16. A Good Bargaining Chip

Chapter 16

A Good Bargaining Chip

Megan

I n the flashing neon lights of the club, it’s always difficult to recognize somebody unless you see them on a daily basis. However, Steve would often meet up with different women. I didn’t think much of it then because he was single and he was the manager of the club. I once caught a glimpse of a woman talking intensely with him. Her face was done up with heavy makeup. Yet now, as I look at fresh-faced Diana, I can see the strong similarities in their features. I can’t believe that she was the woman who often came to visit Steve and never mentioned it when I hired her.

A sinister feeling crawls up my spine.

Why wouldn’t she drop his name in her interview with me? That would have been an obvious way to get hired. And why didn’t I ever notice this before?

She walks toward me slowly, almost as if in slow motion. “It seems you realize the situation that you’re in now.”

I hear another sound from behind me, and this time, my instincts tell me it’s not a cat.

“Why wouldn’t you mention that you knew Steve?” I ask her, my voice cautious, my hand steady as I hold the hot coffee, ready to use it as a weapon if I have to. “What was the big secret?”

“Don’t take it personally.” Diana shrugs. “I needed access into the club and thought my way in the door was going to be Steve, and then he conveniently disappeared.” She tilts her head to the side as if waiting for a reaction from me. “Then I thought I’d move on to bigger fish and thought I might be able to get your job if I slept with the big boss. But then I realized that it wasn’t just the sex for him. Hunter Middleton is quite invested in you. I mean, the way he protects you. The other day, he nearly lost his mind when your classmates showed up and made a scene. He’s rather unpredictable thought, so I realize it’s just a gamble at this point, but I’m pretty sure that he wouldn’t want anything to happen to you, which makes you such a good bargaining chip.”

My blood chills at the words, bargaining chip, and even the way she’s saying them. Diana is much more well-spoken and confident than she portrays herself to be at work. Who is this woman?

I can feel the presence of somebody else coming, but I force myself to calm down. Diana still hasn’t managed to make a move on me, and I’m not going down without a fight.

“You’re really overestimating my value to him,” I try convincing her, but a disbelieving laugh tells me that she’s not buying it.

I never gave it much thought until this very moment, but I do believe that Hunter would be angry if Diana did something to hurt me. A man doesn’t just give a woman a security detail and not care if something happens. However, at the same time, he’s only known me for less than two months. He’s not going to sacrifice his entire – I can only call it empire – for a girl, he’s…simply fucking.

Diana is standing at the bottom of the steps now, and I feel the door behind me slowly move open and then stop. The only person I was expecting to come outside was Lacy. The fact that she doesn’t open the door completely and just remains standing there inside makes me hope that she knows that something is wrong.

“That’s up to us to decide,” Diana sneers.

I move my shoulders in a delicate shrug. “Well, I guess you gotta do what you gotta do.”

I can feel the breath of a man standing right behind me, and I know that it’s now or never.

Even as Diana frowns at my casual statement, I’m whirling around, tossing my coffee in the face of the man standing right behind me. As he howls in shock and pain, I catch a glimpse of his face and, to my utter shock, it’s the plumber from that day in my apartment.

“You bitch!“

Diana rushes forward, but before she can do anything, I hear a thud, and then her face goes blank, and she slumps to the ground. A quivering Lacy is standing behind her, holding a cast iron pan in her hand.

As much as I want to congratulate her on her fast thinking, we’re still not out of danger yet. I can see another man rushing towards the alley, and I scream, “Get inside!”

Lacy rushes towards the door, but the plumber has a firm grip on my ankle, and I stumble forward. I don’t hesitate to kick his face with my shoe. “Let go, you creepy fuck!”

He grunts in anger and then tightens his hold on me. However, my fight and flight response is in full mode right now, and I shove his hand away with my other heel before scrambling away from him.

Lacy is already at the door, but I know that I won’t be able to reach her since the man running toward us is nearly upon me. Then it’ll be two against one. I won’t stand a chance.

However, the door is thrown open before Lacy can reach it, and a bullet whizzes past my face, making me freeze.

Hunter is standing there, and he pulls Lacy up by the wrist, throwing her inside, behind him. His eyes are on me, and as Lacy disappears, Parker and Lars suddenly appear in the doorway, both of them armed.

“Come here, Megan.” Hunter holds out his hand, and I realize that my attackers behind me are frozen.

I hobble towards Hunter, and he wraps his arm around my waist, yanking me into him, and I collide against his hard chest.

“Why don’t you introduce yourselves?” Hunter says coolly to the men.

Nobody says anything, but from my peripheral vision, I can see the plumber rise to his feet.

“You haven’t changed,” Hunter says to him.

“But you certainly have Jonathan,” Hunter’s chest rumbles. “You got facial reconstruction or something? That jawline of yours is a lot more angular than the last time I saw you.”

What the hell?

Who is Johnathan?

“You think you’re so smart, don't you?”

“Smarter than you. You thought you could bring me down by sending a woman into my club to do your job for you? Did you really think I wouldn’t investigate anything about her? I conduct deep background checks on all of my employees. Did you actually think I was going to fuck her?”

Deep background checks?

A sliver of alarm flows through me.

I wonder what Hunter has found out about me?

I don’t get much time to worry about this particular line of thought because Parker angrily aims his gun at Johnathan’s head. “You’re a dead man.”

“You think this is it?” Jonathon just laughs. “This is only the beginning. I just wanted to figure out how attached you truly were to this little girl, and you’ve just proved my suspicions. Word of advice, Hunter. Keeping a weakness around you makes you a susceptible target. I thought you learned that lesson all those years ago. If you really cherish this girl, put a bullet in her head right now. Otherwise, she’ll be your downfall.”

I can’t contain myself any longer, and I struggle in Hunter’s arms, shouting, “Hey! Fuck you, dickhead!”

“She’s a feisty one. I can see why you like her.”

Jonathan’s taunting words make me see red, and Hunter’s arm tightens around my waist, and he murmurs in my ear, “Behave yourself.”

“He just told you to shoot me!” I hiss at him.

“You’re not escaping me that easily, so calm down,” he responds dryly, his eyes still focused on Jonathan. “Parker. Lars.”

There’s a finality to Hunter’s tone that chills me to the bone as he turns me around and pushes me back inside the club door. Then, just as I hear the deafening sound of a shower of bullets, he closes the door behind him, and my insides grow icy cold.

"Oh my God."

My stomach drops.

Why did he lock himself outside with them?

The man I love is going to get himself killed.