Immediately, the man behind the desk and the security guy that had followed us in had us surrounded, and I backed away and looked to Brayden for what had gone wrong. But he shook his head and smiled. “Relax. We’re good. We just have to hand over a few things before we can go in.”
“A few things like what?” I said, as the security guard began to pat me down, and then he pulled out my cell phone and wallet from my pocket. “Hey, wait—”
“You’ll get them back.” The man continued his search, patting down my pants legs and checking my ankles. When he was satisfied I wasn’t carrying a weapon, he stood up and put my belongings in a lockbox. Then he grabbed my hand and placed my index finger over a fingerprint scanner on top of it, and it flashed purple. “Only you can access this box,” he said, dropping my hand. “As long as you follow the rules.”
Rules? I didn’t even know where the hell we were, much less what the rules were. But Brayden didn’t seem worried, and after locking his own box with his fingerprint, the door leading inside swung open, and a beautiful woman with lips the color of a ripe cherry smiled at us.
“Gentlemen,” she said. “Welcome to the Wolfe’s Den.”
Something about the way she said it, with an air of danger, sent a shiver down my spine, but I followed Brayden through the door, and what I saw next nearly had me running back the other way.
It was the most elaborate place I’d ever been. Walls of deep purple velvet surrounded us on all sides, elegant chandeliers sparkled above us, and a mix of people of all ages mingled on black leather couches, on a small dance floor, and at the bar that took up one wall of the room.
I leaned in to whisper in Brayden’s ear, “I so don’t belong here.”
Brayden responded by throwing an arm around my shoulders. “Sure you do. Everyone’s here for the same reason.”
Pulling back, I looked at my friend warily. “And what’s that?”
Brayden’s eyes gleamed. “To have a very, very good time. Now, let’s get you loosened up,” he said, steering me toward the bar.
As he ordered us a couple of beers, I let my eyes roam over the room again. As nice as it was, I couldn’t imagine why Brayden would want to spend that kind of money to get in here. When he handed me the pilsner glass of amber liquid, I told him as much, and he laughed.
“Okay, so now that you’re here, I guess I’ll let you in on a little secret,” he said, and then leaned in to whisper, “We’ll be going down.”
“Down?”
“And I mean that in more ways than one.” He winked and took a sip of his drink. “See, it’s like dating. Right now we’re in the getting-to-know-you stage. A drink or two, scope out the scene, catch someone’s eye. Then we head down a level, and that’s where the fun starts. Maybe they’ll let you feel them up under their shirt. Hell, maybe the shirt comes off.”
My eyes grew wide. “What kind of place is this?”
“A place of fantasies coming true, my man. Any fantasy you want, Salvatore Wolfe can make it happen.”
“Who is that?”
“Fuckin’ hell, I think all that studying destroyed your social life. Salvatore Wolfe is only the richest, most powerful man in the city. Hell, he owns half of it. And fuck me, the man is hot. Like, ‘I’d shell out another few thousand to have him suck my cock’ hot.”
I jerked my head from side to side to see if anyone had heard him. “You mind keeping it down? I don’t think the other side of the room heard you.”
Brayden snorted. “I hope they heard me. That is why we’re here. You and me. Just sit back and enjoy the ride, my man.”
“Wait…you’re saying this is a…sex club?”
“Well, it ain’t Bible study,” he said, and then tossed back the rest of his drink.
I stared at him for about five seconds before I made to bolt, but Brayden was quicker and caught me by the arm.
“Jesse, come on,” he said, his expression turning sober. “I know this isn’t your kind of place, but you don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to. No one’s gonna pressure you or force you into anything. Wolfe runs a tight ship here, and that’s why it’s so exclusive. We’ve got the freedom to do anything consensual, and I do mean anything. But if you just want to watch, then that’s cool too.”
I tried to process what he was telling me, and as I looked around the room again, that was when I saw it. Those people on couches weren’t just talking, and the ones on the dance floor were doing a lot more than dancing. Hands roamed over clothes and under, and one by one, I noticed people heading toward a corner exit that seemed to lead down.