Worthy of You: Book One in The Haze Nightclub Series

by Kandee Reyna

  But it’s not. The door swings open, and the blonde whore from the club steps out, patting her hair with a messy-haired Milo following. She notices me immediately and smiles, while running her hands down her dress, smoothing the wrinkles. Can’t fix the wrinkles in that cheap ass material, Bitch.

  Barbie Whore turns around and places a hand on Lo’s chest, “I’ll see you later.” She says loudly, so loudly I know it’s not even for him. It’s for me. He steps away from her touch, a little boost for my shattered ego. Eyes still on me, she moves to the elevator, her stilettoes tapping against the tile floor. Lo’s fists are clenched and he says something else to the receptionist that has her blushing and she responds, before he turns, noticing me for the first time. I’m trying my hardest to blink away the tears in my eyes and tell myself to get up and leave, but I’m stuck in my seat. Stunned.

  “Renee, is everything okay?” My eyes snap up to his, my tongue still tied. He moves closer, worry etched in the lines of his face, “Angel, are you alright?” He’s speaking to me like a cowering dog. Patronizingly. Tentatively. He knows he’s treading thin ice.

  “What the hell was she doing here?” I snap, the anger fighting to the surface.

  “Come to my office with me.” He ignores my question.

  I wrinkle my nose. “No.” That’s where they just were… together.

  He looks left and right, sighing heavily and running his hands through his hair, “Don’t make a scene. Come with me to my office. Now.” He says through his teeth.

  “Fuck you!” I say loudly enough for anyone to hear and jump to my feet.

  “Stop it. Don’t do this shit. Come to my office and let me explain.”

  “No need. It’s fine, really.” I shake my head avoiding eye contact. I’m so fucking stupid. So dumb. I should have seen this coming. I should have known he’d go and do some fucked up shit like this. It’s who he is, he made that clear, I was just dumb enough to believe that a couple weeks of playing house was enough to turn him around.

  “I know what you’re thinking, and it’s not like that, come to my office and let me explain, please.”

  “Fine. This should be good I guess.” I roll my eyes, attitude hiding the hurt, and nod at him to lead the way, my arms crossed over my chest.

  Chapter Twenty-four: Lo

  “Mr. Turner, there’s a woman here to see you. She doesn’t have an appointment but is certain you’ll see her.”

  Renee. Her class was cancelled this morning, I smile inwardly. She must be coming to see me. “Send her in.” I stand, straighten my tie, and move around my desk. She doesn’t knock, but just walks right in.

  “What the fuck are you doing here, Natalie?”

  “Hey, Lo.” She tugs at the strap of her skin-tight dress. She looks ready for a pole.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” I ask again.

  “I haven’t seen you in a while. I thought I’d surprise you. Remind you of what you’ve been missing out on.” She tugs both straps down her shoulders, revealing her bare breasts.

  “Put your damn clothes on! This is my fucking office!” I roar.

  She doesn’t. Instead she moves in slow, sensual steps closer to me, pinching her nipples. “I miss you, Lo. You’re the only one who knows what I need. The only one who can make it hurt just right.”

  I stalk toward her, fire in my eyes and she instinctively moves back, eyes wide, until her back lands hard against the door. “Pull your dress up, you’re acting like a whore.” I yell at her.

  She yanks her straps back in place, “What the hell is your problem?! Why won’t you fuck me!? We’re good together and you know it!”

  I pull at my hair, “I’m not interested anymore. I never really was, you were always just in the right place at the right time.”

  Her mouth pops open, “You’re a fucking asshole.”

  I laugh loudly, “You knew that! You already fucking knew I’m not a nice person, yet here you are, still trying to get my dick. I’ve found what I want, and it’s not you.”

  “You can’t do this to me! I was always there waiting for you when you needed me! Always! I brought you my friends, let you fuck them!”

  “Let me?” I shout again, “I think you’re fucking confused, so I’ll straighten things out for you. You never let me do anything. I fucked you because it was convenient. I fucked your friends because it was convenient. You and your cunt friends were nothing more than convenience, and if you ever want to be admitted into Haze again, you’ll fucking remember that.”

  “You’ll get tired of her.” She shrugs, reaching for the door.

  “That’s none of your fucking business.”

  “Still, I’ll be there when you do.” She walks out ahead of me, and I follow. The last thing I need is her giving my staff a hard time, and Trish needs to know that if Natalie shows up again, she needs to just call security. We get to Trish’s desk and Natalie turns to me, touching my chest, “I’ll see you later.” She says seductively, and my hand clench into fist.

  I take a step back from her, not feeding into her shit and turn to Trish as she walks away, “If that woman ever shows up at my office again, call security. She doesn’t belong here.

  “Yes, Mr. Turner,” Her face blushes and she looks at me with apologetic eyes. What the fuck now?

  “There’s another woman here to see you. She said you’d see her…” She trails off, eyes flicking toward the seating area. Natalie said the same thing. I turn my head, following her eyes, and there’s Renee. Fury radiating from her body, hot, angry tears in her eyes. I move away from her not even responding and make my way to Renee. This is so fucked up and if I were her, I’d be drawing all kinds of fucked up conclusions in my head. Judging by the look on her face, I’m guessing she’s got a few theories of what just went on behind my office door.

  “Renee, is everything okay?” I close the space between us, approaching her cautiously. “Angel, are you alright?”

  “What the hell was she doing here?” She snips. I can see the anger sending tremors through her body. Her feelings and thoughts are tangible right now. Anger. Hurt. Jealousy.

  “Come to my office with me.” I avoid the question, preferring to answer it alone.

  “No.”

  She’s going to make a fucking scene. At least she’s staying relatively composed, despite the situation. “Don’t make a scene. Come with me to my office. Now.” I say through clenched teeth, trying to control my voice. I’m trying to diffuse this situation before it blows up in my lobby.

  “Fuck you!” She says more loudly. God damn it.

  “Stop it. Don’t do this shit, not out here. Come to my office and let me explain.”

  “No need. It’s fine, really.” She’s beating herself up, mentally. It’s written all over her face. She trusted me, and this shit right here looks bad.

  “I know what you’re thinking, and it’s not like that, come to my office and let me explain, please.”

  “Fine. This should be good, I guess.” She stands, waiting for me to lead the way.

  I push my door open, waiting for her to come through before shutting it. She goes to one of the chairs across my desk and drops down, arms still crossed.

  “So talk.” I take the other chair, turning it toward her.

  “You didn’t see what you think you saw.”

  “No? I saw you in your office with Barbie Whore. If Anthony hadn’t helped me out, I wouldn’t have been able to make it up here, so why don’t you explain to me what I saw? It can’t be too far from what I’m thinking, since she clearly made it up here and in your office with ease.”

  “If you couldn’t make it up here on your own, it’s because she’d already lied her way up, and my staff was confused. I’ll be making it very clear after today that you’re the only woman allowed up here.”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t waste your time with that. There may not be a need for it anymore. You know, all you had to say is, ‘Hey, Renee. This thing between us isn’t gonna work out,’ not
fuck your ex in your office.”

  “I didn’t fuck her! I didn’t invite her here. She came to tell me she hasn’t seen me in a while. She came begging for fucking scraps and I made her leave without even giving her one morsel of the attention she was seeking. You have to trust me Renee! Relationships need trust.”

  “Oh, so now you’re a relationship expert?” She laughs darkly.

  “I’m not going to win here, am I?”

  She stands up quickly. “It’s not a fucking game. There’s no winning here. And, if there was, no. You fucking lose for having trash for lunch in your office.” Tears spill down her cheeks and she moves toward the door but I stop her.

  “Angel.” I say firmly, and her eyes flit to mine. “There is you and me.” I stare in her eyes, searching them for understanding. “There’s not a man or woman on this earth that I would allow to get between us. I would descend the stairs of hell and fight the Devil himself if he tried to bring us down.”

  “This looks bad.” She whispers, closing her eyes. I wipe away the tears flowing down her face.

  “It does. But it’s not. I put her in her place. She won’t be bothering me, or you anymore.

  “I’m still angry.” I run the pads of my thumbs over her cheeks, collecting the tears.

  I pull her to my chest, “I know, Angel. I’m sorry.” Since knowing Renee, I’ve said the word sorry more times than I have my entire life. She makes me desire repentance for my sins, crave forgiveness for my past. Her soft skin, and emotion-filled eyes put me on my knees, arms held high in surrender. Offering up the parts of me I’ve never given to anyone else, the parts I didn’t even know existed. I’m addicted. A willing, unapologetic, addict of Renee Moran.

  Chapter Twenty-five: Renee

  “Well hello, Miss I-Don’t-Come-Home-but-Also-Don’t-Call-My-Best-Friend.”

  “That’s a completely unrealistic name, Krys. Imagine having to write that out at the doctor’s office.”

  “Or, like, at the morgue, because that’s where I’d have to pick up your body if something happened to you. Though, I mean, I wouldn’t even know for like what? A solid week because YOU DIDN’T CALL ME!”

  I roll my eyes. “You’re so dramatic. They’d call my dad, for one. For two, you wouldn’t pick me up, they’d move my body for you.” I wink.

  “I’m guessing you’ve been with Lo?”

  I move to the kitchen and open the refrigerator taking out the last of the eggs, bacon, and potatoes I keep pre-cut in water. I need to go to the store. If it was up to Krysta, vodka and takeout would be our only source of sustenance. “No, I actually met someone else last night, ditched Lo, and stayed with him.”

  “Right, I believe that.” She throws a pillow my way from the couch and it lands on the other side of the kitchen table, not even close to me.

  “Good throw.” I goad, “Don’t you have Trig right now?”

  She shrugs her shoulder, “Yeah, but I was sooo worried about my best friend I skipped.”

  “Ha! You skipped because you hate getting up early in the morning, AND math. Why the hell you took such an early class is beyond me. You’ve already taken all the math credits you need for the museum, you know.” Krysta has dreams of working in museums doing whatever museum people do, which I guess, is hopefully buying my art.

  “It was the only one left and Daddy said I needed it,” She whines, throwing her head back in typical Krysta fashion and I laugh at her.

  My phone chimes from the counter, and excitement runs through my veins. That man has me on edge and ready for him even though I just left him.

  Lo: Movies tonight. Anthony will bring you to me.

  Me: hmm… new phone, who dis?

  Lo: Funny. You’ll need to leave at seven.

  Me: Yes, sir. ??

  Lo: Now that’s more like it, Beautiful. See you tonight.

  I sigh and get back to making breakfast tacos for me and Krysta. Lo had offered for me to hang out at his house today until he got home. Even went as far as to say I could invite Krysta over too, but that seemed… strange to me. When I refused he’d got a serious glint in his eye. Told me he has someone causing problems for him right now and wanted me to stay safe. I already have Anthony following me around all the time, so staying at his house seemed like over kill. How much trouble could a business man like him actually get into, anyway? It seems extreme to have a babysitter, but I let it slide. Lo seemed genuinely concerned about whatever was going on and it’s not like Anthony is breathing down my neck.

  “Was that Milo?” Krysta sings out from the couch.

  “Yeah, he wants to take me to the movies tonight.” I crack an egg into a bowl.

  “Hmm… interesting. What are you going to see?”

  “Interesting? How so? And I’m not sure,” I huff, annoyance creeping into my voice. “He’s always just straight to the point. His message just said, ‘movies tonight, Anthony will bring you to me,’ but nothing else.”

  “Interesting because you seem to be moving quickly with him… did you read the rest of the file?”

  “No, and I told you I wouldn’t. It feels dirty. Wrong.”

  “It’s not. I bet he did his research on you.” She crosses her arms. She’s right. Lo knows every detail of my life, down to when my next shift at Marcella’s, the Italian restaurant where I waitress. “Who’s Anthony anyhow?”

  “My babysitter.” I say before I think it through. I guess it does irritate me a little more than I’m letting myself admit, that I’ve got someone following me around for God knows how long.

  “Your babysitter!?” Her voice has jumped an octave and she’s on her feet, moving to the kitchen. I ignore her glare as I dump the scrambled eggs in the hot pan.

  “Well, not really, no. Lo said he has some shit going on right now and just wants to be sure I’m safe. Anthony works for the security firm he employs. Apparently his best friend that also lives with him owns it.”

  “Is Best Friend hot?” She perks up.

  “Kinda. He’s like a brick wall, and if you think Lo is intimidating, you don’t even want to meet Max.”

  She waves a hand, “Eh, not my type then.”

  “You don’t even have a type.” I laugh.

  “You don’t know me,” She says jokingly, “Are you sure this isn’t just some attempt to keep tabs on you? It seems extreme to me. Daddy has some fucked up business partners, but you don’t see me with a bodyguard. Where is he anyway?”

  “I’m not positive, no, but I don’t think Lo would do that.” Would he? “and, Anthony said he’d be in the car.” I wave my hand toward the living room window that looks down on the front of the building.

  Krysta gives me another long glare before moving to the window. “Black town car?” She asks, peering down at the street.

  “Yeah.”

  “Holy shit! You really do have a babysitter! What do you think he’s doing in there?” She wags her eyebrows at me.

  “I don’t know. Reading a book?” I roll my eyes. “Yeah, I guess I do have a stupid babysitter.” I sigh, dumping the eggs on the platter next to the bacon and assembling tacos for us both before I move to grab the foil, wrapping up two more. If my privacy is going to be smothered by a sitter, I may as well make sure they’re heavy enough to do the smothering. “Come eat so we can go to the grocery store. The refrigerator is empty as shit.”

  An hour later, Krysta and I are arm-in-arm, heading down the stairs and out into the street. I eye the town car and tap on the passenger side window.

  “Yes, ma’am?” There’s a twinkle in Anthony’s eye, “We headed somewhere?”

  “We’re off to the store. Here, I made these for you.” I pass two foil-wrapped tacos through the window and begin to move down the street as soon as they’re in his hand.

  “Wait!” He calls out, unfolding himself from the car, not even bothering to shut his door as he runs around to us. “Let me drive you.”

  Krysta looks at me, gauging how I’m going to handle the situation. “I think we�
��ll walk. It’s nice out.” I smile and start to walk again with a hesitant Krysta at my side.

  “I must insist you use the car, Miss Moran.” My eyebrows shoot up to my hairline and Krysta lets go of my arm, allowing me to fully turn. He digs inside his suit jacket and produces a phone. He’s gonna tattle on me?

  “The store is right up the street. We’re not going far.” I hold up the reusable shopping bags in my hand to prove my point.

  “I understand that, but I have orders I have to follow to keep my job.” His tone is pleading, and he presses something on his phone and holds it to his ear.

  “Mr. Turner, sir. The ladies would like to walk to the store.” His face turns red, and he looks thoroughly scolded by whatever Milo says on the other end of the line. “Yes, sir.” He holds out the phone to me.

  “You SNITCHED on her!?” Krysta screeches from my side and he gives her a withering stare.

  I put the phone to my ear, opting to keep my voice upbeat and happy. “Hi, baby.”

  “Renee,” he rumbles, his voice smooth, collected and sensual. “You causing problems, baby?”

  “We were just going to walk to the store. If Anthony drives me around everywhere I’ll get fat and lazy. Just think of how big my ass would be!”

  “A moment, gentlemen.” He comes through muffled on the line, like he’s put his hand over the receiver, and I hear movement and then a door shut.

  “Are you busy?” Shit. I flick my eyes up to Anthony, but I’m being ignored as he looks straight ahead at the front doors of our building.