I’ve never been one for partying. I suppose it has a lot to do with the fact I knew from a young age that I would one day take over the family business, and so I didn’t have time to drink myself stupid and have one-night stands like those I went to college with.
Of course there has been the odd occasion where I have drunk until I couldn’t stand, but usually that had something to do with whatever was happening in my life at the time and had very little to do with enjoyment.
And yet one of my favorite places in the city is a nightclub where people go to let go of their inhibitions and do as their baser instincts call them to do.
Usually I enjoy watching them lose themselves to the music as they give themselves what their body craves, but as I push through the throes of people, I’m irritated by their carefree demeanors and their complete disregard for the fucked-up things happening in the city they live in. It’s not their fault they haven’t seen the darker side of Chicago aside from maybe a drug deal or two, we tend to keep it out of the limelight, especially considering we walk the line between the two sides of the law, but there are things we can’t protect the city from, things that will happen no matter how hard we try to stop it.
“Mr. Saint James. We can take care of whatever problem there is,” one of my security guards tells me. Fucking Everett forcing us to have guards at all times. I know he’s only trying to protect the family, but I don’t need protecting. If someone thinks they can take Storm Saint James out, good luck to them. I’m like a fucking cockroach, there’s nothing on this earth that can take me down. Not even the devil himself.
“I’ve got this,” I rumble, not bothering to raise my voice over the music.
The moment the men in question come into view, rage boils in my blood. I know these assholes from the surveillance Everett has been running on the Lounder Cartel. They’re high level in the organization, and from what we can tell they work primarily in acquisitions. They’re the ones who scope out the merchandise and make the deals. They effectively buy human beings with profit and depravity in mind.
Sandwiched between them is a small girl. How the hell did she even get in here? Her beautiful face can’t be more than eighteen, and the dress she’s squeezed into looks out of place on her curvy frame. Fuck, she’s beautiful. An angel surrounded by demons.
My eyes narrow on where the man farthest from me has hold of her hips and I step forward, ready to tear his hands off what doesn’t belong to him. The girl’s eyes fall closed before fluttering open. She’s fighting a losing battle with her own body and one glance at the table beside them tells me everything I need to know. These fucking assholes drugged her.
“Where’s the woman who was with them?” I snap over my shoulder at the guard closest to me. If they’re going to follow me around, they need to make themselves useful.
“I don’t know, boss.”
“Fucking find her,” I growl, tearing my attention back to the assholes in front of me. I’m not the violent one in our family. I don’t get the same joy out of making people bleed as Rayne and Tommy do, but I’m ready to fucking kill right now. The anger raging through my veins is blinding, and the moment I get them alone I’m going to make them pay for what they’ve done, and for what they were planning to do.
“Get out of my way,” the one farthest from me snaps.
“Give me the girl,” I say calmly. I don’t want to startle her, not when she’s already so vulnerable and I have no fucking clue what they’ve used to drug her. I have to do the opposite of what comes naturally and not tear these asshole’s heads off.
“What part of get the fuck out of my way did you not understand,” he growls, stepping around the other guy and she stumbles slightly at the loss of stability. I ache to reach for her, but I have to bide my time. I have to wait until these two are dealt with and then she’ll never be in danger again. I’ll make sure of it.
“The part where you’re trying to take a woman who is clearly under the influence from my club, and I don’t think she wants to go with you. Do you, baby girl?”
Her droopy eyes meet mine and the deep brown pools capture me as soon as our gazes lock. Fuck she’s so beautiful, almost painfully so, and if she hadn’t been drugged and potentially sold to the highest bidder tonight, I would be making plans for how I could be spending the night fucking her on every surface of my office and apartment to get the chocolate haired beauty out of my mind. But I have to ignore those thoughts. I have to put her needs first and make sure she’s not hurt more than meets the eye. “No,” she whimpers. They haven’t been here long enough for her to be in this state from a date rape drug. I’ve heard of other drugs on the market that don’t take as long to kick in, but up until now it’s been rumors. If there is something like that on the streets, I want it gone immediately.
“What the fuck did you give her?” I growl, taking several steps forward until I’m mere feet from the scum who dared to step foot in my club.
A smirk tugs at the corners of his lips. He still hasn’t worked out who I am despite telling him it’s my club, which makes me think he may not be local. He probably came from the west coast with Annalise as part of their take down mission, but it’s not going to end the way she, or anyone else in their organization, is expecting it to. “Why don’t you get out of my way and I’ll take my girlfriend home. She isn’t feeling very well.”
I turn to the guards behind me, the tension in my body so tight I think it might snap but force myself to move slowly. “I want these two dead men taken to the tunnels. Call Tommy and he’ll send you the directions. I want them untouched when I get there. Do I make myself clear?” The words come out on a growl, but my softness is reserved for one person right now, and I can’t extend it any further. I’m so fucking close to losing my shit that if I so much as breathe the wrong way I’m going to snap.
They both nod and I let out a calming breath. I need to get her out of here before she loses consciousness, but I can’t touch her until I’ve calmed down, even just a bit. I don’t want to risk bringing more harm to her than what has already been done.
“Give me the girl,” I demand.
“I don’t think so. Why on earth would I hand my girlfriend off to a random man in a nightclub?” the man closest to me hisses, and my hand snaps forward, gripping his throat in a punishing hold.
“Perhaps I was being too nice, but it wasn’t a request. If you want to continue breathing, you’re going to hand over the girl and walk away.” He doesn’t need to know that the only place he’ll be walking is straight to his own execution. All he needs is the false hope that he might survive his altercation with the devil.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” the other man asks, holding the barely conscious girl against him to keep her upright. Her too short dress is bunched up at the top of her thighs and barely allows her any modesty, and the caveman who has always lived dormant inside me wants to growl at every man who dare look at her. He wants to cover her up and hide her from a world that is too dark for her lightness.
“I’m Storm Saint James.” I smirk.
Their eyes widen as recognition flickers in their gaze. There it is. The fear I expect to see when people cross me, when they break the rules in my city. They know they’re not going to live to see sunrise, and nor should they.
“I suggest you don’t make me repeat myself again.”
The two men look at one another for long moments, as if they’re considering their options. They only have the one, handing the woman to me and being escorted to where they will be subjected to a slow, painful death, but they still hesitate.
“I can assure you gentlemen that any pain Annalise Lounder can inflict on you is child’s play compared to the depraved things I have planned if I don’t have the woman in my arms in the next three seconds.” I’m growing tired of this conversation, and increasingly worried about the state of the mystery woman. Her eyes haven’t opened for some time now, and her skin is growing more ashen by the second. I need to get her away from prying eyes and be seen by Doc, but I can’t do that until these assholes hand her over.
Of course, I could start a scene. I want to in fact, but it’s not a good look for the CEO of Frost Industries to have a brawl in one of his nightclubs, so I tamp down the urge. They’ll get their just desserts, and we can call it delayed gratification.
As if communicating without words, the one holding the girl shoves her toward me at the exact moment the two of them try to slip into a dense crowd of dancers.
Idiots.
I dive to catch the woman before she can hit the ground and as soon as her weight settles in my arms it’s like I can breathe for the first time in my life. It’s as if she’s the air my lungs need to function, and I’ve been barely surviving without her.
It’s a ridiculous notion of course. I’ve said two words to the woman and God only knows what kind of shit she’s into to find herself here, but for some reason I can’t bring myself to care.
“Get them,” I bark out the order without ever taking my attention off the woman in my arms. I have a feeling I’ll have a hard time ever letting her go, but I’ll have to.
After all, an angel can only live so long with the devil before he starts tainting her light, and not even I’m evil enough to do something that heinous.
