Chapter 20

Tori

I scrambled out of the red room as fast as my heels would take me and made a beeline for the private offices, praying that Reed or Paige would be there working. As I rushed into the room, I ran right into Reed.

"Oh my God! Reed, I'm so sorry," I gushed, backing up a step after bouncing off what felt like a solid wall.

Reed's eyebrows were halfway up his forehead. "It's all right, Avery. What's wrong? You look like you've just seen a ghost!"

"Richie's asking for you," I said, trying to stop trembling. I wasn't sure what unnerved me more, Richie's subtle threat or the fact that he knew about Bennett and me. I'd bolted from Richie's room before asking too many questions. To anyone on the outside, Bennett was Eric, and I was Avery. We could flirt, talk, drink together, hell, we could even fuck, but that was it. We weren't supposed to have a history, and we definitely weren't supposed to fall in love.

Reed grimaced at my statement. "Shit. What does he want now?"

I was surprised by the harshness of Reed's tone. He wasn't the type to raise his voice or get angry. Even when someone royally fucked something up, the most I'd ever heard him give was an irritated sigh.

"I—I'm not sure," I stammered. "He had a big meeting. Uhm, do you know who Eric Starr is?"

I held my breath as I waited for his answer.

Reed nodded and ran his hand over his jaw. "He's one of Richie's new business partners. At least, that's what I've gathered." His eyes snapped to mine. "Why do you ask?"

I hesitated, unsure of what to say. I couldn't bring myself to raise my concerns, and I couldn't tell Reed who Eric really was. Not without blowing my own cover at the same time. I swallowed down the panic and shrugged. "He was the last one I saw in the red room."

"Hmm. Well, to be honest, Avery, I'm not in the mood to deal with Richie's shit tonight. Can you tell him I'm gone for the night? And to call my cell if it's a real emergency. Though, I doubt it is."

He scoffed and crossed to the desk to snatch the rain jacket from the back of his office chair. He shrugged into it and caught my eye again. "Paige may come by in an hour or so. She's got some friends in town, and she said something about giving them a tour of the place now that we've remodeled the second-floor suites. Make sure that Richie doesn't harass her and her friends, all right?"

I nodded, though I wasn't sure what he expected me to do. I wasn't security, and if it came down to it, there wasn't much I could do to stop Richie from doing what he wanted. With any luck, he'd get pissed that Reed wasn't at his beck and call and leave the club for the night.

Ideally, forever.

Reed clapped me on the shoulder and made for the back exit. "Thanks, Avery. Go ahead and have Barbie close up tonight. I'll take care of the tills in the morning. You can take off as soon as Richie clears out."

"All right. Have a good night, Mr. Parkston."

"You too." He smiled and slipped out the back.

I drew in a shaky breath once the door closed behind him, sealing me in the office alone. I wanted to curl up under one of the desks and never come out again. But I summoned all my strength, threw my shoulders back, and marched back to the red room, ready for a fight.

Richie was back on the couch, his companion now stripped down to her panties, on her knees, sucking his cock. Stubby. Old. Just as I thought. At least he wouldn't be trying to get me alone if he was already spent. I jerked my eyes away from the revolting sight and met Richie's fierce glare.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Dalton, but Mr. Parkston has already left for the night. Is there something I can help you with?"

Something other than taking the other woman's place on my knees.

Richie grimaced as the girl kept working him over, and I tried not to throw up in my mouth. Richie reminded me of a scaly creature found in a backwoods swamp. I felt that way long before Bennett filled me in on who he actually was. Now that I knew the truth, my disgust only ran deeper.

"Jake," he barked, snapping at one of his goons. "Call Parkston."

I bit back an objection. I knew Reed didn't want to be bothered, but I wasn't going to step in the way and deny them the right to call. I could only hope that Reed answered and sorted out whatever grievance Richie had so he would take his pack of goons and go.

As his henchman waited for the call to go through, I backed up and reached for the doorknob.

"Wait right there, Red," Richie said.

Every alert and instinct in my body told me to run, to bolt while I had the chance, but I forced myself to stay rooted and plastered on a half-smile as I turned back to face him.

Just as he fucking bust his nut…

The grunt and wave of pleasure that rolled across his face made my stomach turn. When he opened his eyes again, he locked onto me and offered a smarmy grin.

"I'll see you later, Red," he said, throwing me a wink. "Next time, it's going to be you."

Paigeand her girlfriends entered the club about an hour after I escaped the red room. I was hiding in the office when Paige came in, giggling with her three friends.

"—told him to trust me, but you know how our men get."

She stopped short when she spotted me at the desk. "Oh! Avery! I didn't know you were still here. Meet my friends."

She interrupted herself to usher them all into the office. "This is Jessie. Olivia. And Joanie. We go way back. I thought I'd bring them by to show them the new rooms upstairs. Any occupants?"

She leaned over the sparse computer, checking the reservations for herself.

"Only the Spire," I answered on autopilot. My job was to know which rooms were available as many guests would come to the bar to book their private suite.

Paige nodded, flicking through the electronic booking system. "All right. Well, that's fine. The girls have seen that room before."

She straightened and when she glanced at me, her brows wrinkled. "Are you okay?"

I swallowed hard and nodded. My eyes were red and puffy from crying, and even in the low light, Paige could likely see the effects. "I'm fine. You guys need anything?"

Paige cocked her head and continued to study me for another long moment.

"Paige, seriously, I'm fine."

She waved a hand at her friends. "You guys get started without me. I'll be right there."

The three women filed out of the office, closing the door behind them. Paige came over and perched on the side of the desk. She reached out with a cool hand and stroked the side of my face.

"What's going on, Avery? You can tell me. Asshole client?"

The soft look in her eyes pushed me over the edge. It had been so long since I'd had someone to confide in. At least, someone other than Bennett. He understood, more than anyone, what I'd gone through. But I hadn't had a female friend to confide in for what felt like a lifetime. Not since becoming Avery. It made me miss my mother and the friends I was forced to leave behind when I entered WITSEC. I hadn't dared to try and call any of them since running away from my handlers. I couldn't live with myself if my choice to run negatively affected them.

A sob broke free from deep within me. I collapsed forward, and more tears followed.

"Paige, it's such a mess."

"What is?" She stroked my hair, her fingertips digging into my thick auburn locks. "You can tell me. I'm an excellent secret keeper."

"Do you know who Eric is?"

The door of the office whooshed open before she could answer. I buried my face, expecting it to be one of her friends back to grab their purse or ask for a drink recommendation. But when a sharp, male voice rippled through the room instead, I bolted upright.

"Evening, ladies."

Shit! Richie, flanked by two of his huge men, stood in the office. One of his goons shut the door behind him with just a little more force than was necessary.

Paige went ramrod straight. "Excuse me, Mr. Dalton, but this is a private office. I'm afraid I need to ask you to leave."

Richie chuckled; the sound chilled me to the bone. "Now, Paige, is that any way to speak to one of your investors?"

My eyes went wide as they flew to Paige. Investor?

"Investor?" Paige said, echoing my own thoughts.

Richie's eyes narrowed to dark slits. "Oh, Parkston hasn't told you. Hmm. That's interesting."

Paige folded her arms. "What do you want, Richie?" she demanded, dropping all niceties.

"I want Parkston's On the Fucking Hill," he explained, his tone matter-of-fact, as though he were asking for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Paige snorted. "Parkston's On the Hill? Well, I'm afraid it's not for sale. Anything else?"

Richie's eyes drifted to me and took a tour of my body before snapping back to Paige's. The glance was brief but left me feeling completely violated, as though his greasy, sausage fingers had been all over me in place of his hollow eyes.

"Get your husband on the phone and tell him to agree to my deal, or I'll have to make a bigger move to convince him."

"Go to hell," Paige spat.

Richie smiled. "You don't want to push me, Mrs. Parkston."

Paige lowered herself from the side of the desk and squared off with Richie. "I don't appreciate your tactics, Mr. Dalton. You cannot come into my place of business, my private office, make outrageous demands and expect to be taken seriously. Now, please take your friends and leave the premises."

Richie's smile dissolved as he curled his lip back, revealing his cruel teeth. "In that case, we'll do this the unpleasant way."

His two men sprang into action as though he'd issued a code word. One of them grabbed Paige, twisting her wrists and pinning them behind her back as another hand slapped over her mouth to muffle her scream a moment before it erupted from her lips. I was grabbed in the same fashion before my shock could dissolve enough to act.

I tugged against my captor, but his fists were like iron clamps, locking me in place. My wide eyes flashed to Paige as she struggled to escape the man gripping her.

"This is most unpleasant," Richie purred, stalking slowly toward me. When he got close enough, he reached out and smoothed his pudgy fingers over my cheek. I reared back, trying to get out of his reach but hit a solid wall of muscle and remained pinned in place. Richie flashed a sick smile.

"Don't worry, Red. We'll have some fun when you wake up."

Wake up?

The answer came quickly, as a butt of a pistol smacked me in the head, and my world went black.