Fighting Destiny (Forsaken Sinners MC; Book 2) (Forsaken Sinners MC Series) (2 page)

I look at Katherine quick to see if she’s noticed anything about our exchange, but she’s busy typing away on the computer. Good, that’s all I need is for her to get in my business and tell me what she thinks I should or shouldn’t do. I don’t think people will ever learn that if someone wants their opinion, they’ll ask for it.

Walking over to the speed bag, I can’t get her out of my head. The way she looked when she first walked in compared to how she looked after the class showed me that she was more comfortable around me. The difference was astounding. I can tell that before whatever happened to her, she was a strong-willed woman who wasn’t afraid of anything, and that just makes me more determined to figure out what caused that change and bring her back to the way she used to be. And once she’s strong again, I will do whatever I can to make sure no harm comes to her again.

Needing to get away from here and the image of her, I decide to head home for a shower and stop by the clubhouse. I may as well do something to try and keep my mind off of Sara since I don’t have to worry about the other class now. And who knows, maybe I can get into some trouble there and pass the time till I can see Sara again. I hope it isn’t long, otherwise I may have to take matters into my own hands.

Once I’m at the clubhouse, I notice Louie at the bar so I head in his direction, but get stopped before I make it there. “Hey, baby, I’ve missed you.” Trixie, one of the club whores I hook up with when I need a release, says. Not wanting anything to do with her tonight, well, not wanting anything to do with her period, I brush her off.

“Not tonight, Trix.” Walking past her towards Louie again, I hear her huff and stomp away, probably to someone else with a dick. Good luck to that brother.

“Yo, Toby, what the fuck was that about?” Louie doesn’t look towards Trixie, but motions towards her with his thumb. I’m usually better at turning away pussy so my brother’s don’t give me shit about it, but I’m just not in the mood to deal with this shit tonight.

“I don’t know, man. Bitch needs to learn her place, though.” I say, avoiding the subject. Louie is usually pretty good at not pressing me, and he doesn’t disappoint tonight.

“You see Dani lately?” he asks. Louie and Dani used to have a thing a couple years back, but for him it was different. He wanted to make her his old lady, but it wasn’t like that for her. She wasn’t using him, but he was a part of her healing process, I guess you could say. That’s my take on it anyway. I don’t get into other people’s shit unless I need to. Now, he and Dani are back to normal, or as normal as could be expected. Things were touchy at first when Blaze came back into her life, but I think Louie sees the way they are together. Those two are meant to be.

“Yeah, she came by the gym yesterday. Why, what’s up?” I ask, knowing he would only ask for a reason.

“Nothing. Just wanted to talk with her is all.” Taking a page out of my own book, I don’t push for answers. When he wants to talk, he will.

The rest of the night is uneventful. I sit and drink with my brothers, keeping to myself and watching the others as I usually do. No one gives me shit anymore because they’re used to my brooding attitude and watchful eyes by now.

Heading home that night, not wanting to risk sleeping at the clubhouse with all the club whores wandering around, I can’t get Sara out of my head. Since that day, she’s filled my thoughts, day and night.

Present Day

Sara

Pulling into the parking lot of the strip club, Club Sin, I cringe. I hate that I have to work here, but it’s the first place that hired me. At least I don’t have to be up on the stage taking my clothes off. No, I just have to wear these ridiculous outfits while tending the bar. Oh well, it could be worse. I could be back in New York with Rick … no. I’d definitely take up stripping before ever going back there again. This is the lesser of the two evils.

Stepping out of my car, I pull down my leather mini skirt, and then I pull up my tight-as-fuck tank top as much as I can before I walk into the club.

I give Lyle a genuine smile as he lets me through the door. He’s actually a really nice man, and one of the few reasons I don’t leave this place. Having him here makes me feel safe – or
safer
. I’ve only been working here for a little over a week, but there hasn’t been a night that he hasn’t been here.

After putting my purse under the bar, I do a quick inventory of what we need to stock for the night. It’s not too busy yet, but I know within the hour the bar will be so packed that even the waitresses will have a hard time walking around. Getting everything I need now is key to making the night go as smooth as possible.

JR walks behind the bar just as I finish stocking the beer. “S’up, Sara?” JR is a couple years older than me. I’m guessing thirty to my twenty-eight. He’s not bad on the eyes, but he’s a little too arrogant for my liking, though he is funny to hang around with. I greet him, then turn back around to finish stocking.

My boss, Burke, walks over and calls out my name from the stool he plops down on. “I need you to work the floor tonight. Trixie can’t come in so I had to pull one of the girls off the floor and onto the stage.” I know I should be grateful for this because I’ll make more money waitressing than bartending, but I’m not in the mood to strut around all night, taking drink orders and having men grab my ass. At least behind the bar, there’s that extra barrier where they keep their hands to themselves. Though there are some that still try leaning over to touch, they don't get close enough. I can handle those.

“Me? I’m not sure if that’s a good idea, Burke. Shouldn’t you have Tasha do it instead?” There’s gotta be someone else that can do it.

He levels me with a hard stare and points his finger at me. “You either do what I tell ya, or you’re fired. Ya hear me?” Without waiting for my reply, he picks up the stack of bills he was counting and walks down the hallway towards his office. Fuck. I guess I don’t really have a choice, now do I?

Tossing my dishtowel down on the bar, I turn around to walk out and run right into JR. “Fuck! Shit, I’m sorry, Sara. You all right?” He asks as he grabs me by my shoulders to steady me.

“I’m fine. Looks like you’re on your own back here tonight.” I tell him as I step out of his reach.

Heading into the bathroom, I check myself in the mirror. I’m not a bad looking woman. My long blonde hair is up in a high and tight ponytail; my eye shadow is smoky and makes my green eyes pop. Reaching into my bag, I take out my red lipstick. Once my make-up is touched up, I look down at my outfit. I guess if I’m going to do this, I may as well do it right. With that in mind, I fix my skirt so it sits lower on my hips and then roll the bottom of my tank top up to show a little more skin. Giving my boobs a little lift, I’m good to go.

Two hours later and my feet are killing me. The place is at maximum capacity, but Burke is still letting people in―anything to make an extra buck.
Idiot
. I shouldn’t be complaining. I’ll make enough tonight to add to my savings and should be able to get out of the hotel room I’ve been staying in for the past month.

Walking up to the bar to fill my order, I trip over some asshole who’s stumbling around. “Whoa there, sweet cheeks,” the guy says as he grabs my hips to stop me from falling on my face, but even when I’m steady, he doesn’t let go.

“Thanks, but you can let go now.” I say as I try to wiggle out of his grasp, but he tightens his hold.

“What’s the rush?” he asks as he leans down, placing his face is in the crook of my neck and … sniffs? Did he just smell me? I try to break his hold on me again, but he releases one hip and clamps his fingers around my arm to the point of pain.

“Let go of me!” I say a little louder this time, but he just smiles and reaches into his pocket for what looks like a wad of money. Taking a ten-dollar bill out, he pushes it into the waist of my skirt.

“How about you and me go into one of those back rooms for a private dance, huh?” Instead of waiting for my reply, he jerks on my arm and practically drags me toward the back.

I try to pull my arm free but it’s no use, so I try another way. “Look, I appreciate the offer, but I’m not a dancer. I’d be happy to grab one of the other girls for you, though.” I tell him, still trying to pull my arm free. I look around, trying to see if I can find Lyle for help, but he’s nowhere to be seen. Fuck, what am I supposed to do?

I can see that we’re almost to the back, and if I don’t do something about this guy now, there’s no telling what he’ll do to me when he gets me in a room alone. Deciding that I need to use a little more force, I use my other arm and move it in a hard downward motion to try and dislodge his hold. It works, maybe a little too well, and before I can turn around and head back to the bar, he has me by the throat. “You little BITCH!” he screams in my face.

I can literally feel my face turning red and my airflow being cut off by the tight grip he has on my neck. I’ll probably have bruises tomorrow if I survive the night.

I reach up with both hands, scratching at his, trying to get him to release me but he just bats my weak attempts away with his free hand. “You are nothing but a fucking whore so you’ll get your tight ass into that back room right now. Do you hear me?” he spits. I can’t do anything but shake my head. There’s no way in hell I’m going into that room with him.

He doesn’t let me go, he just loosens his grip enough to allow me a small breath so I don’t pass out. He again starts to drag me towards the back room by his hold on my neck. I’m starting to get lightheaded, even with his hold loosened, but it’s not by much at all. My struggles are pitiful with my strength gone from just trying to breathe. We’re almost to the hall that leads to the private rooms and I’ve lost all hope of getting out of this.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, I’m ripped out of his hold and pushed behind someone’s back. The first thing I notice is that it’s not Lyle who has pulled me away. The man in front of me is too tall to be Lyle. The second thing I notice is that he’s wearing a black motorcycle vest with “Forsaken Sinners MC” written across the back with a picture of a skull with guns and flames on it. I’ve never heard of this group, but if I’m going by just the look of the vest and the way he was able to pull that guy off me, they’re not people to be messed with.

“We got a problem here?” The man who saved me asks. His voice sounds familiar, but I can’t place it. I’ve probably served him at the bar, which makes sense.

“Nah, man. This pretty little thing just offered to give me a lap dance, so I was taking her in the back to collect.”
What. The. Fuck
. Is this guy for real? In what universe did he take what just happened as me offering him a lap dance?

“The hell I did!” I yell back at him, peeking around the man with the vest. My voice is a little scratchy from being choked, but I press on. “You fucking dragged me over here after I told you no, you piece of shit!” I’m done being treated like trash. If I didn’t need this job so much, I’d even tell Burke where to shove it.

“You hear that, shit-for-brains? The lady didn’t offer you jack shit and sure as fuck didn’t go with you willingly. So, I’ll say this one time and one time only. If I catch you even looking in her direction, you’re a dead man. You got me?” he growls. Judging by the sound of his voice, it’s not a threat, but a promise. Too bad for the dipshit in front of him, he doesn’t heed the warning.

“The fuck you say to me, asshole?” He sneers, but before he can say anything else or even take a step toward us, vest guy levels him with a solid hit to the face. I jump back in surprise, not fear, and feel my panties dampen. Since when does violence turn me on?

I wait for the guy to get back up and try to retaliate, but he’s out cold on the floor. I’ve never seen someone get knocked out with just one hit. It’s actually kind of amazing. Shit, Sara, get your head on straight.

I back up even further from the man who saved me, but it’s more out of self-preservation than fear. I have no idea what’s going on with me, but this guy is bad news. If what he just did to that fuckstick shows what type of person he is, then it’s something he must do often. Okay, that was a harsh assumption considering he just saved me from God knows what, but can you blame me?

When he turns around, I stop my retreat. He looks so familiar. “You okay, Doll?” He says quietly, but with enough volume that I can hear him over the music. I look into his eyes, looking for any remains of the anger he just displayed, but I see only compassion. I’m used to seeing a lot of different emotions when a guy looks at me, but compassion is a new one to me.

“I-I’m fine, thanks.” I whisper, hoping he hears me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Lyle heading our way. Well it’s about fucking time he showed up. I open my mouth to tell him that I’m fine and explain what just happened, but the guy in the vest beats me to it. “Hey, Lyle, sorry about the mess, but this son-of-a-bitch was dragging her down the hall by her throat.”

Lyle pats him on the back and looks down to the guy who’s still out cold on the floor and kicks him in the gut. “No worries, man. I’ll take it from here.” They start murmuring to each other, but the conversation is too low for me to hear. I just stare at them in shock, trying to piece together what just happened in the span of a couple of minutes. I almost fell on my face, got attacked by some guy and saved by another shortly after. I’m so ready for tonight to be over.

I turn around to head back to the bar. I want to see if I can spot Burke to tell him about what just happened and that I’m going home. My throat is starting to throb and burn and my head is pounding. I just want to soak in a nice hot bath and go to sleep. Too bad I’ll have to do that at the hotel.

I’m just about to the bar when I feel someone gently grab my elbow. Turning around, I see it’s the man in the vest. Tired of calling him that, I ask his name. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.” I say hoarsely. Fuck, my throat is killing me. He gives me a sweet smile and pulls me closer to him.

“It’s Toby. You don’t remember me?” I know he looks familiar, but I just can’t place him. I feel kind of bad, but after the night I’ve had, my mind is coming up blank. I can’t concentrate on anything but getting out of here.

“You attended my self-defense class a couple of weeks ago.” Shit, it’s him. I can’t believe I didn’t recognize him right away since he’s the hottie from the gym that I’ve been pleasuring myself to since our first meeting. Fuck, just thinking about it makes me blush. I hope he can’t tell what I’m thinking.

“Oh my God, I remember you now. I’m so sorry. It’s been a long night.” I know my face is red with embarrassment because he smiles seductively at me and I know he’s read my thoughts. Fuck, just what I need right now. I take a step back, suddenly needing distance between us and smile back at him. “Well, I better get back to work.” I know I need to walk away, but for some reason, my feet won’t move and I can’t look away from him.

He lets out a small laugh and takes me by the hand. “Come on, I’m taking you home.” He starts leading me to the door and before I know it, we’re outside.

I pull on his hold a little, just enough to get his attention, but not to dislodge myself. I love the way my skin tingles when he touches me. “Wait. I can’t just leave. I need to tell my boss about what happened and I don’t even have my purse.” Just as I finish that sentence, I hear the door open and see Lyle walk out, holding my purse.

“Thought you might need this,” he says as he hands it over to me. I’m not too sure if I should leave with Toby or not. I mean, I don’t even know him, but Lyle does, apparently. My gut is telling me he’s not going to hurt me, but my gut has been wrong before. “And I’m sorry about tonight, Sara. I should’ve kept a closer eye on you.” I can hear the regret in his voice and I feel bad that in a way, I’m responsible for it.

I lift my hand up to wave his apology off. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Lyle. It wasn’t your fault he did what he did and you have a lot of girls to look out for. I’m just thankful it didn’t turn out worse.” I hate to see Lyle blaming himself, but hopefully my words give him some sort of comfort.