Part 23 (1/2)

Swinging around, I searched the club for the rat b.a.s.t.a.r.d himself who had aptly skulked off. Spotting him at the bar, I made a beeline for him. When I noticed who Liam was standing next to at the bar my heart sank.

”Ciarn,” I squeezed out through clenched teeth. ”I need to talk with Liam in private.”

”Give us a minute,” Liam told Ciarn and, surprisingly, he listened.

”Catch you later man,” he told Liam before smirking at me. ”I'll see you real soon, Ice Queen.”

”f.u.c.k you,” I spat before turning my attention back to Liam. ”Why did you do that to me?” I demanded when Ciarn had disappeared out of sight. ”We're supposed to be friends, Liam.”

”I'm not your friend, Teagan,” he sneered. ”I'm your stand in.” The smell of alcohol from his breath was so strong it was making me dizzy. ”Why did you sleep with me, Teagan?” he demanded. ”When you were always planning on going back to him?”

”I didn't plan any of this,” I shot back, shaking. ”I never meant to hurt you, Liam, but I love Noah.” Exhaling heavily, I added, ”And I can't change my feelings no matter how bad it hurts you.”

”What about when he retires?” Liam demanded. ”He's a fighter, Teagan, they tend to burn out fast. And they're not exactly known for fidelity,” he added cruelly. ”I've worked my a.s.s off to win you back. To bring you home. I can give you more than him,” he choked out. ”I can give you stability.”

”I want Noah,” I repeated, fl.u.s.tered.

”The ex con?” he hissed in disgust.

”That's right,” I spat back. ”The ex con. You need to stop thinking there's a future for us.”

”So what, you're just going to leave me for him?” Liam sounded appalled.

”I was never yours to leave,” I reminded him tersely.

”That's bulls.h.i.+t, Teagan, and you know it,” he hissed. ”We've been together for seven d.a.m.n years.”

”No,” I corrected him, steeling my resolve. ”We've been friends for seven years.” Letting out a sigh of barely contained impatience, I growled, ”Look, Liam, we had s.e.x. Once. And it was fair to middling, but there was never any pa.s.sion between us and you know that.”

He shook his head. ”You are making the biggest mistake of your life,” he warned me. ”This is wrong, Teagan. There's no future for you in his world.”

”I love him,” I shot back, lip quivering. ”Do you get that? I want to be with him.”

”And you think he feels the same?”

”Yes.”

”He doesn't love you,” Liam shot back. ”He wants to possess you because you walked away from him. That's not reality, Teagan, that's control. He only wants you because you're the one that got away. When he's had his fill, he will walk away from you, and you will be alone.”

”Stop saying that!”

”What are you going to do when he gets bored of you and tosses you to the curb, huh? Come back to me with your tail hanging between your legs?” I heard Liam roar, but I didn't respond.

I was past the point of burning angry and I needed to remove myself from this environment and fast.

Rus.h.i.+ng blindly down the stairwell, I squeezed through the throngs of people in the bar downstairs, pus.h.i.+ng and shoving them out of my way in my bid to get to the exit. Breaking through a gap in the crowd, I slipped through the side door of the bar and into the back alley.

SCANNING THE BAR FOR TEAGAN, I saw red when I spotted her arguing with Liam. f.u.c.k, even thinking his name made me want to break something. I would break something his f.u.c.king jaw.

”Calm down,” Lucky ordered, blocking my way. ”Noah, I mean it,” he added, pus.h.i.+ng me back down on the seat when I stood up and tried to move around him. ”You're losing it and you need to get a f.u.c.king grip, man.”

I couldn't focus on a word Lucky was saying to me, not when every fiber inside of my body demanded I go back there and pummel that b.a.s.t.a.r.d, firstly for touching her and then for bell ragging about it.

”Noah, you're drunk,” Lucky told me. ”And he's a walking ticket back to prison.” Crouching down in front of me, he forced me to look at him. ”Do you want that to happen?” he added. ”Do you want to get slung back in a cell and leave her unprotected?”

”No,” I grumbled, feeling the fight fade out of me. ”s.h.i.+t, man, he knows she's here,” I repeated for what had to be the fifth time in five minutes as I pulled at my hair and thrashed around like a deranged lunatic. ”He sent her that G.o.dd.a.m.n rose, Lucky.” I knew what it meant. One single red rose in a box. That note. ”He's been following me, man,” I snarled. ”Every f.u.c.king move I've made. Waiting for his chance. And coming here?” I shook my hand and hissed. ”I sealed her f.u.c.king fate coming here.” Exhaling a pained groan, I added, ”He knows where she lives, man. She's not safe here.”

”I know,” he agreed. ”So just shut the f.u.c.k up and let me figure this out.” Moving over to sit beside me, he kept one hand firmly clamped down on my shoulder as he spoke. ”We are going to walk out of here without causing a scene or getting arrested,” he instructed calmly. ”You are going to get your girl and take her back to the hotel with you. And in the morning, when you've slept off what will undoubtedly be the hangover from h.e.l.l, you're going to convince her to come back to the states with us while I make arrangements.”

”What arrangements?” I asked, as I searched the crowd for Thorn.

”It's like you said,” Lucky growled. ”JD knows where she lives so she can't go back to her apartment. Now that he knows where she ”

”She's gone,” I hissed. Stumbling to my feet, I scanned the room again. ”She's not f.u.c.king here, Lucky.”

”Okay,” he said with a sigh. ”Now we can panic.”

”THANK YOU, JESUS,” I muttered when the sharp night air hit my face, cooling me down, and stomping out the claustrophobic feeling that had been building up inside of me.

Footsteps behind me startled me. I swung around and groaned loudly when I saw who was there.

”Oh for the love of G.o.d,” I muttered. ”Go away, Ciarn.”

”Look at the Ice Queen,” he purred, prowling towards me. ”All alone.”

Turning my back on him, I headed for the main street and as far away from Ciarn as I could. He was bad news, and I knew enough to not be in dark alleys with bad men.

”Don't walk away from me, you little b.i.t.c.h,” he snarled as he grabbed the back of my dress and tried to pull me backwards, further into alley way.

I felt the fabric tear, the strap holding my dress giving away in his hand and he fisted my hair, pulling me roughly to a halt.

”You and I have some unfinished business.”

”Get your hands off me,” I screeched, reaching up to claw his hands out of my hair. ”I mean it,” I growled, digging my fingernails into the flesh of his hands.

”Did you think I wouldn't get you back for that little stunt at the gym?” he hissed, releasing my hair roughly before shoving me forward. Staggering forward, I couldn't maintain my balance and landed hard on my knees. ”The look suits you, Teagan,” he taunted as he towered over me. ”On your knees at my feet.”

”You're going to pay for that,” I warned him as I scrambled onto my feet and charged forward. Screw not causing a scene. No man was going to put his hands on me. Over my dead f.u.c.king body. Fury drove me on as I threw my hand back and slapped him in the face.

Ciarn's head twisted sideways and he covered his cheek with his hand, momentarily stunned, but then he raised his arm back and punched me in the face. He hit me so hard and with such force that I was propelled backwards. My back hit the wall of the bar with a hard thud before I collapsed on the ground in a heap.

”Here's a friendly warning,” Ciarn snarled as he stood over me, taunting me. ”Don't give it if you can't take it.”

My back was aching. Every muscle in the upper half of my body was burning in protest. Every fiber inside of me was screaming don't get up. Stay down. Let it go. But that fire inside of me, the one that had protected me my entire life, was burning a hole through me. That fire was niggling and tormenting me and ordering me to get back up. That fire was saying don't you dare go down like this.

”You think you're a big, tough man, don't you?” I cried as I forced myself to get back up. ”Hitting women?” Climbing unsteadily to my feet, I hacked up as much salvia as I could and spat in his face. ”You're a piece of c.r.a.p, Ciarn.”

Clamping his hands on my shoulders, he slammed me against the wall. ”You're going to pay for that,” he hissed, eyes flaring with anger. ”You're gonna get it now, b.i.t.c.h.”

”Teagan!” I heard Noah's voice calling out and relief flooded me. ”Teagan!”