Skylar's POV...
Tonight, I was stuck behind the bar—usually, I'd prefer it over serving, but not tonight. Lexi had been swapped with me, a change Mr. Lance had personally arranged.
There were plenty of workers, yet it seemed he always picked the ones he deemed worthy of serving his "important guests." And considering what had happened last time, I had no illusions about why he wouldn't pick me.
I was lost in my thoughts when I heard a voice snap me back to reality.
"What would you like?" I asked, forcing a smile at the young guy in front of me, who had a charming smile of his own.
"Two whiskeys," he replied.
"Sure," I said, smiling again as I walked off.
"Name's Chase," he called out as I came back with his order.
"Skylar," I replied, returning the smile.
His grin deepened. "You're so pretty," he said, his voice dropping low, "No, seriously. You're so goddamn gorgeous, I could fuck you right here."
His words hit me like a cold slap, and I could already tell he was drunk. Another man thinking he could say whatever he wanted to me. Ugh. This wasn't new.
This was the sixth time tonight, and I had no patience for it anymore.
I mentally slapped myself for even listening.
"Could you excuse me?" I said through gritted teeth, turning away before I heard anything else that would make me want to throw up.
I headed to the back, even though I knew leaving the bar unattended wasn't the best idea.
But Luca was there, so it wasn't completely deserted. I needed to escape for a moment, to breathe, to calm myself down.
The restroom offered no comfort, just the reflection of a woman I hardly recognized anymore. The weight of it all was crushing—men thinking they could own me, control me.
I was just a body to them, a warm thing to use and discard.
I stared at myself in the mirror. "You're not property," I whispered to my reflection. "You're more than that."
The sound of chaos outside the restroom snapped me out of my thoughts. It didn't register at first—until the first gunshot echoed through the air.
What the hell?
I rushed out of the restroom, heart racing, only to be met with screams. I couldn't make sense of the panic surrounding me. People were running, shoving past me, and I could barely keep my balance.
The room felt like it was spinning out of control.
Another gunshot rang out, and the club fell dead silent. My eyes froze on a body hitting the floor, a pool of blood quickly spreading beneath him.
I stood there, paralyzed, my body shaking uncontrollably. Blood. I hated it. Couldn't stand it. And yet, I couldn't move. I was frozen in place, unable to tear my eyes away from the lifeless form in front of me.
The club had gone still, as if the world itself had stopped for a moment.
Then, my gaze drifted upward—toward the VIP section. And there he was.
The man who had fired the shot. His sea-blue eyes locked with mine, and for a brief, terrifying moment, it felt like he was staring straight through me.
I wasn't sure what to do, whether to run or stay, but my body refused to obey. It was as if I was stuck in some kind of trance, unable to break the tension, unable to look away.
"Skai!" Isaac's voice broke through my fog, and I whipped around to see him charging toward me.
He grabbed me, pulling me into a tight embrace.
"Fuck, I thought you were hurt," Isaac spat, his eyes narrowing as he glared at the man still standing in the VIP section.
"Come on," he growled, dragging me away.
But I couldn't stop myself from glancing back one more time.
The man... the gunman. His lips curled into a smirk, a dark, unsettling grin that chilled me to my core.
I turned away quickly, my mind a whirl of confusion as Isaac led me out of the chaos.