Chapter 9

Tori

The rest of the night passed quickly. Once I placed the order, I went out to the bar to relieve Sydney to have her final break of the night. Most of the club members were in private rooms by now, and the few that lingered on the floor probably should go to private rooms. My cheeks burned as I watched a pair of particularly impassioned women going at it in their skimpy dresses. A flood of heat washed over me and settled between my thighs before I turned away from them. It had been way too long since I'd been with anyone.

In another life, I was quite the hit-it-and-quit-it girl. I lived for one-nighters with hot men. It was just a game to me. I'd even swung the other way for a night here and there.

After everything went to shit, and I ended up in the witness protection program and relocated from Vegas to fucking Kentucky, I'd gone through a string of men. However, one night, I woke up from a nightmare, and the guy beside me asked who Tori was. He claimed that I'd been mumbling, "I'm Tori, I'm not Avery!" in my sleep.

I realized I couldn't be trusted. So I played it off, telling him I had no idea who he was talking about. He never believed me, but he let it go, made an excuse to leave in the middle of the night, and I never saw him again.

After that, I decided it wasn't worth the risk. I had a few hookups in dance club bathrooms, but I never took anyone home with me—or went home with them. Eventually, the appeal of hot, spur-of-the-moment, bathroom sex wore off, and I lost interest. I wasn't opposed to one-night stands, but it wasn't fun when I had to devise a lame excuse to get them to leave my bed—or to leave theirs—before I could sleep.

Also, the fear I'd blow my cover in the middle of a night terror about some mob guy running me down with a machine gun kept me from letting my guard down long enough to let loose.

But it was hard to work in such a sexually charged environment and not be gettin' any.

And those two bitches on the floor were making out again, tangled together, their tits heaving as they panted and gasped for air in between frantic kisses. Ugh. The taller one, with long, dark hair, tugged down the top of the other's dress, and her perfectly sized tit popped out. I clenched my thighs as I watched her tease the blonde's nipple with her beautifully manicured fingers. I sucked in a sharp breath when she stooped over to lick the pert tittie with the tip of her tongue.

"Wow…think I should give them a keycard?"

I jumped a foot off the ground as Paige walked up to the bar. She set a hand on my shoulder to steady me, but her eyes remained locked on the two women on the dance floor, grinding up against each other.

"Probably not a bad idea. Those guys over there will probably start a riot if you take away their show," I added, jerking my chin in the direction of eight men off the dance floor, their attention still fixed on those girls.

"All right, but if they all start jerking off right there on the floor, we're gonna have some problems. I'm not a damn come-mopper-upper."

I choked back a loud laugh and returned to wiping the bar with polish to make the sleek surface shine under the soft lights above it.

"Right?" Paige laughed and moved behind me to get herself a drink. She turned around and expertly poured herself a Twisted—her signature drink. Was there anything this woman couldn't do? "Aha! The man candy has returned," she purred, her glass paused at her lips.

She absently tucked a golden curl behind her ear, licking her lips at whoever she'd locked onto. I followed her enticed eyes, scanning the club.

"All right, if he's got you this hot and bothered, I gotta see."

Paige grinned and bobbed her head. "Right there…"

"Oh, I met him," I said, quickly looking away from the tall, broad-shouldered man who'd caught Paige's eye. I'd noticed him when he first came to the club. Before he stepped into the light of the bar area, I thought it was Bennett.

My breath caught in my chest, and in those few minutes before I realized it wasn't him, a fantasy played out in my mind. He found me and was coming to take me away from here. A place where I could be Tori again, and he'd protect me and keep me safe from the bad guys who were looking to silence me forever.

I'd imagined in those few seconds what would happen when he met my eyes. Would he break down and cry, tell me he was sorry? Would he be relieved to have finally found me? Would he jump over the bar, gather me into his arms, and kiss away all the tears that'd be streaming down my face? Where would we go? I didn't care. Anywhere was better than here. Especially if I was with him and we never had to say goodbye again.

But then the man had crossed into the light, and I realized I was just getting carried away over nothing. The man wasn't Bennett. His eyes were the wrong color. His hair was longer and darker. Bennett never had a beard, and this man did. The clothes were wrong too. Bennett was a casual guy. I'd never seen him in a suit before. This man was wearing an expensive suit, had a pricey vintage watch on his wrist, and carried himself with the arrogance of a wealthy man.

The dreams in my mind shattered, and I'd been forced to hurry and stuff the disappointment down, smile, and pour him a drink. I was relieved when Sydney returned, and I could rush away before tears slipped down my cheeks.

"You met him?" Paige repeated, giving me a side-eye.

"Well, he came to the bar the other night. Last night? The night before?" I shrugged and went back to wiping, pretending it wasn't eating me up inside.

"Hmm. Not your type?"

"Not especially."

Paige smiled warmly at me. "All right, girl. I think you're crazy, but I got it." She polished off her drink. "All right, I need to get home and get to sleep. The girls are all in town tomorrow, and we're gonna shop till we drop!"

I laughed. "That sounds fun."

Paige beamed. She talked about her friends a lot, and I knew she missed them. Their busy lives kept them apart more often than not. But, truthfully, I hated when she talked about them because it made me even more aware of the fact that I didn't have any friends. Not anymore, anyway.

"Well, have fun!"

"Thanks, Avery. Reed will be here till closing. If you need anything, you let him know, okay?"

"Will do."

She waved at me and started off toward the office, and I knew she'd slip out the side door and go directly to the private parking lot.

When she was gone, I circled the club with a watchful eye. The man Paige had pointed out was gone. The girls on the dance floor had finally taken their show to a private room—or out of the club—and the men who'd been glued to the spectacle had moved on as well.

I tried to keep myself busy, but I couldn't help but keep looking around for the mysterious man who looked so much like Bennett Marshon. Had to be a doppelganger. That was it.

However, I didn't see him for the rest of my shift. Finally, at half past eleven, Reed came to the bar, and after asking how things were going, he let me go home early. Paige had told him I wasn't getting much sleep, and he took pity on me. I didn't argue. It was a sweet gesture, and I didn't want to appear ungrateful.

After stopping at the office to get my purse from my employee locker, I grabbed my bus pass and the lanyard with my pepper spray and a pocket knife for protection and went out into the night. I started toward the bus stop a few blocks away from the club. As I walked, I thought about the man from the club. I didn't know why I couldn't get him out of my head, but there was something about him that my mind refused to let go of. It was something more than the fact that he reminded me of Bennett. I just couldn't figure it out.

A strange feeling clawed up my spine as I walked. I was being watched. Or followed. I wasn't used to living in Los Angeles, where there was some terrible news story on TV every day. The bus stop was just a few yards away, but the feeling clung to me even as I stepped underneath the covering, bathed in light from the streetlight above.

I scanned the street but didn't see anyone coming from either direction.

All of a sudden, a voice burst through the silence. "Tori!"

My heart stopped, frozen in place, but my feet started going like something from The Flintstones, and I rocketed down the sidewalk. I had no idea where to go. The bus wouldn't be by for another ten minutes. I didn't know if I could run that long. Did the man have a weapon? Should I scream for help?

"Tori! Wait!" the voice was even deeper, more frantic this time.

Fuck! They found me. Someone from the stupid Sanderson mob had finally tracked me down! Oh, fuck! And now they were here to take me out! I had to get away! I reached into my pocket as I bolted and hurried to dial 911.

"Tori! It's Bennett! Stop!"

I stopped so abruptly that my heart jumped up to my throat. I whipped around and saw the man from the club. Paige's eye candy.

"Bennett?" I choked out over the hard lump in my throat, so quiet there was no way he could hear me.

He jogged to catch up to me. "Yeah…it's me, baby."

I couldn't believe him. Each second slowed to a crawl as I stared at him. He had the same nose, jaw, and lines around his eyes. But…no. It couldn't be him. It had to be one of them. There was no way this man was Bennett. "No…it can't be. You can't be Bennett."

"Baby, I swear it's me. Come on," he said, reaching for my hand. "I'll tell you everything, but we have to get off the street before someone sees us."