“Robyn, what the fuck?” the guy with Zane huffs and all eyes swing toward her.

“Daniel w-what are you doing here?” she stammers.

“Daniel!” Cal roars.

I wish someone would clue me in on what the fuck is happening right now.

I DON’T KNOW who to look at first. I’m painfully aware that Mr. Carter is standing a mere ten feet away from me, and Daniel is here with Zane. Callum and Cole look about as confused as I feel, and the atmosphere is so volatile, I’m sure the slightest noise or movement would cause and explosion.

To test my theory, Annie breaks the silence.

“What’s going on here?” she asks gingerly. I’m floored when it’s Danny that speaks up in response. He answers her question but he’s looking at me.

“I told you I’d gotten into something, Robyn. Well, these are the guys I was trying to avoid and keep away from. His eyes travel over Zane and then jump to Carter.

I feel sick.

He looks back to me with a pained expression and my heart sinks.

“Zane, what the fuck is he talking about?” Callum grinds out through his clenched jaw.

“Well, this is awkward.” Zane laughs, but there’s no humor behind it. “Daniel here owes me money, a lot of money. And Carl,” he points over to Mr. Carter, “was supposed to make the collection for me, only Daniel did a disappearing act. Carl decided if he couldn’t retrieve my cash from Danny boy, he’d collect it from his girlfriend, which I learned as fucked-up fate would have it, was you, Robyn. I had no idea until you,” he nods at Cal, “asked me to find out who Carter was.”

Cal steps forward, his arms tensed, and I catch his wrist and wrap both my arms around his in an attempt to stop him from attacking Zane. I’m almost certain he’ll shrug out of my hold and do it anyway, but he stops. Everyone’s feet shuffle; the tension escalates and everyone is poised to attack. My pulse is thrashing in my ears as I squeeze Cal’s arms a little tighter.

“You’re the one threatening her?” he asks, although he knows the answer, we all do. I look over to Annie, whose face is contorted in horror. Her pallor almost matches the lightness of her pixie blonde hair.

“I didn’t know it was Robyn,” he says, looking over to me. He actually has the nerve to look sorry. “Carl told me Daniel’s girlfriend would pay. He never mentioned your name, or I’d have figured it out sooner. I told him to back off when it became clear. That’s when we managed to track Daniel again.”

I want to scream at him and tell him to go to hell. He’s ruined my life for the past few months, and all this time I was coming to work each day and laughing and joking with him. I thought he was my friend. I can’t process the information fast enough because Cal speaks up before I get a chance.

“How the fuck did he wind up owing you ten grand? And since when are you in the business of loaning out money?” His voice trails off at the last part of his question, and he shakes his head in disbelief.

Zane adjusts his stance.

“Tell me this has nothing to do with why the books don’t balance, Zane.”

Silence.

“You motherfucking piece of shit! You’re using the clubs money!” He yells so loudly I feel the noise rumble through my chest. I drop my hands from Cal and a part of me would like him to punch Zane right now. The room is so still it feels like every word spoken is amplified tenfold.

“You’re the one who was selling Daniel coke?” I ask in disbelief, shaking my head.

Callum’s body vibrates. I can feel his pulse hammering in his wrist against my hand hanging loosely by his. I take a hold of him again, only this time a little tighter. I look up at him and he looks murderous, his nostrils are flared and his eyes narrowed. He looks nothing like the Callum I know. I press myself against him, willing him to calm down, although I’m as far away from calm as I’ve ever been.

Daniel is still standing by Zane, but his eyes dart to Carter’s every few seconds. I’m sure he’s weighing his chances of getting past him if he decides to bolt. I look over at Cole who’s slowly been inching closer to Cal. His face looks thunderous; he looks beyond angry and more than a little intimidating. Callum and Cole aren’t small, they both stand a few inches over six feet tall and are well built. Zane’s leaner than the two of them, but not by a whole lot. Danny’s the smallest by far. I catch his eye and for a second I almost feel bad for how scared he looks.

“It’s business,” Zane answers. “I’ve been doing it for years, and you’ve never noticed before. I never stole from you; we’re friends. I’ve always maintained your accounts, and yes, I used your money to make mine, but I always put it back. Until this piece of shit.” He motions to Danny. “The greedy little fucker decided to use up all the product and then run, leaving me with a supplier to pay and no product to sell.”

Cal jolts forward toward Zane and Danny takes this opportunity to do what he does best—run. It’s not until Annie’s scream registers that we all look around to see Carter pull a gun on Daniel.

“Get back over there, you little fuck,” he growls and Daniel’s arms fly into the air in surrender. The sound of him stumbling into tables as he walks backward clumsily echoes through the room.

“I’m going! Okay, okay. I’m sorry. Put the gun down, okay, man?”

“Shut up and move back!” Carter shouts.

“Carl, lower the gun for fuck’s sake,” Zane yells, and I watch as he drops the hand holding the gun down to his side. I take a shuddering breath, realizing that I’d forgotten to breathe.

Callum moves in front of me, keeping his arm behind him and locked tight against my thighs in an attempt to keep me in place. My heart is hammering so hard against my ribs that it’s painful, and tears begin streaming down my face although I’m not making a sound. Nobody is—you could hear a pin drop.

How the hell did I get myself into this mess?

“Get out of my fucking club now, Zane, and take him with you,” Callum says, motioning toward Carter.

I look around for Annie, but she’s not where she was a moment ago. I’m silently praying to God that she’s crept out and is calling the police, not just hiding behind the bar. I’m trying to be inconspicuous as my eyes roam around looking for her. The last thing I want is to alert anyone to her departure.

“Okay fine, we’ll go,” Zane says, moving toward Carter, who looks less than pleased.

“Like fuck we will,” he growls. “This shit owes us money.” He points toward Danny. “And this one broke my nose and a rib. He’s lucky I haven’t killed him already,” he snarls over at Callum. A cold chill runs to the base of my spine; it feels like ice as I shudder and grip the back of Callum’s shirt, curling my fingers into the fabric.

“You know what?” Carter says to Callum with a sinister laugh. “I think I will shoot you. An eye for an eye and all that.” He raises the gun toward us and I hold my breath and screw my eyes shut tight,

“Oh God, please don’t shoot! Please!” I cry.

The next few seconds play out in agonizing slow motion. Cole rushes Carter in a tackle, barging his head and shoulder into his side and knocking Carter over. The gun fires so loudly my ears pop and Daniel makes to grab it from Carter while Cole attempts to wrestle him to the ground. Another shot fires, the noise ricocheting around the club. It suddenly smells as though fireworks have been let off, and Callum spins, pushing me down to the floor as Zane rushes toward us. My head hits the floor hard and my vision swims as an intense heat blossoms down my neck and across my back. The floor is cold against my clammy body and I hear growls and shouting mixed with the sounds of thwacks and scuffling. Chairs are getting knocked over and tables are toppling as the guys roll and kick furiously. Another shot fires, the sound piercing through the scuffling. Callum’s weight falls full-force on top of me, stealing my breath and pinning me to the ground. My face is smothered against the crushing weight of his chest. I kick and attempt to scream for him to get off of me, trying to move from under him and take a breath. I’m suffocating, and my attempts are useless and draining. Everything sounds muffled and another shot rings through the room, only it sounds much quieter this time as the dizziness takes over and my eyes begin to flutter.