As the door opens, I see David covered in blood. "Have fun, Craig?" I ask as I sit in front of David.

  “So much fun,” Craig roars.

  Craig is a sick fuck. He has done things to men and women that scare me, and I’m not that easily frightened.

  I start slapping his victim’s face, “David, you can’t die. I won’t let you die.” I start to take my jacket off, handing it over to Warren. I roll my sleeves up as I walk over to the white brick wall and lean against it, waiting for him to say something.

  “Then what do you want?” he asks panting with each word.

  "I want you to remember, remember every breath you take, every time you cuddle your wife and children, that I let you live," I say with a small smile as I push myself off the wall and walk over to him. "But I want you to also remember that I will always be there when you close your eyes. I will be there when you look at your children. I want you to know that one day I will come for your family. Every time you lie in bed, I want you to think that you can't give pleasure to your wife because of me."

  I extend my hand and Pike places a knife in it. In one fast movement, I slam it into his genitals and the sound of his scream makes me smile.

  I leave the knife there and lean back in my chair to watch him moving around in agony.

  I turn to Craig. "Don’t let him die. Make sure his fucking cock doesn't work, then tell him if he talks, you’ll pick a family member to kill."

  Taking my jacket from Warren, I leave the room. I've made my point, Pike will find out from Craig what information he got.

  I reach my office to start reading the files, but my feet automatically move to the window so that I can see her, and there she is smiling at the customers.

  “So, Alice,” Warren says from behind me. “Angel, you need to fuck someone, and Alice is...nothing. She’s nothing to me.”

  Warren’s tone changes when I look at him, just the thought of someone thinking like that about her makes me mad. The idea of someone touching her makes me what to kill them.

  What is happening to me?

  What has she done to me?

  Chapter 5

  Alice

  "Oh, come on, Vinny. The doors are closed the music is playing. Just a little dance," I tell him. He's been in a mood with me since Angel had words with him. How was I meant to know Angel was going to react like that?

  I've known Vinny for years. When I went to the states, he was the first person I met. He taught me everything I know. The dad I never had, he is more than a few years older than me. He's thirty-five, and still looks good for his age. I keep telling him to get married have cute babies, but his answer is always the same. I don't want to put others in danger.

  Angel only needs to talk to people to put fear into them. I can tell a devil lives in his eyes because they scare the fucking shit out of me. In that small moment, though, I looked at his face and his mask dropped. I saw a man who took my breath away, and it wasn't because of fear. It was because he relaxed for a split second and, in that second, I saw something different in him.

  "Alice, if the boss sees me dancing, I'm sure he will cut off my balls," Vinny tells me as he walks over to the bar. "I'll put money on it that he's done it before."

  He walks past me and I shake my head. "I think you're a little over the top." I turn to face him.

  Vinny looks at me, and not in a playful way, either.

  "Alice, if what everyone has told me about Angel is true, I'm sure he can kill me before I can blink. Even the fucking boogie man is scared of him," Vinny tells me as he looks up at the window.

  I look at Drew sulking. I told her what Warren said to me, and I don't think she knew how to feel. She seemed split between rage that he got in the way of her date, and happy that Warren is still trying to win her over.

  I wrap my arms around her waist from behind, “Oh, come on, smile. Warren’s being a jealous ass,” I tell her as I turn her around. We start dancing to the song playing softly in the background. I hate when she’s not smiling. “I know you want to smile,” I say with a teasing smile, and she can’t help but smile back at me.

  "This is why I love you. You can always make me smile. And Warren really is being an ass." She looks over her shoulder as we hear Warren and Elijah walking down the stairs. "You think I should give him another chance?" she asks in a whisper.

  One thing I have learned about the Frost family is that they hear everything and know everything.

  “I wouldn’t…I mean, he fucked other women…but I don’t see him leaving you alone any time soon, so...I say, maybe see how much he will beg,” I take a step back from Drew when Warren steps up behind her.

  Warren doesn't scare me as much as the others do. I think it’s more because Drew told me that he is a softy, but never to tell anyone because the beast might come out. Whereas Elijah, he's a little more, I don't know, crazy. Drew told me what happened to his girlfriend, and I cried when she told me. Drew said that day changed him, and he's never really recovered from it. Even when he met Gwen, there was always a part missing.

  Then there’s Angel, a man that doesn’t show how he’s feeling, doesn’t show any expression at all. A man that can put fear in you with just a look.

  Yet, there is something about Angel that makes me feel nervous, excited, scared, aroused, worried, annoyed, hot, and high all at the same time. I don’t know what I feel when it comes to Angel, but one thing I do know is that I need to stay away from him. My past is the last thing I need finding me, and being close or involved with him won’t keep me hidden from them.

  I leave Drew and Warren to it, and walk over to Luke, “You want to dance with me?” I ask.

  He takes a step away from me, which is not normal for him. Any chance he gets, the flirting starts. “No, I have to finish cashing up for the night down," he says, not even looking up at me or trying to chat me up.

  "Have I done something to upset you?" I ask. We both know I'm not interested in him like that, and he has been fine with it. We still flirt with each other. It's becomes something of a joke between us.

  "No, I…" He looks up at me then over to Angel's office. "I just can't be as flirty anymore." His voice comes out low so no one around us can hear.

  "And why is that?" Something is going on with him. Someone has told him…. I stop and look up at the window. He wouldn't. Why would he? No. This is just me over thinking. "Did Angel…" I stop the moment Luke shakes his head, but I know that asshole did exactly what I suspected. Oh my God. Who does he think he is?

  I have no idea what part of my brain is making this stupid decision, but my feet are moving up the stairs to his office. Without a knock, I walk in. What am I doing?

  “What do you want?” Pike stands in front of me, with a hand on his gun, which makes me take a step back.

  I suppose that was my own fault. It could have been anyone, and I know this family has enemies.

  I turn to Angel. “You can’t tell…” I stop the second he raises his hand from behind the desk. He’s not even looked up at me yet. When he raises his gaze from the papers, he nods at Pike.

  They have a silent conversation, and it gives me a chance to look at Angel’s beautiful face again. The few-day-old stubble looks hot on him, making the hardness of him even harder, if that’s even possible. That sharp jaw line, wow, enough to stop any woman in her tracks. Then there are his eyes. They are so mesmerizing.

  I break out of my thoughts when I see Angel stand up, his hands in his pockets with the sleeves rolled up to show his forearms. That’s when I see a scar running down this arm to his wrist. I take a step back as he gets closer, the air around me closing in on me.

  “What can’t I tell, Alice?”

  My name leaving his lips sends a shiver down my spine, the tingles are like tiny electric shocks against my skin.

  “You have no right to tell my friends they can’t talk to me.” The courage I came up the stairs with is coming back. That doesn’t mean I’m not scared right now, because I am, but he really pissed me off by scaring Luke away.

  “I never told them not to talk to you. I told them they can’t touch you.” Angel takes another step closer to me, and I take one back.

  “Well you have no right to do—”

  “I do. This is my bar. So it’s my rules. There is a no touching of colleagues rule in my bar.”

  I go to open my mouth to fight, but at the moment no words are forming in my head. My lips go dry as my mouth parts. Thinking of what to say to him leads me nowhere. His eyes move to my lips as I run my tongue over my bottom lip to wet it and stall for my thoughts to catch up.

  “But he’s my friend, and you can’t stop friends from dancing with each other, or—” I stop as my back hits the wall behind me. The music playing downstairs becomes a humming in the background. The mix of spices coming from his aftershave takes over my senses. I move my eyes from his chest to his face, my head tilting up, and my breath becoming unsteady as his piercing blue eyes look down at me.

  I move to get out the way, but stop the moment Angel takes a step closer to me.

  "At a loss for words?" His voice comes out deep in one tone. Blunt.

  As I open my mouth to tell him no, and everything else I want to say, I feel a craving to touch him. I don’t know why, but I want to.

  In that moment, his lips are crushed against mine. My hands move up to his chest to push him away but, when his hands grip my waist, my body betrays me as my blood hums in my veins for his touch.

  His tongue moves to my bottom lip, and my body shivers. I open my mouth for him and, just for a moment, his tongue glides with mine. The electric shock running through me is mind blowing.

  As quick as he kissed me, Angel moves away from me. A small moan escapes my lips as my finger moves over them.

  His back to me, I stand there for a moment building myself up enough to talk again, but my voice keeps getting stuck in my throat. "You don't control my life,” I manage to say. “I can talk and touch whoever the fuck I want." I take a step back and open the door.

  “Alice, no man will touch you again. I will make sure of that.”

  I look over my shoulder as he turns around to look at me. If it were possible, I would swear his eyes become darker.

  Without saying a word to him, I leave his office and see Pike smile as I walk past him. I walk over to Drew.

  "Where the hell have you been?" Her eyes move to Angel's office, then back to me. "Oh my God. You kissed him." Her voice comes out excited.

  "No, he kissed me," I tell her, and I look over at the window to see Angel and Pike talking while his eyes stay on me. I turn around to Luke. "Are you not finished yet? Let's go get a drink," I tell him and Drew at the same time.

  “Is it invite only?” Vinny says and he comes to stand behind me.

  “Depends. Are you going to dance with me?” I ask him. Vinny is a big guy, and I bet he couldn’t dance if he wanted to.

  "I don't dance, but first round’s on me," Vinny says. He wraps his arm around my shoulder and I wrap mine around his waist.

  "Come on. Let's get a drink before the pub closes," Drew says.

  I grab my bag and we head to the only pub that will stay open for us so we can have a nice time after our shift.

  I look up at Angel, and he doesn’t look happy, but he needs to know that he does not own or control me.

  Drew pulls me away from Vinny, as we walk down the road. “I want details.” She looks over her shoulder as Warren shouts her name.

  “What did he want?” I ask.

  "Another chance and I said I will be over tonight. I told him it's the last chance he's getting from me," Drew says.

  All I want is her to be happy, and if that means dating Warren Frost, then that's what it will be.

  "So, Angel?"

  I turn to face her. “Nothing to say. He kissed me. He still scares the shit out of me. That’s about it.”

  I know a man like Angel won't stop, but every family in England knows who they are, and I'm hiding from one of them. One that even they don't do business with. They did a long time ago, but blood was spilled, and the hate is there. As long as they stay away from each other’s business and town, it's stays peaceful. Uncle Andy said it was safe five years ago, but I wasn't ready to come back to England then. The fear was still there. The fear of them getting me will never leave. I came back last year, once I knew I could defend myself as much as possible. I might not be about to take the whole family on, but I'm going to try my hardest.

  "Until next time," Drew says and I nod and say nothing, but Drew knows me well enough. "Hey, they won't find you, and if they do, I have a feeling Angel will kill them. Warren told me Angel told Luke to stop touching you." She starts laughing. "Whether you like it or not, you're Angel Frost's girl, and he will do whatever it takes to get you, and whatever it takes to make sure no one touches you."

  As we walk into the pub, Drew's words play in my head over and over again. You’re Angel Frost’s girl.

  Chapter 6

  Angel

  I fucking kissed her. Why did I fucking kiss her?

  It was her lips, her full perfect lips. Then she had to run her tongue over the bottom one. That pushed me over the edge. My body took control, and I kissed her. Fuck.

  I could have easily pushed for more, but I had to take a step back. I need to get away from Alice. Her scent is intoxicating, her skin perfect, and her lips are so fucking kissable. I can't have a distraction, I shout to myself. What am I thinking? I have one mission, and until that is done, I can't get distracted.

  “Well someone looked a little—”

  “What is the story behind them?” I point to Alice and Vinny. I’m sure I told the staff about the no fucking touching policy. Yes, I made the policy up, but it was driving me crazy that they were touching her, and I wasn’t. Who the fuck am I kidding?No one will ever touch her again.

  "Vinny. They've been friends for years, family friends. Drew's the one that got Ash to give Vinny the job, then Alice started working here." Pike looks over at me. "Alice only really talks to them two, so you can tell Vinny not to touch her, but…"

  "But nothing." I pause for a moment. "Fuck, not even a week out of prison, and…" I have no idea what is happening to me. "I want every detail about her. Go through it with a fine tooth comb," I tell him. I don't think there is anything wrong with her, but Vinny is trained. He's come out of the army. So, how are these two friends?

  "Angel, she's clean. The moment you looked at her, I was already on it. There is nothing about her. Once her parents died, she moved in with Drew's parents. Stayed there for a few years, then went abroad to stay with family came back a few years later,” Pike tells me.

  I should have known he would have already done it.

  “Okay.” I watch them walking out of the bar. I turn and head to my desk to get my jacket. I need to start my business for the night.

  “Okay?” Pike questions. “Just okay?”

  "Yeah, let's go," I tell him. If he is happy with the staff here, I'm never going to question it. Alice is a problem for another day. I have business to deal with tonight.

  Meeting Elijah and Warren by the car, I take the gun from Pike and put it in my holster, then get in the passenger seat.

  I looked at all the information Elijah got on the new gun crew, but we can’t start a fight with them until we know who is protecting them.

  One thing our grandad told us, never start a fight blind. Find every detail about them. Find out where they bleed, and then you take them down.

  “Who do we think is protecting them?” I ask everyone in the car as I light up my cigarette.

  “Could be anyone. The American’s for cheaper guns, or it could be the Irish or the Midlands…”

  "The Midlands? I thought there was a truce between us?"

  Our fight goes back many years. They're also the reason behind the members of my family that were murdered, but we avenged that, and both seniors of the family said no more blood should be spilt, as long as we keep our business out of each other’s. Which worked fine with us. Drugs are not our business, so why would they want to start on us now?

  "We haven't been there since the truce, but you never know. We don't know who is protecting O'Reilly," Warren tells me.

  Taking in a deep breath, I consider this. "We don't leave without a name," I tell them as I check my phone.

  Craig sent me a message saying he's dropped David outside his house and told him that if a word leaks about the Frost family being behind this, it will be his wife that will pay, and before he kills her, he will have some fun. Shaking my head at my phone, I smile.

  We don't hurt women. We don’t rape women. We don’t touch women, ever. I do like that Craig has put in enough fear for him to never breathe my name again.

  ***

  We park outside the strip club and I take a look around to see what security they have outside. As I get out of the car, I straighten my jacket and follow Elijah and Warren into the strip club.

  “What are you doing here Frost boys?”

  I look over at the guy to the right with his gun held high. His gaze moves over us all.

  “Want to talk to the boss.” Warren continues his way to the back, not bothered that the guy has a gun pointed at him.

  "Well, he doesn't want to see you." The guy pushes Warren, making me laugh.

  I step in before Warren breaks his hand. “Tell the boss that Angel Frost is here, and he has two choices. One, he sees us, or two, we burn the drugs he has,” I tell him.

  The guy doesn’t make eye contact with me. That’s fine, because he walks away to the back anyway.

  Pike walks over to me. “They have five men in front with guns,” he says.

  I look around at the club, and see that it’s full. No way they will want to start a fight with this many people around. Some of the girls stand in front of us. Warren starts looking them up and down. He leans closer and whispers something to her, as the other looks between Pike and me.

 

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