I continued to cry for what felt like an age and eventually cried myself to sleep.
I woke up with a jolt some time later and groggily crawled from the bed I was on until I was standing on the floor. I was a bit unsteady on my feet because of the heels I was wearing, but after a moment or two I got a handle on my legs and walked steadily towards the door of the private room.
When I opened the door, I was met by laughter and some low music that was nothing like the volume that had been blaring earlier before Dominic's fight. I closed my eyes at the thought of him and tried to overlook the pain in my chest. I repeated in my head that we didn't break up, and we were only apart because we were cooling off. We would speak soon; he was probably in my house right now pissed off that I wasn't there waiting for him.
I reached for the handle of the door and closed it behind me after I stepped out into the hall. I then walked down the hallway in the direction that led back into the nightclub. The laughter and wolf whistles I heard made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and I got goose bumps when I stepped out from the hallway and looked around the club. The dance floor was empty except for two girls dirty dancing with each other in time with the sensual music that was playing low. I glanced towards the circle but found that section of the club to be black because the lights were switched off. I jumped when I heard a deep, rumbling chuckle come from my far left. I looked in the direction and spotted three men sat around the very booth Dominic and his brothers always sat at. Two of the men were in their forties or fifties while the other was a younger lad, probably nineteen or so.
The man who was chuckling looked in my direction and stared at me for a moment before he gestured with his finger for me to go to him. I didn't know why but instead of walking straight towards the exit, I kept my eyes on the man's as I walked towards him. He smiled at me when I reached the booth and held out his hand for me. I took hold of it and moved when he gently pulled me down to the spot next to him.
"What is your name, beauty?" he asked me, his accent not Irish but American.
"Bronagh," I replied as I still just stared at him.
His hair was jet black, his eyes were a light hazel colour, and his skin was lightly tanned. There wasn't anything exceptionally remarkable about him; he was just a good-looking man, average even, but he had something about him that made me want to be close to him. It was the weirdest feeling I had ever gotten in my entire life; I knew he was somebody important just by looking at him. He had a dominant status about him and, to be honest, I was curious to know who he was.
"Such a pretty name for such a pretty girl," the man smiled before reaching out and wiping under my eyes with his thumbs. He smiled at my eyes lingering on his, and then asked, "Why are you here?"
I swallowed before I said, "I came here to watch the fight that was on earlier, but I fell asleep in one of the private rooms."
He grinned and asked, "You like watching the brawls?"
I shook my head. "No way, I actually hate them but me boyfriend fights in them, so I have to come along for support or he gets mad."
He raised his eyebrows then, but lowered them as he reached out again and smoothed my hair back from my face. He was very gentle when he asked, "Who is your boyfriend? I bet on the fights; he might have won me some money in the past."
The other men in the booth snickered at this, but I didn't look at them, I kept my eyes on the man next to me and answered, "Dominic Slater, he's the undefeated champion of Darkness. He always wins his fights."
I didn't know what I was expecting when I answered the man's question, but growling from the young lad across from me wasn't it. "That * gets lucky in his fights."
I was instantly mad.
"He just happens to get lucky in every single fight then?" I asked the young lad as I looked away from the man next to me. I was instantly aware that he was somehow related to the man next to me because he looked so much like him, just a younger version.
"He is a *, bitch," the young lad snarled.
I glared right back at him. "Well, you know what they say? You are what you eat."
The young lad grinned at me while the two other men burst into laughter. I jumped a little when the man next to me put his arm over my shoulder as he laughed. "Get my picture with this Irish beauty. It's not often someone shuts my nephew up."
I looked to the man as the other older man across the table snapped a picture on his phone. I looked to him then when he began tapping on it and reached over handing it back to the man next to me.
Referring to them as just 'men' was hurting my head so I asked, "What is your name?"
The man next to me opened his mouth to speak when the phone in his hand rang, causing a smile to light up his face. "I don't think he has ever called me back so quick before." He chuckled then answered the phone and said, "Nico, my boy, how are you?"