Betrayal discovered too late. And it was Sloan who’d been impacted by it the most.
Despite the hostility between them, Chloe reached for Sloan’s hand. He let her take it. “You’ll have to grow a thick skin, sweetie, and learn to ignore it. They’ll tear the two of you apart if you don’t.”
“Is that why you fired him?” Gina asked.
Brendan scoffed. “He told you that?”
“Yeah.”
“His contract was up.” Taylor rolled his eyes with a shimmy of his head, like the topic of CJ bored him, and knowing him, it did. “We paid him a generous bonus and opted not to renew it.”
“Well, he seemed quite bitter about it.”
“I’m sure he is,” Brendan said, pulling Katie onto his lap. “Venery is looking at a three-album deal with a major label, and as the band’s manager, that would’ve put a helluva lot of coin in his piggy bank.”
“He mentioned that.”
“Fucker made plenty off our backs.” Seething, Sloan drained his beer.
“What else did he have to say?” Brendan, apparently, wasn’t bored.
“Besides Matt’s sexual peccadilloes.” Glancing his way, Sloan muttered under his breath, “Heh, we know all about those.”
Dick.
“Nothing much.” Ignoring the remark, Gina shrugged. “You’ll be sorry. Blah, blah, blah.”
“You need to revoke CJ’s club membership,” Sloan snapped. With his jaw clenched, the veins in his neck twitched. “That’s our safe space, Bren, and if he can come in? Well, that’s the end of that.”
“The Red Door?” Gina asked, glancing up at him. “Is it really a sex club?”
“Sex-positive,” Chloe interjected, correcting her.
“It’s not at all like you’re probably imagining,” Katie said, offering Gina a reassuring smile. “You’ll see.”
“I will?”
“You’re coming to the party next month, aren’t you?” And Katie grinned.
Shit.
“What party?” Poking his side, Gina looked at Matt with sudden focus.
“I don’t know.” Matt took her hand and held it to his pec. “We, uh, haven’t talked about it yet.”
He imagined the delights they could explore together there, and a flush of warmth spread outward from his groin. What would he find when he turned his little bunny inside out?
“We opened the Red Door seven years ago. The club is my baby, my passion project,” Brendan proudly explained. “We hold an extra-special event to mark its anniversary every year—an open house, if you will.”
“Heh, that’s one way of putting it.” And Sloan swiped his tongue across his lip. “But if CJ’s there, I’m out, dude.”
“I can restrict his access,” Brendan offered. A conciliatory gesture. “He won’t be allowed up in VIP.”
“Or down in the pen?” Kit asked hopefully.
Brendan shook his head. “Enjoy your playtime in the club’s private areas.”
“The pen?” Gina repeated, hazel-green eyes widening.
