“Sometimes I find myself looking where I shouldn’t be,” Bane said. “Something will bring me to a certain place, and I’ll search amongst the crowd for an answer. A reason for being there.”
He turned so he was facing her directly.
“When I saw you,” Bane said, “something inside me wanted to reach out to you. To touch your face. To kiss your lips. I’ve never been so drawn to a woman I haven’t met before. There’s something about you. I still can’t figure out what it is…”
“Wow, gosh, I’m really flattered,” Harper said unable to stop blushing. “I wish I could say something that would…”
“You don’t have to say anything,” Bane said. “You know the truth inside yourself.”
“The truth?”
“One day you might be thinking about this night. It could be years from now. And because you came to me here, because I can see you’re drawn to me, I want to tell you where you can find me if you ever find yourself asking questions.”
Harper swallowed. “Okay… Where?”
Bane stood beside her and put a hand in his pocket. He opened his wallet and took out a business card. It had a grey backdrop with bold red lettering on the front of it.
“T.S.C.,” Harper read out loud. “What does it stand for?”
“There’s an address on the back of it.”
“Okay…” Harper murmured. “You know, maybe after the wedding and everything I could just stop by one time. Me and Josh, to see how you’re doing. And make sure your okay –”
Bane took a step backwards. “No, that’s not going to work.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re only to come to this place once you’ve made a decision.”
“What decision would that be?”
“A decision to leave your life behind,” Bane said.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Harper couldn’t explain it, but now she was heading in the opposite direction as Bane, it just felt wrong. She held the card he’d given her close as though it was a treasure of some sort, reading the words printed on it over and over. She knew it was wrong to be thinking about Bane in this way, wrong for what it meant for her relationship with Josh. Although she didn’t want to admit it, if tonight had proved anything it was that maybe, just maybe, she really wasn’t ready to marry him yet.
Cordelia was waiting apprehensively at the space between the club’s parking lot and the road where Harper had tracked down Bane.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” Harper said quickly as she approached. “I didn’t mean to take off like that but –”
“Who were you talking to?” Cordelia demanded.
“It was that guy from before, the one who was staring at us.”
Cordelia shook her head in disbelief.
“Trust me, I had to speak to him. He was the one that –”
“The one that what?”
Harper grabbed Cordelia’s arm and moved her away from the road. “I want to tell you. I’m just worried now is not the right time.”
Jayden was still screaming in agony a short distance away.
“Well, come on, let’s go home then,” Cordelia said quickly. She began moving the direction of the club’s front.
“What – what are you doing?”
Harper observed Cordelia pulling out her phone and dialing a taxi.
Once she got off the phone, Harper said, “Aren’t we going to stick around for the cops to show up?”
“Fuck that.”
“Well come on – that guy tried to rape you –”
“And he won’t be doing it again.”
They moved road to the side of the road where the cab had appeared last time.
Harper looked over at her friend. “Are you okay? You know, with everything.”
“I’ll be okay when I open the vodka when we get home,” Cordelia replied.
“Oh,” Harper murmured.
Cordelia looked down at the ground. “I just – I’m just so disappointed in him. We used to be really good friends.”
“Did you date him?”
“No, just friends. I don’t know what’s happened to him.”
“His friends were holding me against the van too,” Harper said. “One of them had a gun. He said they were going to have their turn with me after you and Jayden finished.”
“Just sick,” Cordelia winced. “I’m gonna shame that guy so bad when I get to my computer. He’ll have bears knocking on his door for the next year and a half.”
Harper couldn’t help but giggle.
She stopped herself before she went too far. But then her eyes met with Cordelia and they both started giggling.
“I should have taken a picture when that fucking thing came out,” Cordelia said. “I just – I fucking shit myself.”
“It was pretty scary,” Harper agreed.
“How did that even happen – it was insane!”
“I’m going to tell you,” Harper said. “Once we get back to yours.”
“Tell me what?” Cordelia replied.
“Tell you where the hell that bear came from.”
“Are you kidding me? Look at us, smiling and joking around. What a crazy night.”
Harper clutched the card in her pocket. “Yeah,” she said. “Crazy.”
CHAPTER NINE
It was becoming more and more distant. More and more surreal. Had Harper really seen what she’d seen? How much did Bane mean by what he had said?
Glancing across at Cordelia through the darkened backseat of the cab, and she almost seemed to blur. She was speaking. Her hands and lips animated. Harper nodded and murmured her own words of agreement. But she could feel it sliding away from them. A thought she hadn’t thought yet, would never be thought.
A feeling she hadn’t understood yet, would never –
“This is us,” Cordelia asserted.
Harper looked up and realized they were parked out the front of Cordelia’s building. She quickly pushed the door open and stepped out onto the sidewalk as her friend followed. The cab sped away into the night.
“Are you drunk?” Cordelia asked. “You’re acting drunk.”
“Maybe a little,” Harper said.
The pair entered the apartment complex and took the elevator to Cordelia’s floor. Inside her apartment they each took turns to visit the bathroom, before they wound up in the lounge area a short time later. Cordelia turned on the heating system and poured them each a drink as promised.
“Cheers,” Cordelia said clinking glasses.
“Cheers,” Harper replied.
Her senses came back with a jolt as the cold liquid entered her lips.
“This couch is yours tonight,” Cordelia stated. “You okay with that?”
“Of course,” Harper replied.
“So what do you want to do? Watch a movie or – Oh shit. I forgot.”
Cordelia stood up and went to the table. She pulled up her tablet off of it and sat back on the couch, scrolling through to Facebook.
Harper leaned over her shoulder. “What are you doing?”
“I’m gonna post something to Jayden’s page. So all his friends know what a dirty rapist he is.”
Harper pursed her lips. “Is that wise?”
“Wise? What the fuck are you –”
“It’s not like you have proof or anything.”
“Don’t need proof,” Cordelia said. “It could be bullshit and it would still hurt him.”
Harper nodded. She stood up and went to the window which led out to the balcony, looking over the city. She took another sip from the glass in her hand.
“How does this sound?” Cordelia asked. “ ‘Jayden Towers is a RAPIST. Tonight he offered to give me and a friend a ride home, but instead tried to RAPE ME in the back of his van while my friend was held at GUNPOINT. He will try to deny it, but you can’t trust a word he says. But you can trust me when I say THIS ISN’T OVER!!!’ ”
Cordelia looked up to Harper for confirmation.
“Well, that’
s what happened,” Harper said.
“I didn’t mention anything about the bear,” Cordelia said. “I wasn’t sure how to fit that part in. Sort of sounds like I’m making my story up if I put that in there.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t say anything about the bear.”
“Why not?”
Harper moved away from the window and set the glass down on the table. Bane’s face wouldn’t leave her mind.
“Harper – I asked you a question,” Cordelia muttered taking another drink. “Hey – what were supposed to tell me about the bear again?”
“Oh, it’s nothing,” Harper said.
“It’s not nothing. It has something to do with that guy you were talking to, doesn’t it?”
Harper fell silent.
Cordelia seemed to sense her anxiety and backed off. “Oh well. Another time. Okay, let’s say if I don’t mention the bear, but then Jayden’s talking about it later –”
“Alright I’ll tell you,” Harper said moving over to the sofa. “But you have to keep this to yourself. Promise?”
Cordelia put down the tablet. “What the hell is going on with you?”
“You ever heard of … like, ‘shifters’?”
“Shifters?” Cordelia repeated. “As in werewolves?”
“Well, there’s all sorts of things they can shift into. Depends on type.”
“Oh yeah…” Cordelia said. “My friend Maisey is always reading those type of books.”
“Books…” Harper muttered. “Yeah I – I think I saw a real one tonight. I mean, we saw a real one.”
“The bear?” Cordelia exclaimed. “Are you serious?”
“I’m serious. I think – I think it was that Bane guy.”
“What Bane guy?”
“The guy who was chatting me up in the club. And then I was talking to him after the attack.”
“Come on, Harps,” Cordelia said. “You trying to fuck with me or something?”
“No.”
“Did he say he was a bear shifter?”
Harper shook her head. “I saw him shift. One minute he was the bear, and then the next, it was a man standing there. I chased after him and it was the same guy who’d been talking to me earlier.”
“This is nuts. You’re being nuts!”
“Think about it,” Harper continued, “was that bear acting like a real bear to you? Why didn’t he try and attack either of us? Why did he rip the van door open and pull Jayden off you? He wasn’t looking for food. He wasn’t attacking for no reason. He was trying to save us.”
Cordelia stared at her, eyes wide open. “Oh my God. You really believe this.”
“I – It’s just what I saw,” Harper said standing up. She picked up her glass from the table and moved on to pour her own drink. “Maybe I – just thought I saw the change –”
“Pretty possible.”
“ – But I can’t shake this feeling. I’m sure, I really am sure. The bear was him.”
CHAPTER TEN
It was close again. Now that they were talking about it. This wasn’t final. This wasn’t the end. Whatever dilemma Harper was facing within herself, it was bound to come out now. It had to. It was eating her up inside…
“Okay,” Cordelia said after a moment. “So he’s a bear. So what?”
Harper breathed into her glass. “So what…?”
“Yeah, so what if he’s a bear? It doesn’t change anything. I mean, you don’t want to tell the cops about him do you? Not after he –”
“No, no, no,” Harper said waving the idea away. “I don’t want to mess with any of that.”
“Anyone you do tell is going to think you’re crazy anyway,” Cordelia said. “And frankly it really undermines our accusation towards Jayden.”
“Have you published that post yet?”
Cordelia shook her head. She picked up the tablet from her lap and switched it off. She stood up and set it on the table on her way to make her second drink.
“I don’t know,” Harper murmured. “This guy’s just really in my head now.”
“Who? The bear shifter?”
“Bane.”
“Well, you gotta let it go. It’s behind you. You’re not going to ever see him again.”
Harper reached into her pocket and placed the card on the table.
Cordelia glanced over at it. “What’s that?”
“He gave it to me. Said I could find him there.”
Cordelia picked it up. “T.S.C. What’s that stand for?”
“I don’t know,” Harper shrugged.
“Well, let’s look it up,” Cordelia suggested.
“You mean on your –”
“Yeah, I got this.” Cordelia picked up her tablet again and went to the sofa with her drink and Bane’s business card. Harper watched on apprehensively from her place by the table.
“Find anything yet?” she asked after a moment.
“I’m doing searches,” Cordelia answered. “What did you say his name was again?”
“Bane.”
Cordelia was silent for a moment. Harper looked away.
“Oh my God!” Cordelia exclaimed. “I found him!”
“What?” Harper said hurrying over. “You did?”
Cordelia handed her the tablet and Harper turned it over.
On the screen there was a picture of Bane from The Dark Knight Rises.
“Very funny,” Harper muttered tossing the tablet back at her.
She flopped down on the sofa, deflated.
“Jesus,” Cordelia laughed. “You’re taking this so seriously.”
“I’m not, I’m not,” Harper said quickly. “Let’s just forget about it.”
Cordelia put the tablet to one side and looked on the other side of the business card. “You know I looked at this address, and it’s bogus.”
“It is?”
“Totally fake. The only thing that’s on here is those three magical letters. And of course the telephone number.”
“Telephone number?”
“Yeah.”
Harper snatched the card away. She saw that Cordelia wasn’t lying.
“You didn’t see the number before?” Cordelia asked.
“No,” Harper admitted. “Doesn’t matter anyway though. We’re not going to call it.”
“We’re not?” Cordelia grinned.
“Bane said I should only try to come to this place if I was ready to leave everything behind.”
Still grinning, Cordelia pulled her cell out. “Since when weren’t we ready to do that…?”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
It took a moment for Harper to realize what she was doing.
“Hey,” Harper piped up. “What are you –”
Cordelia put a finger out to silence her. “Yes,” she said into the cell. “Yes I’m wondering if Bane is there. If we can chat to him.”
“Stop it!” Harper screeched reaching out for the phone.
Cordelia pushed her away and stepped off the sofa.
“Uh-huh. I understand. I’ll just ask my friend.”
She held the phone away from her as Harper stood.
“Ask me what?” Harper blurted out.
“Do you want a driver to come pick us up to go to see Bane tonight?”
“No,” Harper said. “That’s – that’s insane –”
Cordelia nodded and moved her hand away from the phone. “As soon as you can get us. Our address is 134 Poulton Road –”
“Bitch!” Harper lunged at her.
They both collapsed to the ground, Cordelia giggling.
“134 Poulton Road, Manhattan, come at once!”
She tossed the phone away laughing as Harper yanked at her hair.
“I’m going to kill you!” Harper yelled. “You are so dead!”
“Stop it!” Cordelia laughed. “You’re hurting me!”
She then screeched as Harper yanked a bit too hard. Harper climbed off her and reached out for the discarded cell, only to find the call had ended.
“Call t
hem back,” Harper said. She threw the phone at her. “You’ve got to call them back.”
Cordelia sat up. “What is with you?”
“You don’t seriously want to go off in some strange car right now, do you?”
“What – you don’t?”
“No, I don’t want to,” Harper insisted. “This is – this is so stupid. Why have you done this? He’s gonna think I’m – Oh my God!”
“What’s he gonna think? Tell me.”
Harper crossed her legs on the floor. “He’s gonna think I want to be with him.”
Cordelia bit her lip. “Sorry. Sorry, Sunshine. I just – we have to see what this is about.”
“What what’s about?”
“Is he really a bear shifter? Did he really save us? If he did, I think I owe him a thank you. Don’t you?”
“He’s not going to be happy,” Cordelia whispered.
“Why wouldn’t he be happy?”
“Well, I’m not breaking up with Josh. I’m getting married on Sunday.”
“So what?”
“So – Bane’s going to try it on with me and I’m going to have to tell him no. He’s – he’s not going to be happy when I do that.”
Cordelia smiled slyly. “Just tell him you want to be friends.”
“Oh yeah, like he’s going to go for that.”
“If he respects you he will. And then whatever happens after that, happens.”
“Oh no,” Harper shook her head. “I feel so bad. I feel so guilty.”
“Why? What do you feel guilty about?”
“I don’t know,” Harper said. “I think I feel bad for Josh. He doesn’t deserve this.”
“Oh honey,” Cordelia said getting to her feet. She helped Harper up as well. “It’s not like you’ve fucked Bane yet.”
“Yet?” Harper winced.
“Save your guilt for afterwards.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Harper wasn’t going to have sex with Bane. Not tonight, not ever. She wasn’t going to do anything romantic at all. She wasn’t going to give him a hug or let him hold her hand. Well, if he was crying she might give him a hug. Josh couldn’t be mad about that. That wasn’t cheating. But why on earth would Bane be crying?
Bane: Trillionaire Shifter Club Book One Page 2