I shrugged her hands off. “Julia, just the fact that he’s here in Lakefield is enough to make me want to move again.”
“And do what? Keep moving the rest of your life because he’s a dick? Aiden’s guys will straighten that stuff out. He’s probably three states away now sending those messages in some drunken haze because he’s an asshole. He took his chance and he didn’t succeed. He’s gone Liv. We need to get you a new phone and you need to forget about it.”
Julia was probably right. He hadn’t made contact since the day of the wreck which probably meant he had relocated. Now that the police were on to him, he was a hunted man. I had no doubt that Aiden’s men were also searching and eventually he would turn up. Aiden had told me they were working on getting information from one of Brandon’s conspirators. I didn’t want to know what he meant.
I sighed. “Okay. Give me a minute. You’re right, I’m just overthinking it.”
“No worries. Besides if Aiden gets a hold of him I have a feeling we’ll never see him again.”
“Wha—”
She shoved me toward the door. “Let’s go.”
Jake nearly fell out of his chair when we emerged into the living room. “Aww fuck me. I cannot take you out like that Miss Dawkins.”
I gave him a frown.
Julia held up her finger to him and said, “Jake get in the car, we’re leaving with or without you.”
A stern Julia was a terrifying Julia. I feared for her future children.
She had the bark of a drill sergeant when she wanted to get her point across and I had seen her make grown men cry. The finger pointing move she was using on Jake, was the kiss of death to some.
Jake was cussing under his breath and trying not to make eye contact with either of us.
Julia and I were nearly to the foyer when Holden came out of the kitchen.
Sometime during the afternoon, he had showered and changed into a black suit like the one he had been wearing on Thursday. He was straightening his jacket when he glanced over and saw the two of us.
“Aww fuck.”
Jake answered, “Right?!”
He looked like he might hyperventilate. His eyes were bugged out and he waved his hand up and down in our direction. He was acting very un-Holden for once.
Julia and I both scowled at him.
Holden sighed. “Why me?”
He was looking straight at Julia when he said it. In fact, he hadn’t noticed me at all. He was all eyes on Julia. By the looks of it, he was either horrified or extremely angry. Possibly both.
Julia dipped her head down, blinked a few times at him and pouted.
Crap, here we go.
“Liv got a clean bill of health today. She doesn’t have to stay here. We’re going to have a few drinks. She can come back afterward if she wants to.”
I stared at Julia, my mouth hanging open.
She hadn’t lied, hadn’t made up anything, or embellished the truth. She just spit it all out in one breath.
Totally not her style. I was astonished. What the hell was wrong with her?
She lied to Jake, who lied to Aiden and now she had just come clean with Holden? Messy, mud bath, almost shot Bob, Holden?
Holden eyed her and I saw his eye twitch. “Thought this was Literacy Council stuff.”
“There will be some members there although it’s not an official meeting or anything. We’re going to Muse.”
“Muse is a bar. I’m quite familiar with it.”
“That’s where they wanted to meet.” She looked and sounded very innocent as she flashed a sweet smile at him. I changed my mind about her sudden truthfulness. My suspicion was that she wasn’t telling the whole truth, but I couldn’t tell since she had arranged this entire thing. I didn’t say a word and let Julia dig her own grave with Holden.
He seemed to weigh her answer for a moment, then motioned us forward out the front door. He was grumbling at Jake as they opened the doors to the BMW. Jake climbed in to drive and Holden headed to a different car.
“Is he going somewhere else?” I asked Jake.
“No Miss Dawkins, he’ll be in the follow-up car tonight with one of the other guys. Dylan will meet us there once he’s been told the destination. We aren’t having a repeat of the other day. Please do what I ask, especially you Miss White, if we get in trouble.”
Julia smiled sweetly at him. “Of course, Jake!”
Jake narrowed his eyes at her before pulling out of the drive.
Julia leaned back and dipped into the jacket she was wearing. She brought out a small flask and we both took a couple of pulls of it.
Jake’s hand came up with his palm open. Julia pouted at him and put the flask in his hand, but the damage was already done because it was almost completely empty.
We giggled.
Jake groaned.
Thirty minutes later we were driving through downtown when Julia grabbed my hand and yelled at Jake. “Stop the car!”
Jake slowed down significantly but didn’t stop.
I looked through the side window and saw a small crowd in front of a nightclub called “Medusa”. I had never been to the place, but once I read the name on the green neon light above the door it occurred to me that Julia had mentioned it several times.
Julia tapped Jake’s shoulder frantically. “Jake that guy has my spare house key. I need to grab them. I haven’t been able to get a hold of him all week. I just know he has them on his keyring.”
I could see the side of Jake’s face as he frowned at the line.
“Don’t you want Liv to be safe? The man could be some weirdo.”
Jake pulled to the curb several feet from the entrance and turned to look at her. “Get them and get back asap. Miss Dawkins will stay here.”
As soon as he unlocked the door, Julia tugged so hard on my arm that I felt like it was going to come off. She dragged me out of the car with her.
Still tugging, she sprinted over to the doorman, whispered in his ear, and walked straight into the club with me trying to keep up in my heels. I could hear tires screeching outside and yelling but the music became louder with each step inside.
Julia led me to the back where a long bar was located. There was a slight haze from a fog machine that was spewing somewhere. The effect made the massive club seem smaller. It was extremely crowed. It smelled of alcohol, cologne, perfume and sweaty bodies. We bumped into people as we made our way across the room but no one seemed to notice. The music was blaring and people dressed up in their tightest and sexiest clothing were socializing with a drink in hand. Just a normal Saturday night for most of them.
When we got to the bar, Julia started ordering drinks as I looked around.
There were two bars on either side of a gigantic dance floor that was thrumming with techno music. We were at the farthest one from the door. The main lighting was strobing and twirling on the dancers, leaving much of the exterior of the room lit only by a few lights and for the most part much darker.
There were chairs, tables and booths in those darker areas where people watched the dancing, their faces mainly lit by the lights from the dance floor. There was a huge staircase against one of the walls that wrapped up and over the bar near the entrance. The second floor had tables along the balcony but was otherwise hidden in low lighting as well.
The mixture of patrons were all about our age or younger. They were just enjoying the energy while drinking, chatting, flirting and dancing. It was the kind of place I had imagined when Julia had described it to me and it felt exhilarating to actually experience it.
Julia was awesome.
“Here’s your drink,” Julia said slightly louder than normal so I could hear her above the music. She handed me a glass with pink, white and dark blue colors in it.
“What is it?”
“It’s called “Sex on Wheels” and it’s fantastic. It’s like “Sex on the Beach” with more sex and less beach.”
I had no idea what she was talking about but I took a drink anyw
ay. I liked the club but after the texts earlier I felt stiff and nervous. I felt like I needed some liquid courage. The cool drink slid across my tongue. I could taste the vodka but it was nearly overtaken by a peach sweetness that took the bite off. It really was fantastic. I drank mine as fast as she did and we ordered another one.
“Hey Jules, what did you say to the guy at the door? I thought Jake was right behind us.”
Julia looked around the crowd and shrugged innocently. “Oh, I know Mike, he’s nice. I just said my ex and a few of his friends may be coming by and we were trying to hide out in the club for a while.”
I looked at Julia speculatively. “You said all that?”
“Erm, well I said my ex was chasing us and he was a psycho but I’m sure Mike knew what I meant.”
“Oh gawd.”
As if on cue, we saw a commotion at the entrance of the club across the room. I saw Jake’s scowling face followed by Holden, Dylan and two other men that I presumed were with them because they all had on the same suit.
Julia yanked me around to face the bar and yelled, “Coat!”
I took it off and handed it to her. She threw it at the bartender who winked at her, as if she knew her. She placed them on a stool behind the bar and gave us a thumbs-up.
Abandoning our newly poured drinks on the bar, Julia tugged on my hand again, and pulled me toward the dancefloor.
We maneuvered our way between sweaty, pulsating bodies towards the far end and began to dance. I was feeling very buzzed at this point between the drink and the shots in the back of the car. I didn’t drink much unless I was with Julia and she outdrank men four times her size.
We were hidden, for the most part, behind a large number of people and a huge mirrored column that ran floor to ceiling. I wanted to glance back at the bar to see if the guys had spotted us but Julia was putting on her best moves and I was too happy to care.
I laughed as she made some silly mock-sexy faces and danced right along with her. I may not have been to many clubs, but I had some serious moves on the dance floor. We played around like this for a couple of songs, then one of my favorites started blaring out over the speakers.
I closed my eyes and let the rhythm of the deep base in the music take over my senses. When I opened them again I was facing the edge of the dance floor.
Holden and Jake were scowling in our direction, arms folded across their chests. They looked like they were ready to murder someone and I noticed their intended target was dancing beside me in her silk mini dress.
“I think we may be in trouble,” I yelled at Julia.
She glanced over in the direction I was looking and rolled her eyes.
A good-looking man behind her slipped an arm around her waist and Julia laughed as she began to match his moves. I kept dancing beside them and tried not to look back at Holden. I was pretty sure he was ready to start shooting.
I sensed someone behind me before I felt him. A large hand snaked around my waist as I was pressed back against a huge chest.
I turned my head to the side and saw Aiden’s face looking down at me.
His eyes were fierce. His jaw was locked hard and twitching as he looked down the length of my dress from over my shoulder. His gaze stopped roaming when he landed on the dip in my cleavage.
His fantastic blue eyes swung back to mine but he didn’t speak.
“Aiden,” I whispered.
I knew he couldn’t hear me but his eyes dropped to my mouth and he lifted one of his eyebrows.
Dear gawd, he was sexy. I whimpered in response.
He began to move to the beat as we stared at each other. His hips pushed against my back and slid down. His arm was holding me to him right under my breasts. His other hand began roaming over the sheer panel on my dress near my hip. His fingers lingered there for a moment and then his palm found my ass. He swatted it once. Hard. Thwack!
I yelped and he spun me around to face him. The sting of the swat burned but also made me want to submit to whatever he wanted to do next in a strange way. It didn’t hurt necessarily, it just reminded me that he was in control in many ways and right now, in this club, I liked it.
He still didn’t say a word and kept looking in to my eyes. My hands were against his white dress shirt that he had rolled the sleeves up on. I slipped one of them slowly up his hard chest, around his neck, and began running my fingers through the edge of his hair behind his ear.
I felt one of his hands against the small of my back as the other one, once again, roamed over my ass and dipped toward my thigh. I tensed slightly wondering if he would repeat what he had done. The anticipation was making my heart race.
He smirked at me and moved his hand up and over my ass again. I bit my lip and pouted up at him. I felt the heat of it the entire way and closed my eyes just enjoying the feel of his exploration. His other hand came up between us and he traced his finger down the dip in the front of my dress.
The base in the music had slowed and he bent his knees sliding down my body. I could feel his arousal through his slacks as he pressed his hips into me. The hand he went exploring with, brushed against the side of my breast and squeezed. It was erotic and sexy the way he moved with me. His mouth found the side of my neck and I moaned. He trailed wet kisses down it and along my collarbone. He raised back up and nipped at my earlobe.
His tongue found that sensitive spot just below my ear and he started sucking. I closed my eyes, savoring the feel, and lifted my leg up his thigh as we pressed closer to each other, swaying to the beat of the rhythm.
The song changed into something more energetic. The dancers around us were caught up into the faster beat and Aiden leaned back to look at me. Feeling hazy from his attentions and public display, I boldly pulled his head down and began kissing the side of his neck. I felt him jolt in surprise and then groan. Aiden’s head turned and swung toward Holden, who was still scowling at the edge of the dance floor at Julia.
I looked around and saw her enthusiastically dancing around some other guys.
Aiden turned my hip and began pushing me away from the dancers. Dylan appeared beside me and started moving other people to the side as we made our way through.
I looked up at Aiden and said, “What about Julia?”
He kept going forward out of the crowd and put a hand around my shoulders when we stepped out of the chaos. My arm slid around his waist and I looked around.
Holden was nowhere to be seen. Jake was also missing.
The two men I saw with them earlier were walking ahead of us, making some room for us to pass. There was a growing number of people mingling around the bar and seating area. We were headed in the direction of the entrance.
I heard some disturbance behind us but Aiden was pushing us along at a fast pace, preventing me from looking. We reached the door, the bouncers nodded at him and three quick strides later he guided me into the backseat of a waiting limo.
He slid in beside me just as I saw Holden carrying Julia out of the club over his shoulder. Both of our jackets were thrown over her butt. Her face was furious and she pounded her fists against his back.
“I HATE you Holden! Put me down!”
Holden didn’t look phased as he passed by our door. “The feeling is mutual Miss White.”
Aiden shut the door and turned to me. He grabbed my waist and lifted me into his lap where he not so gently forced my head against his chest and held me there.
The limo began to move then he said, “Did Brandon rape you?”
Chapter Twelve
I was stunned by Aiden’s question and I tensed against him. One of his hands started slowly rubbing my back as he circled his palm slowly.
I blinked a few times, staring at the empty seat beside us and didn’t answer. What a strange question to ask after what we had just experienced on the dancefloor. I wasn’t sure what to say or how to answer him.
The truth was ugly, and only one person had heard the whole story. My therapist. I hadn’t even told Julia, mostly out of fear t
hat she would kill him and I would never see my best friend again because she would be doing time in prison out of her love for me.
Aiden’s hands stopped rubbing and he gently grabbed my arms and raised me up to face him. His eyes looked over my face. His mouth pressed into a firm line. His eyes grew cloudier the longer I didn’t speak and his face contorted to a fierce, angry look. He closed his eyes and growled angrily.
I reached out with my hand tentatively and slid my fingers around his jaw. I leaned in and kissed the edge of his mouth with the faintest of kisses.
His eyes opened slowly and he looked at me with sadness. “You’re so beautiful Olivia. If you don’t want to tell me that’s fine, but not telling me is also an answer.”
I gently kissed his chin, the stubble tickling my lips and said, “Yes.”
He growled again and wrapped his arms around me in a savage hug. He forced my face back to his chest. I felt like I was cocooned in his fierce, protective embrace. I felt a tear slide down my face.
I didn’t cry about what happened. To do so, would give the act too much power over me and I wasn’t going to allow that event to make me sad. It wasn’t the trauma of the event that made me tear up now, it was the knowledge that crept over me about Aiden. I felt it deep down in my chest where the most vulnerable part of my being resided. This man would never let anything ugly happen to me again.
I closed my eyes. “I don’t remember it Aiden. He drugged me. I found out after.”
His arms tightened but he remained silent and I let a few minutes pass by before speaking again.
“We were dating. It was pretty serious for a while. I don’t know. Two years of therapy. I know it was toxic now. I don’t know why I was like that. But I wouldn’t sleep with him and then he started hitting me.”
I could hear his heart beating wildly in his chest. He was so tense and just listening.
“Uhm, I woke up one morning at my apartment and didn’t feel right. I was sick and sore and started puking. He laughed at me and said I was a lousy lay. I was so horrified and embarrassed. I threatened to call the police and told him to leave.”
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