It’s almost five the next afternoon before I am back on Club Genesis property. No way in hell I took the men up on their offer to drop me off at home. I might as well slap on a flashing neon sign on my forehead: Mafia princess, stay clear.
Nope. Not happening. I like Gage, Aziel, and Rush. I do not want to scare them off. Before they released me—their words, not mine—I had to promise to call them later tonight so we can discuss the details of the contract. Only then was I able to escape their teasing kisses and warm arms. Not that I wanted to.
Feathers of anticipation at what I have done leave me anxious and excited. I’m all about adventure and adding excitement to my life, but if my brother finds out what I’ve done I have no idea what he will do. For the most part I have a strong bravado, but there are times my knees shake. Not out of fear for what he will do to me. Harlon would never hurt me. But out of fear of disappointing the man who has always been there for me. That is almost worse than a physical beating.
There are hidden passageways only a select few know about. After the cab drops me off a block away from the club, I use them and make my way to the top floor. I pause outside my door and take a deep breath and send up a silent prayer of gratitude I didn’t run into anyone.
I rub a hand down my borrowed Guns N’ Roses T-shirt and too-big sweatpants—another reason I took the hidden backways.
“I don’t owe anyone an explanation for my actions. I am an adult. The family business is not my concern. I have a right to do what makes me happy.” I quietly chant my rehearsed mantra over a couple of times.
I slip the golden key to my room into the old-fashioned lock and turn.
“So how was dinner? Or did you go straight for the desert last night and stay for breakfast given it’s been twenty-four hours since you left.”
My heart attaches itself to my throat and hangs on like Tarzan swinging on jungle vines. Wide-eyed, I scream and slap a hand toward the light switch. White light floods my small entryway and living room. Adrenaline shoots through me and I nearly pass out from fear.
I clutch my chest. “MyfreakingGod!”
Piercing blue eyes latch onto me and the devilish smile lifting my cousin’s nude-colored lips has me moving from wondering if this is my end to wanting to commit a murder of my own.
“Damn it, Sapphire! I nearly died walking through my freaking door.” I drop my dress on the end of the small sofa and walk around the coffee table to kick at my cousin’s Jimmy Choos.
“Why the hell are you sitting in the dark and ambushing me Godfather style? What if I had a gun? What if I had shot you? What if I had brought visitors?” I exclaim each possible scenario and the longer I talk the higher my voice scales.
She takes in my borrowed attire while she’s dressed to kill. Almost literally given her job title. The emerald power suit she’s encased in hugs her breasts and hips with the same amount of compression.
Her soft laughter turns wicked. She planned her attack. Probably from the second I walked out the door last night.
“I regret giving you a key to my room,” I shoot back, heading for the small kitchenette off to the left of the main entrance. It’s an open floor plan between the front door, living room and long bar that serves as a countertop and eating area. The bedroom is off to the right when you walk into the place and so is the single bathroom. My brother usually likes leaving the cozy suites for members, but I claimed this one as mine. I hate being at the mansion so far outside the city. Here I feel tapped into the energy. They're all I feel is dead and shoved into a corner.
I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and hand one to a cocky and smiling Sapphire.
“Harlon isn’t in here is he?” I force my nerves to settle by focusing on the swirling lines decorating the wallpapered walls. They are in silver while the background is black. I’m starting to see a pattern between all the low-key high-crime locations in this city.
“Not unless he has an invisibility cloak.”
We both pop the caps to our water. The whole time we drink, her eyes come back to roam over my borrowed clothes.
“Wanna tell me what happened or do I have to torture the answers out of you?”
I fall to the couch and spill the entirety of the last few stolen hours to my best friend. The only thing I leave off is the whole primal connection I feel to them the second I am in the same room. She’d lock me in this tower herself if I start spouting off crazy mumblings about instant desire turning to something deeper. Besides, how can I explain something I don’t entirely understand myself?
Furiously blushing under her attention, Sapphire hangs onto all my words and slips in the right kind of questions at the right times. “Club Sin, huh? I didn’t really think you would go through with it, but hey…” she shrugs. “When do you start?”
“Day after tomorrow, I think? I am not sure. We have to talk tonight.”
Her bottle of water is halfway up to her mouth when she says, “You’re going out again? I don’t know if I can cover for you tonight, babe. Your brother is agitated about something and is prowling around the halls.”
“What can he do to me? Send me to the basement?”
She shrugs. “Maybe not you, but I’m not on the no-kill list.”
I squeeze my eyes shut and press a thumb to the crease between my brows. “Stop playing around. Harlon would never hurt you.”
Her head lolled from side to side. “Yeah I know, but all kidding aside, you should just tell him what you are up to. He’s not your keeper or your jailor.”
I chew on the inside of my jaw. “Last night before I left, I was in his office. The warning he gave me was…chilling. Like he would do whatever he has to do to make sure he doesn’t lose me too. Like Cassandra. Their shared wife still haunts him.”