Page 75 of King of Clubs

“Show me the messages again,” she said, reaching for my phone. Her face scrunched as she re-read them before she quickly thrust it back at me, her eyebrows wiggling up and down with a smirk on her lips.

“Your man meat is messaging you and I don’t think I’m the intended recipient,” her scowl making me smile as I reached for the phone.

Sebastian

Day was fine. But it would be better if you were going to be with me tonight.

Naked.

Can I pick you up after I leave Nexus?

It took me a minute to decipher what he meant, smiling as I replied.

Marlee

Would love that. xx

“But really, Marls, you need to take this seriously. If you won’t go to the police, at least tell Sebastian. Please.”

I nodded, suspecting she was right and itwouldhelp telling him, a burden shared and all that. But, I really liked him and the worry of him leaving sat heavy over every decision I made. My heart was still so raw I wasn’t sure I would be able to mend it again if he didn’t want messy. Plus, he also didn’t need something to stress over when I was fine.

An involuntary shudder passed through me when I remembered whoever it was had clearly been following me. So maybe I wasn’t entirely fine. But, I had a boyfriend now and he wasn’t a wallflower and if they saw me with him, they would know that.

Pushing it to the back of my mind, I snuggled into Arna ready to watch the boys play until Seb came to get me and I could nuzzle into him in a very different way.

Sebastian

Chapter Thirty-Two

Beinganexpertonwomen wasn’t something future generations would read about me on my headstone. However, even I could tell there was a definite change in Marlee’s behaviour. Her mood was noticeably flat yet any time I asked she responded telling me she wasfine. Which, having a sister who frequently told me ‘she was fine’, even once while literally launching a shoe at Cooper’s head, I knew was bullshit. She’d smile, nod and appear her normal bubbly self for a little while, and then I would find her staring off into the distance, lost to a thought I was desperate to read. It happened no less than half a dozen timestodayand her attempts at feigning nonchalance were starting to piss me off.

I had a feeling there was something on her phone which was causing the frown lines between those eyes because as soon as she opened it this morning, it was like a flipped switch. I tried to subtly look over her shoulder, knowing full well how entirely inappropriate it was in doing so, but she would just lock it and move it out of my sight. A small part of me wondered if I’d done something wrong. I’d never been in a relationship before so I was bound to fuck up but if she wasn’t going to communicate, how the hell would I even know?

Flashes of that piece of shit ex of hers infiltrated my mind and I ended up messaging Wayne to get his boys to do more digging. I wanted to know everything about him, including what he ate for breakfast and how often he took a shit because if he was still chasing my woman, I would sort that out and make sure he never bothered her again. Looking forward to seeing her again tonight, I hoped to take her mind off whatever was bothering her but that small niggling worry still sat heavy in my gut. What if I wasn’t enough for her and she decided she was better on her own? If she decided it would be easier to leave without even a backward glance because staying was too hard? Not entirely far fetched given how easily my father left Mum after much longer than a couple of months together.

The second-guessing gnawed at my usually impenetrable armour. Self-confidence was always a strength and it cemented my decision to have Wayne get information because I couldn’t support her if I didn’t have all the details. Hopefully I could then have a conversation with Marlee. Encourage her to talk to me, because I couldn’t help her otherwise, and help was exactly what my body was screaming at me to do.

Fuck.

The unfamiliar shadow of self-doubt was stifling, making me edgy. The plan was for her to stay over tonight, part of what was becoming a regular routine for us, and it meant I had something to look forward to throughout the night but I still had six hours before that happened.

“Boss, I have what you asked for,” Wayne said, entering just as I was about to go behind the bar to restock. Anything to stay busy.

He slapped a large yellow envelope on the desk in front of me along with a bag which smelt deep fried and appetising as fuck.

“Steamed barramundi in ginger broth for you, ya healthy prick. And six spring rolls and a large fried rice for me.”

“I thought you were meant to be maintaining a healthy blood sugar level,” I opened the container and salivated at the delectable looking fish and rice despite what Wayne thought of my preferences.

“Alyce won’t know unless you tell her,” pointing to the envelope he added, “guess we both have things the misses don’t need to know.”

I rolled my eyes but nodded reluctantly. He made a fair point. Not that I would hide this from Marlee, but I wasn’t sure she would appreciate me looking into her ex-boyfriend without her knowledge, especially when I didn’t even know ifhewas why she seemed off.

“Total dropkick that one. Can’t believe she stayed as long as she did,” talking around his food he gestured towards the envelope again as if the contents justified his opinion.

Unable to wait any longer I started reading. His boys had done well in a few short hours. The information was comprehensive and included photos of Lucas Smith, 32, single, currently unemployed, with a fairly large drug debt. Hobbies included drinking and spending his days at the local pub specifically in the gambling area.

“Could probably add philanderer and dickhead to the list too.”

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