Page 13

“No, I’m not doing shit. Now, get away from me. I’m done with your little threats. Do what you want to do,” I said, my eyes already shifting across the room, only to find Bo watching. His jaw clenched tightly as his eyes shifted from where Josh had just tugged me to my face.

Shit!

Before I could remove myself, Josh leaped toward me so fast that I didn’t even have time to step back.

His hand shot out and wrapped around my neck, fingers digging into my skin like he was trying to squeeze the life out of me.

Panicked, I clawed at my throat as my breath hitched.

My hands flew up to try and pull him off, but his grip tightened.

The room blurred around me as I scraped at his wrist.

“You don’t get to walk away from me, you ungrateful bitch!” he snarled, spit flying from his mouth. “After everything I did for you…”

I couldn’t breathe. My legs wobbled, and then, like the universe heard the scream I couldn’t make, he was gone.

I hit the floor on my knees, coughing hard and gasping like I’d just been pulled from underwater.

The sound of fists slamming into flesh cracked through the club. I looked up, dazed, but I already knew.

I saw Bo in a blur of fury, repeatedly slamming his fist into Josh’s face.

The crack of Josh’s bones echoed louder than the bass in the club.

Josh’s head snapped back as he stumbled to the floor, blood already blooming at the corner of his mouth and nose.

For a second, everything froze. People stopped dancing, and conversations paused.

“You like putting your hands on women?” Bo growled, voice low and full of something deadly. “Try that shit with me, bitch-ass nigga!”

With every word spoken, his fist connected to Josh’s face over and over again.

Blood was everywhere. Josh was sputtering now, arms flailing, but Bo wasn’t letting up.

It was apparent that he had blacked out.

All I could do was watch in horror as Deuce and Boston tried to pull him off of Josh while my girls held me back.

It took them a minute, but with the help of two bouncers, they were able to pull Bo off of Josh.

“Get him out of here!” Deuce barked, his voice full of authority.

The bouncers didn’t need instructions, for they were already moving fast to grab Josh’s limp body like the trash he was, dragging him toward the exit.

He wasn’t fighting back anymore. I didn’t know if he was unconscious or just too fucked up to move, but I honestly didn’t care.

All I could focus on was Bo. He was still standing there, chest heaving, jaw clenched, and bloody hands balled into fists at his sides.

He was attempting to hold onto the last threads of control.

The room had gone quiet, the crowd watching like they were waiting for the next explosion.

I broke away from my girls and stepped in front of him cautiously, hands pressing gently to his chest. “Bo?—”

“Don’t fucking touch me!” he said, snapping at me. His voice was harsh, colder than I’d ever heard it. He smacked my hands away like they burned, his eyes wild with something I couldn’t name. Then he turned and stormed off, disappearing into the back of the club without another word.

The air in my lungs felt like it’d been sucked out of the room with him.

I stood there, frozen, my heart cracking open in real-time.

Tears blurred my vision and spilled down my cheeks, hot and heavy.

I’d never witnessed that side of Bo before.

The rage, the coldness—it was unfamiliar, and it scared me more than I wanted to admit.

“Denim, Lex… take sis, and y’all go over to our section,” Deuce stated, then started barking out orders to his security to follow us.

Lexi appeared beside me, her touch gentle as she wrapped her arm around mine. “Come on, babe,” she whispered, guiding me away from the wreckage.

Denim flanked my other side without saying a word, her presence steady, like a silent promise that whispered, “We got you.”

Still, my eyes stayed locked on the shadows where Bo disappeared, praying he’d come back. But he didn’t.

Lexi didn’t let go of my arm until we were upstairs in the private lounge and away from the crowd, and the whispers.

Away from him.

Lexi eased me down onto the velvet couch as if I was made of glass.Denim grabbed a few napkins off the table and gently dabbed the side of my neck, her touch soft but her jaw tight. “You’re bleeding a little,” she murmured.

I didn’t say anything—I couldn’t. My throat still burned from crying, yelling, and trying to hold everything inside and failing to do so.

Lexi sat beside me and placed a cold drink in my hand. “Here. Just hold it, if nothing else. You need something to ground you.”

I stared at the condensation running down the glass. My fingers curled around it, more out of instinct than I wanted. For a few minutes, nobody said anything. The silence between us wasn’t awkward. I felt protective. They were giving me space to breathe before the questions came.

Finally, Denim broke the silence. “If Bo hadn’t come in when he did…” Her voice trailed off, but we all knew how that sentence ended.

Lexi looked at me, her eyes soft but firm. “You don’t have to talk about it right now, but you’re not going back to him. That’s done, O. I mean that shit. You are not safe with him.”

“I wasn’t going to,” I whispered. My voice cracked on the words. “It’s just… Bo, he looked at me like he hated me.” The tears slipped out before I even could stop them.

“He doesn’t hate you. That man loves you, O. Probably more than he even knows how to handle. Seeing what that bastard did… that flipped a switch in him.” I knew exactly what she was referring to. Bo witnessed his mother being abused by his father, so I get why he would react that way.

I swallowed hard. “I didn’t mean to push him away. I love him.”

“We know, boo,” Lexi said. She reached over and touched my shoulder.

I blinked, tears slipping free again, but this time, I didn’t wipe them away. I let the cascade of water fall because, for the first time in a long time, I wasn’t falling apart alone. I had my girls.

“Sis, you really need to leave that nigga. Just say the word, and he will be on the ten o’clock news tonight,” Deuce said, stepping into the section with Boston right behind him.

His tone was light, but the look in his eyes showed he was dead serious.

His expression read that he’d already pictured how he’d make it happen.

I managed a small nod. My chest felt tight, and my throat was sore from holding back everything I didn’t want to say aloud. I glanced past them, scanning the crowd, hoping I’d see him, just a glimpse to know he was okay.

“Thanks, Deuce. But I’m done. I promise,” I said quietly. “Where’s Bo?”

“He’s good. Give him a minute to cool off. I’m sure he’ll reach out.”

I swallowed hard as guilt crawled up the back of my neck. I needed to see him now, not in days.

The energy slowly shifted back to a celebration.

We managed to salvage the rest of the night, even though it took me a minute to join back in on the fun.

Bo never showed back up to the club, and I felt a mixture of shame and hurt.

I knew he was in his feelings. Lexi made sure we laughed, Denim kept the drinks flowing, and for a while, I let myself float—smiling, dancing, and pretending everything hadn’t just cracked open a little more.