Sweet Pain (The Club #18) by Rebel Adams Read Free Book Online

watched him light a cigarette and kneel next to me. I’d definitely gone too far. Closing my eyes tightly, I waited for the burn as he brought it down to my neck.
    Fuck. Why was I so screwed up?

Chapter 6
     
    I couldn’t watch anymore. 
    I pushed my door open and stood from the car, grabbing a pair of brass knuckles and made my way over to the alley where this pretty little woman was willingly letting her dealer beat the shit out of her. 
    Marching up, I grabbed him by the collar and jerked him back away from Gianna. Seconds before the cigarette he’d lit gored her face. “The fuck is wrong with you?” 
    He swung at me before he realized how big I was. Even then, I was pretty sure he was sampling his products and had no idea what he’d gotten himself into.
    Just because I was dressed in a pair of Hugo Boss pants, a crisp white Tom Ford button-down, and a casual pair of Fendi deck shoes didn’t mean I didn’t know how to fight. I was a Dom — I could take down anyone. 
    With a well-aimed fist, I punched the dealer in his face, and he staggered back into the wall. No brass knuckles needed. 
    “The fuck is wrong with you?” I snapped the words at him. “Beating up women? Did your mother teach you no sense?” 
    “Bitch was asking—”
    A right hook into his kidney shut him up. “You don’t hit women, asshole.” 
    “Owes me money.” 
    “Take her to court.”
    The dealer snorted derisively.
    “Oh, drug money. For the whole ounce you gave her two days ago? You that hard up for cash, fucker?” 
    “She’s got a tab.” 
    “Abernathy…no…” Gianna’s weak plea barely reached my ears from the ground near my feet. “I owe him.” 
    The dealer started to walk toward her. Slamming him against the wall, this time making sure his head hit, I held him there and stuck a finger in his face. “Move and I will relieve you of your testes. Get me?” 
    He nodded. And as soon as I let go, he lunged for Gianna. 
    Idiot. 
    I tripped him, and he slammed head first into the dumpster on the other side. He hit the ground and rolled over, and now had a gun in his hand. He was too disoriented to aim, so I kicked it out of his hand and farther down the alleyway. 
    In a single stride, I was over to him, with my other foot pinning his wrist. 
    “How much?”
    “Wha…?” He was out of it; no doubt concussed and would have a marvelous headache. 
    “How much does she owe you?” 
    “Don’t, Abernathy…” Gianna’s voice was a little weaker than before.
    “Hush, precious.” I grabbed the dealer’s coat. “How. Much?” 
    “Eight fifty.” 
    “For just that last hit?” 
    “She gotta rep for not paying.”
    “She pays in sexual favors, asshole. And you accept them.” I tossed his head back against the dumpster and pulled out my wallet, thumbing out ten one-hundred-dollar bills and folding them in half, stuffing them in his face. “You take this, and you stay the fuck away from her from now on.” 
    Head trauma or not, that asshole snatched that money out of my hand faster than a jack rabbit on speed. He managed a quick stagger to his feet as well, and was gone from sight in the next instant.
    Finally, I was able to turn to Gianna and assess what had happened to her. She had a shiner growing already, and her cheek had a nasty cut in it. There was a bruise on her forehead, and it looked like her shoulder had been dislocated. I knelt down — I might be wearing Hugo Boss pants, but I also realized I cared more about this little thing than I had been willing to admit to this point.
    “What did you do, silly woman?”
    “You should have let him hit me.” Her voice was weak and wistful.
    “Why the hell would I do that?” 
    She turned away from me. “You know why.” 
    “Do I?” 
    Gianna whipped her head around and focused on my face. “No fix I’ve tried since I left the Club has come close to the fucking high you gave me with all that sweet pain.” 
    She gasped and passed