“It’s best you don’t come back, Z. It’s trouble,” she warns.
We get outside and I turn back looking at the doors. Holy shit. This club was her idea.
Chapter 2
Harper
My heart is still racing as the doors close behind him. Zane Madden. The only guy I’ve ever loved.
“Don’t get any fucking ideas,” my dad says, standing in front of me.
“What happened?” I ask, taking notice of the redness and small cut on his face.
“Those assholes are starting a war. You need to stay the hell away from him. This is not a request, Harper, it’s a demand. Understand?”
I force a smile and kiss his cheek. “I’m not interested, not anymore. It’s not something you need to worry about.”
He hugs me and I hate that I’m here. I wanted out, I tried to leave, but I couldn’t. I’m drawn to this life, to the bonds. I need to be here. My father is the president and I’m the goddamn queen. I run this strip club. It was my idea. I saw what the Shattered Souls had and I knew I could do it. Zane will put it together, he’s a smart man. I struggle with how I feel about that. Part of me doesn’t give a shit, yet part of me wants to impress him. It’s a messy life I live, a fucked up messy life.
“I need to get some business handled. I’ll be back,” my dad says, walking out with three of his guys.
I close my eyes and my stomach drops. I know exactly what business he has. He’s going to make Zane’s pop-in look like a school yard fight. Instinctively I grab my phone and thumb Z’s number.
“Harper, I’m gonna go on break,” Alice calls, stopping my stupidity.
I put my phone away and do my job. I can’t get between them, not anymore.
I wander around the liquor store trying to decide what I’m gonna get drunk on tonight. I pay no attention as I walk straight into a solid body. “Shit, sorry,” I mumble. I look up and Z’s pale blue eyes crash into mine.
“Don’t be,” he says, still holding onto my arm. “You look good, Harp.”
I take in the stitches by his eye, the red swollen other eye, and cut up face. Shit. “You look like crap.”
“Guess your old man wanted to make a point,” he says with a grin.
“It’s not funny. You know he’s out for blood,” I reply.
He laughs and moves even closer, still holding onto my arm. “Why are you back?”
I try to pull my arm away, but he won’t release it. “Doesn’t matter.”
“It matters,” he whispers, his deep sexy voice wrapping around me. It makes my body react, just like it always has.
“Z, please,” I beg. I can’t be given this option. I can’t be alone with him.
“I always loved when you begged me, babe.”
I once again try to pull away, but he backs me up and opens a door to the back of the store. Once it closes he presses me against it and slams his mouth on mine. I know I need to push him away. I need to stop it, but I don’t. My fingers tangle in his light brown hair and I let his tongue dance with mine. His hands move to my ass, digging in as he deepens the kiss. I moan, I can’t stop it from coming. My pussy is soaked and he’s only kissing me. This is what Zane does to me. He takes over and I let him. I give myself to him and he gives himself to me. We’re bad for each other. We’re enemies. But, we can’t stop.
He breaks the kiss and starts sucking on my neck. He knows what I like, what gets me going. I grab onto his cut and push my hands under his shirt. My fingers trace his muscular body and he groans against me. Damn it.
“Z, what are we doing?”
He pulls me to him, wrapping me tight in his protective arms. “I’m reminding you who you are,” he whispers, kissing the top of my head.
“It’s never gonna work,” I say, my voice catching when I do.
“Fuck, go,” he says, pulling away from me. “I can’t be near you, Harp, you need to go.”
He’s always the stronger one. The one to put an end to this. I love him for it and I hate him for it.
“It’s a fucked up life, Z.” I place a soft kiss under his stitches. “Thank you.”
I rush out of there and figure I’ll find something at home to drink.
“Harper,” Dom says, drawing my attention from the paperwork in front of me. “Your father wants you.”
I nod and stand to follow him. My dad is sitting at the table and Dom closes the door behind me. “What?” I ask, holding onto the back of one of the leather chairs.
“Sit,” he directs, nodding to the chair.
I do as he says and he slams his hand down on the table. It should make me flinch, but it doesn’t. I refuse to let my emotions show. They’re buried and that’s where they’ll say. “Did I not make myself clear the other night?”
Fuck. He’s got goddamn men everywhere. “You made yourself clear.”
“My daughter will not be in bed with a Shattered Soul, especially Zane Madden. He’s a scumbag criminal and the right hand man of his uncle. I shouldn’t need to tell you this shit. You know it’s not something that can happen. Too much at risk.” He doesn’t take his eyes off me. His cigar is burning away in the ashtray as his hands sit clenched on the table. He’s pissed, but I’m more pissed.
“You talk to me like I’m fucking seventeen years old. I’m twenty-five, a grown ass woman, and in case you forgot, I run this strip club. Don’t treat me like a defenseless, naive girl. We both know that’s long gone. I know the risks, why the hell do you think
