“Come on then, let’s get you home.”
“No. I don’t need or want your help.”
Melanie laughed. “For serious right now? You’re going to think you’re all independent. You can’t fucking see.”
“Leave me alone. I’m more than capable.” She wasn’t going to be around someone who only wanted money and had been forced to be with her. She didn’t need Melanie, not anymore.
She would make it work. Her father had been the one to pay Melanie, and now, well, his plan had backfired for her to be with someone who cared. No one cared, not for her.
She wasn’t going to cry, dammit.
Someone bumped into her, and she nearly fell on her ass.
“Watch where you’re fucking going.” She quickly moved out of the center of the pavement, or at least she hoped so. She touched a wall. Slowly, step by step, she walked down the street, only pausing when the brick would change to glass. She hated this.
There was no way she could look vulnerable in front of Melanie, not after her vile insults.
This was even more crazy of her though. She had no idea where she was, and she hadn’t just called a cab.
This was stupid of her.
“Well, well, well, look who we have here,” someone said.
Whoever it was stood a little too close as she smelled the bad breath on her face.
She tensed up. “Excuse me, please.”
Someone waved something in front of her face. She felt the air change as they did this.
“Can’t fucking see. A nice little blind piece of meat. I’d say the guys would have something to enjoy about this.”
“Please leave me alone,” she said.
Her heart was racing, and she was terrified. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before.
“No, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”
She tried to cry out, but someone placed a hand over her mouth, and the next thing, she was being pulled down somewhere. She didn’t know where she was or what was going on.
Fear covered her like a blanket, wrapping her up.
“I say we’re going to have a lot of fun with this one, boys.”
That was all she remembered as someone hit her hard across the head, and the world went completely blank.
Chapter Seven
“That’s the second girl. You know if there’s another one, you’re going to feel the heat.”
Diego handed back the photo Officer Jefferson had just given to him. The cop was on his personal payroll, and had helped him to get some heat off him a few times. The guy couldn’t keep his dick in his pants and had not only a family of six, but also several children around the city with different women. He liked to party and fuck, and well, Diego liked to have a smooth, easy life.
It was a win-win for him.
Until situations like this that became a problem. A second girl had overdosed after buying drugs in his club. He didn’t do drugs in the club. Any dealings with drugs were always far away from any establishment he or any capo owned. Their names were only ever rumored to be in different businesses, but right now, this was a lot of heat, especially as he took care of one drug-dealing barman.
Someone was dealing in his club, and that meant, he now had to catch him or her. Women were just as toxic as men, especially when they wanted an easy fix.
“I’ll handle it.”
“Please do. For now, you’re safe. The girl was intoxicated and had said she’d moved from several clubs.”
The only thing that brought Jefferson to him was the other girl had only been in this club. He knew. And now a second girl? A third, and he would have the cops here, possibly shutting him down.
“I’ll take care of it.” He opened up his desk, pulling out the envelope of hush money. Jefferson nodded his head and left. It was interesting because on the outside Jefferson was actually a good guy. When they first struck up their deal, he had him followed, and the evidence showed Jefferson was a good man, a family man. He just wasn’t a one-woman kind of man.
Shaking his head, he got to work on the security footage. He allowed his facial recognition software to locate the woman. He kept security footage for a couple of weeks, so he had a lot to get through. His club was busy every single night.
The time he spent with Belle was the time he usually stayed at the club, to take care of everything.
This was a problem he could do without, especially as he’d planned a special getaway with Belle, only to have to redo his plans because he had family obligations with Charlotte. She had picked out a wedding dress. The cake was prepared and the flowers ordered. This weekend he now had to go and give his input on what location he wanted to get married.