“Viper would have found out.” She shuddered under his touch. What the hell had happened in Jagger’s meeting with Zane? “Everything I wanted to take, I put in my duffel bag. I never lied to you.”
Desperately, she tried to breathe through the tightening in her chest, the thunder of her pulse in her ears. Jagger won’t hurt me. He promised he would never hurt me. But already she could feel the cold sinking in her emotions giving way to the armor she had built to survive Viper’s wrath. Except this time it wasn’t Viper that threatened her, but the one man she had thought would keep her safe.
“I didn’t want it to be like this.” He shoved her harder against the wall, trapping her arm between them. She tried to turn her head, and the exposed mortar sliced across her cheek.
“I wanted you to want to stay.” Jagger’s voice rose to an agonized shout. “I wanted you to trust me, to believe in me. I wanted you to accept that I could protect you. I wanted you to—”
“Please … Jagger. You’re hurting me.” She fought back the panic flooding through her veins. He’d said he didn’t harm women. But already her cheek burned from the cut and her arm screamed in pain.
“I’m hurting you.” His bitter words were poison to her heart, and the last of her hope withered and died.
He released her abruptly, dropping her arm. Even though instinct screamed for her to run, she didn’t move, resting her forehead against the cool brick wall, indifferent to leaving her back exposed. She’d exposed so much already, and besides, nothing could hurt more than the pain slicing through her heart.
“Turn around.”
She turned slowly, no longer recognizing his handsome face, twisted now by pain and anger. His eyes dropped to the cut on her cheek, following the blood trickling down her cheek.
“Fuck.” His voice rose to a pained shout as he scrubbed his hands over his face as if to wash away the sight of her. “Fuck.” He slammed both fists on the wall on either side of her head and she finally screamed, her hands shooting up instinctively to protect herself.
Jagger jerked back, eyes glazed, body trembling. He reached for her cheek, and Arianne flinched before slapping his hand away.
“Don’t touch me.”
“You don’t have to worry about that.” His voice was cool, devoid of emotion. “I can walk away just as easily as you.”
*
Christ.
He didn’t do emotions. And he most definitely didn’t do emotional wreck. He’d lost it out there. Totally lost control. When he saw her dressed to kill, all cool and calm and about to walk out of his life forever, his longing had given way to fear, anger, and a determination to exert the control he hadn’t had when his mother walked out the door so long ago. To stop the pain.
And he’d hurt her. Not just physically, but emotionally as well. He would never forget the look of devastation in her eyes.
He pounded the table with his fist as he cursed silently under his breath. He’d hurt her and he’d scared her away. Had she seen that potential in him? Was that why she’d decided to leave? Was that why his mother left? Because of some trait he shared with his father?
“You okay, Jag?” Cade leaned back in his chair, dragging his eyes off a pretty brunette onstage, working the pole. Their booth, a feast of red velvet cushions around a sparkling silver table, was set back in the corner, affording them a clear view of the club without exposing them to public scrutiny.
“Yeah, good.” He surveyed the cheap, tawdry strip club, making sure T-Rex and Wheels were in position near the exits. A raised circular stage dominated the space, with chairs scattered in front and a DJ pounding out the tunes in a small booth in one corner. Dark and dingy, lit only by garish neon signs on the walls and the floodlights on the stage, the place was pathetic and depressing and suited his mood to a T.
Lifting his gaze, he focused on Arianne, who sat alone in a booth along the opposite wall of the club. His heart ached as he rehashed the conversation outside yet again. What the fuck had he been thinking? Even if it was Jeff in the picture, did he really think she’d give him up? And did he really believe she was part of a plot to betray his club?
Two blond frat boys stopped at Arianne’s table, and Jagger glared and jerked his chin at T-Rex to shoo them away. Every fucking bastard in the place was staring at her. Not only was she the sexiest woman in the club, but her distress was like a goddamn fucking beacon. He could see her pain in the hunch of her shoulders, the tremble of her hands, and the smear on her cheek from where she’d tried to wipe away the blood. Even now he had to clutch the tabletop to keep from going over to her. No doubt he’d get another slap across the face for his efforts.