Page 52 of Danger and Dominance (Black Fox Security Doms #1)

Cassidy

There was only a tiny moment of feeling bereft when the comforting warmth of David’s presence moved away from her.

She was surrounded by friends and the wall’o’muscle, which was very comforting.

Jensen and Mick had come back from the bar, though she was pretty sure she’d seen them putting the women’s numbers into their phones.

They’d both been grinning until Jennifer started talking very loudly about her recent date with Richard.

Jensen wasn’t smiling quite so widely anymore.

“Isn’t ‘Dick’ a nickname for Richard?” he asked, snickering.

Jennifer glared at him before remembering that she was ignoring him and turning her gaze away to refocus on Ashley, who appeared highly amused by the entire situation.

“Anyway,” Jennifer drawled, leaning forward so she could ignore Jensen better. “It was amazing. He’s incredibly smart. And insightful. And a really good kisser.”

Yup, now Jensen was scowling. If these two wanted everyone to stay out of their business, they were doing a remarkably bad job of it.

Cassidy’s straw ran out of drink. Frowning, she looked into the glass, angling it to catch the last little bit that was in there.

“Oof, I don’t feel so good all of the sudden,” Naomi said. Bending forward in her seat, she held her hand to her stomach.

“Hey babygirl, what’s wrong?” Drew asked, leaning forward with her, his hand on her lower back, automatically rubbing.

“I don’t know… just nauseous. I don’t think I’m gonna throw up or anything, but it just hit me all of the sudden.” Naomi wrinkled her nose, shaking her head. “I think I need some water.”

“Yeah, of course, I’ll be right back. Don’t move.” Drew was already moving like the wind, heading for the bar to get her some water. Cassidy took his place, rubbing Naomi’s back just where he had been.

“Does this help at all?” she asked. “Or do you want me to stop?”

“I’m honestly not sure. I don’t think it makes it worse or better,” Naomi said, making a face. “Ugh, I don’t know where this came from. I’d better not have food poisoning or something. I do not want to spend the night praying to the porcelain gods.”

“Should we go to the bathroom?” Jennifer asked.

Everyone had pretty much stopped what they were doing to pay attention to Naomi.

Well, everyone except Yasmine and Mason who had already moved further away from the group and seemed to be engaged in some kind of very serious conversation. “Can you walk?”

Naomi shot her a dark look.

“I could walk if I needed to, but I don’t think I need to go to the bathroom.”

“I’m just asking because I need to go to the bathroom,” Jennifer said. “So if you did need to go… you could go with me.”

“I don’t need to go. I just need some water.” Naomi was still scowling, but maybe a little less than she had been a minute ago. “Honestly, I don’t really want to get up and walk. I just want to sit here and wait for Da— ah, Drew to get back with my water.”

Cassidy wasn’t sure what Naomi had been about to say before she switched to Drew’s name, but she had a suspicion she’d been about to call him ‘Daddy.’

“I need to go,” Ashley offered up.

“So do I,” Cassidy said, though she didn’t stop rubbing Naomi’s back. She wasn’t sure if she should leave the other woman. “I can wait, though.”

“No, go,” Claudia said, shifting closer. “I’ve got her.”

Nodding, relieved, Cassidy slid off her barstool.

Ashley and Jennifer were already on the other side of the table, waiting for her.

They grinned as she approached. Ashley turned away, then squeaked as Lincoln leaned over to swat her backside.

She shot him a look over her shoulder as Cassidy joined them, giggling and taking Jennifer’s other arm.

None of them were drunk enough that they were swaying or anything; it was just for companionship.

“So, really, how was your date with Richard?” Ashley asked as soon as they were out of earshot of the tables. “How much of that was made up?”

“Not much,” Jennifer admitted, sounding conflicted and also a little frustrated. “It really was an amazing date. I like him a lot. I’m just…”

“Still lusting after Jensen?”

“Yeah, but what’s the point if he’s never going to make a move and shuts me down every time I start to? I’m tired of being rejected. It’s nice to have a guy actually want to be with me.” Jennifer sighed. “Richard doesn’t think I’m too young, too inexperienced, or too innocent.”

“Is he kinky?” Cassidy asked.

“Yes, but he’s not a member of the Outlands, which is good because that means Uncle Gavin isn’t going to be able to intimidate him. He does house parties. Like me. That’s how I met him, actually. We’ve scened together a few times, platonically, then he asked me out on a date.”

“Well, then either Jensen will come around or he won’t, but you’ve got options.” Ashley bumped Jennifer with her hip, causing her to bump Cassidy, making all three of them giggle just as they reached the bathroom. Two of the stalls were full, and somehow, Cassidy ended up taking the third.

By the time she finished and washed her hands, a few more women had come in, and it was a little crowded. Rather than making the situation worse, Cassidy quickly called out that she would meet Jennifer and Ashley in the hallway and scooted out the door.

The hallway had four doors—the two restrooms, a door to the kitchen, and the emergency exit.

A man was standing next to the emergency exit, head bent over his phone.

Uneasiness skittered up Cassidy’s spine.

He was wearing a hat, and she couldn’t see his hair or his face, but she tried to shake it off.

There was no reason to let her paranoia freak her out.

She shifted over to the side, so she wasn’t blocking the door to the ladies’ room for the next person who would need to exit. Her heart started beating a little faster when she saw the man’s head tilt toward her, though he didn’t look up from his phone.

It’s nothing. Stop freaking out.

Noise to her left made her turn her head. Another man was coming down the hall, headed toward the bathroom, though he stopped when he saw her there.

“Hey, pretty lady. Waiting for me?” The man winked at her. He was good-looking, maybe an inch or two taller than her, very cute in a boyish way, and if she wasn’t already involved with David, she might have been attracted.

She laughed, only a little nervous. The flirting seemed ingrained in him—see woman, flirt—just like Ian. It wasn’t personal or threatening, though that didn’t mean she fully relaxed, either.

“Sorry, no, just waiting for my fri?—”

Her words were cut off as someone grabbed her from behind, yanking her back. Fingers dug into her arm hard enough to bruise, and her mouth opened to cry out, but not a sound emerged.

“Stay away from my girlfriend, asshole!”

Her breath caught in her throat, choking on her scream.

NO.

But it didn’t come out.

The other man stepped back, holding his hands up and shaking his head as Don dragged her down the hall toward the door he’d been standing next to. It was him. It had been him. She wasn’t paranoid; she’d been right, and she could weep for it.

“Hey, man, sorry, I didn’t know.”

“No.” She managed to whisper the word, but it was drowned out by Don’s retort.

“Well, now you do, so fucking back off.” He was dragging her back, past the other doors, to the exit.

Never let them take you to a second location.

“No!” She heard Don hit the door, and she tried to kick him, hitting, struggling. Twisting in his grip, she saw the flirtatious man still watching. “Help me!”

“Hey, lady, this looks like a domestic thing. I don’t wanna get involved.” He still had his hands up in the air, like he was surrendering, shaking his head and backing away toward the restaurant.

“Please!” She started to scream, but it was cut off when Don pulled her back hard, slamming her head into the doorway.

“Hey, man, you don’t have to be so rough with her?—”

“Fuck off!” Don pulled her outside, and she stumbled, dizzy, as the pain throbbed through her head.

She tried to kick him again, tears momentarily blinding her, and it pulled her off balance.

Thankfully, it pulled him off balance, too, and she tumbled to the ground.

“Fucking bitch! Fucking hold still before I fucking shoot you!”

Terror seized her as she looked up at him, elbows digging into the hard ground.

The alleyway was well lit from light bulbs along the side of the building, so there was no missing the gun Don pulled out of the waistband of his pants.

His blue eyes were cold, hard, as he glared down at her, and her mouth went utterly dry.

David

Walking back into the restaurant, David frowned when he saw the smaller group at the tables without Cassidy among them. They were all focused on Naomi, who had Drew beside her in the chair Cassidy had previously occupied, his hand on her back. Ashley and Jennifer were also missing from the table.

Ladies' trip to the bathroom.

Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, something in his brain signaling a kind of warning.

He turned to see Ashley and Jennifer emerging from the hallway without Cassidy.

Neither of them looked to be in any distress; they had their arms linked together and were laughing about something, but… where was Cassidy?

Striding over to them, he met them on their way back to the table.

“Hey, David!” Ashley said, giggling. “Fancy meeting you here.”

The edges of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, but the little alarm in his head was too strong to allow for a full grin, despite how cute she was.

“Hey, is Cassidy still in the bathroom?”

They both looked at him, smiles fading to be replaced by confused—and, in Jennifer’s case, concerned—frowns.

“No, she left before us,” Jennifer said, twisting to look back around at the hall. “When we came out, she wasn’t there, and we assumed she headed back to the table.”

Except she wasn’t at the table.

Instinct had David darting around them, running for the exit at the end of the hall. A sixth sense knew they were following behind him, but the alarm bells ringing in his head meant he didn’t look back to make sure.

Something was very, very wrong.

He plowed through the exit and into the alley beside the restaurant, pulling up when he saw the pair tussling about fifteen feet away. His brain took in the full scene, all at once, the way it had done so many times when he’d been on a mission.

Metal dumpsters to the left, two of them in a row.

A stack of wooden crates on the right, stacked to about knee height, more of a tripping hazard than something that would offer any coverage.

The target was fifteen feet away and about twenty feet from the end of the alley, where it emptied out onto the street.

Target was tall, muscular, and armed. He was also currently hindered by the fact the client had gone limp-legged, and he was trying to bodily drag her along the ground while she was fighting all the way.

David’s heart leapt into his throat as Don lifted the gun—but he was pointing it at David, not Cassidy, thank God.

David put his hands up in front of him even as he reached out to kick the door shut behind him. He caught a glimpse of Jennifer and Ashley’s horrified faces before it slammed closed.

They would go get help.

“He has a gun!” Cassidy shrieked, twisting in Don’s grip, her foot lashing out and catching the man in the meaty chunk of his thigh.

“And I will fucking shoot you!” Don started to lower the gun to point it at her.

“Hey,” David said, raising his voice and taking a step forward, drawing the other man’s attention. “Let’s talk about this.”

Lip curled in a sneer, eyes wild with hate, Don lifted his head and the gun back to David.

“No.”

Pain blossomed as the bullet sliced through David’s body, and Cassidy’s screams rang in his ears.