Page 12 of City of Salvation

When he spoke, his voice was calm and controlled.

“Nikki, drop the bullshit. That look of fear wasn’t from a slap on your ass. You don’t need me to handle a handsy man. You’ve got that covered on your own.”

My hands hit my hips at his call out. The sensation of my fingertips on my bare skin reminded me that I wasn’t wearing any clothes. “I didn’t ask you to come handle shit to begin with, Dex. You showed up at the front of the stage on your own.” I went to move past him, but he sidestepped in front of me. Blocking my exit.

Our bodies were so close I felt the heat radiating off him. Even in my shoes, we weren’t eye level. My head hit right under his chin, and when he spoke, it felt like a caress across my face. That was until his words registered—they were more like a slap.

“No, Nikki, you didn’t ask. I went up there, and then you looked like you saw a ghost and bolted. My dumbass followed you because I forgot…that’s your M.O., isn’t it?”

I glared at him through my lashes, my shoulders tensing at the blow he’d delivered with his words.

What the fuck could I say to the truth?

Turned out I didn’t need to say shit because Dex filled the tension-fueled silence.

“Don’t worry, Nikki. I won’t ever step in again unless asked.” He turned and flung open the curtain. The room filled with the noises from the club, but I still managed to hear what Dex called out over his shoulder. “Thanks for the reminder that I fuckin’ hate playing white knight. I’ll stick to what I’mgood at, having a good time.” His voice was bitter with a clear tinge of hurt.

He disappeared from the room, leaving me standing there all alone with a pit in my stomach I hadn’t felt in years. The one I used to get when I disappointed my father.

“Fuck,” I shouted, like a proper fucking lady, rubbing my face and focusing on the beat of the music in an effort to blank my mind. You don’t have to address your problems if you shove them into a deep, dark hole and hope you die before they rear their ugly heads again.

And how had that strategy worked for you so far, bitch? You barely made it three years, and shit is already coming back to haunt you.

There was no time for a goddamn pity party. I needed to get out of there before I had a run-in with anyone else.

“Hey. You okay?”

Ryan’s voice sent my heart into overdrive, the pit growing wider as I let out a started yelp. She quirked a brow at my reaction.

“Aren’t you supposed to be banging your boyfriend on your desk or something?” I asked, plastering on a smile in an attempt to throw off her suspicion, but she was too observant.

Caring for people was her blind spot, though.

It’s why she’d missed that the ones she loved the most were lying to her through their teeth. I couldn’t help but feel like she looked at me differently after she’d learned what she had about my past when Mario had trapped us in that room.

Her gaze ran up and down my body. There was suspicion in her tone. “Yeah, I should be, but then I saw some punk ass kid running out of my club with a bloody nose claiming that, ‘The blonde slut broke it.’”

I rolled my eyes at his dramatics. “Pussy. It wasn’t broken.”

She ignored my commentary. “Then I looked over and you’re running off with Dex.” Her shoulder hit the frame of the opening, making it clear we would be here until she got the answers she wanted, which pissed me off. I didn’t need or want a keeper. If I needed her help, I would’ve gone and found her.

“There a question in there, Ryan?” I bit the words out, feeling cagier the longer I stayed in the club.

This was how it’d been between us lately. Strained.

“‘What happened?’ feels like the obvious one.”

The tone, the stance, the air of authority. I hated everything about this exchange. I hated fighting with her, but I was unraveling—quickly. There was no putting the attitude back in the bottle, so if I was going to have a shitty night, I might as well commit. I’d kiss and make up with her later. Right now, I needed this release.

“Yeah, Ryan. While you were busy sitting in Gunner’s lap or whatever the fuck you were doing, one of yourpatronsslapped my ass. Maybe you should do a little more managing when you’re in your club.”

I knew what saying those words would do.

Shove one more brick in the wall I was building between us.

Shock flashed across her face, quickly morphing into the emotionless mask I’d seen her wear countless times. The one she used to give me back when I wasjustan employee. My heart ached at the change, but I shut the emotion down.

Good. This is what you need. Distance.

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