Fierce King by Ivy Mason

Eighteen

The deep baseof the music pulsed through me as I sat in between Knight and Dante in the VIP section at one of our more popular clubs. The dancing floor was crowded, the strobe of the lights added a lively pulse, and the alcohol was flowing.

I was holding a whiskey, completely sober, but the drink made me look relaxed, even though I was anything but.

Still, my eyes were glazed over, looking at, but not seeing, the flow of dancers hanging from their silk ties from the ceiling and the shimmering of men and woman, all dolled up and looking for their next hook-ups.

It had all suddenly become so fake to me, and I hated it.

"You're in a mood tonight," Knight grumbled by my side. He had a performer on his lap, Tatiana, one of his favorites. She danced for him for free, something I only tolerated because Knight was one of my best friends. And mostly because it wasn’t worth fighting with him over it.

And besides, she liked doing it for him.

I glanced over at them, watching her hips swivel over his hardened dick like a yogurt machine. His eyes filled with lust, half-way lidded as he stared up at her, but when he turned his gaze to mine, they were also filled with concern. “What’s the word?”

I shook my head. "It's nothing."

“You’re pussy whipped.” His taunting grin made me want to punch it off his face.

"It's not that,” Dante growled from my other side. “If there’s ice in the club, we need to find it. They’re nothing to fuck with."

He spoke in code because there were women crawling all over the VIP section, crowding our table. They were here at the invitation of Knight, another reason I felt like punching his face. He could never go too long without some kind of admiring attention on him, and the more the better.

I wasn’t in the mood to deal with gawking tourists looking for a one-night stand. I’d seen enough breasts flashed at me tonight to last me for a lifetime.

All I wanted was one woman’s tit in my mouth, and my dick hardened at just the thought of it. It was making my pants too tight, and that, was making the restlessness inside me intolerable.

Fuck, I needed to get out of here.

The only thing keeping me here was a rumor that Dimitri had left some of his men behind, and they were looking for an in, in my clubs. It was my job to make sure that didn’t happen.

Dante was also in a pissy mood tonight, and I had the feeling that that was also because of the present company, specifically the table just down from ours where Ava was sitting with her friends. Ava and Dante had known each other since they were kids, and they’d been tap dancing around a relationship for as long as I could remember. She kept glancing our way, her eyes burning at the group of women lingering around us.

"Come here," Tatiana said, crooking her finger at a blonde tourist sitting on the other side of Dante. The blonde blushed, her all too staged innocent eyes widening at Tatiana’s request.

Me?" she asked, and Tatiana nodded.

Placing down her fruity drink, she stood up and Tatiana took her hand, pulling her to kneel next to her and Knight.

Knight’s gaze immediately zeroed in on her, forgetting about our conversation, as Tatiana took the blonde’s middle finger and slipped it in between her own lipstick stained red lips.

"You're beautiful, you know," Tatiana said, pulling on her finger like she would a cock. Tatiana was the biggest flirt I knew. She didn't care if they were men or women. She also thought, like Knight, that the more, the merrier.

The blonde’s eyes heated, leaning forward and I caught a flash of her breasts spilling out of her tight dress.

Knights eyes were caught in between the two of them, and he groaned when Tatiana grabbed the blonde’s other hand and lowered it to Knight's hardened dick.

"You see? I'm not allowed to do this," Tatiana glanced at me, "the boss man won't allow it, but there's nothing wrong with you touching him instead.”

The girl looked at me. "You're the owner?”

I smiled politely, giving her a distracted nod.

As soon as the blonde’s attention was on me, Knight sat up, his hand going to her chin. He moved her face back, drawing her attention back on him.

"He's taken, pretty doll, but I’m not."

At this, Tatiana spared me a questioning glance but I didn't respond.

Technically, I wasn't 'taken' but I didn't owe Tatiana anything. She worked for me, not the other way around.

Pulling the blonde closer, Knight brushed his lips over hers and her eyes lowered with lust as he whispered, "So how about it doll? Do you want to touch me?"

Tatiana's hand guided the girl’s hand so that it was stroking Knight's dick through his pants, and the girl nodded, her attention back on Knight while her friends watched, giggling and growing drunker by the minute.

"Fucking whore," Dante grunted on my other side, and I knew he wasn’t talking about the blonde, but Knight.

"You know if Ava wasn't here, you'd be doing the same thing."

He scowled, not answering, turning his face to look back over the crowd.

I leaned back even further trying to look relaxed though it was difficult. Inside I was antsy and ready to get out of here.

I wanted to be with Rose, to breathe in the smell of her, to watch her eyes catch mine, to see her come undone under me.

Each night was getting harder and harder to wait until the clubs were closed and the payments made.

I was quickly becoming obsessed with the taste of her lips, the perfect way she looked when she was deep in her drawing, the sound of her voice when she laughed.

The way she writhed under my touch.

And God, the way she said my name every time she came was my fucking undoing.

I needed my dick in her wet pussy, and soon. I just needed a little more time with her, then she'd be begging me to make me hers.

Except, my problem was, every time I came to see her, Bourbon always showed up.

It was like he had a sixth sense or something, always knowing the exact moment to enter.

As always, he never joined in, keeping to himself, but watching with an intensity that caught her attention.

Every. Damn. Time.

Waiting for Rose to choose me was going to be my undoing.

Making one last scan of the crowd, I gave in to the temptation and pulled out my phone, unlocking it and opening up the app so I could spy on her.

I instantly sat up, alert. She was usually asleep by now but the room was empty. Scowling, I opened my texts, scrolling through them to find one from Bourbon.

Will be out tonight. Don’t show your fucking face.

That was his way of telling me he’d finally decided to move in on her. I grit my teeth, and suddenly the temptation to punch something grew even stronger. Shit. Shit.

I thought by now he would’ve given in but something must’ve changed for him without my knowing. I had to get to her, and soon, before he sunk his claws in her.

She’d been confined for too long, and it wouldn’t take much for Bourbon to make promises that would make her choose him.

Promises he wouldn’t keep.

I knew that Rose was bored as hell and I felt bad about that, but we'd yet to find the right girl to replace her. And until that happened, she was stuck where she was safe. Finding another dead lookalike wasn't easy.

"There." Dante's troubled voice made me look up.

I followed his gaze, reluctantly slipping my phone back in my pocket, then my eyes caught on the men he'd spotted. There were two of them.

They had their heads down so that we couldn’t see their faces but the tattoos on their neck betrayed their allegiance to the Bratvas. Both Dante and I ignored the threesome going on right beside us to focus on them.

The one with a compass tattooed on his bald head was drinking but his stance was too casual to be real. Every once in a while he'd look up, his eyes scanning the room. The brown-haired one was talking to a girl next to him, and it looked like he was buying her a drink.

Dante stood up, announcing he had to piss, but I knew he was leaving to get a closer look.

Ava’s face instantly snapped towards him but he didn’t spare her a glance, his focus fully on his task now.

And that’s why I trusted Dante more than Knight.

Knight had yet to notice the icers, his attention fully on getting his rocks off, and I wished that they’d get a room because they were annoying as hell.

Once again, the men scanned the room and I wondered if they were looking for me.

“Hey, you." I caught the gaze of the first woman who looked my way. She was a redhead and a little pretty, but she had nothing on Rose. “Come here." I pat the seat next to me.

She hesitated, her long red hair covering her face as she stood up, and her smile was timid as she came to sit next to me.

I leaned over to her, whispering in her ear like I was telling her a secret. "How would you like to get free drinks for the rest of the night?”

"What?" She reared back, as if she couldn't believe my words.

I nodded, then tilted my head back to bare my neck. “Kiss me, right here."

Her gaze narrowed in on it, then they slid down my body and I could tell by the way she looked at me that she liked what she saw.

I didn't wait for her to agree but wrapped my arm around her waist and pressed her to my side. She quickly gave in, her face burrowing into my neck to kiss me there. I pretended to be into it, keeping an eye on the Bratvas at the same time.

After a few minutes, I jolted as someone approached them. It was Danny, one of my least favorite runners. I'd only given him a job as a favor to one of my best sellers, Armando.

Danny was a scraggly kid and Armando’s nephew. It was obvious Danny was a user, but Armando had promised to keep an eye on him, and so far, Armando had kept his word. Danny had yet to steal or use any of my own product that I knew of.

But now, he was in Luna Azzurro, a territory that was not his assignment. As soon as the Bratvas turned to him, I realized with a sinking sensation that he was the reason they’d been scanning the bar.

It was a quick motion, a slip of hands, and I knew.

They'd met up to bring him ozone, selling it in my club, without my permission.

They wanted to rake in the money by using our busiest clubs without having to share any of the profits.

The thought made my anger boil.

Danny probably had enough contacts in the club tonight to know who exactly to sell to.

The place was packed to the brim, filled with people looking for a good time.

The Bratvas stood up, paying for their drinks.

"What the fuck is going on here?"

Lucy's angry voice was like a record scratching in my mind, yanking my focus away from the icers.

Fuck.

I'd been ignoring her calls since Rose came into my life, and now I was going to pay for putting off speaking with Madam Dupree.

Lucy always had the worst timing. She was standing over me, her hands on her hips, starring daggers at the redhead by my side. She was wearing a tight, purple dress and five inch stilettos. I was certain she'd dressed up for me, but the sight of her didn’t do anything to me.

My cock didn't even twitch.

And that's when I knew I was truly fucked, because all I could think of was the soft, warm body of Rose by my side.

She wore the same thing day after day, t-shirts and jeans, but I didn't care.

She was all I wanted from here on out.

"What the hell are you doing," Lucy asked the redhead, who stared up at her stuttering.

"I-I..."

I glanced behind Lucy trying to keep my eyes on the Bratvas. Now that the exchange was made, they’d probably leave, and we needed to find out where they were staying. The brown-haired one was leaning over, speaking to the girl he'd bought the drink for, whispering in her ear.

Lucy leaned over, grabbing the redhead’s arm, yanking her away from me. "Get the hell off my man."

My hand snapped out, grabbing Lucy's wrist, squeezing it tight. “Let her go." My voice was low and dark, menacing. She knew I was serious.

She inhaled a hitched breath, pain reflecting in her eyes. "Coulter. You can't be serious."

"As a heart attack."

I met her gaze, then as she let the girl’s arm go, I relaxed back in my seat. Eyes were turning toward us. I needed to diffuse the situation to keep the attention off us. I wrapped my arm around the redhead, pressing a kiss onto the girl’s bare shoulder and giving Lucy a cold smile.

"I don't belong to you, Lucy. You're nothing but my whore. You better remember that."

“But—” Lucy stammered, her teeth biting down on her trembling lip. "I--"

I felt a little bad about her pain, I did. We had fun together, but I could see that that was wrong now.

Maybe it had been too real for her when, for me, she was nothing but a good fuck.

I made my voice cold and uncaring. “Get the hell out of here, and don't ever come back unless I call you first."

Her mouth dropped opened and her eyes blazed with anger, but they had a shine to them, like she was trying to hold back tears. I picked up my whiskey and took a sip, tilting my eyebrow at her. "Did I stutter?"

Her mouth snapped shut, her hurt turning into a blazing rage. "You're going to regret this."

I smirked. "I doubt it."

I glanced behind her to see that the Bratvas were walking towards the front door.

Shit.

Huffing, Lucy turned around and stomped off, yelling over her shoulder as she left. "I swear you'll be sorry for this, Coulter. I have connections too, you know."

I didn't give her a second thought, instead, I waited until she was just far enough away and out of the VIP section to stand, my eyes moving back to the crowd to look for the Bratvas. They were gone.

I searched the club until my eyes caught Dante’s. He was standing in the front, and as soon as my gaze met his, he gave me a firm, reassuring nod.

At this, I relaxed.

He had his men following the Bratvas, where we’d find out if there were more men trying to sell in the city.

"Boss?" Knight was on his feet now, standing next to me. The fight had gotten his attention and, by the look on my face, he knew something was up. He stared out at the crowd, his attention back on the job. “What's up?”

“The icers were here.”

"Fuck," he whispered.

I pulled out my wallet and dropped four one hundred dollar bills in the redhead’s lap. "Here, these are for your drinks.” Without a second glance, I walked off, buttoning up my suit, with Knight at my side.

“They met with Danny,” I told him. “I need you to follow him, see who he sells to and if he meets up with anyone else that’s important. If not, grab him. Get all the information you can from him.”

Knight nodded and we made our way out of the VIP section.

There was only one thing left to do, and that was to check in on Rose and Bourbon.

This was the lie I told myself as I threaded through the throng of people crowding the smoke-filled bar, impatient to see my girl.