooms and backstage area, I scanned the room full of screaming women while battling an eerie sense that I was being watched. Goosebumps prickled my arms, and I couldn’t stop my legs from fidgeting.Stop it, Helena. He’s not here.
For the love of fucking heart attacks, I had five more days of this. Five more days of anguish because ofhim.You’re safe. You’re safe. You’re safe.
I was safe. As long as I was surrounded by Lucas and the others, I was safe … at least physically.
Shimmying my shoulders to loosen the tension clenching them, I tilted my head and looked up, taking in the enormous, ornate chandelier, hanging above the crowd. The Reef Casino Hotel was a very different venue from where we’d normally perform. Where we’d normally have large tables sporadically dotting the room and patrons without seated tickets standing farther back, at Reef we were in a two-tiered theatre with row-upon-row of cushioned seats that folded up when you stood. It was all a bit fancy, and apart from the décor and lavish feel, which cast an aura of class over the show, I wasn’t sure I liked the setup. It wasn’t functional for when the guys left the stage and sought out a woman to seduce.
“I wish I could go up on stage,” one woman shouted to her friend beside her.
“You can.”
“What … with this stupid leg?” She lifted her prosthesis and let it fall back to the ground. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“Stop being a negative Nancy. I bought us tickets closer to the stage for a better chance. Be positive.”
“Knowing my luck, you’ll get chosen instead.”
Empathising with the woman, I caught Lucas’s attention when he scanned the room just before jumping off stage. He smiled, full dimples, and I nearly self-combusted on the spot — he was a goddamn box of matches.
I playfully rolled my eyes at him and then pointed to the woman, as if to tell him to choose her. He nodded then made his way toward us, performing his signature finger-trail across the faces of eager women as he passed, some jumping to their feet to dance with him. When this happened, Lucas never lost his cool. He was so charismatic that he somehow always managed to lure them back to their seat in a timely manner, because time was everything during their performance. If they missed a music cue, it screwed up the rest of their routine like a set of falling dominos.
Striding toward me, I expected him to stop in front of the woman I’d flagged, but he stopped in front of me instead.
“What are you do—”
Lucas took my hand in his and spun me in a circle like a music box ballerina before pulling me flush with his chest, his knee opening my legs, his hips grinding mine.
“Lucas,” I hissed into his ear. “What are you doing?”
“You expect me to ignore you when you’re eye-fucking me like that?” He dipped me backward then dragged his fingertips down my neck to the top of my cleavage. The entire room was upside down as my head hung, and I laughed for the crowd when all I wanted to do was surrender to him completely, to let his fingers travel to whatever part of my body they desired.
Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to my clavicle and tilted my head back up. “I’ll resume this later.”
I flared my eyes at him but kissed his cheek and whispered, “Choose the woman in the red top behind me, but watch her leg.”
He said, “Okay” then let me go and danced toward the tiny brunette, her eyes wide and unbelieving when he gave her the come-hither flick of his finger.
She shook her head apologetically and pointed to her leg. Lucas kneeled before her and placed a soft kiss on the knee of her prosthesis then whispered something into her ear. She nodded and put her hands over his shoulders, and he lifted her into his arms.
My heart burst.
My ovaries exploded.
And my baby-making factory powered up.
