Page 27 of Submission

“Waiting in your office, as requested.”

“Perfect.”

Once it’s just me and Megan left, Parking sliding the curtain closed behind him, I turn my attention to her and sigh heavily, “Were you always this drama prone, or is this a new thing?”

She looks down at her legs before looking up at me, her tone dry. “It was never this bad until I met you.”

“Somehow, I doubt that.”

It takes a lot to make me sad, to make me angry, or to make me feel just about anything, but I feel a mixture of all of those emotions as I walk over the shattered glass and crouch next to her.

“Are you okay, baby?”

It’s almost as if my question gives her permission to finally lower the shield I figure she must have had up ever since these so-called classmates of hers walked into the club.

“I think so.” Her eyes are wide, and there’s a slight tremor in her hands as she holds onto the edges of my jacket and falls into my embrace. The murderous rage within me is calming down now that I have her in my arms. “I think I’m going to have to make a few staff adjustments.” She lowers her head and leans it into the crook of my arm, her expression tired now. “I need a fucking vacation.”

“Where do you want to go?”

“Just stop talking, Hunter,” she mutters against my chest, and my hand comes up to settle on her head.

“Lars is going to see to your wounds.“

“They’re just shallow cuts.” She lifts her head. “Thankfully, I don’t need stitches again.”

I inspect her wounds and am relieved that she’s right.

“He’ll still take a look at them. In the meantime, I can either have a word with that server myself or–“

“I’ll come with you,” Megan says sharply. “If she tells another lie about me or about her part in what happened tonight, I’m going to punch her in the mouth myself.”

A small grin spreads across my face as I look down at her. “Is it just me, or are you getting a little bloodthirsty?”

“I wouldn’t say I’m becoming bloodthirsty, but I’m sick of letting people take advantage of me all the time. It stops tonight, and it starts with her.”

“I wish it would have started a little earlier. Then maybe you wouldn’t have shards of glass in your beautiful legs.”

“They were paying customers.”

“They were here for one thing only, and that was to fuck with you. You should have never let them in. That’s why you’re the manager. I pay you to make those types of judgment calls.”

“You’re right. I’ll do better.”

She wiggles herself deeper inside my embrace, tightening her arms around my waist.

“And if there’s anything I can do to make things better, you know I will,” I tell her.

“Like shoot a few college kids in a nightclub?” She deadpans.

“I was only going to shoot one.”

She leans her head back. “You can’t go around shooting people and think that’s okay.”

“He could have put a stop to this a long time ago. He’s a pussy.”

Megan shakes her head in disbelief. “You’re insane.”

I’ve become helplessly entangled in Megan, and I’m level-headed enough to acknowledge that. If she can’t bring herself to trust me all the way yet, then I can at least become the place she can lean against if it helps her stand firmer.

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