“Yes.”
“Nick—”
“I know you’re going to fight me on this.”
“I still owe you money.”
“You don’t owe me money, but we won’t beat that up. Humor me. Put it in your purse. Have it with you in case you need it.” I pause. “Please.”
“Please? Nick fucking Rogers just said please?”
“I have very good manners, remember?”
She scowls. “No. You have horrible manners.” Her voice and expression soften. “I’ll keep it, but I’m—”
I lean in and kiss her. “Going to fight me on this. I know. Put it in your purse.” She nods and unzips her purse where it rests at her hip, and sticks it inside a zipper pocket.
“Now,” I say. “Tell me about the L.A. show. Did you hear anything more about your work?”
“What the fuck, Nick?”
At the sound of Abel’s voice, alarm bells go off in my head, I’m on my feet in an instant. “Abel—”
He appears in the center of the office. “You sold the fucking club and didn’t give me a chance to buy it? Nick? Where the hell—”
“Abel,” I bite out, and holy fuck I’m going to murder him.
Faith stands up at the same moment that Abel rotates to look at us, his eyes going wide. “Ohshit. Nick, man—”
“Get out,” I all but growl at him, stalking toward him as he turns to leave, shutting the door behind him.
I face forward and Faith is in front of me, hugging herself. “What club, Nick? What was that and why do you, who is always cool and calm, look like you want to throw up right now? Is it the club you used to—”
“Yes.”
“You own it?”
“Owned. I sold it. And I only owned it for a year. I bought it from a client to save him—”
“You didn’t tell me. You know what that world did to me and you didn’t tell me youowneda club.”
“I planned to tell you tonight.”
“Of course you did. Tonight. The night Abel spills the secret.”
“Abel burst in here because he heard I sold it today. Today, Faith. Actually, I gave it away. I took a three hundred and fifty thousand dollar hit because I just wanted it gone.”
“You didn’t tell me,” she repeats, rotating to face the opposite direction and starting to walk toward the window.
I move toward her, intending to pull her in my arms and she seems to know. She stops dead in her tracks. “Do not even think about touching me right now.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Nick
I ignore Faith’s order not to touch her, snagging her wrist. When she tries to pull away from me, I step into her, catching her hips and guiding her to me. “You are what matters to me. You, Faith. Not some damn sex club.”
Her chin lifts in challenge, her eyes meeting mine. “Take me there.”