Rock Chick 07 Regret (77 page)

Jet grinned.

“Who you think taught her to dance, sugar?” Daisy asked me on a Christmas Bells giggle. “In my day, I had a velvet rope too.”

I stared at Daisy.

“Then you’re the shit too!” I screamed at her then looked back at Roxie. “I wanna strip!”

“Oh Lord,” Shirleen groaned, sitting down. “First she wants to be a rock star now she wants to be a stripper.” Then she lifted her hand and snapped her fingers at no one in particular. “Somebody, get her another appletini before we gotta explain to Hector ‘Mr. Edge’ Chavez why his woman wants to strip.”

Everyone started laughing and I did too.

Hard.

So hard, my sides hurt and I bent forward and wrapped my arms around my middle.

Finally, I found something funny.

The very thought of someone telling Hector I wanted to strip, not to mention Shirleen calling him “Mr. Edge”…

Well…

It was, quite simply, hilarious.

Stevie found a waitress and we all got more drinks.

And I sat with my girls and (some of) my boys and looked around them, something settling safely inside me. That something was me thinking that, finally, I was living a beautiful life and hoping that, wherever she was, my Mom could see me and she was happy.

It was on my fourth sip of my new appletini when Roxie said something to me, I looked at her and she looked blurry.

I blinked and lifted my hand to my head all of a sudden feeling funny.

I couldn’t put my finger on it but I wasn’t right.

I felt a presence at my back and Lenny leaned into my ear. “Gotta go escort Bonnie to her car. She’s got a kid, her shift ends early. I’ll be back in ten. Don’t move.”

I nodded but it felt like my head was immersed in water, not in a warm, snugly, comfy, safe way, and I was fighting the current.

I took another sip of appletini, hoping to wash the weird feeling away but it didn’t help. In fact, I felt worse, woozy, fuzzy and not myself.

Boy, those appletinis were serious business!

I leaned into Roxie and whispered, “I think I’ve had too much. I’m going to go splash water on my face.”

Roxie looked behind me, saw Lenny gone and I heard her say, “Wait,” but I got up, shoved my purse strap over my shoulder and tripped, grabbed onto the back of a chair, righted myself and staggered forward.

I definitely needed to splash water on my face.

Definitely.

“I’m going with Sadie, we’ll be back.” I heard Roxie say but I didn’t wait for her.

I moved forward, the room seemed to be swaying, the huge crowd of people going in and out of focus.

Something was really wrong, terribly wrong and because of that I was on a mission, pushing through, sliding by, evading, weaving. It was easy for me, even though I was in pumps, I was small and the men were stationary, eyes on the stage. I nearly made it to the hall where the bathrooms were when I ran headfirst into someone.

I felt arms go around me and I looked up at the man I ran into but I couldn’t keep him in focus.

I was almost certain he was smiling at me then the smile faded.

“Hey babe, you okay?”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

His fuzzy face got closer. “You gonna puke?”

And I knew, somehow, this wasn’t drunk, this was something else, something bad, really, really,
really
bad.

Something that happened to Veronica Mars!

I shook my head.

“Sadie, hold up!” I heard Roxie call from what seemed like far away. I looked over my shoulder, trying to find her and thinking I saw her fighting the crowds to get to me, Tex close to her back.

I turned to the man whose arms were around me.

“I’ve been roofied,” I said to him.

“What?” he asked.

“Roofied. Someone slipped me a date rape drug.”

I felt, vaguely, his body going solid and I saw, in a fuzzy way, his head whip to the side.

“Jamie, see that big black guy? He’s the owner. Get to him, fast. Tell him someone’s slippin’ date rape shit in his drinks.” He started pulling me back out of the crowd to the hall, “You got friends here?” he asked me.

“Yes.” I tried to lift my arm but it didn’t work, still I said, “Over there.”

I felt my body collapse into him because I couldn’t hold myself up anymore.

He took my weight, his arms went tighter around me and he muttered, “Fuck. Hang on.” Then something happened, I couldn’t tell what but I heard the man say, his voice sharp, “What the fuck?” Then there was an ugly thud, he was falling and, as his arms were around me, I was falling with him.

I was on the floor, tangled up with him, I heard my name shouted then screamed but I was being lifted in the air, arms holding me tight, someone running with me.

I tried to control my head, look to see who had me, I was jostled when the person turned, he shoved a door open with his back and I felt the cold night air.

All of a sudden, I got scared. The cold night air didn’t alleviate the weird feeling or the fuzziness and it didn’t give me my strength back. Instinctively, I knew it wasn’t a member of the Hot Bunch who had me or Tex, Duke, Buddy, Ralphie, Tod or Stevie.

“Let me go,” I mumbled.

“Now, Sadie, darlin’, why would I do that?” Jerry replied.

Darn it all to
heck
.

* * * * *

I woke up and I was cuffed to a bed.

I didn’t feel great, I didn’t feel bad. I didn’t feel entirely awake but whatever drug I’d been given, which made me pass out about two minutes into the ride in Jerry’s BMW, had worn off.

I looked around the room and knew I was in a hotel. I could tell the sun was weak but it was coming in around the curtains and there was a light on. I looked down at myself and saw, thankfully, I still had on my jeans, wide, tan belt and cream cashmere sweater with a deep V and three-quarter sleeves. I even still had on my gold cuff at my wrist. However, my tan, peek-a-boo-toed pumps were gone, my feet bare.

The bathroom door opened and Jerry walked out.

Damn and blast.

“Does my father want to talk to me again?” I asked, my voice snotty.

He stopped at the foot of the bed and grinned. He was in a pair of well-fitting gray suit trousers with a tailored, low-sheen, soft-gray shirt, no tie, sleeves rolled up his forearms. I found myself thinking, stupidly, that he was handsome. Not Hector “Oh my God” Chavez handsome but someone at whom you’d look twice. For some reason, I thought this was a crying shame.

“No,” he answered then he leaned down and his fingers curled around my ankles.

My body froze.

He pulled my ankles apart.

My body unfroze and I twisted viciously

He was stronger than me, he kept me where I was with little effort, put a knee to the bed between my legs and then moved forward, planting himself on me full body except his hips and legs were between mine.

My breath suddenly coming in sharp gasps, I put my free hand to his shoulder and shoved at the same time I bucked.

He ignored this, buried his face in my neck, I opened my mouth to scream right before he said, “You make a fuckin’ sound, I give the order, your Dad’s breakfast gets Harvey Balducci’s special sauce.”

The scream died in my throat and my body went still.

I heard him laugh against my neck.

“Nice to see you cooperatin’, darlin’, showin’ some love for your father.”

You swine,
I said in my head but not out loud. I couldn’t speak mainly because bile had forced its way up my throat and I was worried, if I opened my mouth, I’d throw up.

His mouth was at my neck, it moved along my jaw then to my lips where he kissed me lightly.

I stayed stock-still and, when his eyes caught mine, I glared at him.

“Been waitin’ for you to wake up, Sadie, this’ll be so much more fun with your participation.”

The bile disappeared but my heart slid up in its place and lodged in my throat.

I decided to try to talk my way out of it.

“Jerry –”

One of his hands slid down my side, the other one went to my free wrist and pulled it over my head.

“I’m thinkin’ I want it slow and sweet, first, then I’ll do you rough and hard.”

I closed my eyes tight.

Somebody, please tell me this wasn’t happening.

I turned my head to the side, opened my eyes, my mind spinning from unhappy thought to unhappy thought and I saw my purse sitting on the hotel desk.

The stun gun Hector gave me was in my purse.

My heart slid back down and my breath started to come fast again.

All I had to do was get uncuffed and get to my purse. I was in a hotel, by the looks of it a nice one. There had to be tons of people around. I just had to get out and get to a phone. I’d call the Nightingale offices, tell them and they’d call the prison and they’d stop my father from having breakfast.

I looked back at Jerry. “So, I’m taking this to mean you’re not pansy-assed anymore.”

His eyes narrowed and his face started to turn ugly.

I laughed softly at him then I lifted my head and slid my nose along his jaw.

At this, his body went tight.

“You playin’ with me?” he growled.

I felt my heart beating in my throat, my stomach clenched with nausea but I put my lips to his ear and whispered, “You want to know what it was like being Seth Townsend’s daughter?” I dipped my face and used my nose again to flick his earlobe and went on, still whispering, “Under his thumb? Watched? Protected? Suffocated? His shit-hot gentleman army wandering around, I could look but I couldn’t touch? Shit-hot guys like you?” I felt his body jerk then grow tighter when I put my mouth closer to his ear and talked low in my throat. “Do you know what that was like? What it was like for a girl like me? Can you imagine how I feel…” I paused for effect, waited then continued, “How I feel, now that I’m free?” My mouth moved along his cheek to his mouth, he didn’t speak and our eyes locked. “Can I make a request?” I asked against his mouth. He still didn’t answer so I lifted my head, pressed closer and whispered, “Let’s start with hard and rough.”

He stared at me, hard, trying, I guessed, to see if I was messing with his head.

I blinked slowly, not opening my eyes fully then let the corners of my lips tip up.

He watched my eyes then my mouth then he groaned and kissed me.

I guessed I had a new Sadie in me, I didn’t know who she was but I hoped like hell she could get me out of this latest trauma in one piece.

I kissed him back and hated every second of it. It was nowhere near a hot, hard, urgent, fiery Hector kiss. Jerry might have been handsome but he wasn’t a good kisser. His kiss made my stomach turn unpleasantly but I ignored it and pressed my body into his, curled a leg around his hip and wrapped my arm around his back.

I pulled at the other arm, the handcuff made a loud clunk and his head came up, his eyes going to my cuffed hand.

“Leave it, it’s hot,” I breathed and put my mouth to his neck.

His eyes flashed and he kissed me again, one of his hands went into my hair, his other hand was everywhere. I acted like I loved it, I wanted more of it, I was gagging for it.

But I hated every blooming nanosecond of it.

I grasped his shirt, yanking it out of his trousers, my hand went up his back then I engaged my nails, digging in perhaps an
eensy
bit harder than I needed and I pulled at my cuffed hand again so it made another clunking noise.

His mouth went to my neck and down, he muttered, “Wildcat,” to my chest, my lip curled in disgust but my hand went to his side, drifting softly there then between our bodies and down his abs to the waistband of his trousers.

I pulled at my cuffed hand again and it made another clunk then I did it again and the clunk was louder.