Lost in Me (Lost Duet #1)

Chapter Thirteen

Shawn

I tighten my grip around Em’s waist as my guard opens the front door, allowing us to go past the people waiting to get inside. I can hear the music blasting and the booze has already been served. The dance floor is already filled.

I look down at Em. She is looking all around with the biggest smile I have ever seen on her face, which makes my heartbeat slow down. I was nervous when she said she wanted to come tonight, but looking at her right now, she is happy, and that is all I want.

I warned her about entering through the doors of my life, and she has never tried to back out. If anything, she has been taking steady steps through the door without second-guessing. She is everything I have ever wanted and so much more.

We are using her as bait tonight to see if her ex will come out of the shadows. I still don’t like the fucking idea, but it is the only one I know will get him to come out and face me head-on. He is a fucking coward and will wait in the shadows forever if he has to. It is time we play my game. Because I am sick and tired of playing his.

I am sick and tired of waking up and seeing his fucking gifts outside of our house or at the center. The cops I hired to watch him have been trying, but Jesse is smart and has been able to stay away. He is keeping his distance enough where my people don’t always know where he is, which makes me nervous.

We slowly make our way through the crowd of people. Em doesn’t notice it, but the men and women on the dance floor are staring at her. She doesn’t pay them any mind as we make our way toward the bar. I am jealous that they want what I have, but I am also proud they see and want her.

She makes me feel a mixture of things, but my jealousy is nothing like Jesse’s. I don’t want to hide her away where she can’t be seen. I want people to see her and desire her. I want them to see that I belong to her now, and she belongs to me.

We stop at the bar. Em sets her arms on the counter as the bartender makes his way over to us. “Hey, Shawn. Do you want the normal?” the bartender asks me. This kid has been working for me since I opened this club. He is a good, loyal worker, and I know I can trust him.

I know he will keep his eyes on Em for me when I have to go take care of things upstairs. I don’t want her to see me dealing just yet. I am not ashamed of who I am or how I make my money, but she needs to take a small step each day into my world, not run right into it.

“Yes,” I state softly.

“And for you?” The bartender looks at Em. She slowly turns and looks at me. I nod and smile. I don’t think I will ever get used to it when she feels the need to look at me for permission, and honestly, it makes my blood boil, remembering she does it because of what Jesse has done to her.

She turns back and smiles at the bartender. “Can I please get a Sea Breeze?” she asks.

“Good choice,” the bartender states with a smile.

He looks at me and nods as he turns around and starts making our drinks. Em has never drunk around me before, and honestly, I don’t think she has drunk since she was a teen, but it makes me happy knowing she feels comfortable doing things Jesse wouldn’t let her do.

A few minutes later, the bartender turns around and hands Em and me both of our drinks. I take mine and watch Em closely as she takes the seat and takes a small sip. She nods with a smile.

She turns around, resting her back against the bar, taking another sip of her Sea Breeze, and watching people dance.

She turns and looks at me as I take a sip. She leans into me, making my heart race. “Want to dance with me?”

“I think I should be the one asking you.”

She tilts her head to the side. “Since when do you follow the rules?” she whispers with a smile.

She is right. I have never followed the rules of society, so why should I start now? We both set down our drinks. She grabs my hand and turns around, leading me into the crowd of people. I look down and watch her hips start to sway to the music as she finds a spot right in the middle of the dance floor.

She releases my hand, lifts her arms, and starts to sway more to the music. I gently grab onto her hips as she backs into me, positioning her ass right against my now hard dick. This woman is going to be the death of me.

She leans back and rests her hands on the back of my neck. As I tighten my grip on her hips, we both start to get lost in the music.

I lean down, placing my lips against her ear as I release my hold on her hips and start to gently move my hands up and down the side of her body. Our bodies are now both swaying to the same tune.

She is fucking intoxicating. Everything about her draws me in like an addict to dope. I have never been big on doing drugs, but fuck, when it comes to her, I will gladly become addicted. I already am.

“I love you, Angel,” I whisper into her ear, making sure she can hear me through the music. Those words used to be so hard to say, but now with her, I say them a million times a day, and it still doesn’t feel like I say it enough. Still, I don’t feel like those words are able to explain how much I need her in my life.

She came to me for protection, and now I am the one that needs protection because I am falling hard and fast, and when I hit bottom, it might just kill me.

“Say it again,” she whispers through the music, making my heart race. I can feel my dick move with her words. She is learning how to play games with me. Games I am willing to play and win.

She loves to feel wanted and desired, and I have no issues providing those things. I will worship her with my eyes, my hands, my dick, my heart, soul, and mind—it all belongs to her.

“I love you,” I whisper again into her ear.

Our bodies continue to sway to the music as I wait. “Show me just how much,” she states in a sexy-as-fuck voice. Even through the music, I can hear the seduction in her voice.

She lowers her hands from my neck and slowly turns around. I grab onto her hips again, pulling her against me. Her hands are now at her sides as I lean in for a kiss. She opens her mouth for me as we both continue to sway to the music.

I can feel everyone staring at me, at her, at us, making my heart race.

We both pull back just enough to look at each other. “I love you too,” she states softly. I can barely hear her through the loud music, but I know she said it back, and I know she wouldn’t say it if she didn’t really feel it.

Emory is not the kind of girl to say something just to say it. Everything she does and says has a meaning behind it, and her telling me she loves me and showing me affection in our home and out in public is something I am not going to take for granted.

I take a deep breath as I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn and see one of my guys. The look in his eyes tells me it is time for me to deal. I look down at Em. She nods and smiles as I grab her hand and turn around, leading us back through the crowd toward the bar.

When we get to the bar, I release my hold on Em’s hand and lean over the counter. “You keep your eyes on her,” I say to the kid. He doesn’t say anything but nods and smiles.

I look down at Em. She is sipping her drink again. I lean into her and kiss the side of her head. “Stay here, okay?” I whisper in a demanding voice.

“Okay,” she says softly.

“I won’t be long,” I say trying to reassure her, but honestly I think I am trying to convince myself.

“Don’t worry, I will be fine,” she says with confidence, but I can hear in her tone that she is nervous, which in turn makes me uneasy for leaving her here at all.

I take a deep breath and kiss her one more time before leaning back and slowly following behind my guy. The people move for us as we make our way to the steps. I slightly turn before going up the stairs and see Em talking to the bartender.

Why the fuck did I ever think of the idea of using her as fucking bait? I will be kicking myself in the ass for this for a long time.

I turn back around and head up the stairs, following behind my guy as we make our way toward my office. The office I do all my dealings from. She will be fine. It won’t take me long to get this deal done and over with. Then I will be back at her side, and soon we will go back home where I know she will be safe.

I think after tonight, she might want to go back to work. She loves helping people, but since falling in love with her, the thought of us starting a family one day and her staying home as I work has crossed my mind more than once.

But I know she isn’t ready to talk about those things. For fuck’s sake, we just officially got together. I don’t want to scare her away, but man, I want to tie her down in the best possible way. Kids have never been something I wanted until her, and now I want it all—the white fence, the wife, the kids running around, even a damn dog is starting to sound good. Fuck, man, she really has changed me.

I make my way into my office. I see the man and woman sitting on the couch. I take a deep breath as my guy closes the door, and I take a seat at my desk. From here, I can see the entire club, including the bar, but being up here and her being down there doesn’t fucking sit right with me.

I take a deep breath as I sit back in my chair and grab the bag. I throw it on my desk and watch the woman and man stare at each other. The woman stands up, holding the cash in her hand. She sets it down on the desk, takes the bag, and quickly makes her way back over to the man.

“Is that all?” I ask, not hiding my irritation. I love dealing. I hate dealing with fucking people.

“We will need another bag next week. Is that going to be a problem?” the man asks me.

What a stupid fucking question. “Has it ever been a problem, dude?” I snap back.

“Nope,” he answers, shaking his head. Damn right, it has never been a problem, and it never will be a problem.

“Then I will see you next week,” I state as calmly as I can.

The man and woman stand up. My guy opens the door, and I watch them quickly make their way out. I stand up from my desk and make my way over to the open window. Em is still at the bar talking to the bartender.

I hear my guy come next to me. He rests his arm on the window as we both look out at the club and my soon-to-be wife. “She has changed you, man,” Ethan states calmly.

He is not wrong. She has changed me to the point where people closest to me have started to notice.

“Yes, she has,” I say softly, taking a deep breath. The club is filled with people, and the line outside is getting longer. My clubs are always filled with people, but tonight, I really don’t care. I only care about Em and making sure this plan we have come up with doesn’t fucking backfire.

“It is a good thing,” Ethan states, reassuring me. Ethan has been in my life since I started dealing drugs, and over the years, he is the one that brought in more and more guys to work for me, and now in a fucked-up way, we are family. A very fucked-up family, but family all the same.

“I know,” I state, continuing to look out the window.

“I am glad you two found each other,” Ethan states in a confident voice. Out of all the men who work for me, Ethan is the one I trust the most. He is like my brother, and we have been through a lot together, but nothing compared to what we are about to go through with Jesse. This brings things to a whole new level, but I trust that when the time comes, I will be able to count on him for whatever I need.

“I am, too,” I whisper. I never thought I would say these things to Ethan, but we live in a world where anything can happen. Even me finding the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. I would have already married her as soon as she gave herself to me if I knew she would say yes, and she might, but I don’t want to push her into something she’s not ready for.

“You need to know something,” Ethan says in a low, concerned voice.

“What?” I ask, not knowing if I want to know the answer. Right now, things are calm, and I have a feeling once he tells me whatever he needs to tell me, things will no longer be calm. I will no longer be calm.

Ethan takes a deep breath making me nervous. He only does that when he is trying to prepare himself to tell me something bad, really fucking bad. “You need to know that he is here.”

I quickly turn my head and stare at Ethan. “What?” I am not able to hide the anxiety and rage in my tone.

“He came in a while ago when you guys were on the dance floor,” Ethan states calmly. We both look at each other a moment. I take my own deep breath, trying to slow down my heartbeat before I lose my fucking shit.

“Why the fuck are you just now telling me?” I ask him, knowing he has a reason for everything he does.

Ethan continues to look at me. “You didn’t need to know yet,” he states with confidence, as I am trying to protect Em. Ethan does everything he can to protect me. It is just the kind of guy he is, and if he can take care of things without letting me know, that is exactly what he does. I normally learn about shit after it happens, which used to drive me crazy, but over the years, I have learned to accept it is how he does things.

“And I do now?” I ask, hearing the worry in my voice.

“Yes, because he is making his way over to Em right now.” Ethan is looking from me to the window, at the people having fun. The people that have no idea what is about to go down.

I turn my head and look around, and that is when I see Jesse slowly making his way through the crowd toward Em. My heart sinks and races at the same time.

“Don’t worry, boss, this club is filled with us. He won’t touch her,” Ethan states in a low, dark, but confident voice.

I don’t respond because I shouldn’t be surprised. This was the whole plan, and it seems to be working. I watch as Em continues to talk to the bartender.

Jesse continues to make his way to her. My heart sinks as I turn and look at Ethan. He looks from the window to me, then nods. I am not taking any fucking chances. It worked. The plan fucking worked. He came out of the shadows, but I am not going to let him fucking near her.

I am not going to chance him putting his fucking hands on her, or worse, putting fucking thoughts in her head when tonight she has made such progress allowing herself to be free and happy.

We have prepared for this. I just seriously prayed it wouldn’t be tonight, not when she finally convinced me she could come to the club. I honestly just wanted her to have one night out where nothing fucked-up happened.

Now is when Jesse and I will finally go head to fucking head, and we will see who is fucking standing at the end.

Ethan and I both quickly turn around and make our way to the door. Ethan opens it. “Close down the club,” I instruct.

“Yes, sir,” Ethan states, nodding at me as I make my way through the door and down the stairs.

We need to fucking act quick before Jesse either fucking runs or does something that can’t be undone.