Page 197 of Chandelier Sin
He was ignoring Dean’s questions and his very presence. But Dean didn’t waste a beat; he was listening in and taking what he could from our interaction.
“Do you know this man?” Lance glared toward Dean.
“No.” I made it convincing. “I’m visiting the yacht club. You a member?”
Lance studied me as I tried to discreetly communicate to Dean that now was a good time to get the fuck out of here.
The guy refused to get the message.
He continued to interrogate Lance, unperturbed even when two guys exited the car behind him. They rounded the vehicle, acting like the bodyguards a man like Lance would have.
“What can you tell me about your skipper?” Dean went in for the kill.
Lance gave a nod to the men.
“I need to talk with you,” I said as a tactic. “Lance, it’s important.”
The bodyguards had grabbed Dean and were manhandling him toward the town car’s back passenger door. He struggled to resist them.
I hurried closer and reached for his arm, trying to pull him back, trying to stop him from disappearing inside the vehicle.
With him secured inside, the car door was slammed shut.
Then they came for me.
Fuck.
The tall, burly guy came at me fast and threw a punch to my stomach, sending a sharp pain into my gut. Bent over and winded,I slumped to my knees, gasping. A fist met my jaw, snapping my head back, delivering a shock of agony.
Part of me, the bit that wasn’t in survival mode, wondered if one of these guys had driven me off the road.
With my hands up to prevent another strike from reaching me, I rallied and fought back, throwing a punch that knocked the guy back.
I reminded myself that my hands were my career tool, and that fighting was a fucking idiot move. But taking the hits was shitty, too.
The other man joined in, and the strikes came hard and fast. My body was a punching bag for the fuckers. Each hit felt worse than the last.
Then they stopped and stepped back.
I used the railing of the boardwalk to pull myself up to a standing position, unsteady on my feet as I gripped the metal bar to support myself, bracing for another attack.
I turned to look at the car and was horrified to see it pull away with Dean in it.
CRACK.
I felt a searing pain in my skull and slumped to my knees.
The world went dark and silent.
A freezing cold chill soaked into my bones. My head felt like it was splitting in two.
A strong arm reached around me. “What the hell happened?”
I heard the stranger’s muffled question as he helped me to my feet.
I tried to push him away, until I looked over and saw that it was Cameron.
Relief flooded in, panic too, as I realized how badly I’d messed up. Everything ached, my pride, my sense of self, my reasoning had been shattered.
