Ashley slid out of the booth and I sat, waiting for her. She disappeared from sight, and I ran my fingers across the table. It had been nice to dance, but my feet were killing me. Regardless of what anyone said, there was no good way to dance in heels. They were horrible death contraptions.
I couldn’t wait to take them off and give myself a foot massage.
Someone sat in the booth and I’d been so busy looking out across the crowd, I didn’t pay attention.
I was about to tell them I’d be going, but all the words died in my throat as I saw who sat opposite me. I hadn’t seen him in seven years. The night that had changed it all.
Earl Valentine. The man my father had intended to sell me to. My virginity. Not me. I wasn’t the commodity, my precious hymen had been. Of course, realizing what my father planned, I’d slept with not one but two of my men, and I didn’t regret it.
Staring at him now, I knew we were in danger. I glanced in the direction of where Ashley had gone.
“She’s safe,” he said.
I clenched my hands into tight fists. Seven years of being all alone had made me sloppy. I didn’t have anything to back me up. No protection of any kind.
I didn’t know what the fuck to do.
“What are you doing here?”
“It’s a free country, and London is such a wonderful city. Have you seen it at Christmas?”
He knew damn well I’d seen it at that time of year. Fucker.
I didn’t like this.
Even though I’d been miserable, I enjoyed not living in fear. I no longer constantly put my back to any room. I took my time where I went. Right now, I was pissed off. I hated this feeling.
In a few short seconds, he’d made me ache for the freedom I’d possessed.
“What do you want?”
“Now that’s a rather interesting question, isn’t it? Originally, I was promised a virgin woman. Then, of course, that was taken from me, and in its place as a peace offering, I was granted an alignment with the Monsters that saw me double my empire.”
“If that’s the case, why are you here? How do you know about me?” I wasn’t going to bring Ashley into this. I wanted to try to make him forget she even existed. I didn’t know how I was going to do that.
She was an innocent. My father had brought her and her mother into the limelight. If it hadn’t been for Caleb, River, Gael, and Vadik, I knew she’d be dead as well.
Her mother hadn’t made it.
That was the curse of betraying the Monsters. There was no way out once you sank into that pool of despair, and my dad had done that, dragging us all down. There was no mercy.
In my old world, mercy was a weakness.
There was no way the Monsters would be seen as weak.
I waited, watching him. “Have you been sent here to finally kill me?”
“How scared you sound, Emily.”
I didn’t correct him. Emily was no longer my name.
“You’re still incredibly beautiful. You’ve lost a lot of weight.” His gaze moved toward where Ashley had walked. “But your friend, she has really blossomed into one hell of a lady, and I know for a fact she’s a virgin.”
“You leave her out of this.”
“You’d like that, would you? To leave her out of this. I’m still owed a virgin.”
“You got your empire. No one owes you anything.”
“Ah, but you see, just as quickly an empire can be created, it can also be taken. It’s been seven long years since you were last in Crude Hill. I can tell you now, girl, what was once there is not what’s there now.”
“It’s none of my concern.”
“But it is. People thought they had seen the real evil of this world. What they didn’t know was by taking you away, they would unleash hell as we know it. The Monsters’ Crew were tame before. Your boys, they are … let’s just say, I’m hiding out.”
I frowned. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Crude Hill has entered its darkest days yet. Pain and suffering come to many, and it’s your boys who have taken their fathers’ empire to the next level.”
“Are they dead?” I asked. Not that it mattered.
Earl shook his head. “They’re not dead, but I have a feeling they will regret what they unleashed. Their sons overthrew them, and now they are nothing more than shells. Only you can bring them back from this darkness.”
“That’s not my life anymore.”
“Life or not, if you love them, do you want them to face death without telling them once that you loved them?”
I opened my mouth but he stood up. “Tell your friend I said hello.”
“You leave her alone.”
He was suddenly in my face. “Don’t forget who you are, Emily. Just because you escaped my grasp doesn’t mean your friend will succeed. I want a virgin, and she looks way too tasty to ignore.”
In the next second, he was gone. Seconds later, Ashley returned from the bathroom, and I grabbed her hand, making my way out into the night. We had to get out of the nightclub. It was wrong of us to even go there. I knew that now. We’d fucked up, but I wouldn’t make that mistake again.
I had to get her to safety. It was my only priority.
Ashley didn’t stop me or question me as to why I was in such a hurry to get back to the safety of our home.
Earl was watching us, I just knew it, but what was more, I couldn’t prove it, which I hated. The first night I’d let my guard down and look what happened. I wasn’t going to make that mistake again.
Chapter Two
Emily
“Do you want to tell me what the hell is going on?” Ashley asked.
I slammed our apartment door closed and flicked the lock into place. Normally, that was all I did, but today, I wasn’t in the mood, so one by one, I bolted the place up. We had the main lock, along with three bolts above, and four down, leading to the ground. Looking through the peephole, I checked to see if anyone watched us, but I couldn’t see anything.
“Now you’re scaring me, and that’s not funny. This isn’t fair.”
My heart raced. I heard the fear in Ashley’s voice and I knew it wasn’t nice of me to just act this way.
Taking a deep breath, I turned toward her. She had her arms folded across her breasts, her gaze focused on me, and I knew she was pissed. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
“I … yes, I want to.”
“Then what is the problem?” she asked.
Running fingers through my hair, I looked around at what we had. I fucking hated this. “While you went to the bathroom, something happened.”
“No shit. I already figured that out. You know, with us practically running back home. We didn’t call a taxi.” She leaned down, taking off her heels one by one. “It doesn’t take a genius to work out that you’ve got some serious issues, and now I’m pissed. My feet are killing me.”
“Earl Valentine.”
At the mention of his name, she went pale. “What?”
“That’s what happened. He … stopped by the booth.”
Gone were the anger and blame, replaced by concern. This was one of the reasons why I loved Ashley. She never, ever held a grudge. She was so damn sweet and I loved her so much. She was the sister I never had.