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We didn’t linger long and headed to the next place. Sapphire Cabaret.
“A strip club?” Ren asked when we headed for the main door.
“Yep, but a lot of the reviews mention their buffet. Apparently it’s cheap for all you can eat and the food is good.” I smiled at the doorman as I walked in and Ren grabbed my hand, surprising me. “What are you doing?”
He was scanning the room, jaw tight. “This place is full of horny humans. You need to stay close.”
I tried to pull my hand free, but he gripped it tighter.
“Ren, it’s fine.”
“Humor me.”
The grip he had on me, it wasn’t like I had any other choice.
Sapphire’s had their own all-you-can-eat challenge, only here you got to eat off one of their dancers, and yep, they had pictures as well. “There he is again.” The plain-looking male sat at a table, face shiny, a naked female lying in front of him, covered in grease and what looked like gravy and a few dregs of mashed potato. There was a green bean under one of her naked boobs. I pulled out my phone and compared pictures to make sure I was looking at the same guy. “That’s definitely him.” He was average build, average looks, the type of guy who’d blend in easily with a crowd. I scanned the picture again, then looked back up at the one on the wall. “Huh.”
“What?”
“Same date. Look.” I showed Ren the picture I’d taken. It had January 12 written under the photo and so did the one on the wall here. “This guy stuffed himself full at Jim’s, then came here and did it again.”
“Dude’s got a serious appetite,” Ren said before tightening his grip on my hand and leading me to the bar. He waved over the barman.
“What can I get you?”
He held his hand out for my phone and aimed the picture at the guy. “We’re looking for someone. There’s a picture on your wall. Does he come here often? Do you know his name?”
The guy leaned against the bar. “Might know his name, but I’m finding it hard to remember just now.”
Ren growled, yanked his wallet from his back pocket, and pulled out a couple bills, sliding them over. “How’s your memory now?”
The guy grinned. “What do you know, it’s all coming back to me.” He pocketed the money. “Guy’s name’s Frank, don’t know his surname. He comes here every Thursday night without fail. Sweaty guy. Freaks some of the girls out, but he pays well. Sits by the air-conditioning vent near the buffet table and stays there for a few hours, eating until he’s stuffed, then leaves.”
“You know anything else about him? How to contact him?” I asked.
“Nope. Now you want a drink or what?”
Ren shook his head and turned to me. “Think we might’ve found our guy.”
“We’ll have to come back tomorrow.”
“Looks that way.” The next song began and a female walked out in a thong and started dancing around a pole. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
I laughed at how uncomfortable he seemed. “You don’t want to stay for the show?”
“Not even if you paid me,” he muttered.
“Hey, sweet thing, how about a private dance,” a male voice said before someone grabbed my hips and pulled me into them. My back met a hard, round belly and a sweaty, fleshy arm came around me as he ground his dick into my ass.
Before I had a chance to even try to get away, Ren’s fist shot out, throat-punching the other male. The guy’s arm fell away, and he hit the ground a second later. With a snarl, teeth bared, Ren kicked the gasping human in the ribs, then grabbed my hand and towed me from the room.
“You could’ve killed him,” I said as we walked out onto the street.
“I don’t give a fuck. No one touches you, Jasmine. No one. Understand?” His chest shook with violent breaths.
I blinked up at him, confused and seriously unsettled. I got that he was protecting me, but what he’d just said, the way he’d said it… This was getting out of hand. “You need to calm down,” I said when his gaze kept sliding back to the door we’d just walked through, as if he wanted to go back in there and finish what he started. “He was just some creep. It’s over. Done.”
“I want to go back in there and break his neck,” Ren growled. “I want to make him fucking bleed.” He paced away and back.
