And he wrapped his hand around my neck before pinning me against the pole.
“What are you doing? You aren’t allowed to touch—”
Chops leaned in and sniffed me. “I can touch whatever I want in this place, you understand?”
I closed my eyes. “You’re holding my neck a bit too tight. Please, all I’m doing is what you wanted.”
Where the fuck is Cole? Why is he not in my ear?
Chops chuckled as he nipped at my neck with his lips and my instinct was reactive. I shoved him away, watching as he stumbled off the platform and almost fall to the floor. The two of us froze at that moment, staring at one another as he slowly stood to his feet.
Then, his eyes darkened with madness. “Oh, you’re going to pay for that.”
“No!” I shrieked.
I leapt off the platform as he lunged for me and I raced for the door. I knew that if I pulled my gun, I’d blow my cover, and that would put every single one of the guys in danger. I had to get out of there. I had to get away from this man.
I had to find Cole and figure out what happened to him.
“Come here,” he growled.
“No!” I shrieked. “Someone help me!”
Chops grabbed me by my hair and yanked me back before tossing me to the floor. I caught myself on my hands and knees and scrambled to get up, but Chops’ boot stepped down against the small of my back. I fell to my stomach with a thud, clawing at the carpet to try and get back to my feet.
And the second his belt buckle clinked around, tears rushed my eyes.
“No, you can't do this. You can’t touch the dancers!” I yelped.
I tried to get up again, but it was no use. His pants slid down his legs before he grabbed my ankles and flipped me over. And as he stood over me, his cock in his hands, I did the only thing that came to mind.
I jammed the spike of my heel right into his fucking ball sack.
“Holy fuck!” he roared.
He collapsed to his knees and I slithered from between his legs, watching blood drip to the floor beneath him. I almost threw up at the feeling of his leaking dick streaking across my bare thigh, but I didn’t care. He deserved exactly what he got, and I hoped it became infected so he lost his entire dick.
But as I scrambled to get up, he reached for me, latching onto my wig. And while I knew the glue could hold up to one big pull, I knew it wouldn’t hold up to another one.
Which is why it came flying right off my head as I leapt to my feet.
For the briefest moment in time, everything froze. Chops stared at the wig in his hand and as blood dripped against the carpet in the bedroom, I watched even the rising and falling of his breaths still. I had to take the moment. I had to capitalize on it as quickly as possible.
So, I dashed over to a hidden side door that every room used as an emergency exit and slipped through it before Chops looked up.
And I prayed that Cole was okay as I hissed the word heatedly through my lips.
“Pineapple. Cole, if you can hear me, pineapple, pineapple, pineapple!”
I managed to utilize the back hallways in that club to weave my way back to the dressing room. I slipped through the door and found the room still empty, despite the fact that another dancer was on in ten. I heard the announcer’s voice out in the main room fade away as the back door to the dressing room closed behind me. And quickly, I raced to my locker and pulled out a back-up wig Cole made me pack in my very first bag.
“Thank fuck, for him,” I said breathlessly.
I sat down at my vanity and quickly stuffed my hair back into the net that was keeping it flushed with my scalp. It took me a few minutes to get the wig looking right, then I peeled up the sides and slipped a little bit of glue under there for some extra hold. I knew it wasn’t as good of a job as Cole would have done, but it was all I had.
And when it looked as natural as it could on top of my head, I took a second to close my eyes.
“Cole, where the fuck are you?” I murmured.
Twenty-One
Archer
“Hey, guys,” I murmured as I put my binoculars down, “I got a black van pulling through the front gates now.”
Finn chuckled. “Bet you’re glad we bought a black van now, aren’t ya, Brooks?”
Brooks grumbled. “Shut up.”
I grinned. “It looks like they’re—shit, shit, shit. We gotta get in there.”
“Why? What’s happening?” Porter asked.
I stepped over all of them and took off for the entrance. “They’ve got Black Flag logos on the backs of their jackets!”