I nod, clearing my throat.
“You have questions.”
“I just started so there are some, but I’m learning quickly.” It’s so quiet between us, I’m certain he can hear me swallow.
“Scarlet referred you?”
“Yes.”
He nods. “Did she suggest you wear red or did you decide that on your own?”
I’m overheating in his presence. It would be rude to look away from him, but he’s so striking that I want to close my eyes. Simply glancing in his direction gives him some kind of power over me.
Even worse, my mind keeps trying to compare him to the boy he was, but it’s impossible in the face of the man he’s become. His question hangs in the air between us. It wasn’t as casual as he made it sound. I know that much, at least.
“Scarlet said I could wear red or black or white.” I don’t want to say anything to get Scarlet in trouble. She told me the colors to choose from, and I chose. Although she told me I looked best in red.
“Scarlet told you that?”
“Yes.” She also told me shorter was better, but maybe I didn’t go short enough. Scarlet and Angela are both wearing shorter dresses than I am. Or maybe, as the new girl, I’m supposed to wear something longer. “Is my dress okay?”
Declan stares me in the eye. “Red means you’d like to be fucked.”
Shock blanks out my mind in a cold realization, followed by embarrassment. There’s a rushing sound in my ears that won’t go away. People have seen me, up there in the club. I’ve been waiting tables. Every man who smiled at me thought I was offering to come downstairs with him. “Excuse me?”
Declan smirks at me, setting the die down. “I imagine Scarlet didn’t tell you that.”
“She didn’t.” My nerves react with anxiousness. “And that is not why I wore this—” I swallow a burst of fear. “I’m not—” before I can explain myself, he cuts me off.
“From now on, I’d like you to wear black. Don’t ever wear red again.” Declan narrows his eyes. “But you can keep the lipstick. If anyone asks for you tonight, inform them that the boss has requested you. Is that understood?”
It’s quiet as I stare at him, taking in every word he’s said as if it’s a drug. It’s an order. He’s so commanding with his tone that it makes my knees go weak. Scarlet didn’t tell me everything there was to know about The Club. She might be wrong about what Declan wants too. If he’s requesting me now …
“Say ‘yes, sir,” he prompts.
“Yes, sir.”
His brow furrows like I’ve upset him somehow. It’s not an expression I recognize from when I used to know him. He used to be soft and gentle. A good kid. Now there’s a hardness to every detail of his expression. Life hasn’t been kind to him. It’s made him tougher. His eyes darken as he watches me in my red dress that he disapproves of. “No one touches you,” he says.
“I—”
I’m interrupted from questioning him when his phone rings. Declan takes one look at the screen and puts it to his ear. “Yes,” he says, his eyes still on me. I let out a breath. This is my cue to leave, my skin still prickling with a cautious unease. I shouldn’t listen in on his calls. He’s still on the phone as I turn to leave and grant him privacy.
“Braelynn.” My name in his voice stops me with a shiver, the door halfway open with my hand gripping the frame. I turn back. Declan leans on his desk, in control and at ease with the situation. “It’s good to see you.”
My heart does that flip again. This time it hurts a bit more.
“It’s good to see you too, Declan.”
Rushing the words out, I move as quickly as I can. I shut the door behind me a second before my knees give out. My body sags against the deep red door, heart hammering. I can’t catch my breath.
Declan Cross.
Being in the same room with him was nothing like I expected. He remembered me.
I didn’t know he would look like that. His eyes feel like they’re burning through the door even now, but I can’t bring myself to stand upright.
Each command he gave repeats in my mind as I attempt to steady myself.
I’d like you to wear black. Don’t ever wear red again.
Inform them that the boss has requested you.
It’s a long moment before I can stand tall and straighten my dress once again. Every step takes me farther from his office, but I can feel him down there, as if something is calling for me, pulling me, tempting me and luring me back down to a place I can’t imagine ever being again.
Declan
Dark brown eyes and deep red lips flicker through my mind all night.