I gestured at Tricky with one hand, and he hopped down from the bar, Dawes alongside him, their guns drawn.
Venom filled my blood, feeding me, as I charged forward, pushing women and men out of my way. My insides boiled and roared, my heart steamed. I was going to kill him.
I searched for Lock in the crowd. His stillness gave him away. He caught my gaze and nodded once. He moved seamlessly through the opposite end of the throng, toward Catch.
“Put her down! What the hell are you doing?” Grace said, her voice loud, firm, diving off the edge of frantic. “Let her go, Drew. Now!”
Grace had known Catch since they were kids. He was her best friend’s younger brother. She was trying to talk him down any way she could, using his real name was either a panicked reflex or a ploy.
Jill pulled on Catch’s hold with both her hands, but he only yanked on her hair. She gasped loudly, stumbling. A purple bruise swelled on her face.
My blood roared. Motherfucker.
“How did you let this happen, you stupid bitch?” Catch yelled at Grace.
Butler yanked Grace back, but she only pushed against his arm, her face red.
“Catch! Don’t do this!” Grace said.
“Catch, let Jill go,” Butler said. “You got a problem? Let’s talk about it inside. But you let the girl go.”
“Was this part of your sweet little plan all along, Butler?” Catch said. “What else you got up your sleeve, huh?”
I slowed my pace down, slinking through the people craning to see, all my senses tuned to the joker holding court.
“What the hell is your problem?” Grace asked, her voice sharp.
He shoved Jill in front of himself, her rounded belly sticking out of her pink T-shirt. “She’s fucking pregnant!” he growled. “I let her come up here with you and my sister. You’re supposed to be watching out for her and my kid. You fucking promised. And this is what happens?”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Grace’s eyes flared. “Let her go now! You’re hurting her!”
I remained still as I followed Lock’s progress.
“I told you. I warned you, warned you both. She’s got my kid up here, and she’s been fucking a Jack the whole time while she’s in my house, in my bed?” He pushed at Jill’s rear with his knee and aimed his gun at her belly. “Didn’t take long, did it?”
Butler pulled Grace behind his body. “Put the gun down, man. Not on a woman.”
“No!” Grace jumped in between Butler and Catch, her arms outstretched over Jill.
“Fuck off!” spit out Catch, twisting Jill away. “You think I haven’t been watching her? I’ve seen them together. Where is he? He too much of a * to show his face? Is he partying without her tonight? He got himself another whore here at his club while this one’s at home?”
“What the hell is going on?” Mindy grabbed at me.
“Get back,” I said on a hiss, shoving her away.
I snaked in between the men and women. They parted for me. I slid the safety on my 9mm, the clicking sound of the metal making me high.
Here I am, motherfucker.
Catch’s wild eyes found mine. Eyes of a rabid dog, eyes I’d seen so many times before on men and women who thought they had the upper hand on me, eyes that I quickly drained of their arrogance with a look, a shot, a slice, a slam.
I aimed my gun at his face.
“There he is!” He shook Jill in his grip. “Did you forget your whore tonight?”
“Let her go. Now.” My voice pierced the night air.
A venomous grin split his face.
“Catch, it’s not Jill’s baby!” Grace said.
“You know how stupid you sound right now, Grace? You smoking the special house weed, drinking their juju juice?”
“It’s my baby,” Grace replied.
“What?” Catch’s face twisted.
Grace stood still in front of him, Butler’s hand gripping her arm. “Jill’s my surrogate. She’s carrying my baby for me. Now, let her go!”
Leaning into Jill, Catch slanted his gun toward Grace. “What the fuck, babe? You sold yourself to them?”
Jill cringed and shrank in his hold.
“You doing this shit for money? You—”
Catch’s head jerked back in one hard swift motion, his eyes popping open wide like a spooked horse. Lock angled his long knife at the fucker’s throat, his other hand thrusting in Catch’s hair, yanking his head back further.
“Drop the gun, let her go, and get on your knees. NOW!” Lock’s voice boomed, his black eyes glinting.
Gasps and a needling jittery silence reigned. Adrenaline rapid-fired through me, all my senses focusing on Catch’s face still in my range.
Butler let out a hiss as he twisted the gun from Catch’s hand. I moved forward and peeled the fucker’s grip off of Jill, and she fell into my arms.
I pulled her behind me and pressed my gun into Catch’s forehead. “You do not touch my woman ever again. ”
Catch staggered. “Your woman?”
“And you do not spy on her, motherfucker,” I continued. “Ever. You hear?”
Lock pulled on Catch’s arms, pinning them behind his back, and Catch grunted, stumbling.
I tilted my head back, eyeing him. “Jill is mine.”