Finding Strength: A Club Dark Novel Read online

  Pulling myself from my thoughts, I give her a brief rundown of today’s events. “It appears Lacey’s ex is not only a partner here at the club, but he is also the one responsible for her being drugged the first night she was here. Seconds after learning this information, the fucker sends me a video message with Lacey in the background, knocked out and bloody. He’s warned us to stay away. That’s all we’ve got. Did anything unusual happen when you were with her? Anything that might point us in their direction?”

  “Nothing that I can recall,” she says with tears in her eyes “Actually, I do remember she got real freaked out while we were at the pub. She said something about feeling watched. So, I’m guessing she wasn’t just paranoid and the asshole really was stalking her?”

  There’s anger laced in her voice now. That, I can deal with. “I’m going to say, yes. I only wish one of you would’ve said something. I could’ve put security detail on her 24/7.” She should’ve been safe in my home.

  “She brushed it off as being paranoid, Cory. I just thought she was still dealing with the club incident. What are we going to do to get her back? If there’s anything I can do to help, I’m here.” In that moment, my respect for this woman grew. To know that she cares for Lacey as much as I do, goes a long way for me.

  “As of right now, I’m waiting on the team to get here so we can work out a plan. We are going to need as many hands as we can get. We aren’t going to be able to just ride in, guns blazing. He’s already threatened to kill her if we come after her, so we’re going to have to figure out a way to outsmart him and get to her without him knowing we’re coming.”

  As if on cue, Alex comes walking through the door, and I count as, one-by-one, fifteen of our guys come strolling in behind him. Honestly, I’m impressed he could pull so many together on such short notice.

  I do my best to keep my attention on the guys settling in around the room. Most of them come with a military background, which is part of the reason I hired them. I need to know that they can not only look after my club, but handle themselves when shit hits the fan.

  Alex clears his throat, causing me to look him in the eyes. He holds my gaze briefly before dropping it and addresses the room.

  “You’re all here tonight because one of our own has gone missing,” he begins. Missing? Is that what he’s calling it? Anger starts to flair deep in my gut, igniting a flame that’ll threaten to light his world on fire if he doesn’t learn to take this more seriously.

  I glance over at Amber to see that she’s staring at me with a look of concern. Not liking the look on her face, I glance back at Alex who gives me a pointed look toward the girl.

  “Do you want to dismiss the staff while we talk?” Alex asks me. I see Amber flinch out of the corner of my eye. With no time or patience to deal with hurt feelings, I inform Alex that she’s just fine where she’s at.

  “Okay, then,” he starts. “First, whatever we discuss tonight, please get in touch with your partners and brief them. We are going to need all the hands we have on this. The victim we are rescuing is the same one that was drugged here last month. We now know who the culprit is. Not only is he a partner, but he’s also the girl’s ex…” My thoughts drown him out as he continues to talk to the group. Hearing him refer to Lacey as the girl is feeding the flames brewing deep inside me.

  Slamming my fist down on the table, I jump out of my seat, and before I even know what I’m doing, I’m standing toe to toe with Alex, my hands wrapped around each side of his collar.

  “The girl, has a name,” I say with as much venom I can. “It’s Lacey. She’s not an object and she’s not just missing, asshole. Get your facts straight.” Every fiber of my being wants to punch him right in the nose, feel the bones crunch under my knuckles. But before my muscles can tense up to deliver the blow, I feel a small, but firm, hand placed against my chest.

  Looking down at Amber, I see tears in her eyes, but anger is painted clearly across her face.

  “You have got to stop, Cory. I know you’re upset but you aren’t doing anything to help Lacey’s situation here. Let Alex do what you pay him to do and calm the fuck down.”

  Rationally, I know she’s right. I know Alex has started to care for Lacey in a brotherly way, and it’s just his training that makes him detach. But I’m not thinking rationally right now.

  “Cory!” Amber practically screams in my face, calling my attention to her once again. “Alex is your best friend. He will take care of this. Trust him.”

  And just like that, I feel my arms relax. The anger is still there, an inferno in my soul just waiting for its chance to be ignited once again. But Amber’s right. I trust Alex with my life. If anyone can locate Lacey, it’s him. I need a better outlet for everything brewing inside of me, before I go crazy.

  Taking a few steps back, I glide my hands through my sweat soaked hair, pulling at the ends as a strangled growl tears its way up my throat.

  My knees hit the floor as everything settles over me. “How did I let this happen?” I say to no one.

  Feeling a firm grip on my shoulder, I already know who it is before he speaks. “This isn’t your fault, man. We are going to get her back, but I’m going to need you to pull it together. We can’t do this without you,” Alex says as he squeezes my shoulder and walks back to address the team.

  Getting her back is not what I’m worried about. It’s what that psychotic freak does to her in the meantime that has me worried. Who will Lacey be, if we even find her alive.

  Taking a few deep breaths, I make my way to my feet and hang out by the far wall.

  “I’m taking a team with me and the rest of you will hang back. I’ll need you guys to comb through all the footage you can get your hands on. We need to know who he’s been in contact with, where he’s been, where he’s taken a fuckin’ shit at, I don’t care. Just get it done. The rest of you, we are going on a hunt. Our IT guy already has his plates; we just need to track him down.” Alex looks back at me, and I can see the hesitation that quickly flashes across his face. Why didn’t he tell me as soon as he found out?

  His next words, however, bring all that fire back to the surface.

  “Cory, I’m going to need you to hang back, man.”

  “Like hell I will.” He knows me better than to even suggest that I stay here, while someone else is out looking for MY girl.

  “Just listen to me for a second.” He looks to me for a reaction, then continues when I don’t give him one. “Look at yourself right now. I’m not asking you to sit here and twirl your thumbs. I’m asking you to give me the space to do my job. Once we have located her, you’ll be the first to know.”

  As much as I want to, I can’t argue his logic. Not saying that I can’t handle my own, but my mind just isn’t in it right now. I would never forgive myself if my impulses got in the way and Lacey suffered for it.

  “Fine. But the moment you find her, you call me. And nobody goes near them until I’m there. He’s already threatened her life once, so we’re only going to get one shot at this,” I say, leaving no room for argument.

  Glancing around the room again, my eyes connect with every man seated at the table and I count my blessings, as I realize I’ve never been luckier than to call these men family.

  Darkness settles in around me. Aaron’s been gone for what feels like hours and I’m not any closer to coming up with a plan to get out of this place. The sun went down a while ago and he so graciously left me without even a nightlight. I guess that’s not such a bad thing. I’ve had nothing but the blackness in front of me as company, making my already fragile mind think up all kinds of crazy scenarios for how this is going to end. Like, with me in a body bag, deep down in a river somewhere.

  While he may have made sure I was secured physically, I did live with the man for three years. I know him on a more intimate level. If I play my cards right, I might can get inside his head long enough to get him to trust me enough to allow me some freedom. Then, I can better assess my surroundings and get the
hell out of here.

  My heart skyrockets into my chest when I hear movement outside the door. Seconds later, I’m momentarily blinded as lights from the parking lot shine through the open door.

  Aaron walks in, throwing on the lights, making my still throbbing head pound with the intensity of my beating heart. Suddenly, the false sense of calm I worked so hard at fooling myself into, is completely obliterated as my fear of the unknown makes it way front and center. There’s an evil in his eyes I’ve never seen before; it’s even more fierce than it was before he left earlier. It makes me wonder what could have happened in the few hours he’s been gone to make him even angrier.

  Chills break out across my entire body, causing me to shiver. Looking into his eyes–big mistake by the way– his creepy ass smile returns, letting me know he sees just how scared I really am.

  “I’ve brought food. But, from the look on your face, I can see you’ve been a bad girl while I was away,” he says with a smug tone to his voice. What sucks? At the mention of food, my stomach lets out an embarrassingly loud rumble, causing my cheeks to instantly heat and Aarons sinister smile to grow even wider. Seriously... I don’t know this man at all. He’s never been this cruel. And what I don’t get, he did this to us. I wasn’t the one out screwing his best friend. Him being the one feeling wronged in this situation is utter bullshit.

  He sets the grease-spattered, brown paper bag on the table, before pulling a chair out to sit down with his food. Making sure to look at me as he pulls the contents out, he makes a show of slowly unwrapping a juicy looking cheeseburger. Again, I feel my stomach rumble, yet this time, a wave of nausea sets in, making me realize that it’s been far too long since I’ve eaten.

  “I’m sorry, you must be so hungry by now?” He says, and judging by his tone, I know he doesn’t care. He’s only taunting me. And while I know this, tears still spring to my eyes at how cruel he really is. To think I ever loved this man is crazy. Part of me wants to believe the man I once loved is still buried deep inside of him. But the longer I’m forced to be in his presence, the more I come to realize that the man I thought to be the one I loved, was just a front for the mean, chauvinistic asshole that sits before me.

  The five minutes he takes to savor that hamburger feel like an eternity to me. He never takes his eyes from me, fully aware of the emotions he’s stirring inside. Maybe that’s been his plan all along. To get me so weak that I’ll have no choice but to become dependent on him. This asshole has another thing coming if he thinks I’ll ever depend on him again. I’m not the naive little girl he met so many years ago.

  Finishing his dinner, he stands with the bag and begins walking towards me. He sits down on the bed, right beside me. Every muscle in my body locks up, I twitch all over, itching to slide myself away from him. I repeatedly remind myself that I need to get him to trust me and if I’m jerking away from him every time he tries to get near, that’ll never happen. And seeing as I have no clue what his game is, I need to make sure I do everything I can to stay on track with my own.

  While I can’t seem to get myself to completely relax, I do at least manage to keep myself in place.

  “Are you going to ask me if you can eat?” There we are again, with the smug attitude. I mean, he’s kidding, right? He must be out of his mind if he thinks I’m going to beg him to let me eat.

  “Fuck you!” I spit out with as much venom as I can when he finally removes the gag from my mouth.

  “You’re going to regret that. If you can’t show a little gratitude for the fact that I was generous enough to feed you, you can starve.” He says as he walks over to the trash can and slams the bag down in it.

  Immediately, I feel like such an idiot for letting him get to me. I’m supposed to be getting on his good side, instead, I feel like we’ve just taken ten steps in the wrong direction, all because I couldn’t let go of my pride and beg like he wanted.

  “I’m going to grab a shower,” he says, as he grabs my jaw forcefully between his fingers, taking extra care to apply as much pressure as he can. “I suggest you change your attitude while I’m in there. Remember that no one knows where you are. I could very well let you starve to death and leave you cuffed to that bed if you can’t start showing a little respect when I’m trying to take care of you.” He gives my jaw a forceful shove before he storms off without another word.

  I can feel the instant bruises left behind from his fingers digging into my cheeks. Taking care of me? Is he delusional or something? Clearly, he’s fallen off the crazy train.

  He wasn’t in the shower long. When he walks out, he’s in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs, and once again my heart is in my throat. Up until this very moment, how we would sleep, never even crossed my mind. Does he expect me to sleep with him? Will he try something? The more I think about this, the more my anxiety starts to peak. I feel myself start to hyperventilate. Oh no, please don’t go there. I don’t want to be any more vulnerable in front of him than I already am.

  Too late. I feel myself struggle to take in each breath. Out of nowhere, I feel a hand on my back, rubbing slow and steady, almost soothing circles.

  “Breathe, Lacey. Nothing is going to happen, for now. You’re safe tonight. Lay down and get some sleep. You’re going to need it.” Aaron’s small attempt at making me calm down only works to help me breathe easier. I don’t miss the subtle hints that, no... everything’s not going to be okay, and no... I’m not safe.

  It’s enough to at least calm me down, since I know he’s not going to try anything tonight.

  The fact that he even tried to calm me down gives me a new hope that, just maybe, the old Aaron is still in there somewhere.

  I watch as he pulls a very small, yet sturdy looking, safe out of his bag and places it on the table. He puts his still loaded gun inside and locks it up. The key goes inside his wallet, then he places both into the drawer of the table beside the bed.

  I quickly glance away, fearful of him catching me paying close attention to where he’s locking his weapon up at. You never know when that kind of information can prove itself useful.

  Turning out the lights, he slides himself into the bed, his front against my back. Once again, my muscles tense up as his arm slides over my waist and pulls me closer to him.

  Emotions I refuse to recognize, start to wreak havoc on my heart. It hasn’t been lost on me that this is exactly how we slept every night for years.

  Soon, I feel his body relax as a soft snore sounds just inches from my ears. Seeing as I have nowhere to go, I will my body to relax. Hunger and fatigue fight over my body before the fatigue finally wins. The darkness hovers around me, forcing my mind into a restless sleep.

  My entire body feels like it’s on fire, yet I’m numb to it all. Looking around, I no longer recognize what used to be the entertainment room here at the club. Back when the place first opened, I had a bad habit of over-staffing the floor. Which resulted in this room being used as the go-to hotspot for the staff who just wanted to hang around and chill out.

  Once football season hit, you could barely move around this room. We’d have both seventy-inch projector TVs going on opposite ends of the room, with a recreational pool table acting as the centerpiece.

  Now, all I see is a room of destruction, and I can’t bring myself to feel any remorse over it. All that remains of the two TVs are fragments of the vinyl screens that somehow managed to hang on after everything within my reach was chucked at each of them.

  Still, my rage–my anger– hasn’t been sated. Until my hands can be wrapped around the throat of that poor excuse of a man, I don’t ever see me being satisfied. That man signed his own death certificate the moment he decided to put his hands on MY woman. And the longer he has her, the more crazed I become, the more my need for blood increases.

  I feel the change in the air the moment I’m no longer alone in the room. Spinning around, my eyes connect with Amber’s, and for once, I feel shame at what I’ve let myself become.

  She begins to walk
my way, but being the man that I am, I stop her in her tracks. “Please!” I nearly shout at her. “I can’t handle the pity right now.”

  A scowl runs across her face, “Oh, so you thought I was here to throw you a pity party? Not going to happen. I’m here to make sure you get your shit together. Do you honestly think Lacey would be okay ay with you carrying on like this? No, she wouldn’t.” She gathers in a deep breath and starts in again before I have time to even think about what to say.

  “You’ve got two options here, Cory. You can either sit here and wallow in all the pain and anger you’ve got brewing on the inside. Or, you can let me take you home, get cleaned up, and you can start channeling all that rage into something a little more productive. The choice is yours, but I can tell you that when Alex finds Lacey, and make no mistake, he WILL find her–” she says with so much heart, that if I wasn’t clued into her feelings before, I would be now, “–she’s going to need you thinking clearly. She’s going to need someone stable to come home to.” And with that, she turns on her heel and walks away, truly giving me the option to self-destruct.

  As appealing as that sounds, deep down I know she’s right. Glancing around one last time at the damage before me, I take a deep breath and head for the door; making a mental note to have someone clean this mess up.

  Arriving back at the house, it just doesn’t feel the same, knowing that she isn’t there to greet me. Every step I take, getting closer and closer to the front door, brings forth an emptiness like I’ve never felt before. Just knowing that her warm presence is no longer behind those doors is enough to drive a man insane.