Three Dirty Secrets (Blindfold Club 4)

clung to him. Wait a minute. The hall was empty.

“Where’s Marquis?” I croaked.

“Gone.”

“He just left?”

“Nah, girl.” Julius lumbered up the steps. “He wouldn’t help you, and when I came down, he got in my way. We tussled, and then he left.”

Holy shit. I’d never seen Julius fight. For most guys, he was too much of a threat to challenge, and secretly I’d wondered if he even had the stomach for it. But he’d gone against Marquis, and won. In fact, he’d said it like it wasn’t that big of a deal.

When he reached the top of the stairs, he turned into the dressing room and set me down gently down on the closest couch. He sat on the floor beside it. I held the silk robe over me like a blanket, shivering beneath it, knowing it was the aftermath of adrenaline.

His knuckles were bloody.

I stared at his big, brown eyes, felling overwhelmed. He’d saved my life. There was so much I wanted to say, but all I could get out was, “Thank you.”

His gaze turned cloudy. “You oughta know he said some shit about you being FBI.”

Everything was falling apart. “It’s true. I’m so sorry.”

A range of emotions played out on his face. First, disappointment, followed by anger, and finally the worst one, sadness. “What the fuck am I gonna do? Run?”

“No. You’re going to take all of the hard drives and lawyer up.” Even though it hurt to talk, I did it anyway. “Don’t give them those drives until you have immunity.”

He glanced around the empty dressing room. He had to be thinking all of this was crumbling away.

“Julius.” He turned his wary gaze back to me. “Once you have immunity, you can do whatever. Even rebuild, and this time the way you want it, not in Joseph’s shadow.”

If Julius decided to continue the blindfold club, he already had the two most important elements—the women and the client list. The location was replaceable.

And I’d known this day was coming for a long time, but I’d wished it had happened differently.

He pressed a button on his transmitter. “She’s okay. I’ll be back in a minute.” He must have been talking to Payton. He’d left her in charge of the monitors while he’d come downstairs to save me. Did he wonder if his life would have been easier if he’d let Bennett finish the job?

“Does Payton know?”

He shook his head.

“I’ll tell her. I’d rather she heard it from me.” She was going to be on the footage, so she’d be questioned. Fuck, it was a mess. “Can you bring me my phone?”

He remained on the floor. I expected at any moment for him to tell me to fuck off. Instead, his eyes filled with concern. “That was some scary shit. He was gonna kill you.”

“You saved me. God, Julius . . .” This time it really was tears, and I wiped them away. “And one punch. I wasn’t sure you had it in you. I mean, you’re always such a sweetheart—”

It got abruptly hard to breathe. The whites of Julius’s eyes went enormous as I struggled for air.

“Shit, hang on, girl.” He whipped out his phone, dialing what I had to assume was 911. What was happening? It felt like Bennett was strangling me all over again. All I could take were shallow breaths while he told the operator where we were and what had happened.

No need to call Shane now, as the club’s address was flagged in our system. Not like I could call him anyway. I tipped my head back, and that seemed to help me breathe. My hand latched out, finding Julius’s arm.

I whispered where I’d hidden the shadow hard drive between rasping breaths, even as he shushed me and told me not to talk. Things began to blur again, and I got lightheaded.

“Regan, stay with me,” Julius ordered. It was the first time I’d heard him use the distinct voice of a Dom. It was silly. That wouldn’t work on me. Didn’t he know I wasn’t a submissive? I wanted to giggle. Instead, my stomach churned. Oh, shit. Was I going to throw up?

His hand was on mine, squeezing. And he was yelling something at me, but it sounded like gibberish. Payton was beside him, her face twisting with fear. It was the last thing I saw before my eyes slammed shut.

I felt like shit. When I swallowed, broken glass inched down my throat. I blinked against the overhead light and took in my surroundings. The hospital hallway was subdued. The bed I was in was on the move, heading back to my spot in the emergency room.