“I know.” Her words were the exact opposite of what I expected. “I realized that last night—I was just waiting for you to get the courage to tell me finally.”
“No matter what…” I walked over and grabbed both of her hands. “I will be back. I will not let anything stop me from holding you in my arms again.”
“I believe you.” She forced a smile. “And I know you’ll do everything in your power to bring Gerard back too.”
“Yes.” I nodded quickly. “I swear it.”
I just hope that’s an option—I probably should have gone with him—I should have never let him walk into that club alone the first time.
My thoughts were spinning when I left our apartment. I spent so long lost in my own thoughts after my last relationship crumbled. I truly believed I would never find happiness again. I certainly didn’t expect the most amazing woman in the world to walk into my life and captivate me from the first moment I saw her. I never thought I would be open to having a relationship that involved me sharing the woman I cared about with another man—much less Gerard. But I wanted that more than anything else in the world—enough to fight for it. The night of passion the three of us shared couldn’t be the only one. She couldn’t go through that with Gerard again. I had to unravel the lies, face down a man so powerful that he could take my life with the snap of his fingers, and somehow walk out of his club with Gerard at my side.
I’m sure that’ll be a piece of cake—maybe if I tell myself that enough before I get there, I’ll start to believe it.
“Where do you think you’re going, buddy?” A man standing outside Robert Townsend’s club stepped forward as I approached and pushed a hand underneath his jacket.
“I don’t want any trouble; I’m just looking for my friend.” I paused but kept my eyes locked on his hand in case he tried to pull his weapon.
“The only people who go through this door are invited.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “I don’t remember seeing you on the invitation list.”
“You—don’t even know my name.” I titled my head to the side. “Maybe I was invited.”
“Don’t fuck with me.” His hand jerked, but he didn’t brandish his firearm.
“I’m looking for Gerard. I know he’s inside. Why don’t you ask him if I’m invited?” I felt my jaw tighten.
This is a considerable risk. If something has happened to Gerard, I might get shot if they realize I’m looking for him.
“Hold the fuck on. Stay right there.” He grunted and opened the door.
I felt fight-or-flight taking over. There was no way I was going to be able to take down a guy with a gun if he opened the door ready to fire. What if he came back with some other people from Robert Townsend’s crew? I contemplated quitting while I was ahead. I had one question answered—whether or not Gerard was inside. If he weren’t, the guy wouldn’t have even bothered to check and see if I could come in. Before I could really decide what my next course of action should be, the door opened, and I prepared for the worst. Thankfully, the worst didn’t come. The man quietly stepped outside, held open the door, and motioned for me to enter. I took that as a good sign—or a sign that it would be easier to kill me when I wasn’t standing in the street. I swallowed any fear that was trying to build and walked past him. The instant I got inside, I saw Gerard sitting at the bar sipping a glass of whiskey.
“Gerard!” I walked towards him with a purpose. “What the fuck, man?”
“Keep your voice down.” He narrowed his eyes at me.
“I told him you were my guest.”
“Your guest? What—you’re a part of this now?” I looked around the room, noticing several dancers and men who had started to look my way, so I lowered my voice.
“No, it’s way more complicated than that.” He sighed and shook his head. “I wasn’t able to buy my way out—by the time Billy came back; it was too late. I had already made a deal with Robert Townsend, and he wasn’t willing to negotiate even when I had the money in hand.”
“A deal?” I sat down beside him. “Are you fucking crazy?”
“No!” He snapped at me but kept his voice from raising. “I was trying to keep Rachel safe. Robert Townsend was going to take her—we only had until midnight. I didn’t think Billy was coming back…”
“You made the deal earlier today when you left.” I exhaled sharply. “Fuck!”
“Yeah.” He pulled out the envelope Billy had given him and tossed it on the bar. “You might as well take that back to Billy. It ain’t worth shit to Robert Townsend now.”
“Okay, we’ll find a way out of this.” I scooted closer. “Come on, man. Rachel is worried. You can’t abandon her again.”
“She’s got you.” He sighed. “That’s going to have to be good enough now.”
“You asshole…” I shook my head back and forth. “You promised her…”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “I know—and I’m going to break that promise again.”
“There has to be another way.” I glared at him, unable to even recognize my best friend behind his expression.