The Hunt for Summer (NSC Industries) (10 page)

He nodded wildly and
hurried away and I chuckled to myself as my first track kicked in.

I had chosen all
hard stuff tonight and the first one was
Theory of a Deadman’s ‘Bad
Girlfriend’
which was quite a fast number but nothing I couldn’t handle.

Misty waved to me
from across the room and I smirked at her get up. She was wearing a long red body
sock but the whole thing had been ripped to shreds and I shook my head in
humour when she pulled her own nipple into her mouth, licked it slowly and
winked suggestively at me.

Andrew returned and
settled himself into a chair before me and shouted he had booked me for 10
O’clock. I nodded and smiled to him and then set to work.

Lucas had watched me
all night and I frowned when I realised he hadn’t disappeared with any of the
girls but every time I caught his eye, he smiled lazily with a dark glint in his
eyes and tipped his head slightly.

His actions had me
horny and wet by the time ten O’clock approached and I saw the smug expression
on Lucas’s face as I greeted my replacement dancer and hopped off the stage.

Lucas walked over to
me with a pint of bitter and I smiled my thanks and downed it in one having
worked up a thirst.

“You done, Red?” he
asked as his eyes perused my body for the millionth time that night.

I shook my head.
“Private booking” I told him as I wiped my mouth.

Very uncouth, Lay!

“Room 12, Private,
Willow.” Owen shouted to me.

I nodded and turned
to Andrew, “Ten minutes.”

He nodded excitedly
and made his way down the corridor to the private rooms.

Lucas’s eyebrows
rose high when he regarded Andrew and squinted at me. “It’s all money” I
shrugged as Puss headed towards me with William and Frank, one of the security
guys.

“Willow. My office
now” William said sternly as he fingered a large brown envelope in his hands.

“Everything okay,
William?” I asked cautiously. He nodded but Puss put her hand in mine and led
me to William’s office.

Frank closed the
door behind us and I hadn’t realised Lucas had entered with us until William
turned to him. “Mr Hunt. I really need to speak with Willow alone.”

Lucas shook his head
slowly “Willow is currently under my submission and it is my responsibility to
make sure she is safe.”

My jaw dropped at
his statement and William turned to me “Is this correct, Willow?”

Lucas nodded his
head faintly in a silent plea to confirm his declaration. “Yes, William” I
confirmed.

Lucas smiled
slightly and gave me a quick nod of his head.

William sighed
heavily and gave me a troubled glance, then handed me the envelope.

“A courier just
dropped this off and I think it belongs to you instead of me” he said and I
frowned as I opened the envelope.

My knees buckled as
I caught sight of the contents and I stared at William with wide eyes. He
swallowed and gave me a sorrowful expression “I don’t think I’ll be the only
one to receive a copy of these, Willow.”

“Oh Shit!”

My hands shook along
with my legs and Lucas stepped beside me and took hold of the envelope but I
held it firm and I shook my head at him. “No” I said simply.

He narrowed his eyes
on me but didn’t push it.

“I’m really sorry,
Willow but until this is sorted I have to suspend your contract here. I don’t
have any choice sweetheart. I can’t risk the other girls, not with his
reputation.”

I ran my hands
across my face but nodded “I know.”

William looked
thoroughly sorry and I smiled at him in forgiveness “You have nothing to be
sorry for William. It’s the complete right thing to do. If anything happened to
one of the others because of
him
, then I’d never forgive myself.”

He walked over to me
and took my hand “I’ve been in contact with Mason and filled him in. He’s
already got his guy’s on it so try and keep safe until he sorts it.”

I nodded and
frowned. “You told him about these?” I asked lifting the brown envelope up.

William nodded
solemnly “Yeah. I had to Willow. It involves him too.”

I slammed my fist
into William’s wall “It’s Ava I’m worried about, not Mason.”

William sighed and
nodded and placed his hand on my forearm gently “We all have a past Willow. I’m
sure Ava is aware of that.”

I nodded and groaned
when my phone rang and I saw Mason’s name on screen. He must have sensed us
talking about him.

Pulling in a deep
breath and ignoring Lucas’s confused expression I answered. “Hey.”

“Lay, you okay?” he
asked gently and I scoffed.

“Ava?” I asked
hesitantly.

“She’s okay, Lay. Don’t
worry. I’ve sorted it with her.”

I exhaled heavily
“You sure, Mase cos’ I…”

“Lay! I said she’s
okay and she is. It was before her, and she understands that and believe me
Lay, Ava is no angel, she has her own kinks so don’t worry. Anyway listen, I’ve
got Sam and Greg on it as well as a couple of security guys I know. They’ve put
traces on him so we’ll find him. Okay?”

“Yeah” I answered
quietly but I didn’t hold much hope.

“Come on, I’ll run you
home” Puss said when I ended Mason’s call.

“No need. I’ll take
her” Lucas demanded and I rolled my eyes and I sighed at his dominance.

Sometimes it would
be nice to just go with ‘easy’, ‘simple’ and ‘uncomplicated’ but I didn’t have
a hope in hell at the moment.

Puss glanced at me
questioningly and I held up my hands. “Whoever, cos’ right now all I want is a
long soak, a hot chocolate and some blasting tunes to sink into.”

Lucas nodded once
and grabbed my hand, pulling me through the door before I had chance to change
my mind.

Chapter 10

Lucas

I glanced at Red as
I opened the car door for her and my stomach clenched at the resignation in her
eyes.

She looked utterly
defeated and I wondered what hold this guy had on her, and what was in the damn
secretive brown envelope. It was obviously something shocking regarding Red and
Mason and I was damned if I didn’t get a glance at the contents before the
night was out.

“I really think you
ought to stay with me for a while, Red. Just while Diablo is out there.”

She shook her head
and turned to face the window as I turned into a back street and checked my
mirrors to see if we were being followed.

I noticed a couple
of cars but they were quite far back so nothing jumped out at me.

“Red?” I asked again
but she still didn’t answer and I cast a quick glimpse in her direction.

Shit! She was
crying. What the hell did I do now?

“Hey” I said softly
and placed my hand on her thigh nervously.

She shook her head
but still didn’t turn to face me and I could sense her embarrassment so I found
a spot at the side of the road and pulled over.

She suddenly gripped
the door handle in a bid to escape but I flicked the door lock before she could
make her getaway.

“Please, just let me
out Lucas…” she hiccupped and my heart stuttered at her distress.

Oh Crap. I wasn’t
used to these feelings and I didn’t know what to do to help her.

I gripped her chin
gently as I turned her to face me and I gulped at the desolation in her eyes.
“I… I’m… S..Sorry...” She stuttered.

I shook my head at
her and stroked the tears off her cheeks with my thumbs “Hey, I can’t wipe away
your tears unless you let them fall.”

Her eyes widened at
me as I continued to dab her wet cheeks and she nibbled furiously on her bottom
lip.

I squinted as I saw
a figure approaching the car with his head down and covered with a hood. He
glanced upwards and caught my eyes.

SHIT!

“Hold on, Red!” I
told her as I floored the accelerator. The man started running.

Like he could outrun
a Porsche. Fool!

Red turned in her
seat to see who we were fleeing from and I heard her gasp when she caught sight
of whoever it was.

She slumped back in
her seat and confusion covered her face. “Holy Fuck!” she whispered and I
risked a glance at her as I screeched into a one way street just to see if we
were followed.

“You know him?” I
asked her as I shot a look in my mirror and was relieved to see no car
following us down the wrong way.

“Yeah…” she puffed
out and looked a little startled, “But I thought, I thought Mason…”

She leant forward
and pulled her phone from her bag and I took it she was dialling Mason. “Mase.
Simon Bell… he’s still around.”

I caught Mason swear
down the phone. “Yep, No just seen him following us,”
Pause.
“Well the
last I heard he was self contracting himself out, but we thought he’d moved
abroad.”
Pause.
“Yeah, well just warn Ava. After Dane contracted him, I
just wanted to warn you.”
Pause.
“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

I sighed heavily
when she ended the call and slowed down the car when I was sure we weren’t been
followed. “Are you gonna tell me what the hell’s going on, Red?” I asked with
annoyance at all the secrecy.

She scrunched up her
face and took a huge gulp of air “It’s best if you don’t get involved, Lucas.
Honestly, you don’t need to get on the wrong side of Diablo… he, he has his own
set of rules and, well they’re not nice.” She turned her face away and I could
see her reliving some of Diablo’s rules.

“I can take care of
myself Red, and well, I just wanna help.”

Her brows furrowed
in puzzlement “Why?”

I used my mirrors as
a diversion and shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe I like you.”

She smiled at me
softly when I turned to glance at her. “And I like you too, that’s why I’m
trying to keep you out of this” She said as I pulled up outside her apartment.

We we’re both quiet
for a moment, just eyeing each other up, trying to figure out what each of us
felt but she eventually smiled and pulled open her door. “Thanks for the lift.
I’ll see you in the morning.”

Sighing heavily, I
nodded and glanced up to the window of her flat, “Give me a wave when you’re in
safe” I told her and she nodded before closing the door softly.

I couldn’t help but
watch the sweep of her coat swish against her tight calves, the way she took
each delicate step with elegance and controlled movement, her hips swaying with
each ascend of the steps up to her flat front door.

Before I knew what I
was doing I was out of the car and running to catch up with her “Let me see you
in, okay?”

She sucked on her
lips but sighed and relented and gave me a small nod as I followed her in.

I frowned at the
noise as we entered her flat and Red groaned loudly but didn’t say anything and
I cringed when we passed a closed door and the sounds got louder.

“Your room mate?” I
asked and she nodded as she made her way towards the kitchen and filled a mug
with milk as she plonked her bag beside the worktop.

“Hot chocolate?” she
asked.

I smiled widely and
nodded in confirmation “Christ, haven’t had a hot chocolate in years.”

She gave me one of
her pretty smiles, the one that lit her whole face and her eyes twinkled
brightly and I bit down on my lip to shift my wayward thoughts.

She filled another
mug and placed them both into the microwave “I’m just gonna go change. Two
minutes.”

I nodded and watched
her retreat into her bedroom and as soon as she dipped around the doorframe I
swept down and pulled the envelope out of her bag. Casting another glance
towards her room before I pulled out the contents to make sure it was safe, I
slipped open the flap and slid my hand inside.

“Oh go fuck
yourself, you big jerk…” a female voice filtered from the hallway and I hissed
and put the envelope back into Red’s bag.