going on as well as the club turmoil, all I can think about is how fucking much I love her and need to protect her.
Gripping her waist, I back her up against the vanity. “You can fight with me and throw all the attitude my way you want; you can lock me out of the fucking house for all I care, and you can scream at me that you think I don’t understand you, but you need to know I love you more than I even fucking know, and all I want is your happiness. Don’t ever fucking forget that.”
Her breaths come hard and fast as she takes that in. “Where are you going?”
The fact she’s not responded to what I’ve said tells me she needs time to calm down, so I let it go, figuring she’ll have plenty of time for that while I’m out. Hopefully by the time I come home, she’ll have sorted through her thoughts. “Some club stuff’s just come up that I need to handle. I’ll be a few hours at least.”
Her hands come to my shirt. “Is this something I need one of those heads-up about?”
I don’t want to say yes, but I made a promise to her about this, so I nod. “Maybe.”
She swallows hard, worry flashing in her eyes, but she keeps her shit together. “Okay.” Her hands clutch my shirt harder. “I love you, too.”
My mouth crashes down onto hers, and I pour all the love and frustration I’m feeling into this kiss. She does the same, and when we’re finished, I have to force myself to let her go and get out of here.
“I’ll call you when I’m on my way home.”
The look of fear in her eyes is the last thing I see as I turn to leave, and I have trouble removing it from my mind as I head towards Albert’s club. By the time I arrive, though, I’ve managed to push it far enough back to allow my focus to be completely on what I need to do here.
“Winter,” one of Albert’s security team says as I approach the front door. “Albert’s not expecting you tonight.”
“No, but he’ll see me regardless.”
He extends his arm and places his hand to my chest. “I’ll need you to stop while I call him to see if he’s free.”
I keep moving closer to him, pushing his hand out of the way. Tonight is not the fucking time to tell me no. “You’ll call him and tell him to make himself free.”
His lips flatten. “You wanna rephrase that?”
“No, I don’t wanna fucking rephrase that. Make the fucking call.”
He glares at me for another moment before calling Albert. After a quick conversation, he says to me, “He’ll see you, but he’s got someone else coming soon, so—”
“Just let me in,” I snap.
“When the fuck did you become such a prick?”
“When someone took it upon themselves to fucking shoot my men. Now open the fucking door!”
Albert’s sex club is four-levels high with the top one his personal playground. When I reach his level, I step off the lift into an open space filled with a loud driving beat, and people fucking all over the place. It’s so dark in some areas of the room that I don’t see them until I’m walking into them.
“Fucking hell,” I mutter, shoving naked bodies out of my way and doing my best to ignore the music that’s drowning out my thoughts.
“Winter,” Albert’s drawl floats through the air as I draw closer to him. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“We need to find a quiet spot where just the two of us can talk,” I say, making it clear in my tone that this request isn’t open for discussion.
His brows lift, but he doesn’t argue with me. He leads me into a private room that’s lit just enough for us to see each other, and that meets my need for quiet. As the door clicks closed behind us, he says, “What’s so urgent you needed to force your way up here?”
“Two of my men were shot tonight. Hunt suggested I pay a visit to you to see what you know about it.”
“Why would you think I know anything?”
I’d fucking love to wipe the smug expression off this asshole’s face. Hell, I’d love to wipe this asshole off the planet. But I can’t, because he has a lot of low friends in high places that would retaliate with their own murderous desires. Storm didn’t receive a friendly welcome when