Billion Dollar Bad Boy (Big City Billionaires)(15)

From the corner of my eye, I spotted the neon-cherry exit sign. “I need to get some air,” I stammered. If I stayed, I didn't know what would happen. Did he want us to do that? Just go wild where everyone could see? Was he an exhibitionist, a voyeur, something else?

“Air? Of course, I'll walk with you—”

“Sorry, I can't—I'm sorry.” Unable to explain how the surging desire was overwhelming me, I pushed away from him. His fingers drifted down my arm, threatening to snatch me back before I could run.

Then we were apart, and I was stumbling for the door.

Shoving around the crowd, I rushed out into the cool night. Gasping, I threw my head back. Around me, the pulse of music and bodies faded, the heavy door clanking shut.

Why am I here?

The question swam up abruptly. I couldn't bury it. This place was a perverted sex club—Silver had taken me to an actual sex club!

A month ago, if I'd been asked to predict my future, I would never have guessed this was coming. None of it. Fuck, a million guesses and I'd still have been wrong.

Me, Alexis Willow—notoriously quiet and lame—meeting up with some smartly-dressed, power-oozing man who kept calling me Pet? Gifts were one thing, this escalation went beyond my limits.

I'm an idiot, I reprimanded myself. Pushing my hand to my forehead, I swiped my hair back and laughed. “What's wrong with me?” I asked the night sky. The scent of garbage was rank in my nose, but I breathed deeper, filling my lungs with it. “Did I think I could really mesh with a guy like him?”

Years ago, I would have fit in better... but... No. That was a pointless thought. I wasn't the same girl. My life was different, I was different.

Ever since that single day.

The grip that came down on my arm yanked me from my pitiful thoughts. It was firm, steel and iron.

Silver, I thought on reflex. He came outside to find me.

But something was wrong. Why hadn't I heard the door open? In fact, it should have hit me, I was still right up on it.

Fear snaked into my heart. In my ear, the breathing of the other person was raspy and labored. That was when I knew. Even before I turned, looking into those yellow and red-veined eyes, I knew.

The hand on my shoulder didn't belong to Silver.





- Chapter Seven -


Alexis

He spun me around, clutching for my wrists. It was an older man, his face hard, his smile too soft. Inside his eyes, hard-packed black ash focused on me.

“Hey there,” he purred. “You looked lonely out here. Thought I'd say hi.”

It's happening again.

“Let go of me!” Wrenching my shoulder, I worked to get free, but he only squeezed harder.

Chuckling, he spun me from the wall, forcing me down the empty alley. Trash slid under my heels, and I regretted wearing them. In sneakers, I could have run faster—fought back harder.

I'm not going to give up!

Gritting my teeth, I swung my body backwards. “Help!” I screamed, echoing off the wet bricks. “Someone please, help me! Help me!”

Scowling, my attacker rounded on me, strangling my wrists. My skin was numb; I didn't care. “Shut up!” he snarled, pushing me against the rough alley wall. The hard texture was cool under my exposed spine. “You make another sound and I'll smash that pretty mouth right in!”

Breathing through clenched teeth, I leveled my glare on his. Fight! I begged my body. On impulse, I jammed my head forward, hoping I'd crush his nose with my skull. He managed to lean away, but the surprise in his wide eyes gave me strength. “Let me go!” I shouted, throat going hoarse.

The world needed to hear me. Surely someone would realize I was in danger. Did no one care?

Curling his lips back, almost feral, my attacker laughed. “You f*cking bitch, you tried to break my nose! You think that's funny? Huh?” He shook me violently. Everything in my skull banged together, mushing into paste.

No one is coming.

The cold realization was sobering.

If I don't fight back, I'm dead.

I'm gone.

But I was too dazed, my feet couldn't get a grip on the slimy earth. It didn't matter how much I ached to hurt this man, he was winning.

Abruptly my attacker released me, stumbling to the side like he'd been hit by a car.

“What the f*ck do you think you're doing to her?”

Silver had a voice hotter than the lava swirling in the Earth's core. The same vibrant anger reflected in his glare.

Lifting my head, I gawked at him. Had he heard my cries through the brick walls and come searching for me? “Help,” I croaked, slumping to my knees.

He spared me a look, but his attention was laser focused on the other man.

My attacker was rubbing his jaw, blood staining his teeth. Wild-eyed, he glanced between us both. Rabid dogs don't use logic, and this man was close to foaming at the mouth. “You want that girly for yourself, that it, big man?”

Silver laughed, the sound echoing through the alley. He might as well have blown a trumpet, it would have shocked us both just as much. “Do I want her? She's already mine.”

That admission sang into my ears and remained. I didn't try to deny his claim, that was how firmly it clung to my heart. Getting attacked must have shook something loose in my brain. That had to be it.