“Give me a minute, babe. Just wait here,” he mutters as he walks toward another group of women, who all smile and laugh as he heads toward them.

Watching him from a distance, I can’t hear what the women are saying, but their body language screams everything loud and clear. Something ugly shifts through me as I watch him smile, and I find myself walking away alone toward the club entrance, not wanting to witness any more than I need to. Smiling at Teo when I reach the front of the line, he grins back and lifts the red rope, allowing me to slide under his arm. Feeling a body press against me and hands wrap around my hips, pulling me back into a hard erection, I look over my shoulder, ready to tell whoever it is not to touch me, when Sven shoves his way between people and pulls the guy off me, tossing him to Teo.

“Get the fuck out of here,” he roars as Teo shoves the kid toward the sidewalk.

“I was just fucking around, man,” the kid grumbles, looking nervously between Sven and Teo.

“Go inside, Maggie, and straight to the office,” Sven demands without taking his eyes off the kid.

Hating that I’m following orders like a dog, but not really having a choice, I stomp into the club and stop when I see the stage. The DJ spinning tonight is well-known and has thousands of followers who trek to whatever club he’s playing to watch him spin. The crowd on the dance floor is going crazy, and the music is so loud I can feel my bones vibrating with the beat.

Moving around the dance floor, I push my way through the people gathered around the edge chatting, and head upstairs to Sven’s office. Shutting the door behind me, I move to the couch, set down the bag with the pictures from today, take out my new cell phone, and press the button so the screen lights up. I sent Morgan a message earlier on Facebook, letting her know I got a new phone and to text me from her number so I can store it, but she still hasn’t messaged me back, and that has me worried. Jumping when the door slams, my pulse skitters as Sven storms toward me with a look of fury in his eyes.

“I told you to give me a minute. I told you to wait for me, but you didn’t listen and you could have gotten yourself hurt.”

“Um…” I breathe, unsure what to say or why he looks ready to strangle me.

“Um?” he snarls as his face twists with rage. “No, Maggie, not um. Fucking listen to me when I tell you to do something,” he roars, making me flinch, and I hate myself for showing fear to him.

“Stand back,” I tell him, but then lean forward when he doesn’t budge and yell in his face, “Stand the heck back, Sven, before I punch you in your stupid face!”

“Those kids down there are all high.” He points to the floor. “Who knows what would have happened if I didn’t see what was happening to you.

“‘Cause I’m weak, right?” I tilt my head to the side. “I’m just a girl, and I can’t take care of myself?” I ask sweetly in a little girl’s voice, and the muscle in his cheek starts to twitch rapidly. Raising myself a bare inch from the couch, just enough that I have a little bit of leverage, but not enough for him to notice. I ask again, “Do you think I’m weak, Sven?”

“You’re a woman, Maggie.”

Yeah, wrong answer.

I use the leverage I gained moments ago and propel myself forward, shoving my shoulder into his waist while my hands wrap around the back of his thigh. His thud hitting the ground makes the glasses on the shelf near the bar rattle. Putting my foot against his groin, I dare him to say anything else.

“Oh, did you fall?” I ask sweetly as he blinks up at me in shock. “You need to be more careful, Sven. You never know what might happen to you,” I tell him, pressing my foot down as a reminder.

“Mags.”

“Do not ever doubt that I have the ability to take care of myself, Sven. I may be a woman, but I have been taking care of myself since I was a little girl,” I whisper the last part then take a step back.

“I was worried.” He gets up from the ground with his nostrils flaring and the pulse in his neck working so hard it can be seen from where I’m standing near the door.

“Well next time, instead of coming at me like a crazy person, maybe you could say that instead,” I suggest, going back to the couch and taking a seat.

“Sorry,” he mutters, but I pretend I don’t hear him as I pull the frames out of the bag, along with the pictures of us skydiving. “I was worried.”

“Yeah, you said that,” I mumble, not looking at him as he takes a seat on the couch next to me. Finishing placing the picture in the frame and closing it up, I tip it upright and look at the image. “Here.” I hand him the frame as I take the other one out of its box and open the back. Putting together the one I got for myself, I place it back in the box it came in then rest it on the coffee table, chancing a look at Sven. His eyes are on the picture of us in his hands.

“You,” he whispers under his breath so quietly I almost miss it.

“Me what?”

His head lifts when our eyes meet. This time they’re full of a sadness I don’t understand. “I like you, Mags, but I’m no good for you.”

His words hurt more than they should, so I do what I always do, and joke. “It sounds like you’re trying to break up with me.”

Shaking his head, his hand suddenly strikes out and wraps around the back of my neck as he pulls me to him. Pressing his lips to my forehead briefly, I feel their sting as his arms wrap around me in an embrace that has tears pooling in my eyes. He says he’s no good for me, but I think it’s the other way around. I’m no good for him.

Chapter 4

Maggie

Are you crazy?

“YOU OKAY?”

Looking up from my cell phone, my eyes lock with Sven’s. I shrug in response, and his eyes go soft as he sets his phone down on top of his desk then walks around to where I’m sitting. He takes the seat next to me, placing his elbows on his knees, getting even closer.

“You still haven’t heard from her?” he guesses softly, and I pull my bottom lip between my teeth and shake my head as anxiety and worry washes over me. Morgan disappeared the day Sven and I went skydiving, and since then, I haven’t heard from her. Feeling my heart constrict in my chest, I fight back tears. I love my sister, but I hate the person she’s become. Her drug problem has gotten progressively worse over the last three years, and I don’t know what to do anymore. It kills me that I can’t fix this for her, because she doesn’t want help.

“I thought she would change,” I tell him weakly. I thought for sure she would change when the police called me in the middle of the night to tell me that she was in the hospital. I remember thinking, This is it. This is her wake up call. She will finally understand she is putting her life at risk.

I was crushed walking into the ICU, seeing her hooked up to machines, covered in large black and blue bruises. When she told the police and me what happened at Sven’s club, I demanded they do something, but they refused. They told me that even though she was beat up badly, her story didn’t add up. They believed she probably tried to steal from a dealer and her injuries were a result of that. That’s when I decided to take matters into my own hands and go to Sven’s club to see if I could find anything out. Looking back now, I honestly don’t know if I believe her story from that night. I don’t know what to believe when it comes to her anymore.