Chapter 3

HARPER

I looked around to find Aster. She was seated on the lap of the same man from before, in the V.I.P. section. Seeing her go back to him made me think she planned to leave with him.

I let her know I was grabbing a taxi. I didn't want to ruin her night since she looked pretty cozy with Mr. John Doe. His hands were placed at the top of her thigh under her skirt as she sipped pink champagne.

She stood up when she saw me walking towards them. The man refused to let her walk too far as he held his hand across her waist in a possessive manner. It made me feel weird but I didn't say anything about it. I try not to project my paranoia onto her.

"Hey girl, sorry I was coming back over, he just got a little jealous seeing me dance with those other guys," she said with a girly giggle.

"Are you okay?" She smiled and nodded her head fervently.

I glanced at his hand, still holding her waist, and mouthed the words.

"I think I'm going to head home. You wanna come with or…" my voice trailed off in an unspoken question.

"Actually, Prestyn here is going to take me to his penthouse to show me his rooftop view. So, you go ahead." She nudged my shoulder playfully in the way she does when she's going to be out all night,

Anytime Aster doesn't come home after a night out, we have a routine I have forced her to follow so that I know she is at least taking precautions to be safe. She drops a pin of her location and if I text her, she must text me a code word to let me know it is her.

"Okay, be safe. Remember, Campbell soup. " I whispered the warning so only she heard it.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure she gets home safe after breakfast tomorrow," Prestyn said from behind Aster with a wink. Aster let out a flirtatious giggle as he pulled her back down on his knee like some cheap call girl.

I rolled my eyes as I turned and walked towards the front entrance.

Standing on the sidewalk, I whistled for a cab. I must have been wearing a sign that said don't pick me up, I stink or something because I can never seem to hail a cab in this city when I need one.

Just as a cab pulled to the curb to drop some patrons off at the lounge, I took a step closer to stop the driver when I felt strong arms wrapped around my abdomen and a gloved hand coming across my mouth.

Panic set in.

I kicked and shuffled to get away, but it was no use against the strength of the person restraining me. He dragged me back behind a dumpster in the alley next to the building.

How is no one stopping this?

I took a look around and noticed everyone was watching the models stepping out of a black sedan parked in front of the cab. All the attention was on their half-naked asses while I was being taken captive.

"No one tells me no! Do you hear me you little slut? I always get what I want."

The man whispered in my ear so close I could feel the moisture from his breath.

I gotta say the bastard was strategic with his timing .

Once we were out of sight, I stopped fighting against him, I figured I would need to save my energy for whatever this asshole had in store for me. Just as I was let free of his tight hold to turn and face my captor, another man appeared out of nowhere.

A man, concealed within the shadows of the dimly lit alleyway, solely illuminated by a flickering lamp that seemed poised to fail at any moment. With a single finger raised to his lips, he warned me not to speak or draw attention to him. His balled-up fist collided with the jaw of the asshole who I now recognized as the man who called me a whore at the bar a while earlier. Once he was distracted by my vigilante , I wasted no time in getting the hell out of there. I spun around and ran as quickly as my legs would take me. Distancing myself from the encroaching darkness until my lungs gave out.