If I can breathe, I'm fucking fine
⚠️
Warning: drinks being spiked, blood, knife, needle (check other warnings at the start of the book)
"For fucks sake!" Michael shouted, slamming the lid of his laptop and shoved it across the table top with force. With his arms crossed behind his head, he screamed.
As he scrolled through national and local news, today's mission was to suss out the severity of the shooting at the nightclub. At first, things didn't seem too bad, 'corrupt bouncer shot dead at nightclub'. Luckily for them, this made things easier. People disregarded the news and it didn't harm the business as much as other things, for example 'student shot dead in nightclub' wouldn't bode well.
However, the third article sent a paralytic jolt through him. In all the years of being in New York, after everything they had been through, never once had they been featured in a new article.
The article featured Mr Irwin's name and questioned the safety of the strip for university students. They had used pictures from the club, easily tarnishing their reputation.
Whilst he raged at the situation downstairs, Ashton was experiencing something similar in his office.
They weren't a gang of any sorts, a band of brothers, if it really had to be labeled, trying to survive. His pure intentions for the club was nothing more than business. It was innocently bought and innocently intended. He should have known that nothing good lasts.
Michael was an excellent DJ and he kept to himself whilst working and this mirrored into his free time. He spent a lot of time in his room mixing and creating tracks. He wasn't as social as the others, he didn't crave anymore than what was in his life now.
Despite Ashton's wishes, he kept in contact with his mom and dad. They meant a great deal to him and he knew that with him being an only child, he meant a lot to them. Every so often, he called them and updated them on his DJing and kept things above the surface.
Calum on the other hand, didn't have this luxury. Nobody truly knew the extent of his miserable upbringing as it wasn't a topic he was particularly fond of discussing at length. He was thankful for the day Michael sat with him one day for lunch at school. Michael was his first lifeline.
His life was starkly empty and mundane when they first moved to the big apple. He didn't have a purpose after their failed attempt at becoming a successful band, so he spent all of his hours in the gym. Ashton offering him a job as a bouncer was his second lifeline.
Having an employee shot let alone being shot on premise during opening hours was bad even for his standards.
The casino was owned by the Garcia clan and at the head was Tobias Garcia, a powerful ex convicted. As far as the public knew, Garcia was involved in money laundering. However, if they had their ear to the ground, like Ashton did, they would also discover drug trafficking and middle aged men living as if they were 1940s mafia; strong liquor, quality opium and cheap company.
Ashton scratched his head, why had they retaliated with that force? Demi had simply ran through the premise, or that's what she had told him anyway. What had she seen/heard that had caused the severe response?
He needed to talk to her before he decided on how to proceed.
∆
"Thank you for dropping me off" Demi smiled as she looked across to Calum who was sitting in the driver's seat.
"It's the least I could do, I'm really sorry about everything Dems, are you okay? How's your neck and wrists?" He rambled, tracing her neck before carefully examining her wrists.
She blushed at the name before clearing her throat. She was kinda embarrassed with how it had affected her.
"I'm fin-" but he interrupted, his index finger wagging in front of her, "it's me, no one else is here" Calum said softly, his thumb tracing gentle circles on the backs of her hands.
It took her a moment to work through her defenses. "They're sore," Demi mumbled, twisting her wrists to the side. "But I've had worse and they're nothing I can't deal with"
"I won't let them or anyone else hurt you, I promise" he placed a delicate kiss on both of her hands.
"Stop, don't do that" she retracted her hands and undid her seat belt, her brow creased.
"What did I do?" Calum asked, settling his now empty hand on her knee.
"Don't make promises, it's very rare any are ever kept" Demi's tone dropped with the weight of her seriousness.
"I get that, I do, but I just want you to know that I care about you and if I can help it, I will always protect you, you're important to me now." Calum looked straight into her eyes, the brown hues warming her icy eyes.
"You don't need to accept this. But it's how I feel and I'm shit usually at this stuff but I'm trying"
She sighed but a smile drew up on her lips. "I know Cal, I can see that and I'm proud of you" she lent forward and placed a kiss on his lips. As Demi withdrew, Calum placed his hand on her cheek and kept her there as he deepened the kiss. It was light and sweet.
The sound of thudding on the glass window, broke them apart. It was caused by a furious looking Blake.
"Please let me do the talking," she chuckled, rolling her eyes.
Calum held her shoulder and spoke fast, "tell me now, do you have a boyfriend?!"
"Chill Cal, he's my best friend and I live with him so as you can imagine he's not best impressed that I've been held hostage for 24 hours" she laughed sarcastically.
"Demi" Blake sighed in relief as he held her close to his chest. His head nestled against her and his eyes shut, thankful to have her back in his safety.
"It's good to be back" she whispered, sinking into his embrace.
Blake heard the other car door open and shut. His eyes opened and they locked onto the tall, buzz cut adorning man with broad shoulders. Blake's body tensed and Demi sensed it.
Demi looked up at him, "listen I'm alright that's all that matters" she smiled but Blake remained unchanging.
"Who the fuck are you?" Blake directed at Calum.
Calum cleared his throat and glanced at Demi who gave him a nod to continue.
"Calum Thomas Hood erm… and I'm the bouncer for Irwin's Club" he explained apprehensively.
Blake scanned him up and down as a particular detail from his response processed in his mind. He turned sharply to Demi, "there was a shooting there" he frowned severely. He now turned to look at Demi and he shook his head. She smiled weakly.
"So it didn't go to plan then?" He chuckled sadistically.
"Nope" she popped the 'p' as she rolled her eyes.
"You hurt?"
Without a word, she pushed forward her wrists, "they've already started to heal"
"Come on, let's get you bandaged up" he hooked his arm around her and headed to the house. Calum followed suit.
"Absolutely not. You've done enough" Demi put a hand on Blake's chest, easing the tension.
"I'll see you soon, okay?" She mumbled, bringing Calum into a big hug. He squeezed her and lifted her off the ground as he held on tightly.
"Mhm I miss you already" he placed a small kiss to her forehead and headed back to the car.
"Oh…I see now" Blake smirked, earning a glare from Demi.
"He's your twisted love affair" Demi, now red cheeked, punched his arm in utter disgusted.
∆
"Come on, let me put something on it" Blake pleaded as he attempted first aid on her. "It's literally scabbing over already" she rolled her eyes and hissed as he put antiseptic on it. She refused much else.
After a much needed shower, they were now sitting eating breakfast. "Give it to me then" Blake asked, taking a bite from his toast.
She laughed as she started to explain the bonkers night she had experienced. Blake listened intently, scowling at her when she explained she had jumped out of a window.
"So… are you mad at me?" She looked nervously at him.
Blake shook his head, "I know you're a tough cookie, I trust you" he sighed, taking her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. His brain was in overdrive.
"What is it?" She asked, observing the perplexed frown on how's brow.
"I don't understand the need to shoot a bouncer?"
"I was thinking the same" she sipped her tea. "I've racked my brain, the only thing I saw was the pictures of women they had conquested" she made a sick motion at the thought of a sex leaderboard. "I can't imagine that's enough to kill someone for?"
"I need to speak with Ash, something doesn't feel right"
Blake hated to admit it, but she had a point. This wasn't his realm of expertise.
∆
Demi sat at her desk scrolling through messages she had missed during her 24 hours out of action.
Luckily, no major emergencies had come through. She had set up a hotline and anonymous messaging system to give people an outlet, someone to speak to if needed. All her information was included in the posters she hung so meticulously up in different locations.
She didn't care if it was ignored by most, it made a difference for the few that had used it. Obviously she wasn't a trained therapist nor was she a healthcare professional, but where she could offer support she did.
She mainly had messages about partners who were becoming controlling, or people worried about infidelity. She even had some worries about their sexual orientation. In the year that the system was set up, she had received five tip offs from people or places in which women had been spiked or worse. This was the main point of her life's mission.
Demi had learnt to master the art of observation. After receiving a location or person description, she would start the stake outs. In the early days, her vision for the project was filled with more unruly chaos and revenge filled rage than she has now. She was more careless and just damn reckless sometimes.
She would see the perpetrator and with any available moment, would sink her teeth into them, providing any sort of revenge possible (most likely this was the form of a decent blow to the face or balls or both depending on how she was feeling). She however came to realize that going around beating them up didn't solve the problem. It didn't fix her broken soul.
Over time, she realized collecting damning evidence worked better. Footage or photos of dealings or spiking worked better. She would then pop this into an envelope and send it anonymously to the nearest police station or ring in to the police tip off line. Sure, this ensured more were caught and served the time deserved but she missed the adrenaline thrill.
The casino gave her a new adrenaline rush.
∆ ⚠️
Demi's other phone rang and startled her awake. Adjusting to the darkness, she quickly reached for it.
"Hello, Demi's Hotline"
"Hi..erm…" the girl's voice wobbled with nerves.
"Hey deep breaths, it's going to be okay" Demi reassured.
"Sorry…I'm at Venom and my friend has just been spiked" she rushed.
"Is your friend okay? Is she conscious?"
"Yes she is now, my other friends are with her and the medic now"
"She's in the right hands then, an idea of who could have spiked her?"
"There was a group of guys, they just didn't fit in with the rest of the club, older and they had red ties on, I saw one speaking with her just before."
Demi's blood curdled. She recalled her brief time at the casino and the red uniform ties hung around the neck of the employees.
"Are they still in the club, do you know?"
"Yes"
Demi flew around the room, changing into her gear and secluding what she needed one her person
"Blake" she whispered loudly, "I've got a anonymous call, shouldn't be long, I'll be back in a few hours"
He lent up on his elbows, his eyes still half shut, "stay safe, pancakes for breakfast?"
She nodded and left.
Once at the club, she entered using her employee pass, a memento from her previous encounter with this established.
She stood still, pressed against the wall, scanning, observing and calculating.
"Bingo" she smirked, laying eyes on the two men at the bar.
Pressing record on the concealed camera sown into her clutch purse, she set out towards them.
Sitting on the stool closet to them, she flicked her hair exposing the skin of her shoulder. Carefully, placing her clutch against the bar pillar, the camera directly faced them.
She could feel their intense, judgmental stares and patronizing smirks.
The bartender appeared in front of her. Demi twiddled her hair around her finger. "What would you recommend?" She asked, fluttering her eyelashes.
"Get this little lady your finest champagne" said the guy with the red tie and gold stud earring.
The bartender nodded and returned with a glass of bubbling champagne. Just as the glass rested against the counter top, the other guy with a red tie and face tattoo, walked from his spot to her. He held out his hand and placed a kiss on her cheek. Her eyeline with the glass had been broken. But she was pretty confident, her drink too had now been spiked.
"Here, a golden drink, for a divine goddess" and he handed her the glass. She hesitated, the glass now in her hand.
"Don't want to waste our money now sweetcheeks" he pressured, pushing the glass towards her lips. Grabbing her clutch, she threw the glass, the liquid soaking the dickhead in front of her.
"Go to hell" she spat as she made a b line for the exit. Thrusting the door open, the cool air hit her.
"That wasn't very nice of you" the man with the face tattoo growled as he pressed up behind her. Her elbow cracked against her ribs.
"Spiking women's drinks just so you can take advantage of them isn't very nice" she fired back.
"At least when they are drugged, they're silent" the earring studded man spoke as he encroached on her space. "Maybe I should teach you a lesson," he laughed as he gathered her hair and yanked her close.
From his pocket, the man with the tattoo produced a syringe, the needle glinting in the moonlight.
Fuck.
Quickly, sending a blow to the man's knee behind her, she elbowed his face, his nose gushing instantly with blood.
"You bitch!"
The sharp edge of his blade sliced up her arm. The agonizing tear of skin caused her to shriek. But there was no time for pain, removing her gun, forcefully she drove the handle against his temple. He staggered back, one step, two steps and he was down.
Blood splattered onto the floor as her own blood gushed out of her arm. Sending a blow to the second guy, he too fell to the ground.
Gritting her teeth, she rang 911 "the two men involved in the spiking at Venom are in the alleyway, they are armed". She ended the call before running in the opposite direction.
The pain in her arm stung as she screamed finally out of sight from anyone.
She rang the only person she wanted.
"You do realize it's 2:30am in the morning of my night off" Calum chuckled, sleep in his voice.
"Shit sorry uhm, I need you". She breathed heavily as she gave Calum her location.
The roar of Luke's engine filled the narrow street. The back door opened and she climbed in. Michael was in the backseat whilst Cal sat shotgun and Luke was driving. She wasn't expecting them.
She clamped her arm with her hand, trying to prevent a literal waterfall. She was thankful for the darkness of the car.
"You alright Dem?" Calum asked, turning his head. "Fine" she muttered but winced as a shooting pain went up her arm.
Luke's eyes remained on her arm. His stare was unmoving. He was the only one to have noticed the pain in her tone.
“Right drive, put your foot on it” she aimed towards the blonde.
“Your arm is bleeding” the very sight of her being injured jolted unusual feelings across the pit of his stomach.
She simply scoffed her eyes rolling “oh shucks, really? I hadn’t realized that my entire blood flow was pouring out of my arm, but thanks, thanks for letting me know”
“Now for the love of god, put your fucking foot on that accelerator and get me out of here”
The force of the car caused them all to lunch forward as Luke sped back to theirs.
"Dem I didn't know you were hurt?!" Calum shouted as he turned around in his seat to get a better look at her, "Yeh sorry" she sighed, embarrassed.
"Your arms slashed, who the hell did this to you?" his jaw locked and demons ran through his eyes.
"Them fucking casino guys" she groaned, her arm burning.
Removing his checkered shirt, Michael tried to wrap it around her arm but she kept batting him.
"I need to stop you bleeding out!" But she ignored all attempts from Michael to wrap his shirt around it until Luke spoke.
"Listen to Michael for fucks sake"
"Stay out of it"
The piercing screech of brakes brought the whole car to a sliding stop.
Luke glared at her. "You're in my fucking car and I won't have your blood ruining my interior. Shut up and let Michael wrap your goddamn arm…now!" He demanded.
She froze, fixated on Luke. Their eyes connected despite the darkness around them.
Michael proceeded to wrap the material tightly around her as Luke put his foot flat to the floor, flooring the accelerator as he set off again.
She was in far too much pain to truly feel the emotion behind his outburst, to see the flicker of concern in his eye or the quickened pace of his heart.
To see that he cared.
a/n
Thank u for reading ⭐
Any comments welcomed :)