Sweet Surrender (69 page)

As the night went on, the crowd thinned. There was a rowdy bunch near the pool tables, several women sitting at the end of the bar waiting to get Bradley’s attention, which really didn’t take much doing, and Kristen was laughing with two guys at the other end of the bar.

He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He wanted to finish what had happened in his office a month ago, but between the bar being busy, and helping out his brother, he hadn’t made a move. There was also the fact that every single one of his dreams had her in them. It felt so real, like he had already been inside that body of hers. It was as if he was reliving a moment in time. But, the funny thing was, he tried, really tried to remember her, from before. Nothing came to mind. No meeting. He could not remember her face or voice. No recollection came to mind. It was starting to get on his nerves. He was good at remembering people, faces especially.

There was a single moment he thought he knew her from somewhere but the name didn’t match up, at all. Glancing back towards her, he didn’t like that she was laughing with them. As he stood there watching her every move, he noticed that one of the guys said something to the other and then leaned forward and slipped something in her drink that she had placed on the counter.

Throwing his rag, he walked over towards where his security was standing. “Max, the two at the end of the bar need to go. Check them when you have them outside.”

“Sure thing, boss.”

He walked over towards where she was and stood behind her as she spoke to them. She reached for her drink and was about to sip from it when he knocked it from her hands.

“What the hell, Joey?” she screamed. Her shirt copped most of the liquid. She held the top out from her body, drawing the eyes from the two guys sitting across from her.

Max moved behind them. “Time to go, boys.”

“Like hell, we are. We were only getting started here, right Lewis?”

“Fuck yeah!” the other answered.

Joey nodded his head, as Max removed the first guy from his chair. The other guy stood and faced him. “What is your problem? We were only having some fun,” he growled.

“Yeah, too much fun. Do you always have to drug women to sleep with you?”

“I don’t have to do anything of the sort, women love me.”

“I doubt that, very much. I watched you from across the room; you slipped something in her drink when she turned her back on you.”

“What?” Kristen gasped.

He turned towards her, growling, “Never take your eyes off your own drink, that was your first big mistake.” He didn’t mean to sound angry, but she needed to know what she did wrong.

“Max, get them out of here, and I don’t want to see their faces here again for a while.”

Max pushed both of them out of the bar and through the front door. He stormed off to the other end of the bar, and watched as Kristen went the other way, still holding her shirt from her body. He got a glimpse of her lower back, and looking closely, he saw her tattoo. It was the second time he had seen it.

When he had first seen it, something about that little red devil on her lower back trigged something in the back of his brain, but he couldn’t for the life of him remember what it was.

He needed to grab more alcohol from the back room; it would give him enough time to calm down so he could finish this night off, hopefully.

As the night went on, Kristen avoided him as much as she could, and he did not blame her. There would be times that he would look in her direction, and their eyes would meet. It was only for a second, and then she would break their connection.

He glanced over at the table where all his close friends sat. Dominic and Chantal were cuddled together in the corner, with Skylar across the table as Nate was at the pool table talking to his brother. It had been a month since that lunatic friend of hers and that wannabe Dominant idiot that claimed that she was his had kidnapped Chantal.

Everyone was happy and safe. Skylar had moved in next door with Nate. He wanted her close, although she was only ten feet away from him; it wasn’t enough.

Chantal was now living in Skylar’s old place. She had moved in there straight after she left the hospital. Dom had had other plans, wanting her to live with him, but it was a little too much. His house just brought too many negative thoughts to the forefront of her mind.

So, the bunch of them were close. He was super happy for the two couples. They had survived a lot between them all, and he hoped nothing would ever happen again since they all seemed to be in a good place now.

When it came around 10p.m. that night, several more groups of people made their way in. There was a group of young ones that looked way too young to be in his bar. He had asked Bradley to ask them before he served them for identification, and they all checked out. One of the girls was sitting there with the group, not drinking. She was a little suspicious as she looked around the room.

He ignored them most of the night, until, they started causing trouble, so he walked up to their table. “You guy’s needs to calm down or this will be you’re first and last night in this bar, got me?” he said crossing his arms over his chest.

“Says who, old man?” one of the cocky little bastards said.

“Me, the boss of this joint.”

“We do what we want,” said the one that was suspicious to him earlier.

“Really. Got any ID on you?”

“Why?”

“Because I saw you take a drink from your friend earlier, and you pretty much skulled it down.”

He looked behind him at Max, and waved him over. He turned back and the girl was looking through her bag. “I seem to have left it at home.”

“Well, you can’t show me, you need to leave, come on.” He grabbed her arm and lifted her off of the chair.

“Get your fucking hands off of me!” she screamed.

“Settle down. You’re underage and been drinking, so you need to leave my bar.”

“I’m not bloody leaving, and I’m legal age, idiot.”

He stopped where he was. “Really? How old are you then?”

“I turned nineteen last month,” she told him.

“Sorry, sweetheart, you don’t look that age to me.” He pulled on her arm again, and moved towards the door.

“Come on, is there anything I can do to stay in here? All my friends are here,” she said to him.

“And what would you have in mind for that?” He was not going to allow her to do a damn thing; she was too young to be even offering up anything.

“I’ll do anything, just let me stay.” He stopped once he was outside of the door.

“What’s your name?”

“Cassie,” she mumbled.

“Why are you even hanging around those other kids? They’re trouble. You know that, right?”

“They’re my friends, and they’re not trouble. We all have fun.” She giggled.

“Well, if you keep hanging around them, all that is going to happen is you getting arrested from something stupid that you did with them.”

“You can’t fucking tell me what to do, old man, you’re not my father.” She slid past him and ran inside.

“I’m getting too old for this shit,” he grumbled to himself.

He moved after her. She hadn’t gotten that far into the bar when he grabbed her arm, swung her around, and threw her over his shoulder.

“Let me the fuck go!” she screamed.

Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and watched him walk out the front door again. He set her down, ripped her bag from her hand, and started looking through it.

“What are you doing? Give that back. You can’t go through that, its private property!” she screamed at him.

He slapped her hands away as he found her phone, handing it to her. “Ring your mum or dad, and tell them to come and pick you up, now.”

“Fuck you,” she growled. She went to step past him again, but his arm shot out to stop her.

“I wouldn’t think about it again, Cassie.”

“And who is going to stop me, you?” She laughed. “Yeah, right, you’re nothing but a bar owner, and you can’t do shit to me. And that’s not even a real job.”

“Watch it, Cassie, you have no bloody idea who I am or what I can do. I’m guessing your parents have no idea where you are by the way you’re acting.”

“I can do whatever I bloody hell want to.”

“Your parents have no clue as to where you are, right?”

“My mum works and she doesn’t give a shit what I do. As to my sperm donor of a father, I’ve never meet him. He’s probably some deadbeat idiot.”

“I’m sure your mum cares what you do, as to your dad, I’m sure he has a perfectly good excuse as to why he left.” He stood there blocking the door.

“He never left. He’s dead, and that is why I never met him.”

“Sorry to hear about your dad.”

“I don’t need your sympathy. I don’t need anything from you, besides letting me back in there.”

“Sorry, Cassie, but I’m not doing that at all.”

“Joey, what’s going on? Some of the customers said you had a bit of trouble,” Kristen said through the front door.

“Nothing I can’t handle. Can you call the police and have them come down?”

“I can talk to them if you want. I’m sure you don’t want them really coming down, Joey.”

“Give it your best shot; she’s a mouthy little thing.” Joey moved out of the way, to let Kristen out.

As she closed the door, she faced the girl and paled. “Cassie, what are you doing here?”

“You know her?” Joey asked, shocked.

“Yeah, she’s my daughter,” she whispered.

Joey looked to the young girl in front of him, glaring at Kristen. Now he could see what looked a little familiar to him, but there was something more there.

“You work here?” Cassie said to Kristen.

“I told you last month. What are you doing here? You can’t be at a bar, you’re underage.”

“Thanks a lot for fucking ruining my night, Mum. I was actually here with friends, but I won’t be able to get in there now.”

“How many times have I told you not to swear, Cassie?”

“I just want to be in there with my friends!” she screamed.

“How old is she?” Joey asked.

“She’s sixteen. I need to take her home, can I take the rest of the night off Joey?”

“Will you be alright?”

“Yeah, it’s not the first time she has tried to get in to a bar.” She attempted to laugh.

Kristen walked forward and grabbed Cassie’s arm. “We’re going home.”

Cassie ripped her arm from her and pushed past her, knocking her to the ground.

Joey grabbed her and held her against the wall as she tried to kick at him.

“Kristen, you all right?” he asked, never taking his eyes off of Cassie.

“What is it with you fucking touching me?” she yelled.

He leaned forward. “Try to kick me again and you will know about it the hard way,” he growled.

“Ohh, scary...Not! You can’t do shit to me, fuck you!”

Joey growled, and slammed his fist against the wall, scaring her. She stopped moving straight away.

“Joey, what the hell are you doing, Jesus. You could have hit her,” Kristen said, pulling on his arm.

“She needs to learn to respect her mother and elders, Kristen. I’m sorry to hear about her father, but shit, she needs discipline.”

“Don’t tell me what do to with my own child. You were never around to see what I went through.” She gasped at what came out of her mouth.

Joey looked at Cassie, and then back to Kristen.
Shit
.

He remembered that tattoo
too
well, now.

“Joey, meet your daughter, Cassie.”

––––––––