Page 75 of Arran's Obsession
Shade’s humour vanished. “I’ve been fucking with the mayor, but I wasn’t seen. He knew I was there because I wanted him to. He ran to the cops for that? Fucking spineless dick. Unlike ye to pander to him.”
I could hardly respond, mired in a murderous haze made of Convict’s findings and Alisha’s bullshit. Or maybe it was my own making, and she was just calling it as she saw it.
Little blonde things. Obsessed.Fuck that.
A tap came at the door, and I yelled for whoever to come in. My chief of security entered, Genevieve behind him.
My mouth fucking dried. With her hair done and a tight dress encasing every curve, she looked phenomenal. Glossy, and classy as fuck.
My blood heated and flooded my dick. The bomb could go off in my club and I wouldn’t be able to take my eyes off her.
Obsessed didn’t even start to describe it. Horror darkened the edge of my vision. Alisha was right. If this was how my dad had been, I was just like him.
Genevieve stepped forward, her happy excitement dimming as she took in my glower. “I thought we could go on the tour, but you’re probably busy. I’ll go dancing with Lara instead.”
Denial slammed down like a cage around me. “No. I’ll take you.”
“You don’t have to if you’re deep in something.” Her gaze touched a clock on the wall then lingered on my photo beside it. There was a pause, and she came back to me. “We still have an hour to be apart. I’ll come back, or you can find me.”
“Weren’t you listening? I said I’ll take you.”
Genevieve blinked, then clenched her jaw. “Maybe I’d rather go on my own.”
“Unluckily for both of us, we don’t have a choice.”
I rounded the desk and claimed her hand. She tried to free her fingers, but I clamped them in mine. I should tell her she was pretty, a fucking knockout, but feeding that obsession would only make things worse.
Instead, I stormed out of the office with Genevieve in tow, and a worried-looking group of three pursuing us. Through thecorridors, I stomped until we came to the internal door that divided the two halves of the warehouse, then I paused to enter the passcode.
The door opened to Divide, the pulsing bass of dance music a shock wave in the air and the black walls wet with humidity. Ahead was a packed dance floor, close to a thousand strangers crammed together and the mixed scent of sweat and perfume hanging over them. I rarely came in here unless it was to see staff or get my knuckles bloodied breaking up a fight. Never seeking entertainment.
Genevieve twisted to say something to Lara, who frowned and gestured that she couldn’t hear. The song switched, and a small torrent of clubgoers descended on the bar, cups of water and plastic pints of beer changing hands.
Manny touched my arm then pointed up a flight of steps to the VIP lounge. With Genevieve’s hand still held tightly in mine, I drew her along with me to the steps where one of the staff opened the red rope barrier and ushered us upstairs. At the top, the hostess directed us to a booth with a view down to the dance floor. Genevieve and I sat in the centre with Lara and Shade bracketing us and Manny standing guard at a discreet distance away.
It was slightly quieter up here, enough to make out a fast-appearing waiter’s drink order request.
I put my mouth to Genevieve’s ear. She smelled too fucking good. “What do you want?”
“Freedom from you and world peace.” She smiled sweetly.
“Espresso martini,” I decided, banking on her caffeine addiction. Then added one for myself. I never drank on duty, but my head was fucked. “Macallan, straight up.” Our most expensive Scotch.
The rest of my crew requested water, and our waiter slipped away, leaning over the bar to speak in the ear of the bartender,whose skeleton-print t-shirt was the club’s casual uniform. No doubt I was the subject of their gossip. Nothing about this was normal.
A beat hit, and Genevieve sat forward as if recognising the song. She slid a glance my way. “Dance with me?”
I shook my head once.
“Then you don’t mind if I dance with someone else?”
“If it’s a man, be prepared to watch him bleed.”
Her lips quirked, but then she shrugged and wriggled over me, her delectable ass right on my lap, and out of the booth, extending a hand to Lara. The two women crossed to the VIP area’s exclusive dance floor where a small group of clubbers took up space. They made way for my woman, as they should.
Genevieve rolled her body to the music, arms raised, and falling into the beat. I could only stare, hooked on her lithe body in that tight black dress. The spill of golden hair down her back, and how the club’s lights twirled playfully over her. She laughed then bent in to whisper something in Lara’s ear. The two of them giggled, cheering as the DJ mixed in another tune.
Manny shadowed them, his gaze going between the booths and the other dancers, alert for any danger. Likewise, I managed to regain enough control to alternate watching her with any other people who dared to even be near her.