This Cruel Love

“No way. I love it here. The DJ is so hot. I’m gonna get his number tonight.” Lisa was on a mission, and no one was gonna stop her, judging from the determined look on her face.

“This is just gonna be… bad.” I nodded at the queue, knowing I wasn’t making any sense, but hoping they’d pick up on my reluctance and get me out of there.

“The queue isn’t that long, Rye.” Daisy smiled and put her arm through mine.

“Oh, hell,” I muttered as we joined the back of the queue, next to a group of lads on a stag do.

“Hello, ladies.”

A cocky stag turned around and gave us what must’ve been his version of a sexy, smouldering look, but it just looked like he’d got grit in his eye. So not sexy.

“Aren’t you an angel?” He swayed towards me, wrapping one of my curls around his finger and almost toppling over he was so inebriated.

“That’s enough touchy feely, lads.”

A deep voice cut through our crowd, and I turned to see Dennis looming over me.

“So Emily, or Ryley as you’re otherwise known, I have instructions to see you straight into the club.”

He gave me a knowing look and I felt my cheeks redden. I’d hated lying to him last time we’d met.

“Sorry, Dennis.” I shuffled my feet and looked at the ground, embarrassed.

“No apology needed. Come on.”

He put his arm behind me to usher me out of the line. I shook my head, begging him to stop.

“What’s going on? Why are you letting us in before all these other people?” Daisy asked, eyeing Dennis’s arm behind my back with suspicion.

“Boss’s orders.” He grinned down at me. “He knew you couldn’t stay away.”

I huffed in annoyance. “It wasn’t my idea to come here, trust me.”

“Maybe not, but when the boss gives orders, we take ‘em.”

Dennis reached into his pocket and pulled out his mobile. He tapped and scrolled away before turning the screen towards me, but out of view of the other girls. There on his phone was a photo of me. One I’d never seen before. It’d been taken at the department store the day we were shopping. I was biting my lip and looking off into the distance, and I could just make out Cillian’s arm out of the shot. Why was Jackson taking pictures of me?

“Boss sent that out to all the security on duty tonight. We were told to make sure you were well looked after if you did show up.”

“Better do your job then and get us in, big man. I’m freezing my tits off out here,” Lisa sang, walking towards the front of the queue and totally blocking out the calls of disgust from the others waiting in line.

“She looks like fun.” Dennis smirked.

“You have no idea.” I shook my head and followed, trying not to catch anyone’s eye as I did. The daggers in my back from being let in ahead of everyone else were painful enough.

“Why do they get in early and we’ve gotta wait out here?” a girl at the front of the queue asked.

“Because she’s dating the owner,” Dennis stated proudly, pointing at me.

I felt the bottom fall out of my stomach.

“What the actual fuck is he on about, Ryley?” Maddie’s eyes were bugging out of her head. Lisa was grinning like an idiot, and Daisy just looked like she’d been smacked across the face.

“I’ll explain when we get inside, it’s… complicated.”

I wasn’t looking forward to this conversation, and I’d certainly be having a few words with Jackson later. Why was he telling his staff I was his girlfriend? I knew we had to pretend when we were out together, at certain functions he attended, but tonight I could really have done without the drama.

Dennis led us through the crowds and past the main bar area, where Steve was working his ass off and taking orders from the throng of customers that stood three people deep around the bar. I’d make sure I gave his station a wide berth tonight. Then Dennis opened up a roped off area for us to enter. A group of women had already taken ownership of the space, and were dancing on a table next to where Dennis was settling us.