Page 83 of His to Teach

“You did the right thing, calling me,” I assure her, searching for my keys. “Thank you.”

“I didn’t fucking do it for you,” she snaps. “You destroyed my best friend, you asshole. And if something happens to her tonight because of you?—”

“Nothing is going to happen.” I swallow hard.You destroyed my best friend.That can’t be true. Harper cannot be destroyed. I won’t allow it. “I’ll take care of it.”

“You better,” Emma snaps, and then the line goes dead.

It’s not until I reach the door, keys in hand, that I realize I’ve had far too much to drink tonight to get behind the wheel. “Fuck.” I don’t have time for this. I open a ride-share app on my phone and call for a car, relieved to see there’s one a mile away. While I wait on the curb, I dial Philip.

“Tell me you’re at the club right now,” I bark the moment he answers.

“Do I typically answer my phone when at the club?” he asks in that calm, velvet voice of his.

I ignore the question. “Can you get there?”

“What’s wrong?” he asks, immediately on guard.

“Harper is there and…I can’t explain this all right now. But she shouldn’t be there, and definitely not by herself.”

“Why aren’t you with her?”

Because I fucking left her all alone,I think bitterly.Because I’m a selfish asshole who can’t seem to stop hurting her.

“It doesn’t matter,” I tell him. “I’m about to get into an Uber but it will take me at least fifteen minutes to get there.” Probably twenty in traffic, but I can’t let myself think in worst case scenarios.

“I’m probably at least that far myself,” he says.

“Goddamnit.”

“But,” he continues, and I can hear street sounds in the background. He must have left wherever he was. “I can head over anyway, just in case.”

“Thank you.”

He’s quiet for a moment. “You want to tell me what in the hell is going on?”

Right then a blue compact car pulls up to the curb. My ride. “Not right now,” I tell him, swinging open the door. “Just try to get there fast. And keep her safe.”

“That goes without saying.”

It’s the longest damn ride of my life. I keep trying to tell myself that there are safety measures in place at the club. Within those walls, nothing is considered more important than consent. I’m not really worried about someone forcing Harper to do something against her will.

What I am concerned with is what Harper will do when she feels desperate. I think about her that day in the library supply closet, the memory of her body making my chest ache. She’d been so upset, totally on edge, looking for an escape.

Who might she find that escape with if I’m not there to protect her?

“Can you go any faster?” I ask the driver.

“Can’t make the traffic disappear,” he says cheerfully, as if this whole night isn’t a huge fucking disaster waiting to happen. As if I’m not sitting back here seconds away from losing my shit.

It feels like an hour before he pulls up outside the brick building. “What is this place?” he asks, curious as he peers up at the imposing facade.

“You don’t even want to know,” I mutter, climbing from the car. I glance at my phone as I head to the heavy door. Nothing from Philip. He’s not here yet.

“Hello, Mr. Chase,” Mercedes at the front desk welcomes me. “How are you to?—”

“Did Harper Cain come in?” I bark. She blinks at me. No one is rude to Mercedes. I take a deep breath, trying to calm my tone. “She would have been on a permanent guest pass.”

“Yes,” Mercedes says, sounding worried. “She came in about forty-five minutes ago. Is there a problem?”