Page 16 of Ruthless Salvation

Don’t fucking leave me.

Micky raised her arms, and Storm drew slowly down into a squat as though worshipping the dancer’s body. The wide stance of her legs and her tiny shorts gave way too good a view of her ass. Something I could have enjoyed had thirty other jerkoffs not been storing the image for their own fucking spank banks.

Fuck this, and fuck my resolution. I could only take so much.

Surging through the crowd, I forced my way to the front of the stage. “Get the fuck down from there,” I roared over the music.

The women paused to look at me while every man in the vicinity booed.

My scathing stare bore into innocent brown eyes. “Down.Now.” Confident my message had been received, I made my way over to the stairs.

Stormy shrugged to the crowd, blowing them kisses, and skittered off the stage. Micky picked up her routine flawlessly. Her graceful, erotic movements had the crowd subdued in no time, leaving me free to return to work.

See, I could interact without losing my head completely. Itwaspossible.

Or it would have been if things had ended there. Unfortunately, Storm had other ideas.

The carefree smile she’d worn seconds ago disappeared as she charged up to me. “What in thehell, Torin? What was that all about?”

Shit. I hadn’t exactly thought this through. Tonight wasn’t the first time a server ended up on stage, and I’d never had a problem with it before. Customers were never allowed because that led to chaos, but the crowd usually loved when one of the bar girls took a spin on the pole. Anything that made the customers happy was generally a good thing. So what was my excuse?

“Don’t need men thinking you’re on the menu.” That was the best she was getting. It wasn’t my job to explain myself to her or anyone else.

“I’d say I’m on the menu if I wanna be,” she shot back, hands locked on her hips.

That Southern sass might as well have been a red flag in this bull’s face. I leaned in close, bringing my face inches from hers, relishing the way her eyes grew wide at the possessive gleam in mine.

“The only man who gets a taste of you inside my club isme. So unless you’re lookin’ to ride my cock, this discussion’s over.” I pulled back, my gaze detouring to her parted lips for the briefest second before I walked away.

Fucking Christ.

One night. I’d tried to control myself for one goddamn night, and I hadn’t just failed. I’d done a one-eighty all the way to crazy town instead.

I spent the next two hours in my office, waiting for closing time. I had to clear my head, and I didn’t feel like dealing with Jolly when he called me out on my behavior.

Once I knew he’d left and the last customers would be filing out, I slunk back downstairs and sat by the front door. I kept my stare glued to my phone to ensure no one tried to talk to me. For everyone’s sake.

I did finally look up when someone entered rather than exited. A young guy who looked too sober and well-kept to wander in at this hour.

“We’re shutting down. You’ll have to come back tomorrow.”

The guy lifted his chin in acknowledgment. “Just here for Storm.” His eyes cut away dismissively, but I was now fully alert.

Who the fuck was this asshole?

Storm came bounding toward us before I could ask the guy his name. “Hey, Luke. I’m all set.” She wrapped her arm around his, offering up a devoted grin as he escorted her outside.

My phone was in pieces before I realized what I’d done.

Fucking hell.

I surged to my feet, then froze with my eyes on the door.

I wanted to follow them. I wanted to follow them so fucking bad it physically pained me to remain in place, but that was exactly why I had to stay put. I had to get control of myself. I didn’t want to want her. I especially didn’t want to let outsiders into my sphere of control. Bad things happened when our lives were left to the whims of others. The only way to combat that was to keep a strict distance between me and anyone who didn’t carry the Byrne name.

No one else could be trusted.

That creed had served me well for a solid decade, but every time I turned around,shewas there, immune to my efforts like fucking Teflon.

---