“Don’t let her leave with him. I draw the line at that. You have my permission to keep her safe until we get there, if she tries,” I growled.
“Dev is speaking to me. James is trying to get her to leave. She is refusing, and he isn’t happy.” There was a muffle of noise from the mobile as Paul spoke to Dev in the background. “She returned to the club after leaving him at the door.”
“Thank fuck for that. We’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”
“Mmm, yeah. Ah fuck…” Paul’s voice echoed over the speaker. “She’s shaky on her legs. She’s holding her stomach and walking back to the bathrooms.”
“Where is James?”
“I think Dev lost him. He was following Tilly, remember?”
“And where is Ryker?”
“Ah shit, just a minute,” he said, and I waited for a long thirty seconds. “I’ve spotted another of the gang.”
“Fuck, just get someone in the bathroom and get Tilly before it’s too late.”
Jackson screeched the car to a halt, forcing the smell of rubber to blast through the air vents. Three doors opened and slammed shut as we sprinted into the club’s back door and toward the lift.
Everything took too long and my heart was pounding as I waited for the lift. It felt like the button was stuck, like someone was stopping it from lowering to the car park level.
I punched my fist into the wall as Jackson turned to the stairway, Grasping door harshly and slamming it off the wall. Luca and I followed him, each of us sprinting up the concrete steps two by two.
Jackson pushed open the door, and we scrambled into the main corridor and ran to the bathroom.
“Well. Well. Well.” A voice I recognised stopped us in our tracks.
I spun around, my eyes widened as I came face to face with a gun.
“It’s been a while, Cruz,” Ryker said. “I take it you’re here for the same reason I am.”
“Leave her alone, Ryker. It’s over, it was over five years ago,” I said.
Ryker showed me a mouthful of tobacco-stained teeth, coupled with his long greasy hair and large body. Ryker wasn’t handsome, not that he was worried about his looks.
The man took what he wanted, and he certainly didn’t date or woo—he was the ultimate in evil. He waved his gun from left to right. “I think I have the upper hand and as you betrayed me once, you won’t get that opportunity again. I’m going to kill someone you love, like you did to me.”
“Put the weapon down,” the voice behind me said. I didn’t take my eyes from Ryker as he glanced over my shoulder at the man behind me. He raised his gun to my face and sniggered.
“And now I have the law on my side,” the voice behind said. There was a cock of a gun getting ready to be fired.
“Fuck,” Ryker said, lowering his gun. “I’m not dying for her.”
“Put the gun on the floor, then kick it away,” the man behind said. His voice was slow and calm.
Ryker did as he asked and Jackson dived on him, pushing his knee in his lower spine and pulling his hands behind his back. Ryker hissed as he landed on the ground with a thud.
“Are you with anyone else?” Jackson growled in his ear.
Ryker turned his face to me and sneered. “She’ll never be safe. One wrong move will be all it takes.”
“Are you with anyone else?” Luca asked, his foot on the back of Ryker’s head. Ryker didn’t answer and Luca pushed his foot harder, letting him know what he was about to do.
I took the gun from my waistband and kneeled on the floor as I pressed the loaded gun to his head. “Are you alone?”
“Of course I’m not,” Ryker hissed, then laughed, but the moment the words came out of his mouth, Luca smashed his head into the ground.
Ryker groaned as blood splattered across the floor from his broken nose.
I twisted to see a tall man dressed in black from head to toe. “Thanks. Can you deal with him?” I asked. “Don’t let him leave the club. I want to deal with him.”
He nodded, curling his fingers around Ryker’s bicep as he dragged him away from us.
We ran down the corridor, bursting into the ladies’ bathroom. Only one door was closed. Luca ran to it, fisting his hand as he thumped on the door.
“Tilly,” he yelled.
There was a squeal behind the door. “My name isn’t Tilly,” a small voice squeaked.
“Where the fuck is she?” I growled, but the sound of my voice didn’t stop fear from kindling my gut.
“A man carried a girl out a few minutes ago,” she said.