I nodded, understanding exactly what he meant by that. “Yeah, man. I feel the same way about Lucy.”
“Look, bro, I don’t know if I would admit this to anyone else, but I really fucked up with Kin. I don’t know how to fix it but I’m going to try my damnedest to get her back.” He scratched his scruffy face again. “Any ideas on how I can start?”
My brows lifted toward the ceiling at his question. Was he serious? “Maybe start with not fucking anything with a pussy. That seems like a good place to begin.”
Jace’s nostrils flared but he nodded his head and left my office. I waited until the door was closed before grabbing my phone and sending a text to Lucy. Maybe she would come back to see me if I asked her nicely. When she didn’t answer back right away, I sent another. I drummed my fingers on the top of my desk, waiting for a response.
Nothing.
Fucking hell. She was going to make me really work for it, wasn’t she?
Raking my fingers through my hair I hit connect on her name and listened as the phone rang and rang and rang some more before going to voicemail. I hung up before her voice finished the greeting and sent her one more text, asking her for just five minutes alone with her.
For ten solid minutes I sat there, glaring down at my phone, mentally willing her to text me back or call. Damn it, I’d fucked up and now I might have lost even her friendship.
Muttering enough curses that would have had my stepmother slapping me on the back of the head, I tried to focus on the last of the paperwork that needed my attention. As soon as I was done, I was going out there and forcing Lucy Thornton to talk to me.
--
Jace hadn’t come back by the time I’d finished all the shit that needed my immediate attention. I knew that he wasn’t going to succeed and hadn’t figured he would be back if Kin was with Lucy. Maybe the dumbass had taken my advice and was going to stop screwing around so that he could get that chick back.
It had taken over half an hour to get things sorted out enough that I could leave the office for the night. Not wanting any distractions, I left my phone on my desk and went out to find the reason that my gut was tied in knots.
Passing the bar, I nodded at the big man mixing drinks. West wasn’t as good as Nate, who could run the VIP unassisted if he needed to, but he was professional and I trusted him to run things on the first floor. When he waved me over, I contemplated pretending I didn’t see him so that I could find Lucy, but it could have been important and I couldn’t let my club suffer because I’d fucked up my personal life.
I stopped at the end of the bar where three chicks in their late twenties were sitting drinking margaritas and giggling like teenagers. West leaned forward and I cocked my head so that I could hear the bartender over the drunken women. “What’s up?”
“There’s a party going on over at Miss Thornton’s table. Her guy isn’t looking too pleased with it. You might want to get Tiny to send a few guys in just in case things get ugly.”
I frowned and stepped back, searching for Lucy and her ‘party’. I spotted Marcus first, standing right behind Lucy at a table for five across the room. His face was just as neutral as always, but the set of his shoulders and the fact that he was standing so close to Lucy let me know that West was probably right.
I couldn’t see Lucy clearly because the big man was standing in my line of sight, but I saw the two guys sitting at the table. One look and I could tell that they were tools. Preppy motherfuckers with just enough money to make them think they were gods’ gift, but not enough to make them able to buy their way into VIP status.
The one sitting to Lucy’s left was way too close. His chair was just inches from hers and he had a hand on the back of her seat. I watched as he leaned in, whispering something to her. She moved her head back, but I thought I saw her grinning. On her right sat a guy that was trying to chat up Kin but she didn’t seem all that impressed as she concentrated on the papers spread out in front of her. On the other side of Kin sat Jace, who was sitting just as close to the girl as the preppy was to Lucy, but his eyes were on the big man standing behind the smoking-hot brunette at the table.
Jealousy churned inside of me and I turned cold eyes on West. “Let Tiny know we are going to need two of his security guys down here, just to be on the safe side.”
“Sure thing, boss.”
I stepped away from the bar and turned to cross the room. The closer I got to Lucy’s table the more pissed I became. The guy was getting a little too ballsy for my liking and I was about to go full-on rage monster if he actually touched my girl. From the angle that I could see her from, she wasn’t doing anything to discourage the dickhead who was inching his way closer and closer to her.
Does she like that fucker?
Marcus took a small step forward, as if he were ready to extract Lucy from the table at any second; making me wonder if I was seeing the full picture from the angle I was at. I shifted my gaze on Jace who seemed to be tensing up. My gut twisted with dread and I broke into an all-out run. If that fucker was touching Lucy, I was going to break his face.
The place was crowded and I had to push two people out of my way in my rush to get to Lucy. I could feel eyes on me as people stopped what they were doing and watched me. Most of these people had to know who I was, either through the tabloids or any number of different avenues. I was probably acting like a lunatic to them, or they figured they were going to get a good show. When I reached the table, Jace’s jaw was clenched and Kin had pushed her papers away to turn her bright blue eye
s on the dickhead sitting so close to Lucy. The other guy sitting beside her scooted his chair back, looking anywhere but at the dude next to my girl.
“You did not just say that to me,” Lucy snapped as she got to her feet and stepped away from the preppy motherfucker. “Who the hell do you think you are, asshole?” she demanded as she glared down at the guy.
I stopped right behind Lucy and my eyes went straight to the guy still sitting there, grinning up at her. “Take it easy, honey. I meant no offense. I thought all you rocker bitches sucked dick for fun.”
Jace’s chair scraped back as he stood, Marcus moved forward as if to grab the douchebag, and I took a step forward to move around Lucy and reach that motherfucker. No one talked to Lucy like that. No one. I would beat the hell out of this piece of shit. I would…
Lucy moved faster than any of us. One second the guy was grinning like the tool he was, and the next his head was snapping back and he was holding his nose as it gushed blood. “Don’t you ever speak to me like that again, you godsdamn motherfucking piece of shit. I will cut your dick off and feed it to you.” I didn’t think she even realized she had used the plural for God—something that Emmie did all the time. It only showed me just how upset Lucy really was that she was falling into old habits that her aunt had taught her.
Marcus grabbed the guy by the back of the neck and forced him to his feet. I was torn between wanting to beat the hell out of the prick and wanting to check on Lucy who was now cradling the hand she’d used to break the guy’s nose. I struggled for less than a second before I was reaching for her hand to examine it. Lucy would always come first.