How could he want Keylee? She looked like a damn hyena with her hair teased to the heavens and her stupid fucking smile showing off her fangs. I wanted to flick her in the forehead and then search that rat’s nest on her head for a little woodland family that might have taken up residence. I wouldn’t be shocked if two squirrels and a rabbit popped up, smoking cigarettes and discussing the threesome they just had. If anyone had woodland debauchery up in their hair, it would be Keylee.

Fucking fuzzy ass fruit.

The last thing I wanted to do was make nice with all of Rex’s friends, so when he asked me to go to the bathroom, to excuse myself from his conversation, I was more than happy to take him up on his demand. Frankly, I was too worn out to think about what he and Leo might be talking about.

This morning, when I was training the girls for tonight, I noticed Rex had his phone in the club, and that’s when it dawned on me. I would have to somehow grab his phone from him at some point and record my evidence using his own device. The only thing was, how did I go about doing that? How did I go about grabbing his phone from him?

There was another demonstration tomorrow night that I would be able to attend, as well as Rex. I made a mental note to talk to Blane at some point in the morning to see what I could do, because I was done. After seeing Jett, I wanted this all to be over. I wanted to crawl my way back into his arms and just hope and pray he kept his faith in our relationship and waited for me.

Not really needing to go to the bathroom, I meandered slowly to the back, where I could see a long line forming already. I blew out a frustrated breath as I eyed all the women in backless dresses and pearls. I would never get used to the way these people thought, the way they functioned. They had money excreting out of their pores and a good percentage of them didn’t put it to good use. The only person I knew of who actually was doing something good in this city was Jett.

Opening my clutch, I went to grab my lipstick when a strong arm wrapped around me and pulled me into a dark room that was opposite the bathrooms. The door clicked shut and my pulse picked up.

“What’s going on?” I asked, while looking around, trying to feel for a door. My hand came in contact with a warm body and I screeched. “I will knife hand you!” I warned, as I put my hands up and started swinging them around in the dark, making contact with nothing.

“When you’re finished, I would like to speak to you,” came the unmistakable voice of Jett Colby.

My gut clenched at the sound of his voice and the fact that we were in the same room, alone.

“Jett,” I offered, as I tried to find him. His hands stilled my shoulders and turned me around.

Light from the moon poured through the window, casting a small glow on Jett’s face when I finally saw him. My body seized on me from the hard stare on his face. His jaw ticked as he studied me. His face was freshly shaven, begging for my hands to touch him, caress him, and just get lost in the feel of him.

He was utter perfection and it hurt too damn bad to be standing in front of him with my hands tied behind my back, not being able to tell him how I felt or show him how much I want him, how much I need him.

My body ached to have his arms wrapped around me and his head buried against mine, his eyes telling me how he truly felt.

Right now, he was wearing a mask, a professional mask I’ve only seen a couple of times, a mask that was most definitely not reserved for me, and it hurt knowing that he could turn that face on when seeing me for the first time since I’d left the club.

Nervous, I just stared up at him, waiting for him to say something, because I knew anything that came out of my mouth was not going to be intelligent from the way he turned my brain into mush.

His eyes ran the length of my body, taking in the rather revealing dress I had on.

“You look…breathtaking,” he said softly, as his hands found my hips. My breath caught in my throat as he pulled me in closer. “Why are you here?” he asked, looking me square in the eye.

“Because Rex asked me,” I said meekly. His stare was cutting me in half, breaking down every strong wall I ever built up.

He thought about my answer for a second, and then said, “I asked you to stay with me, but I guess that meant nothing to you.”

“That’s not true,” I said quickly, while shaking my head, but he pushed me away and started pacing the short distance of the dark room. “Jett, I’m trying to make things better.”

“By sleeping with Rex?” he gritted out, smacking me in the face with his words.

“What?! No! I’m not sleeping with him.”

A sarcastic laugh escaped his mouth. “You’re telling me the man who used to pay you for sex isn’t fucking you right now?”

The tone of his voice, the way his body moved was terrifying. I had never seen him so angry before.

“No, he hasn’t even touched me. That’s more than I can say for that stupid kiwi you brought with you.”

His head snapped up and he glared at me. “You think I’m messing around with her?”

“Well, didn’t you kiss her out there?”

On the cheek, but still seeing his lips caress someone else’s skin was like a dagger to the heart.

“And I thought you were too engrossed with your new boyfriend to notice,” Jett said childishly.

“He’s not my boyfriend, you…” the words died on my lips because, technically, Jett wasn’t my boyfriend right now.

“Were you going to say…I am? How is that possible? How could I be your boyfriend when clearly you’re with another man? Tell me, Goldie, how does that work?”

Okay, he was mad. I should have seen that coming when I took of my collar, but it was all for a good reason. I was trying to make a better life for us. I was trying to protect him, trying to fix things. He had to understand that, right?”

“I’m not with him, Jett.”

Grabbing me by the shoulders, he pushed me up against the wall of the room and stood inches from my body.

“Then, what the fuck are you doing with him?” his voice broke as his eyebrows fell and he said, “Are you trying to intentionally hurt me?”

Just like that, my entire heart crumbled to the floor. The man was hurting, he was weak, and I could see it in his eyes. There was no doubt in my mind that by me leaving, by me handing him my collar, I had destroyed him. It was evident by the way he was staring into my eyes.

I lifted my hand and caressed his face softly, reveling in the feel of his smooth skin against my hand. Lightly, I could feel him push his face into my palm, giving me only the slightest bit of hope.

“Jett, I’m not trying to hurt you. I’m trying to help you.”

“I don’t need your help,” he said gruffly. “I just need you.”

One of his hands travelled from my shoulder down the side of my dress. He slipped it into the front of my exposed stomach and drew it up to right below my breast. His touch burned my skin, made me weak in the knees, and reminded me of all the reasons why I was beyond in love with the man in front of me.

My breathing became erratic as his eyes never left mine and his fingers lightly grazed the underside of my braless breast.

“This dress is too revealing,” he chastised, as his other hand found the slit of my dress and pushed me up against the wall even harder.

His fingers continued to make feather-like touches across my sensitive skin as they travelled up to my erect nipple. Without touching my breast, his fingers pinched my nipple in the most erotic way possible, making me throw my head back and moan.

A throbbing ache took place between my legs, reminding me that it’s been way too long since I’ve been with this man, this all-consuming man who held my heart in the palm of his hand.

“Say it,” he whispered in my ear, sending chills up my spine. “Say it, Little One. Make me forget this unyielding suffering that you’ve put me through. Remove this pain.”