Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 154890 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 774(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154890 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 774(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Something inside me snaps. I don’t see red. I see black as a veil descends over me.
“Sweetheart.” I press a kiss to her temple as I give her shoulder a light, reassuring squeeze. She slants me a narrowed glance, which could be Mimi speak for took you long enough. In the time it takes for this exchange, I’ve slid her sparkly clutch into my jacket pocket and wrapped my fingers around her arm, just above his.
“The lady isn’t interested.” I turn to the prick, whose biceps are so big, he probably has difficulty taking a piss.
“Fuck off,” comes his less-than-eloquent reply. If anything, his fingers tighten. Mimi tries to yank her arm away, but I still her, curling my fingers over hers.
“Have it your way,” I mutter. Tightening my grip on Mimi, I hook my leg behind his, unbalancing his footing just enough to make him stumble. Which isn’t really the point of the exercise. I just need him to turn a little so I can…
Thwack
I punch him in the kidney. I get him a good one too, judging by the strangled groan he makes as he drops to all fours.
“Come on.” I twist my hand from Mimi’s wrist to her fingers, tugging her along as I move briskly away.
“What was that?” she yells near my ear.
“A bit of MMA,” I answer over my shoulder, mainly to see if the dick is back on his feet. It won’t do to hang around.
“Em em what?”
“Mixed martial arts. Let’s not hang about, eh?” He might be pissing blood, or he might just be really pissed.
“Oh. Yeah, right.”
“Don’t look behind you,” I say, wrapping my arm around her back as I pull her into my side. “And don’t look guilty.”
“What? Are we going to get in trouble?”
“Nightclub owners aren’t keen on their patrons fighting, no matter which side of the velvet rope they’ve paid to be on. More importantly,” I add, pulling her closer, “VirTu could do without the publicity.”
We get almost as far as the door when a hand on my shoulder yanks my hand from Mimi’s. Without saying a word, the slightly green-looking arsehole catches me with a right hook. I twist from the majority of the impact, though I’m conscious of Mimi’s shrill scream. My instinct is to protect her as I barrel into him, getting my hands around his waist to slam my knee between his legs. There’s no such thing as dirty fighting; ask any one of my brothers. There’s only winning and making sure you’ve still got a pretty nose at the end of it. But we don’t get that far as security piles onto us, landing a few indiscriminate punches before pulling us apart. Mimi yells about how she was attacked, pointing a finger at the now raging bull of a man as he’s restrained by the bouncers. He doesn’t do himself any favors as he spews a mouth full of obscenities.
“This place is a fucking joke,” I begin, ranting over the top of him. “What the hell are you doing to protect your clientele? I’ll have my legal team on this come Monday morning.”
“I thought you didn’t want any attention,” Mimi mutters, pulling on my arms.
“Smoke and mirrors, sweetheart.” Pulling her close, I press my lips to her ear. “Play along.”
“That man attacked me,” she says, bursting into an impressive bout of fake hysterics. “I want to go home!” It isn’t long before we’re escorted to the door rather than ejected, which I assume will be what happens to the arsehole. But hopefully not right now.
“Let me look at your lip.”
I instinctively twist away as she reaches out. “I’ve had worse,” I say, taking her hand instead. “What were you doing with him, anyway?” Her brows flicker briefly with confusion. “The meathead,” I elaborate.
“Excuse me?” Not so confused now, darling.
“Was he part of your full experience?” I don’t mean for the words to come out cold and derisive. Or fuck it, maybe I do. First El and now that twat. “Maybe you were planning to take him back to your aunt’s house for a cozy fuck.”
“Screw you!”
“Oh, but you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” I growl, stepping closer.
“Yeah, well, at least one of us can be truthful,” she parries.
“You deserve better. Don’t you get that? Better than him,” I say, throwing out an arm. “Better than me! Don’t let anyone make you feel like second best, Amelia. Don’t you fucking dare!”
“You haven’t…”
“Haven’t I?” One hand on my hip, I rake the other through my hair. What the fuck am I doing out here, yelling in the street, my head fit to explode? “I haven’t treated you like I should have,” I mutter, making a v of my hand over my chin.
“What on earth are you talking about?”
“The fuckin supply cupboard!” I yell.
“You want me to be angry because you left?”