Dead Drop (The Guild #2)(74)
As it was, the punch knocked me off balance, and I fell backward off the raised platform that I’d set my woman up on, giving the whole club a prime view of all her glory. They could look, but they could never fucking touch.
The bastard that hit me was on top of me before I could regain my feet, and I had to thank my own foresight that I’d put my dick away. Otherwise, this might be mistaken as part of the sex show, and I didn’t swing that way.
He slammed his meaty fist into my face twice before I wrestled him off me, using his own momentum to throw him to the side and into a low table. The half-full glasses of champagne on the tabletop crashed to the ground, breaking and scattering glass across the floor.
From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Danny freeing herself from the restraints I’d left on—like I knew she was capable of—and smoothing her tiny skirt back down over that glowing red mound of her behind.
Dammit, my mind wandered just a split second, and the asshole I was fighting got a lucky uppercut in, making my teeth snap together hard enough to jar my brain. He was strong, no question about it. But I was better trained. I used that to my advantage, dodging his next punch and rolling to my feet to regain some ground.
As tempting as it was to just kill him and be done with the annoyance, Danny had made her position clear. If I killed this fucker, she would be deeply displeased with me. And despite how little I cared for anyone else’s feelings, I cared about hers. I couldn’t bring myself to slit his throat, no matter how badly I wanted to do it. Because the idea of her turning her back on me for real? It was chilling.
This prick was bigger than me, bulkier with biceps like tree trunks. But size wasn’t always advantageous in a fight. Danny proved that.
“I’m going to fucking kill you!” my attacker spat, his chest heaving with rage and his glare like poison. “You’re dead, Guild scum.”
I sneered back at him, dusting off my shirt and assessing his stance for weaknesses. “You sure about that, Kai? Because I don’t think my woman would be very pleased with you for that.”
Confusion flashed over his face, and I gave a patronizing chuckle. “Oh, she didn’t think you were enough of a threat to have that chat? Or maybe she just didn’t think you were coming back.”
Fury twisted his face. “Or maybe she didn’t care if I killed you.”
I laughed at that, because it wasn’t even a possibility. No, it was much more likely that she just decided I was more likely to kill than he would. He must have a nice streak. Fucking pathetic. I darted forward, delivering some sharp jabs at his body, then slammed my elbow into the side of his head, making him stagger a couple of steps.
To my surprise, the patrons of Meow Lounge hadn’t scattered in the face of our fight. They’d moved out of the way so they wouldn’t get caught in the cross fire, but they were still eagerly watching. It occurred to me that they thought this was part of the entertainment, and I laughed.
“What’s so fucking funny?” the big dumb fuck snarled at me, swinging his fists. He had some training, enough that a couple of punches landed, but he was nowhere near mercenary level. I’d bet Danny could take him down in a submission hold without even trying.
Actually, that begged the question… where was she? I’d have expected her to be jumping between us, breaking up the fight before anyone could inflict some real damage. But she was nowhere to be seen.
Frowning, I darted a glance over at the spanking bench that I’d left her shackled to, but it was empty. The whole dais was empty. What the fuck?
“Where is she?” I snarled, tackling the idiot in front of me to the ground. “Was this some kind of distraction while you stole her away again? I might have promised not to kill you, Malachi Arden, but I can make you bleed.”
I pinned the son of a bitch down, my little switchblade at his throat as he stared up at me in obvious confusion.
“What the fuck are you talking about, you psychotic freak? She’s right there, you tied her up to the…” He trailed off as his eyes found the stage and the very empty spanking bench. “What? Where is she?”
Suddenly he was pushing me off, not seeming to care that my blade sliced his skin as he thrashed. But he wasn’t trying to kill me anymore, he was frantically searching the room. Okay, so maybe he wasn’t trying to steal her out from under my nose this time.
On some kind of unspoken agreement, we quit fighting each other and started looking around for the one thing we actually had in common. Danny.
She was nowhere to be seen, though. Not at the bar or in the lounge or…
“Shit,” I spat, realizing where she probably was. I took off toward the back of the club, where the kitchen and staff change rooms were located. Also, the management office.
I shrugged off the security guards who tried to stop me and threw open the office door with Kai only a few steps behind me. Sure enough, there she was.
“Oh hello, boys,” she purred from her seat in front of Lee Sheridan’s desk. “Nice of you to finally join me. Did you sort out your issues?” She tipped her head to the side, the only hint of anxiety showing in the way her eyes tracked back and forth between me and Kai.
I wet my lips, shooting a hard glare at the owner of Meow Lounge. “Trust you to pick such an opportune moment to get my DeLuna alone.”
The middle-aged man behind the desk just grinned and spread his hands wide. “Me? I did nothing wrong here. I simply came to thank your lovely partner for such an invigorating show, and she asked for a moment alone. How could I say no?” His face was pure smugness, and I was sorely tempted to cut it off his skull.