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“Addie,” I say. Both eyes snap to me. “Her name is Addie. Sorry, baby, I didn’t mean to intrude. I told you about Mark here already, he’s the guy I met at work.” I side-eye Mark, letting him think I told Addie we met under different circumstances than we did. He smiles wider at that.

Gentlemen’s clubs aren’t necessarily a secret, but they’re definitely not a place you go to visit when you have a beautiful wife or girlfriend waiting for you at home. At least if you’re not a narcissistic prick.

“Oh, uh, hi Mark. Pleasure to meet you,” she finally says, clasping Mark’s hand in her own.

I feel so many things right now.

Namely, the urge to fucking kiss her for going along with something she doesn’t understand.

She’s definitely getting rewarded later.

But I also feel the possessive beast rise. Not only to claim Addie as my own, but to protect her from the real monster. The moment Mark registers Addie’s beautiful smoky voice, his eyes droop. And if I see his khakis start to tent, I will kill him here and now.

She glances at their entwined hands with a hint of trepidation, but she smooths her face out quickly. Mark doesn’t notice her subtly wiping her hand on her jeans when he lets it go, but I do.

“The pleasure is mine. You have a beautiful name. What is it short for?”

She clears her throat, throwing me another what the fuck glance. “Adeline.”

Mark’s face is animated as he marvels over her response. “A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.”

A red blush stains her cheeks prettily. She pretends to act bashful, but I can feel the nervous energy emanating from her in waves. My little mouse doesn’t do well in social situations, especially when she’s thrown in one unprepared.

“Alright, Mark. Let’s leave my girl to get back to work.”

Her eyes narrow into slits briefly when I say my girl. I subtly quirk a brow, daring her to defy me. She knows I’m not saying it for Mark’s benefit. She’s going to hear me call her my girl for a long fucking time.

Next, we’ll graduate to my wife and then the mother of my children.

One day she’ll get it in her head that she’s mine.

“Nonsense!” he bellows, attracting a few curious eyes. “You don’t mind, do you, Addie?”

For the first time, my face slips, and I let loose a snarl. Mark doesn’t notice, but Addie does. If anything, my anger relaxes her by an inch. The knowledge that I’m not liking this situation must bring her some sort of comfort, compared to her thinking I’m purposely involving her in something dangerous.

Addie shakes her head, closing her laptop gently and sliding it into the case at her feet.

“Please, go ahead,” she says, a single note in her tone wobbly. I sit next to her and wrap an arm around her tense shoulders, hoping that my presence will bring her some semblance of safety and comfort.

“Please, tell me how you two love birds met,” Mark says, settling in his new seat. He waves to the waiter for another drink, and internally, I groan.

“At a book signing,” I respond. “Super amazing author was there signing books. I saw her and instantly fell in love. I sought her out afterwards, asked her on a date and the rest was history.”

She smiles, though it doesn’t reach her eyes. “Yeah, he’s a persistent one,” she says with an awkward laugh.

“Fascinating!” Mark says, his eyes pinballing between us. His phone vibrates and when he slips it out of his pocket, his face drops.

Clearing his throat, he looks up at us with a sheepish grin. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to head to the restroom and take this call. Addie, please order yourself another margarita. It’s on me.”

Mark gets up and walks away without a backward glance, his stagger uneven from the copious amounts of alcohol he consumed and his gaze pinned to his phone.

Addie starts packing her belongings frantically within a millisecond, hands shaking as she throws the rest of her stuff in her bag.

“If you think you’re leaving, you’re sadly mistaken.”

She freezes, glancing back at me before she resumes. Keeping my movements calm and fluid as not to raise any alarm from bystanders, I slide my hand to her neck.

She pauses again when she feels my touch, and then whimpers when I squeeze tight.