Only Skin Deep (6 page)

“Yes, sir.
Ran through the machine too.
It passed.”

“What
do you have to do with this?” he addressed the other restrained man.

“I
brought her. She’s twenty-one. I swear.
Met her at a frat
party.”

Donato
let go and pinned a glare on the downed man. “Move
and I’ll
taze
you.” His feet crunched gravel as he
walked over to the distressed young woman. He tilted his head one way and then
the other, appraising her. Guilt shone on her face. “Parents’ number,” he
ordered.

“Please
don’t call them. I’ll go home. That guy’s my brother.”

Only
a fool fell for the wiles of an embarrassed, forlorn female. “For all I know
he’s another classmate or college student.” A fool he might be, but he wasn’t
born yesterday. “It’s your parents or the police. Don’t think too long, my
niceness lasts about two minutes.” He shrugged, feigning indifference.

The
pixie-faced girl looked miserable as she rattled off a phone number.

“Name?”

“Tabitha.”

Donato
called the number and requested a pickup for the
party’s underage daughter. After he hung up, he addressed clown number one.
“You.
Pick someone in class with you to date. Now, get off
my property.” He watched the young man leave, his pants falling down. He turned
to the young girl. “That clown was your date?
With his pants
hangin’ around his ankles?”

“He’s
the coolest frat boy I know. He’s gangsta,” she stammered.

“Gangsta?
That clown. Darlin’, you have a lot to learn.” He
turned to address the other young man. “And for a brother, you’ve got a fucked
way to show your sister who to date and who not to.”

After
fifteen minutes of waiting, a car arrived. He walked to the driver’s side and
peered in. “Mr.
Lathan
?”

“Thank
you for not calling the authorities.”

“No
problem, but if they come back again, I will. This is a one shot warning.” He
looked at the brother. “Don’t forget what I told you.” He pivoted and headed
back indoors.
Nadja
was no longer on stage. He
scanned the crowd and got a glimpse of her fine ass on the far side of the
room. It wasn’t normal for her to stand in the middle of a crowd in her gown.
As he approached, he heard her musical laugh and relaxed when
Deja
came into his line of vision.

Loud
talking became hushed the closer he neared. Beaming a bright grin at
Deja
, he stepped into their space. “Diva
Deja
,” he ribbed.

“Pretty
boy,” she mouthed and turned to point to her date. “Derek,
Donato
.
Donato
, Derek.”

“Nice to meet you, bro.”
He turned to address
Nadja
. “Do you need an escort to go change?”

“Boy
does
she
!”
Deja
shouted.

“
Deja
,”
Nadja
groaned. “No,
Donato
. I’m capable of making it across the room without
help.” She rolled her eyes at her friend.

“
Sooo
,
Donato
—”

“Stop
it, D.”
Nadja
scowled and looked at
Donato
.

“I
need security.
Up for the job?”

“Sure,
just name the time. You’ve got my number.”

“Derek,
let’s go find a table and order drinks.”
Deja
strode
off with her date.

“Sure
you don’t want me to walk with you? Why chance getting your dress dirty?” Out
loud, that schoolboy line sounded ridiculous. He wanted to do dirty things to
Nadja
in that dress.

“No.
And you’re probably needed elsewhere.” She smiled and brushed past him.

I’m not going to follow her.

After
counting to ten, he set off after her. The cluster of people partying and
drinking swallowed her whole. In the general vicinity he heard raised voices,
and with the music playing overhead he couldn’t discern her exact location.
“Tomas.
Can you see
Nadja
?”

“Your
two o’clock. Some guy’s got a hand clamped on her arm. I’ll be down in a sec.”

“No.
I got this.”
Donato
pushed his way through the crowd
of people, following Tomas’ directions.

“Let
go of me.”
Nadja
struggled to extricate herself from
a drunken customer.

“C’mon,
you sounded real pretty up there. Let a real man show you how to take care of a
lady.”

“I
always thought Marc's friends were a particular kind of sleazy, but this takes
it to a new level. Does your wife know you're here, hitting on anything in a
skirt?"

“Sir.
You heard the lady. Let go of her arm.” Chances of the
drunkard being congenial and letting go were slim to none. Recognition hit him
as he came face to face with someone his family knew all too well.

“We’re just having ourselves a
lil
’
talk.”
He tugged
Nadja
closer to him. “Marc
doesn’t know what he gave up.”

Donato
seized the man’s arm, not liking his leering words
toward
Nadja
, and jerked it, breaking his hold on
her. He locked gazes with the drunk and widened his stance, ready for attack.
But nothing prepared him for what happened next. The coward pushed
Nadja
back into him. He grappled to catch her as she
pitched forward from the waist wobbling on her stilettos. Her shoulder slammed
into his stomach as she bounced against him, he caught a handful of ass.
Her
ass.
And it
felt damn good, plump and tight. He remembered his manners and reluctantly let
go. “You okay?”

He
radioed for Tomas to escort the drunk out of the building. “Told ya,
shoulda
let me take you back to get changed. Now if you
would just get your face out of my crotch, we could go.”

“I
can’t,” she shrieked.

“What
do you mean?” Hands tugged at his zipper.
“
Nadja
?”
What the fuck was she doing playing with his
pants? He tried to lift her up, heard a rip, and stopped.

“Fucking fuck me.
Deja
is going to
kill me. This was a loaner.” She worked the zipper again.

The
warm breath over the front of his crotch damn near killed him. Rock hard, he
groaned when her hand came into contact with his erection.

“Do
you have to do that?” she hissed between clenched teeth.

“Sorry.
Involuntary muscle.
It’d help if you’d quit breathing against
me.”

“Well,
I’m stuck.
Deal.”

He
fought the urge to deliver a slap to her sexy derriere. “Be careful with that.”

Nadja
pulled back and winced as it tore more. “I have to
get it down.”

“Maybe
it’s a bad time to tell you I go commando.”

Nadja
dropped her hands. “How am I going to work my way
out?”

“I
can think of a few ways. Just stop struggling. I’ll help you,” he ordered as he
brought his hands down on his zipper. “Gentle tugs.” Praying his skin wouldn’t
get pinched, he released the zipper,
thankful
her mass
of hair covered them. He heard her exclamation and
swoosh
of breath when her hand came in contact with his member.

“Can’t
you control certain body parts?”

“You
blew on me.” He chuckled and eased the zipper slider on her shoulder strap away
from his zipper. “Not too fast. I need to zip back up. Keep your face there.”

“Glad
to see you think this is humorous.”

“Humor
is the last thing on my mind, doll.” He fixed his pants and stepped back. He
zeroed in on her flushed face, and her eyes bugged out, ogling him. His cock
throbbed heavy under his pants.

“I
need some air, a d-drink.”

Seeing
her flustered turned him on. The many faces that had glanced their way, added
to her embarrassment. No longer cool and unapproachable, he got a glimpse of
the woman behind what he deemed cement walls. Instead of pummeling the asshole
that started this mess, he wanted to shake hands and thank him. Christ, if that
wasn’t fucked up, what was? By now, Tomas should’ve kicked the dickhead out. He
turned his attention back to
Nadja
and pasted a smile
on his face.

“Anything
for you, doll.”
Donato
looped an arm around her and
assisted her over to the bar. Tucked up against him, her body trembled. He
rubbed her arm with gentle soothing strokes, trying like hell to ignore the
sparks he felt ignite when his fingertips grazed her skin.
“
Yo
, Micah.”
He rapped on the countertop to get the
bartender’s attention. “Get her something
strong,
she’s a bit shook up.” He leaned on the bar, his hand tapping the counter, as
the bartender brought a shot of whiskey.

“Water
is fine,”
Nadja
declined the alcohol and extricated
her arm from his.

Donato
frowned at her. “You need something stronger than
water.” He pushed the whiskey in front of her. “Drink up.”

“I’m
fine, really. I don’t want a babysitter. And anyway,
Deja
is making her way over.”

“No
one’s babysitting you. Drink up. It’s not a request.”

“
You
are not the boss of me.”
Nadja
slid the shot over in front of him.

“Drink
the goddamn shot, woman.” The tone in his voice dropped as he was summoned
elsewhere. Yeah. She was good at pushing buttons. “I’ll be back.” He handed her
the glass. “One shot won’t hurt you and will put me at ease. When I return, I
don’t want to see any liquid left in this glass.” He gave her a parting glance,
turned and headed over to the other end of the bar, his control hanging on by
strings. “What, Tomas?” he barked into his
mic
.

“It’s
done, boss.”

“You
got his work address?”

“Yes, sir.”

A
hint of a smile spread across his face as Tomas rattled off some numbers. He
thought the man looked familiar. “Good. I want him to be surprised when I make
an appearance at his job.”

“Boss, you sure?
You could’ve called the police.”

“Where’s
the fun in that? No police will be needed. I’m just going to deliver a
message.”

“Need
a partner?”

Donato
chuckled.
“Why the hell not.”
He let his gaze drift across the club.
“Everything else all
good?”

“No
other problems have come across the system,” Tomas replied.

“Good.
Let’s hope it’s an otherwise easy night then.”

“You’re
a good man, boss. Don’t let anyone else say otherwise.”

“Thank
you, Tomas. No one has the balls to.”

Nadja
appeared relaxed with
Deja
next to her engaged in deep conversation. However, the shot glass hadn’t been
touched. He edged closer to them, satisfied for the moment with the outcome of
the incident. He gathered from snippets of their conversation that
Nadja
was more embarrassed over being stuck to his pants
than anything else. As soon as they saw him, the chatter cut short.
“Ladies.”

“
Donato
,”
Deja
greeted with a
smile.

He
looked at
Nadja
. “I thought I told you to make sure
the glass was empty when I returned.”

Liquid
stung his eyes. He blinked and reached for a napkin to wipe the alcohol
dripping off his face and neck. The sheer gall of the temptress in front of him
stunned him. Activity around them halted as people whispered. His jaw ticked,
and anger hit full force. He tried counting before reacting, but he wasn’t
surprised at all when it failed to work.

Deja
stood as a barrier. “Move it,” he roared, his gaze
catching Derek coming forward.

Pushing
Deja
out of the way proved difficult. “
Donato
, she didn’t mean to be so brazen.”

“Like
hell I didn’t. I won’t be bullied by anyone
Donato
,
including you,”
Nadja
said, peeking out from around
her friend.

“
Deja
, I suggest you get out of his way,” Derek interjected,
his hand on her arm. “
Nadja’s
a big girl, and she’s
not in imminent danger. Plus I don’t want to get beat down trying to protect
you for something we have nothing to do with.”

Deja
stuck her finger out at Derek. “She’s my friend, and I
don’t need a punk for a man, so if this is the real you, then we have nothing
else to discuss.”

Donato
chuckled at Derek’s perplexed expression. “
Nadja
, come here.”

“I’m
fine where I’m at,
Donato
.”
Nadja
held her ground.

Derek
hauled
Deja
into his arms. “We’ll take this up in the
hotel.
Later,
Donato
.”

Donato
slid his gaze to Derek. “Good luck with her.” As the
newcomer walked away with
Deja
, he had a clear view
of
Nadja
. Anger shone in her glare. The stinging in
his eyes had receded, or his anger blocked out the smarting pain.
Either way, she was a sitting duck, and
she knew it. He
continued to gaze at her, keeping his face stoic. “You can’t move fast in that
gown. The best option is for you to get up and come with me peacefully. You
know actions have consequences.” As she processed the information, his anger
turned to amusement and then lust. Life with her would never be boring, and
he’d get accustomed to her fiery demeanor. Who knows, pricking that passionate
temper might prove fun.