Pierce ~
Pierce was fuming as he stormed into Luxe with Caleb and Slater at his back. With his adrenaline surging, he swept his eyes across the room, searching for Natalie. To his relief she had done exactly as he'd asked and was standing at the bar next to one of the bouncers. Her arms were folded across her chest and her brows were drawn in deep as she glared up at the windows of the tower suites overhead.
The deep scowl on her face softened the second her eyes met his and she visibly relaxed her upper body as if she'd been holding her breath.
His hands immediately moved to cup her face, tilting her head from side to side to examine for any fresh bruises.
"You alright, Nat?"
"I'm okay. He hasn't come out of the suite and I haven't gone up. I've been standing here with Tony since I got off the phone with you."
Turning his attention to Tony, he gave him a grateful chin lift.
"I appreciate it, man."
"Don't mention it. That fool's been relatively quiet up there, we've just been waiting for him to slip up so we can throw his ass out."
"You brought the Cavalry I see." Natalie said, bringing her eyes to Caleb and Slater.
"Good to see ya, Nat." Caleb said.
Slater leaned over the bar and extended his hand to her to introduce himself. "Slater. Nice to meet you, honey."
"Nice to meet you too. Wish it were under different circumstances."
Natalie's gaze moved beyond the group of men and refocused on a cocktail waitress who was rushing down the steps toward the bar with her eyes fixated on Natalie.
Meeting her at the side of the bar, Natalie placed her hands on the woman's arms to calm her with all three men taking notice, moving closer to see what the fuss was about.
"What happened?" Natalie asked.
"Kenneth kept demanding that I send you up there. I told him you weren't working the suites tonight, but he just kept on until he got so pissed he flung his drink at me and told me to come find you and send you up."
The woman's eyes were brimming with tears and her blouse was soaked, reeking of vodka.
Natalie's blue eyes might as well have turned a shade of deep red as she set her angry sights on the suite windows above. Her mouth hung open slightly out of shock and disgust and before he could register her movement, she darted toward the stairs to confront Kenneth.
"That son of a bitch!" she seethed as she took off for the stairs.
Pierce lunged and intercepted her, wrapping his arm around her tiny waist and lifting her off the ground as she fought against him to continue on her warpath. She squirmed against his hold, still trying to get to the stairs, until she realized her efforts were no match for his powerful grip around her waist.
"Woah, easy there mighty mouse," he scoffed.
He effortlessly carried her a few steps before setting her on her feet near the bar and couldn't help but chuckle at her feeble attempt to fight against his hold.
"Let us handle him, okay?" he said in a soothing voice trying to calm a furious Natalie.
She nodded in response, too pissed to speak.
"Hey Tony, mind if we take out your trash?" Pierce said across the bar.
"Help yourselves. Up the stairs, third door on your left." Tony replied.
The three men started off toward the stairs, ready to confront Kenneth and any other scumbags he had up there with him.
"She's a little spit fire isn't she," Slater said with a laugh as they headed up the stairs.
"Hell yeah, she is." Pierce chuckled.
Once they reached the door, Slater stopped a waitress that was passing by to inquire about the number of people inside Kenneth's suite.
"How many people would you say are in there?"
"Just four." She cut her eyes to the door, obviously having had a bad experience in the suite as well.
Giving Slater a nod at the headcount, Pierce flung the door open and exploded over the threshold, hoping to catch Kenneth off guard.
"Shit," Kenneth yelped at the sight of Pierce with his nose still bandaged and right eye swollen shut.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Pierce's thunderous voice echoed through the room as he charged toward Kenneth.
"Yo Kenneth is this the guy that messed up your face?" One of Kenneth's friends said, standing abruptly as if he were going to fight Pierce.
Caleb was there immediately, blocking his path to Pierce and smiling down at the man's small stature and weak threat.
"You feelin' froggy little man?"
The sight of Caleb's lean muscular build was the only deterrent the man needed, causing him to promptly return to a seated position on the couch.
"I didn't think so." Caleb said with a cocky half smile.
"This doesn't concern you. My issues with Natalie are none of your business." Kenneth said as he cowered in front of Pierce.
"Natalie is my business." Pierce growled.
Another one of Kenneth's friends stood in protest, but was quickly met by Slater. His large tattooed arms shoved the man hard in the chest sending him flying back into the velvet couch.
"Sit the fuck down," Slater commanded.
Grabbing Kenneth hard by the collar, Pierce yanked him up from where he was sitting and yelled down into his face.
"Now answer my question. What are you doing here?"
Kenneth winced, bracing himself for another physical blow from Pierce before he answered.
"I just wanted to talk to her." Kenneth said with his voice weak and shaky.
About the police report she filed against him no doubt.
"You lost that privilege when you put your hands on her."
Thoughts of Natalie's perfect skin being bruised under Kenneth's fist flashed through Pierce's mind, causing him to tighten his grip on Kenneth's collar and grit his back teeth.
"I'm only going to say this once, so listen up, asshole. Stay away from Natalie. She doesn't want to see you. She doesn't want to talk to you. She is done with you."
"He's right Kenneth," a small angry voice said from behind him.
Pierce turned his head over his shoulder to see Natalie entering the room behind him. Since Pierce's hands were clearly full, Slater moved to stand behind her as a warning to every one of Kenneth's friends that she was not to be messed with.
Her icy blue eyes blazed with hatred, becoming a deeper shade of blue with every angry step she took toward Kenneth, who was still dangling in Pierce's hands. Her expression hardened and she fixated her gaze onto Kenneth before she spoke.
"We are done. Over. You think slapping me around makes you strong, but you are the weakest man I have ever laid eyes on. So in case it wasn't clear enough when I packed up my shit and left, let me simplify it for you..." Natalie stepped closer with every vicious word and Pierce set Kenneth down, stepping to the side, forcing Kenneth to take the brunt of every ounce of venom that Natalie was spewing.
"I am done with you. There's not one part of me that wants anything to do with you and the parts of me that did, died the second your fist touched my skin. You're pathetic. You're disgusting. And I've outgrown you."
Pierce's chest swelled with pride, drinking in the sight of Natalie delivering her ferocious reprimand. She took strong confident steps toward Kenneth, showing absolutely no fear and delivering her message with a backbone of steel.
At that moment, Natalie's words and description of herself from the night before burned through Pierce's mind. She had called herself broken, but that couldn't be further from the truth. This woman was far from broken. She was fiery and strong and he found himself feeding off of her fearless energy, cheering her on from within as he stood there, utterly captivated by her inner strength. It was beautiful and he considered himself lucky to be able to witness it.
"Now leave." she snarled.
Without another word, Caleb approached Kenneth, grabbing him by the back of the neck and forcefully steering him out of the room and toward the exit to throw him out for good.
Pierce wrapped his arms around Natalie from behind, completely engulfing her with his massive biceps as he whispered in her ear.
"You're a fucking badass. You know that?" He planted a long kiss on her cheek and felt it raise into a smile beneath his lips.
She turned in his arms to face him, looking up at him with her chin almost resting on his chest.
"Thank you for taking care of me Pierce."
"You did that all on your own, beautiful. I just held him still."
The sound of a commotion pulled Pierce's attention to the bar area causing his head to whip around and his feet to move instantly, grabbing Natalie's hand in the process.
Caleb had slammed Kenneth's face into the bar top in front of the waitress that had been doused in Kenneth's drink.
"Apologize!" Caleb ordered.
"Sorry" Kenneth muttered under his breath with his cheek against the marble of the bar.
"Say it like you fucking mean it." Caleb ordered in a deep aggressive voice as he pressed more of his body weight onto Kenneth's neck and face.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Kenneth howled.
Kenneth's pitiful yelping seemed to satisfy Caleb who grinned at the waitress before yanking Kenneth back to a standing position to escort him out.
Once Caleb had returned he smacked his hands back and forth as if he'd just taken out the garbage. "Well that was fun," he said with a smile.
"You guys want to stay for a while? Drinks are on the house." Natalie graciously offered her knights in shining armor.
All three men agreed and took seats at the bar, surveying the crowd around them, all except Pierce. His eyes were glued to Natalie and he was completely hypnotized - enthralled by this woman who had crashed into his life and changed it all in an instant. She was incredible and he was addicted.
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