Chapter 25 I Told You That You Are In Danger
Turns out, that David won’t let me wonder about ignoring him for very long.
He comes down to the club ten minutes after Nico has arrived to keep me company. We both watch his car approach on the cameras, him getting out, and pounding on the door. We both watch him get his phone out of his pocket, and call me multiple times.
Eventually, Nico has to go down, once we realise he isn’t going to let up.
As soon as he opens the door, David marches towards him.
“Let me in.” David orders, but Nico just shuts the door behind him. Nico notices Marcus is standing by the car now as well.
“She’s safe here.”
“Bullshit.” David spits, going for the door again, but Nico is quick to block his path. David reaches for his waistband.
Again, Nico is fast to intercept his movements, grabbing his forearm before he can reach his gun.
“Gonna threaten to shoot me while she’s up there watching?” Nico asks with an edge to his voice, as he points David to the cameras by the door. David looks at them, and after taking a few breaths, he drops his hands.
“She needs to come back to mine, she isn’t safe here.” He says to Nico.
“We have a lot of security–”
“It’s not that. They know where she lives. They could know where she works as well.”
“It’s no different to knowing the address of your building is it?” Nico asks, folding his arms across his chest. “I’m not saying I agree with what happened, but in terms of her not being safe, that’s on you, Reid.”
David runs his hand over his face, then puts his hands on his hips.
“She just needs some time to think everything through.” Nico says.
“She doesn’t want to give me that luxury.”
“Well, she can be… reactive.” Nico smirks. “I’m sure you know that by now.”
David clenches his jaw. He does know that. Very well.
“I can get her to talk to you, but not today.” Nico says as he sees David thinking. “Come by tomorrow, 2pm. Doors don’t open to the public until 8.”
David eventually nods, and allows Nico to head back into the club, waiting until he hears the loud, mechanical click and thud of the internal lock falling into place. He turns back to Marcus with an angry expression, his jaw set, and gets into his car.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It takes Nico three hours to convince me to meet David the next day.
An hour of arguing, an hour of me listening, and an hour of reasoning. I do need to speak to David about all this, and I really do want to. But after finding out he put me on leave at my job, it was like the final nail in the coffin.
The stress of keeping the secret, him kissing me, finding out about him being part of the Mafia, then losing my day job, it is finally too much.
I lashed out because I have no control anymore.
I need to be in my own space to think everything through, but during the ‘reasoning’ hour of mine and Nico’s talk, I realise I also need to get me and David on the same page. In the end, I’m thanking Nico for pushing David until tomorrow. That gives me tonight to work out everything I need to say.
The next morning, I leave The Red Room to grab a coffee from the shop, just before David is due to come round. I spend the walk thinking through what I’m going to say to him, what I want to explain, to ask. Trying to work out how he will react after we’ve both had a few days apart.
Deep in thought, I head back to The Red Room, turning the corner as I sip my coffee.
I don’t notice David’s car parked as I walk past it, him sitting inside and watching me out of the window, waiting for 2pm exactly before he’d knock on the building. Although seeing me walk past the car makes him want to go that few minutes early.
I also don’t notice the other black car parked ahead. The one whose doors are opening as I walk up to The Red Room door.
I don’t notice the men until I am yanked backwards.
A hand covers my mouth, an arm around my stomach as I’m lifted into the air, and I try to scream. My coffee cup is long gone, so I try to thrash my arms and legs to wriggle out of their hold as they start running back to the car.
Then I hear gunshots.
The adrenaline coursing through my body is ice cold as I try to make myself as small as possible, not knowing who is shooting or where.
The person holding me suddenly lets go, and I yell as I almost fall to the floor, before something else wraps around my waist and tugs me upright. Immediately, I start pummelling my fists into them until I hear them shouting my name.
“NORA, IT’S ME!”
Blinking my eyes open, I realise I’m face to face with David.
His eyebrows frown in a scowl, his eyes angry as they leave mine to look around me, his arm still tight around my waist.
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!” I scream at him, making his eyes snap back to me.
“Me?! I just saved your fucking life!” He shouts back, before starting to walk me over to the building I was trying to get into, Marcus and Theo shooting at the tires of the other car, which are now screeching as they drive off.
My fists go back to pummelling into his chest, but it does nothing to him, and he continues to pound on the Red Room door until Nico opens up.
“What just happened?!” Nico asks, breathless. “I come back from the toilet, happen to look at the cameras and you’re all fucking shooting outside?!”
David ignores him, and I pause my chest-hitting as he shoves me through the doors, past Nico, and into the building, with Marcus and Theo slipping in behind me and shutting the door loudly.
I stumble away from David as Marcus and Theo immediately start scouting around the building, looking for the other exits and any windows that could be compromised, Nico chaotically following behind them to point them out. I angrily breathe as I face David.
“Don’t EVER do–” I start, but David instantly steps forward.
“I fucking told you that you need to stay at my apartment.” He seethes. “And now I have Harlan clearing up two dead bodies, and three other imbeciles that got away, because you weren’t looking.”
“Me? You want to put this on ME?! I’m not the one that got involved in the FUCKING MOB!”
“I TOLD YOU THAT YOU ARE IN DANGER!”
“BECAUSE OF YOU, YOU ASSHOLE!”
He grabs me by my arm, tugging me closer to him, but making me no less angry.
“Don’t ever,” He growls. “Call me that again.”
“Then stop letting these people kidnap me.” I retort, trying to struggle out of his grasp, but he holds me tight.
“You think I let this happen? If you weren’t here being a fucking princess then–”
David doesn’t finish his sentence, because I’ve slapped him round the face.
Silence fills the air around me as his head snaps to the side from the impact. I can’t hear the others anymore. The anger is still in my chest, but my stomach tenses in anxiety as I can see the wheels turning in his head.
He finally looks back at me. I see the muscle in his jaw tense for a moment.
Then he starts walking, dragging me by the arm with him. I stumble after him, shouting his name to no effect, until he leads me into the first customer room.
He slams the door behind me, and pushes me against it, his hands still curled around my arms as I gasp from the impact.
“You know, you’re really, really pushing my buttons lately, Nora.” He spits. “I came to talk to you. About this… little situation. And now? Now I shot at people, saved you from being dragged into a fucking car, and you slap me. Do you understand how disrespectful you’re being?”
My heart thuds fast against my ribcage as I can’t look away from him. I’ve come to know his Dom personality. I’ve seen it. But this is his Mob personality. The side of him I only dipped my toe in when I saw him with Trent in his office.
The side that is now being directed to me, as if he is still in charge.
But he is in my building now.
“Well, Sir,” I finally reply, finding the courage to put my Mistress voice on, and making his eyes narrow. “What can I say? I’m not perfect, clearly.”
"I can see that.” He spits. I wait, breathing heavily as I purse my lips. His eyes flick down. “Good thing is… neither am I."
Then he grabs my neck, and pulls my mouth to his.