Chapter 197: At the Club: Hannah
"Hey, Buddy, why don’t you buzz off," Lauren said with authority. "This chick is married and uninterested."
I gave Lauren a relieved smile. She’d saved me from being badgered by a stranger. The guy looked nice enough, but I was in no mood to even entertain a platonic conversation.
"I really want to go home," I said. "What time is it?"
"It’s getting late," Lauren agreed. "Let’s just dance to this song."
A popular pop tune with a clear dance beat boomed from the speakers. Now that I was a little more hydrated, I felt a lot better. Still, the alcohol buzzed in my head.
With Kristin, Lori, and Lauren, I twirled around on the dance floor, shaking my hips and swaying my body. I hadn’t forgotten about Roman, but I began to notice two men looking our way. Dancing to the beat, I kept my eye on them.
Lori grabbed my arms, and we spun around. The music pumped, and we bobbed our bodies.
I could still tell the men were looking our way, but I couldn’t quite make out their faces. They looked kind of familiar, nevertheless. Lauren and Kristin also moved their bodies in time to the music, and at one point I swear ten guys were looking our way in envy.
As I watched the two men from the back approach, I stopped moving my body, still on the dance floor. It was a natural reaction, but I considered the middle of the dance floor in a crowd the safest place to be. I braced for the worst, but as they got closer, I realized I knew who they were.
It was the FBI agents, Ed and Marcus. I smiled, relieved that they weren’t stalkers or anyone else seeking to harm me.
Once they got closer though, I panicked. Maybe something had happened to Roman?
"Hi Ed, Marcus, what’s up?" I asked.
Lori and Kristin eyed the two men who had just approached me. Lauren was still bobbing to the music, unaware.
"We got word you were on your own," said Ed. "Sort of," he nodded to Lori and Kristin.
"You seemed to have lost your security detail," Marcus said accusingly.
He was always the more scrutinizing one.
"I’m sorry," Kristin said. "It’s probably my fault." I could tell she was trying to look innocent in front of the FBI agents.
"These guys have been helping Roman and me. Thanks to their hard work, we were able to stop the Auction House," I said, sweeping my arm out to them.
"What?" Lori asked. "I can’t hear. The music is so loud here."
"Let’s go back to the table," I suggested, leading them all away from the dance floor. Eventually, Lauren noticed and followed us too.
"Tequila shots for everyone," Kristin said when the waitress came over.
"Oh, no. None for us," said Ed.
Kristin beamed a bright smile at him and brushed his arm. "Nonsense. We’re having fun. See? Hannah’s safe. It’s all good."
Marcus glared at her, but then Lori squished into the booth next to him.
Her disarming smile caught his eye, and I could tell he was at least slightly interested. I mean, who wouldn’t be? My sister was so sweet and charming. I almost couldn’t believe how fast Kristin and Lori had the men wrapped around their little fingers.
Lauren, also a beauty in her own right, seemed to leave the charming to the other two and scanned the room, keeping an eye out for me.
"Having a good time?" she asked.
I nodded and smiled. We had been having fun dancing, and having Ed and Marcus show up at least made me feel a little safer, if not a little guilty for having ditched the bodyguards.
When the waitress returned, we all took a small glass of the liquid and downed it. I immediately made a sour face. I hated tequila.
"You know Roman’s really upset," Ed said, the alcohol already giving him loose lips.
"Yeah, he fired all the bodyguards. Blamed them for losing you," Marcus added. "They called him telling him they’d lost you, and he went ballistic. Called us to come find you."
"Well, I’m here, and I’m fine," I raised my arms. "How’d you find me?"
Ed coughed, and Marcus gave a sheepish grin. "Let’s just say, it was a fortuitous accident," Ed said.
From the looks on their faces I could tell that they had already been downtown and hopping around clubs before they got the call from Roman.
I gave a look of concern to Kristin. After all, it had mostly been her fault that we lost the guards. They had only been trying to do their job and protect me. Looking back on it, however, maybe they shouldn’t have all run after the bad guy, recognizing that it could have been a diversion.
"Seriously, I’m sorry. It’s all my fault," Kristin laughed, taking the blame and pressing her palms to her chest. "You forgive me, dontcha, Ed?" she bumped his shoulder with her own.
"Oohhh," Lori’s eyes brightened. "I love this song." She pulled on Marcus’ arm to come dance with her.
He groaned at first but then followed her to the dance floor. Lori danced around him, swinging her hips and tapping her feet. Marcus watched her, his eyes fixated on her every movement as her lithe body grooved to the beat. He was slow to warm up, but eventually he began to move his feet and bob up and down a little, dancing in unison with Lori.
Kristin, sitting so close to Ed she might as well have been in his lap, also got the same idea.
"Wanna dance?" she asked, tilting her head and making a cute face at Ed.
"Sure, why not?" he said, and they also retreated to the dance floor.
"Here." Kristin removed the phone from her bra, practically flashing Ed, who blushed, and pushed it across the table to me. "You’ve earned this back."
"Thanks," I said to her sarcastically as I put my hand on the phone as if it were a life raft in a rough ocean.
I wasn’t surprised by Kristin’s dance abilities, but Ed shocked me. He clearly had moves.
Kristin seemed to be enjoying the attention, with people around the dance floor starting to take notice of their supreme dance skills.
With the two couples out on the floor, I had a moment to think about Roman. He must have been both pissed and worried when he’d heard from the security guards.
I checked the time on my phone and thought he was probably at home - alone. Hopefully, Ed and Marcus had let him know they spotted me before approaching me on the dance floor.
Lauren, the only one still sitting with me at the table, snapped her fingers in my face. "Hey, Earth to Hannah," she said.
"Sorry, I was just thinking about Roman."
"I’m sure he’s okay," she said. "It was actually kind of sweet of him to send FBI agents, wasn’t it?" she looked up at Ed and Marcus enjoying their newfound friends in Kristin and Lori.
"Yeah, he definitely cares about me," I admitted. "And I understand why he gets so worried. I mean, he took a bullet, and I’ve already been kidnapped once."
"Yeah, that stuff’s hard to bounce back from. The episode with my stalker, it really did a number on me," Lauren said.
I looked at her, a little concerned. "What do you mean?"
"Look," she held out her arm.
Looking closely, I saw some thin white lines I’d never noticed before - scars that still hadn’t healed.
Next, she turned her head and pulled back her hair to reveal a nasty scar on her neck.
"Ooohhh," I said, looking a little disturbed. "That happened? From your stalker?"
"Yeah, but that’s just the physical part. The real scars are inside," she told me. "Sometimes I just can’t put the thoughts out of my head, remembering what happened, and I feel so vulnerable all over again. My heart races, my palms sweat. And I can’t run away from it."
"I know how you feel," I said. "When Kristin claimed she saw men from the Auction House, that terrible night all came rushing back. I just wanted to get away, and I blindly followed you guys in here. It really rattled me."
"I know," Lauren said, trying to look sympathetic. "I’m so sorry. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea."
It pained me to make eye contact. What I was sharing cut deep, and it made me feel so raw. I’d been taken advantage of by the one person who was supposed to protect me - my father. And after that, I had tried to fight back, but it hadn’t been easy.
"I know. The worst part is, he got away. And I’m always looking over my shoulder. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t find him," Lauren said.
Lauren put her hands over mine. "Hannah, I’m so sorry. The more I think about it, the more I see how stupid it was to go along with Kristin’s plan to lose those bodyguards."
A tear started to form at the corner of my eye. "I’m going to go call Roman," I told Lauren.
"Good idea," she said. "I’m sure he’ll want to hear from you. But be careful. Don’t go anywhere alone."
"It’s just so loud. I’ll be right back," I promised.
Little did I know, it was one promise I couldn’t keep.