Stay A Little Longer (Kadia Club Nights Book 2)

by Nicole York

  “Not this time?”

  “No,” Cameron said, shaking her head. “Not this time.”

  The dancer shifted on her stool. All she had on were red sequin nipple covers with red tassels hanging off of them and a matching short skirt made of strips of fabric. Between the panels of fabric, her legs and ass were on display. She wore sparkly fishnet nylons and sky-high red platform shoes. Cameron wondered how many times she’d rolled her ankles.

  “Does this, by chance, have anything to do with Cole?” the dancer asked.

  Cameron nodded. “Yes.”

  “Sweetheart, you might not want to hear this, but maybe this father of yours has reason to worry.”

  Cameron sat up a little straighter. “Sorry?”

  “Look, Cole is one of the good ones in this place. That’s true. But if we’re being objective, we can’t overlook the fact that being considered ‘one of the good ones’ in a place like Kadia doesn’t actually make you good. Does that make sense?”

  Cameron wished she could disappear. “I guess so.”

  “I’ve never seen him lay hands on a girl. I’ve never seen him lose his cool. He’s always got a handle on every situation and he makes every one of us girls feel safe when we’re on the floor.” The dancer paused and considered her next words. She chewed the inside of her cheek. “But there is more to what we see when it comes to Cole. He distances himself from others. He’s withdrawn. Private. And men like him have a tendency to run in bad circles. You’re a good girl, Cameron. You come from wealth and a good family.”

  “What are you trying to say?”

  The dancer shrugged. “I don’t really know. I guess I’m just saying make sure Cole is worth planting your feet for. Is he everything to you? Or can you walk away from him and fill his space with someone else? Someone a little less… dangerous?”

  “Cole isn’t dangerous to me.”

  The dancer looked at her with pity. “Oh, honey. Maybe not intentionally. But men like Cole are dangerous just by breathing. Take it from a girl on the inside. If you hitch your wagon to him, you’ll be part of his world. And in his world? There’s a lot of blood. A lot of chaos. And a lot of pain.”

  Cameron swallowed.

  Why was this girl telling her this? Wasn’t she supposed to be making her feel better? Was there no girl code at Kadia?

  “I can’t listen to this,” another dancer said. She was a blonde bombshell dressed all in pink, and she’d been doing her lipstick in her vanity mirror for the past five minutes. She spun around on her stool and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “I’m Ashley. I’ve worked here a while. And Cameron? Don’t listen to a damn thing Brittney just told you.”

  Brittney, the girl in the red nipple covers, scowled at Ashley. “Oh? Because you know so much more than me?”

  “When it comes to Cole? Yes, I’d say I do. He’s a good catch, sis. Rough around the edges, a little sad, sure. But he’s good. He has a big heart. He can fight when he must but he can comfort, too. I’ve seen it.”

  Brittney rolled her eyes. “You mean you’ve fucked him?”

  Cameron’s stomach tightened.

  “No,” Ashley said sharply. “But I’ve had a bad night a time or two and Cole is always the guy to show up with a glass of water and some kind words.”

  Brittney pursed her lips. “That’s true.”

  “If he wasn’t such a wreck, I’d have jumped his bones ages ago,” Ashley said. She shot an apologetic look at Cameron. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to speak that way about your man. Girl code, you know? But it’s true. Cole has been out of sorts for months. He walked around this place like a lost puppy dog. An angry one, at that. And then you showed up. Just like that, he was a new man, not just a shell of the person he used to be. You make him better, Cameron. And a guy like Cole? He’ll fight to keep that in his life so long as you want to be there.”

  Cameron’s head spun.

  Brittney sighed. “I guess that’s true.”

  “I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Cameron said stiffly. “There’s nothing to talk about. I’m not leaving him. Plain and simple. I don’t care how big of a stink my father makes about it. He can cut me off from my bank account if he wants to.”

  Raised voices broke Cameron’s train of thought. She frowned and looked around at the other girls, all of whom had heard it as well.

  Brittney uncrossed her legs and told the others she’d poke her head out and check it out. She walked over to the door, the straps of her sparkly red skirt glittering as her hips swayed, and poked her head through the beads hanging from the doorframe. She looked back at the girls who all stared after her. “One sec,” she said, and she vanished through the beaded curtain.

  Ashley sighed heavily. “Don’t worry too much about things, babe. Cole won’t let anything bad ever happen to you. If you’re committed and not questioning things, it will work out. I promise.”

  Cameron had finally stopped crying. The support was a nice change of pace compared to how her night had been going with her father. “Thank you.”

  “No sweat, babe. But I have to say. I’m a bit jealous of you. Cole has been at the top of my to-do list since he started working here.”

  Cameron laughed in spite of herself. “I get it. As soon as I laid eyes on him, I wanted him.”

  “Lucky bitch.” Ashley winked.

  The beads hanging from the dressing room door clicked softly against each other when Brittney returned. She wore a frown and a furrowed brow, and she turned to Cameron. “I think your father is here.”

  Cameron’s heart fell into her stomach. “What?”

  “Yeah,” Brittney said, wringing her hands together. “He’s, uh, he’s getting in Cole’s face.”

  “Shit,” Cameron hissed.

  She pushed herself up out of the sofa and raced out of the dressing room into the club. The loud music pounded in her ears as she wove through the bodies on the dance floor toward where she knew a commotion was gathering. People were peeling away from the crowded dance floor and moving toward the bar, where Cameron detected raised voices.

  Embarrassment rippled through her before she even escaped the tightly packed bodies and laid eyes on the scene before her.

  It was her father all right.

  Wayne White had a finger pointed up in Cole’s face. There was a sneer on his face of the likes Cameron had never seen before. Her father almost looked unrecognizable as he jabbed his raised finger into Cole’s chest three times in rapid succession.

  She was too far away to hear what her father was saying, but she knew none of it would be kind.

  Cole looked furious too, and he didn’t step back when her father moved in even closer. Cole was at least four or five inches taller than her father, who had to crane his head back as he got up close and personal.

  Marcus, Cole’s boss, stood behind Cole with his thick arms folded over his chest while Keesha, his woman, scowled at Wayne.

  Horror rippled through Cameron.

  How could her father put her in a position like this?

  Wayne put a hand on Cole’s chest and shoved him back a step. His voice grew louder, and Cameron could finally hear what he was saying to her bodyguard.

  “You will stay the hell away from my daughter, do you hear me?” Wayne hissed. “She’s several lifetimes too good for you. If I catch wind that she’s set foot back in this club to spend time with the likes of you, I’ll bring hell down on this shithole.”

  Cameron pushed past Marcus. The big man grumbled with displeasure.

  She ignored him, stepped up beside Cole, and slapped her father’s hand down. “Enough,” she said sharply.

  Her father’s eyes widened as they landed on her. “I told you not to come here.”

  “And I told you I was no longer a child who had to obey everything you say. I choose Cole, Daddy. If I’m old enough to start my own business, then I’m damn well old enough to choose the man I want to be with. I don’t need your approval.”

  Wayne’s stare dark
ened. “You choose this?”

  Cameron straightened as her father gestured around at the club.

  “You choose depravity and chaos?” her father asked. He didn’t understand. That wasn’t what the place was to her. “Cameron, please, see reason. Look around you. Do you think a man like him cares about you? Do you think he knows what’s best for you? Do you think he gives a damn?”

  “I do,” Cameron said simply.

  “You’re delusional,” Wayne hissed. His attention shifted to Cole. “What lies have you been whispering in her ear?”

  Cole didn’t say a word.

  Cameron stepped between them. “Daddy, please. Stop this. I’m not going to ask again.”

  Wayne studied his daughter as he processed what she was saying. He suddenly became aware of just how many people were watching and how he had no power in this place. Cameron did. She didn’t want to exercise it, but she knew Cole’s employer would have her back. She was sure Marcus didn’t appreciate the scene her father was creating, and if she asked him to take care of it, Marcus would.

  But her father might never forgive her for that.

  “Please,” she said again, her voice dripping with desperation.

  30

  Cole

  Cole had never seen so much fight in Cameron before. She stood between him and her father like a one-woman army with her fists balled at her sides and her chin held high.

  It kind of turned him on.

  “Cameron,” Wayne said, his voice hollow and weaker than it had been when he was shouting in Cole’s face. “I’m trying to protect you.”

  “I don’t need protecting from Cole, Daddy. I need you to trust me when I tell you that. He would never hurt me. And I’m no fool. I wouldn’t be with someone who didn’t respect me.”

  Marcus let out a smug chuckle behind Cole and nudged him in the back.

  Cole willed his boss not to take any cracks at Cole’s expense right now. He could easily imagine Marcus muttering something about how “it doesn’t sound like you respect her when you fuck her,” but that would only make things worse.

  Luckily, Marcus kept his big mouth shut.

  A crowd had gathered and was watching the show. Dean was still mixing drinks on his side of the bar but he was close enough to have overheard most of the argument. Keesha and Marcus were there, and Vance had recently arrived. He was hanging back but staying close by, just in case.

  Cole leaned in close to Cameron’s ear. “Maybe you and your father should go home together and sort this out. I don’t want to come between you like this.”

  “What are you saying to her?” Wayne asked, taking a menacing step forward.

  Cameron put her hand out to stop him. “He was suggesting I go home with you so you and I can talk,” she said. “But I don’t want to speak with you when you’re being so unreasonable.”

  Cole sighed. This wasn’t going well. Someone was going to have to cave. “Listen,” he said, “this isn’t the time or place to have a conversation like this. I’m on the clock. Either you leave, Mr. White, or the pair of you leave together. Those are your options.”

  Wayne prickled. “You don’t get to go telling me what to do.”

  “Daddy, go home,” Cameron said sternly.

  Her father leaned back. “Cameron, I won’t leave you here with the likes of this. Come with me. We’ll talk this through. There’s no reason for you to stoop this low.”

  Cameron left Cole’s side. She grabbed her father’s hand. “Daddy, please go home. If you don’t leave, Marcus is going to force you to leave, and I can’t stand by and watch that happen. You’re tearing me apart. Please don’t make me choose between you and Cole. That’s not a choice I can make lightly.”

  Her father searched her eyes. “Choose between us?”

  “I care about him, Daddy. I care very much.”

  Wayne’s gaze left his daughter and slid to Cole. “Do you love him?”

  Cameron looked over her shoulder at Cole. Her wary, tense expression melted away. “I do,” she said softly. She faced her father once more. “I love you both. But just because I love you, it doesn’t mean I have to do everything you say anymore. I’m a grown woman. I know what I want. And it’s my job to make the decisions that are best for me, not yours. Not anymore. You have to trust me to make the right choices for my own future. You don’t have to like them, but you have to give me the space to make them.”

  Wayne’s shoulders slumped a little. “There’s nothing I can do to get you to leave with me right now?”

  Cameron shook her head. “No, Daddy. I’m sorry.”

  For a moment, Cole was certain Wayne wasn’t going to leave of his own accord. The man straightened his suit jacket and lifted his chin to peer down the length of his nose at his daughter. Cameron held fast, returning his stare, and didn’t blink.

  “Very well,” Wayne said. “But this conversation isn’t over. I don’t understand what led you astray and I intend to get to the bottom of it.”

  “I haven’t been led astray,” Cameron said. “But we can talk more later. So long as you want to talk, not attack me.”

  “Fine,” Wayne said. His cool stare landed on Cole. “I can’t stop her from choosing you, but mark my words. If you hurt my daughter, I will burn you and your entire life to the ground. It would be as easy as snapping my fingers.”

  Cole gritted his teeth against the threat.

  Marcus stepped forward. “Get out of my club, Mr. White. You are no longer welcome on the property. I do not take kindly to patrons threatening my employees.”

  Cameron’s father looked Marcus up and down and concluded, wisely, that he had no footing here. He turned his back on his daughter and marched toward the front doors.

  Within seconds, the crowd that had gathered dispersed. People crowded the bar to order new drinks. Others scattered across the dance floor to make up for lost time.

  Cameron stayed rooted to the spot. Her hands were still balled into fists.

  Cole rested a hand on her lower back. “Are you all right?”

  She didn’t turn to him as she shook her head. “I’m so humiliated. I can’t believe he’d come in here and act like that. Like a child. A rotten, entitled bully.”

  “He wasn’t acting like a child.” Cole took her hand and turned her to him. He cupped her chin in one hand and smiled at her. “He was acting like a concerned father. The things he said to me may not have been flattering but you have nothing to be embarrassed about, Cameron. He loves you more than anything in this world and all he wants is for you to be safe. I understand where he was coming from. Truly, I do.”

  She searched his eyes. “I’m still so sorry for what he said to you.”

  “Don’t be,” Cole said softly. “It’s a small price to pay for loving a woman like you.”

  Cameron’s lips parted. “What did you say?”

  “You heard me.”

  Cole pulled her in close. She let out a surprised gasp but he silenced her with a kiss. She clung to the front of his jacket and kissed him like he was the only oxygen in the room. She smiled against his lips and giggled when they broke apart.

  “I love you too,” she whispered.

  Marcus thumped Cole on the back hard enough to rock him forward. “Have you forgotten that we have business to attend to?”

  Cole had forgotten. He’d forgotten entirely. “Give me a minute.”

  He kissed Cameron again.

  Keesha whispered something to Marcus about letting them have a minute. Marcus grumbled. “I’m sick of rich pricks walking in here like they own the fucking place. Kadia must be losing its edge.”

  “Not likely,” Keesha said, trailing a hand over his shoulder.

  Cameron and Cole parted, and she gazed up at him with tears clinging to her lashes. “Thank you for letting me handle things with my father. It would have gotten a lot messier if you spoke your mind.”

  “I suspected holding my tongue was the right course of action. I don’t want to come between the two of yo
u. I know how special he is to you.”

  “Hush,” Cameron whispered, placing a finger over his lips. “You’re both special to me. He’ll come around. He just needs time. And my mother might be able to talk some sense into him, too. And you might have to come to a family dinner every now and again to show them you’re normal.”

  Marcus scoffed. “Normal, my fucking ass.”

  Cole ignored his boss. “I can do that. On rare occasions, of course.”

  “Of course.” Cameron smiled.

  God, she was beautiful.

  And all his. How had he gotten so lucky? What good deed could he have possibly done that made him worthy of such a woman?

  The answer was none.

  What good deeds could he credit to his name recently? All he’d managed to do was fuck up a big job, shoot his boss, and let Adam Cooper walk free.

  What was next?

  Marcus slapped Keesha’s ass. “Back behind the bar, woman. We have thirsty people who want to give us their money. Cole, Vance, you’re with me. We have to find Zak. And if we can’t find him, maybe we can find his trail. Dean, keep an eye out.”

  Dean looked up and nodded.

  Cameron caught Cole’s hand. “What’s going on?”

  “One of our guys is missing on the job,” Cole said.

  “Who?”

  “Zak, the Russian with the big beard. We lost track of him and he’s not answering his phone. I’m sure he’s fine, nothing to worry about, but he’s been acting unlike himself lately, so we want to get tabs on him in case.”

  “In case what?” Cameron pressed.

  This was the part of his job he didn’t want to let her in on. But if they were going to do this thing, she would have to know all the parts of his life. “In case something bad happened to him.”

  “Something bad?”

  Marcus closed a hand on Cole’s shoulder. “Why are you still fucking standing here, brother? Move.”

  Cole gave Cameron an apologetic look. “You can wait with the girls again if you want. Or go home. I don’t know how long this is going to take but—” Cole broke off when the club doors swung open.