“You really were being sweet,” Blanc added.
The door opened, bringing in a draft of cold air. Andrew McGrady waltzed in as if he owned the coffee shop. Azelie’s heart dropped. They couldn’t continue their conversation in front of him.
“Stop,” she whispered. “Don’t talk, not with him here.”
Both Doug and Carlton had already noted him the moment McGrady opened the door. They seemed to always be on alert. The merry widows ceased their laughter, heads coming up, eyes following Billows’ man’s progress as he sauntered to the counter. The entire length of the room, McGrady kept his gaze fixed on the table where Azelie sat with her friends. He had the expression of the cat that ate the canary.
Azelie’s first inclination was to get up and leave, hoping McGrady would follow her out. She bunched the straps of her backpack into her fist in preparation. McGrady pulled out his cell phone, held it up and began taking photos of the merry widows, Doug and Carlton and her together at their table. Her heart went into overdrive.
“I’ll see you later,” she told the others and dragged her backpack from the floor. If McGrady didn’t follow her out, she could always return on the pretense she’d forgotten something. She was determined to have a few words with him one way or the other.
“Put that away,” Doug snapped. “You have no right to take our pictures.”
“Shut up, old man,” McGrady ordered.
Azelie rose instantly when Doug and Carlton stood up. “Don’t you dare talk to them like that.”
McGrady’s laughter was sneering, not at all humorous. He sounded as if he was deliberately goading the older men.
“You need to leave this establishment and not come back,” Shaila declared.
Shaila’s husband, David, came from the back room to stand beside his wife. He held a cell phone in his hand.
“I’ve got 911 on speed dial,” he told McGrady. “If you don’t leave, you’ll have a police escort to help you off the property.”
“You ban me from your coffee shop and when it mysteriously burns to the ground because you don’t have protection, you’ll know you caused it.”
Azelie stormed up to him, snatching his phone from his hand while his attention was on the shop owners. She backed up several feet from him while she found his photos and quickly began to delete the pictures of the merry widows, Doug, Carlton and herself.
“You little bitch.” McGrady crossed the distance in two long strides. He brought up his fist.
“Go ahead,” she taunted, holding her own phone up. “I’m sending to Billows everything you’re doing. You hit me and you know there’s going to be hell to pay.”
McGrady’s face twisted into a maniacal mask. He couldn’t seem to stop his aggressive behavior. At the last moment, he opened his fist, so it was his palm that hit her in the face.
“You dare threaten me? When Billows is tired of you, who do you think he’s going to give you to? I’ll remember this and treat you accordingly. I always have access to his women when I want them.”
Everyone in the coffee shop stood up as Azelie reeled backward. She might have gone down, but Doug caught her before she fell.
“I’ve called the police,” David announced.
“Got it on video,” several voices claimed. “We need to keep him here until the cops arrive.”
“Try it,” McGrady snarled, already moving quickly to exit the shop. He shoved Doug and Azelie out of his way as he stalked out.
Shaila handed Azelie an ice pack for her face. She took it absently as she watched McGrady get into his car. He stuck his hand out the window and flipped off the coffee shop.
“Shaila, he might really try to burn down your business,” Carlton said. “He’s a vindictive little bastard, if you pardon my language, ladies.”
Azelie found herself shaking. She sent the video to Billows before she thought it through. Before she was too afraid to do so. What does he mean? she texted. The moment she hit send, she decided that might not have been the best idea. It would bring on a confrontation with Billows she wasn’t ready for. But when would she ever be ready? She couldn’t have McGrady threatening the merry widows or Doug and Carlton. She followed up with a text telling him the police had been called and she planned to press charges. Everyone in the shop was a witness to what McGrady had done, and she had no choice.
Billows texted back WTF but didn’t answer what McGrady meant when he claimed Billows shared his women with McGrady. She thought that silence was significant. Billows had some kind of arrangement with McGrady. There was too much confidence in McGrady. He’d publicly struck her, knowing others were using their phones to record everything he said and did.
A chill went down her spine. Andrii had warned her that McGrady was vindictive. He’d told her the man had gone to prison on several occasions for domestic violence, yet he was always able to get out. To her, that meant Billows aided him. Billows had money and clout. He knew people. He paid people off. Cops, maybe even the district attorney. Not only had she put herself in harm’s way with McGrady, but quite possibly with Billows as well.
She had no choice but to follow through and press charges against McGrady, however. Everyone in the coffee shop had witnessed what happened. McGrady was long gone, but Doug and Carlton had the license number of his car. The police would be able to find him quickly. She sighed. There was no going to her classes today. And she wasn’t going to work, no matter how many times Billows called her.
More than anything, she knew she would have to face Andrii. He would most likely regard this as one royal “fuckup.” It turned out to be a very long afternoon talking with law enforcement.
* * *
Maestro had never been so terrified for another human being in his life. The moment he saw the security feed Code sent to him from the coffee shop, his heart nearly stopped and then went into overdrive. He had studied McGrady, the way he did every target. The man was unusually cruel and vicious to any woman in his life. It didn’t matter if he dated them for a night or a month, the results were always the same. The woman ended up brutalized, often so badly she was hospitalized. He’d gone to prison a few times for domestic abuse, but he always seemed to get out. Clearly, Billows had political pull.
What the hell was Azelie thinking confronting the man? Calling the cops on him? Swearing out a complaint? He’d made it clear that they would take care of the man. Now, if McGrady turned up dead or just disappeared, as Azelie’s man, Andrii would be considered a suspect. The police would want to interview him.
Swearing under his breath, he unlocked the door to Azelie’s apartment and stormed inside. She sat in one of her comfortable chairs facing the entrance, clearly expecting him. He wasn’t about to be moved by her tears. Ignoring the way his gut knotted at the sight of her looking so miserable, he stalked across the room to sink into the chair beside hers.
“Do you remember what I told you about fucking up?” he demanded.
He could barely look at her. She looked devastated. Totally shattered. He could see her distress wasn’t about the day’s events. Azelie looked up at him without flinching, but he could see that overwhelming emotion, the one that was so second nature to her. She’d disappointed him. Gone against the one thing that meant the most to him—keeping herself safe. She knew she’d screwed up, but even the threat of punishment didn’t seem to be the defining criterion.
Andrii didn’t want to read that look on her face or see the utter devastation in her eyes. He wanted to yank her across his knees and carry out the threat he’d professed he believed in to his brothers and sisters in the club. A physical punishment would impress the weight of the sin on his woman. She would be far more apt to remember never to do such a thing again.
“Yes.” She whispered her answer, still looking straight at him. Not flinching.
Azelie had declared numerous times that she didn’t go along with corporal punishment. She didn’t believe it was right. She wasn’t into pain. What had she said to him?
It would be hard enough knowing I disappointed you without you treating me like a child, incapable of making my own decisions.
