Diavolo

ix

PRESLEY

        I was quite full from the restaurant so when Jax brought up the idea of a bar, and I agreed instantly. It'd been a while since I had been to a bar—not to meet a source—but to actually have  fun.

        I stopped going after the recent messages and learned it was better for me to stay in and be safe than meet a potential kidnapper.

        Jax placed a hand on my lower back as he led me into the bar. It wasn't like any usual bar I'd ever seen but expensive-looking with the decor and I recognized there was a few elite members of New York here.

        A man approached Jax, speaking lowly into his ear while his gaze coasted over my figure.

        The feeling of wanting to disappear and crawl away from here consumed me. There were men that were shy about looking at times, only out of curiosity and then there were men like him, they looked without reservation. They didn't care about the fact that you were a complete stranger.

        I tightened my grip on Jax's hand letting him know I didn't want to be here in this man's presence anymore but he didn't quite understand the message.

        If anything, he gestured to me introducing us.

        "Baby girl, meet Sam. He's a friend." Jax smiled, those pearly whites of his shining under the club lights.

        "Hello." I muttered softly, reaching out for a quick handshake. I didn't want to be rude, and I knew if he was a friend of Jax, then maybe I was wrong about this feeling.

        The man—Sam—took a firm hold of my fingers, caressing my soft skin before he reluctantly let go of me. "Nice to meet you." His low voice responded, deep eyes lingering on my face like he'd never seen a woman before in his life.

        I faked a little smile, shifting my gaze to focus on something else—something that wasn't him.

        After a quick conversation, Jax finally led us in the direction of a private room. He placed a kiss on our intertwined fingers as we walked through the area labeled VIP and escorted by the bouncers.

        A little chuckle escaped out of my lips at the thrill of it all; How did he manage to accommodate this? Jax was a journalist but he didn't get paid enough to waltz in and out of a place like this.

        Albeit I didn't complain. If he wanted to spoil me tonight, I could get into the groove and enjoy it. For once I'd wanted to shut my journalist brain off and just have fun. Even if my body didn't have the same burning reaction it did around him than other men, it didn't mean we couldn't have fun tonight.

        Nothing was ever permanent with men. They never craved anything other than a fling or a one-night-stand. Growing up, I was always a daddy's girl. My father loved my mother and she did too—or so I thought.

        The woman didn't even wait a couple of months till my father's body was buried in the grave before she brought my stepfather into the house.

        My stepfather wasn't the only thing she brought, she was also pregnant. After she had the baby, my stepfather left her and she threw all of her guilt and sorrow into me. She stopped functioning—or rather being a mother.