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“Shit, baby, are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
The tough man broke down when he saw a single tear rolling down her porcelain cheek.
“I’m fine,” she said, lying. Her hand shook as she tried to wipe the wetness off her skin, which clearly told a different story.
Kade frowned and clenched his fists when he heard the drunk groan in pain, probably because of the big cut on his head.
“I’ll be back soon.”
Isla’s eyes got bigger when he stepped back from her, and she whined in protest.
“No, Kade—”
She gasped when she heard a crack in the stairwell. Kade had punched the older man in the face, and the loud sound meant that he probably broke his nose.
When Isla’s attacker screamed in pain, blood spurted from the wound and she covered her mouth with her hands.
“If you ever touch her or anyone like that again, I’ll shove a bullet down your mangey throat,” Kade said angrily into the man’s ear.
The man only wanted his victim to hear what he said, and the fact that he kept nodding and shaking showed that he understood.
Kade straightened up and fought the urge to kick the disgusting man one last time, just because he wanted to. But he knew Isla was already scared enough, and he didn’t want to make her think even worse of him.
“F*****g piece of shit,” he said under his breath as he walked back to where the girl was.
Isla’s eyes were wide and glassy as she looked up at him. She flinched when she smelt the strong smell of blood on his fists.
She silently followed him up the last few steps to the VIP lounge. Thank goodness the music was quieter and the guests were more relaxed.
Kade told them to sit on a red loveseat in a dark corner of the room.
“I’m going to clean up.” No one will bother you here.
Isla’s heart sank when she saw he was leaving, and she grabbed his thick bicep to stop him.
“Wait, you can’t just go. What if he comes back? What if—?”
Kade quieted her down with a gentle kiss on the lips, making sure not to get any of that scum’s blood on her.
“That man is not coming back.” Okay? He reassured her, looking into her eyes to make sure she believed what he said. “The bathroom is right across the hall if you need me.”
Isla nodded, but not very enthusiastically. She sank into the seat cushion and tried her best to hide from everyone else. Luckily, Kade wasn’t gone for long; he came back about ten minutes later with gifts.
“Here, you’ll like this.”
He gave her a glass of a cool drink that looked mostly orange but seemed to change to a darker colour. She smelt it and didn’t smell any alcohol.
“What is it?”She asked as he sat down next to her.
“A little something sweet”
Kade put his arm around her waist, and Isla liked the way it felt. She leaned against his side as she tasted the drink, and a sound of approval came from her throat.
A big, strong man came up to the couple before Kade could ask her if she liked it.
Isla was still shaken up from what had happened not long before. She looked down and snuggled closer to Kade’s side to feel better.
“Kade Kendall in person! I was curious about when you’d show up. I see that you’ve finally found people who can do their job and get things done on time. Everyone here is using the order very well.
Kade shook his head and laughed dryly at the older man.
“Shut up, Rafael. All of my workers can do their jobs well.” I didn’t do anything wrong; you’re just a picky motherfucker.
After Kade spoke, Rafael Voss looked at him with a blank face, which made people who were listening turn their heads towards the two men. The room became tense, and many people were on the edge of their seats, waiting to see how the club owner would react to the drug lord’s words.
Valentino’s thin lips twitched up into a smile after a moment, and a full belly laugh came out of his mouth.
“You are completely right.”
Kade laughed and ran his hand through his chestnut brown hair. His rings sparkled in the lights. When Voss asked a question, Kade’s teeth played with the piercing on his tongue.
“Who’s the blonde?””
Isla stiffened because she knew he was asking about her. She looked up at him through her lashes, but when he caught her eye, she looked away.
“What’s it to you?”Kade asked.
He still felt very protective of Isla. He turned his head to the side and squinted at the older man.
Voss got the message and left.
“Nothing.” Just… curious.
Kade bit the inside of his cheek and nodded, no longer interested in what was being said. He looked at Isla and saw that she was clearly uncomfortable, so he said a few words to get rid of his client.
“Do you want to dance, baby?”Kade asked after they had been sitting for a while.
Isla looked at him, then at the people dancing, and twirled the straw in her empty glass.
“Um, I don’t know. “I’ve never really done it before.”
“I’ll show you. Come on, it’s not that hard.” He pushed her. He wanted her to have at least one good time at the club in case she never wanted to go back.
Isla bit her lip and put her glass down on the table next to her.
“Okay,” she said with a deep breath.
Kade smiled at her and offered to help her get off the couch.
He took her to the dance floor and wrapped his arms around her waist. He let his hands slowly slide down her back until both palms were on her b**t.
Isla turned red but didn’t say anything about how he was treating her. It felt possessive, but that’s what she liked about it. Her big, scary man would keep everyone away, and she liked it that way.
She hugged him around the waist in return, even though she was too short to reach anywhere else. She playfully squeezed his own b**t, and when he looked at her like he was mad, she laughed.
The VIP lounge was playing soft music with a slow beat, which was very different from the music playing downstairs. This was very unusual for a club, but it was perfect for a slow dance.
Kade’s hands moved up and down Isla’s back, and he played with her blonde hair every now and then. The couple swayed back and forth.
Isla softly asked the tattooed man, “Are you okay?” “I mean, you were bleeding, or he was bleeding. I don’t know… I didn’t mean to cause so much trouble.”
Kade’s mouth fell open in shock at what she said, and he pulled her closer to him.
He shook his head in disbelief and said, “You must really be an angel.” “You care so much about other people that you seem to forget about yourself.”
He bent his head down so that his lips could touch her ear.
“Isla, you didn’t do anything wrong. You could never bother me, sweet girl.”
He kept going, stroking her soft strands with his big but gentle hand.
“I worry about you, Isla. I care about you. If I had known this was going to be a disaster, I never would have brought you here—”
“Kade,” Isla said, interrupting. She didn’t like how things were going.
“No, Isla, I’m sorry. That should never have happened to you.”
Isla’s throat hurt as she held back a flood of tears that had been building up since it happened.
She was upset when her barrier broke and she started crying on his chest.
“Oh, baby.”
Kade sighed, hugged her tightly, and then took her off the dance floor.
“Let’s take you home.”
Isla had been at Luxe for almost a month, and she was doing a lot better, to be honest. Kade had been so nice and understanding that she couldn’t even say how grateful she was.
When she thought about the tall man with tattoos, it felt like a swarm of butterflies was flying around in her chest and tickling her stomach. She had never felt this way about a man before.
She wrote about how she felt in her diary, including how she felt about a certain person. The ink and the pages were the only ones who knew she had called her obsession with Kade a crush.
As she finished her daily entry, her toes curled up as she thought about Kade. They’ve already done things that couples do, like kiss and touch.
Isla turned red and bit her pen to keep from getting too excited.
She knew that life wasn’t like a romance novel at all. But was it too much to ask for her to have her own storybook?
She closed her diary and jumped out of bed, knowing Kade would be waiting for her in his car across the street.
She rushed down the stairs with pink cheeks and a smile, yelled a quick “bye” to Clarice and the kids, and then ran out the door.