“Thank you. And you’re welcome.”
Sighing, I scrub my hand over my face. “You asked me to stop by, was it just to piss me off?”
“Nope, that was just a perk for me.”
“Did you want something?”
“A boy of my own that makes me wanna hide with him and not from him?”
I nodded, then started to ask if he’d had a bad experience, only to bite my tongue. If he wanted to share, he would. Instead, I asked, “What did you want to see me about?”
“Follow me,” Ewen said, pushing on the wall behind what I could only describe as a reception desk.
A section of the wall opened inward. The little kid I’d not been in years sat up and took notice of the secret passageway. Unlike all the ones I read and dreamed about as a kid, this wasn’t dank and dark. Light flooded the hallway, bouncing off the polished stone floors. They looked to be marble, and given the building had once been a bank, it was possible they were.
We passed several closed doors before Ewen stopped, scanning his palm. He held the door open, and I stepped into an office with a couple of desks facing each other, with two seating areas set up back to back long ways between them. But the most impressive sight was the glass wall that looked out at the club area.
“Nice,” I said, slowly turning to take it all in.
“Thanks. My buddy Slone’s brain baby. I’m the tech geek,” he said, motioning to the enormous wall of television screens as he sat.
I took a seat on the opposite corner of the sofa Ewen chose, staring up at the blank screens. “Security?” I asked.
“Yes. All the playrooms and public spaces are under surveillance. The only areas where we don’t have cameras are the bathrooms and the private rooms upstairs, but all the hallways are monitored, as are the elevators and stairs. Theexterior, too. From the moment you step foot on the property, we know where you are.”
“Who monitors when you and Slone are at the bar?”
“We have a team and a proper security office. I’m a bit of a voyeur. Slone is, too. But having the owners watching a scene throws some people off, so if there’s a scene we want to observe, we do it here.”
I nodded, thoroughly impressed. Noticing the clock on the wall, I brought us back to why I was getting the peek behind the scenes. “Not that I don’t enjoy our little talks, but what did you want to see me for?”
“Ollie.”
A small, soft laugh huffed from my nose. “What about him?”
“His intentions were in the right place, but…”
“How’d you know?”
“He tattles on himself when he’s done something he shouldn’t. Always has. Even as a kid. I’m sorry he…”
“Don’t bother. I know what you’re going to say. I agree. He shouldn’t have reached out the way he did. As long as he keeps what he, and you, know to yourselves…”
Ewen waved his hand dismissively. “That’s not a problem. And before you ask, it’s none of my brothers’ business—either of them. But Ollie is Ollie. He wants everyone happy and paired up, so he makes it his mission to help every boy he meets find a Daddy. Too bad he won’t do the same for himself.”
Ewen’s sigh said volumes, but I decided keeping my nose tomyself was the best course of action. Ollie had a brother to worry about him. Two actually.
“Speaking of your brother, is Will…”
The jovial, good-natured look on Ewen’s face disappeared. “You know I can’t answer that.”
I did know. It’s one of the reasons I liked this place. The level to which they took privacy was above and beyond what I was used to from the clubs I frequented in the past. So, I told him so.
“I appreciate you reaching out and the reassurance…”
“I hear a but…”
“Not really.”
