Chapter 40
I was still looking back at the table when I bumped into someone. Hard. I looked up. It was a massive guy, at least seven feet tall, with a gold earring and a thick, tattooed neck.
"Sorry," I said, shifting to move around him.
But when I moved, he moved in exactly the same direction, blocking my path with a low chuckle. Something about it sent an odd shiver down my spine.
I glanced around. There were too many bodies and no easy path to get around him, so I put my hands on my hips and glared up at him. "What's your problem?" I said.
He looked down on me and smiled, revealing gold grillwork over his front teeth. "So you're the new one?" he said.
"The new what?"
"The new chick." He said "chick" like it was a social disease. "Lawton's squeeze."
"Hey!" I said, "I'm no one's squeeze."
Slowly, his gaze traveled down the length of me, stopping way too long in certain places. "No? You can be my squeeze, once he's done with you." With a deranged smile, he sidled forward. "Or maybe you don’t wanna wait."
Without thinking, I took a step backward, bumping someone behind me. I spun around and jostled a tall girl with big hair and too much lipstick. She was holding two drinks. One of them hit the floor. The glass shattered against the hard surface. "Hey!" she hollered. "Look what you did!"
"Yeah," said the big guy. "Look what you did."
Ignoring the girl, I whipped back around to face him. I craned my neck upward, trying to decide of I should back up slowly, or run like hell.
But suddenly, a wall appeared in front of my face. I recognized that wall.
It was Lawton's back.
I'd never been so glad to see anything in all my life. The lean, corded muscles in his neck and arms were a stark contrast to the hulking guy in front of him. Still, I felt myself swallow. The guy in front of Lawton was so much bigger. Scary bigger. I didn't know what to do. Find a bouncer? Call for help?
Frantically, I looked around.
"Baby," Lawton said over his shoulder. "Go back to the table. I'll meet you there in a minute."
And leave him alone? No way. I mean, I knew I was no use in a fight, but no way I'd just run away like I didn't give a crap what happened to him.
Because I cared. I cared a lot.
Behind me, I heard the girl's other drink hit the floor. "Oh my God," she said. "Is that Lawton Rastor?"
The big guy obviously heard, because he bellowed out, "Hey, everyone! It's f*cking Lawton Rastor! And his f*cking squeeze! Aren't we so f*cking lucky?"
At my back, I felt a sudden drop in temperature, like the bodies around me were sidling away. Was everyone leaving? If so, that sounded like a damn good idea. I reached toward Lawton's shirt, hoping to pull him away before things got any worse.
But then, like lightning, Lawton threw back his head. Immediately, a fist flew past his face.
But it wasn't from the guy in front of him. It was from some new guy off to our right, a big muscle-bound guy with complicated facial hair.
The fist had barely disappeared when Lawton's right arm shot in the guy's direction. His fist slammed into the guy's ear.
"Motherf*cker!" the guy yelled, staggering backward, and then off to the side, like he couldn't quite keep his balance.
"Chloe," Lawton said in a warning tone, "you'd better not still be there."
From the tone of his voice, he knew exactly where I was, and he wasn't happy.
Slowly, I began to back up. I didn't stop until I felt the warmth of the crowd at my back. My heart was racing. I looked around. Where was the bouncer? Where was anyone? Should I dial 911?
Ahead of me, the first guy took a swing at Lawton's face. Lawton swatted the fist away, leaving the guy's face wide open. That's when Lawton's right fist shot out, slamming hard into the center of the guy's face.
He staggered backward, and his hands flew to his nose. A river of blood poured between his fingers. "My nose! You f*ckin' broke it, you a*shole!"
With a guttural roar, the guy off to the right charged toward Lawton. Without changing direction, Lawton gave him a hard elbow to the neck. The guy dropped to the ground, wheezing. With barely a glance, Lawton kicked him in the side, sending the guy rolling onto his back.
The first guy, his face a bloody mess, barreled toward Lawton head-first. Lawton's fist flew out toward the guy's mid-section, hitting him hard enough to double him over. With a half-moan, half-wheeze, the guy dropped to his knees.
Finally, the bouncers made their appearance. I recognized one of them as Lawton's friend, a black guy in a black T-shirt with the club's logo. He looked down at the second guy, still lying on his back. "Snake, you dumb-ass. Not again."
With something like a sigh, Lawton's bouncer friend grabbed one of Snake's booted feet in each hand and started dragging him toward the exit.
The first guy, now on his hands and knees, raised his head and muttered, "That son-of-a-bitch broke my nose!" He glared at Lawton. "Third f*ckin' time. You cock-sucker."
Lawton took a step toward him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. His voice was quiet, but it carried over the now silent club. "You wanna f*ck with me? Fine. F*ck with me all you want. But if you ever f*ck with my girl again—"
He leaned close to the guy's ear and said something that only they could hear. The guy glanced at me, and I almost heard him swallow. When Lawton finally released him, the guy looked around the quiet crowd. "What the f*ck are you lookin' at?" he said as he rose unsteadily to his feet and stumbled toward the exit.
And then, somewhere behind me, I heard a girl's voice, a different one from the first, say, "Holy shit, was that Lawton Rastor?"