I rush over to my brother, who stands a few feet from me. “Call the police,” I say into his ear.
“What?” He turns to face me.
“Do it now. Tell them a guy just tried to drug a woman.” Before he can respond, I run out from behind the bar and rush to the bathroom, shoving customers out of my way.
I enter the women’s restroom and come to a stop when I see the woman standing at the sink fixing her lipstick. “I need to talk to you.”
“You saved my life.” Jasmine gives me a smile, interrupting the memory.
I shuffle from foot to foot uncomfortably, not wanting to rehash this conversation, especially in front of Bones. “I wouldn’t go that far …”
“I would. The cops arresting that guy led to them uncovering a sex trafficking ring. You saved me.”
My face heats up, turning red. I don’t do well with compliments.
“Anyway,” she goes on. “I tried to repay you …”
I snort at that statement. “The next day, you showed up with a two-hundred-thousand-dollar car.” A woman I had only met the night before bought me a car. I thought she was out of her mind. I still think that.
“I told you I’d pay for the tag and insurance …”
“I’m not accepting it,” I remind her. She does this often. She still has it in her garage. As though I’m just going to call her up one day and sayhey, you know that Audi R8 Spyder you bought me? Yeah, I’ll take that now.
“This isn’t about the car.” She reaches into her Louis Vuitton bag and pulls out a large manila envelope. Setting it on the bar, she pushes it toward me.
“What’s this?” I ask.
“This is me repaying you.”
I look from her to Bones, but he still hasn’t said one word. His blue eyes are on mine, and I look away. His stare is so intense it makes me nervous.
Opening up the envelope, I pull out a set of papers.KINKis written across the top of it in bold black letters. Never heard of it before. “What is this?”
“I want to go into business with you,” she states.
I begin to laugh but immediately stop when neither one of them joins me. I clear my throat at the awkward silence that follows. “Business? What kind of business?” Is this like her Rate the Dick app idea?
“Kink is an elite BDSM club. I recently found out about it when I was in New York. It’s a gold mine, Lex. We’ve spoken to the owner of the New York location, and he wants to meet with us this weekend.”
I run a hand through my bleach-blond hair. “I … uh, you want to own a sex club?” I didn’t even know they existed. I mean, you hear about shit like this, but I’ve never been to one before.
“Yes.” She clasps her hands.
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out, so I close it. Taking in a deep breath, I try again. “You want to turn my bar into a sex club?”
“No.” She shakes her head quickly. “Just your basement. You own the bar. A hundred percent yours. I just want to go in on Kink with you. We renovate the basement that you don’t use into the club, and I’ll run it. You can be involved as much or little as you want, but we split the profit fifty-fifty.”
I look at Bones. “What do you have to do with this?” I’m curious as to why he’s here with her. What is his involvement?
He leans forward, placing his tatted forearms on the bar, and I find myself leaning back just a bit, hoping he doesn’t notice. “Kink is an exclusive men’s club, per se. They have twenty-five locations around the world. Not a single one is owned or run by a woman.”
None of that sentence answered what I just asked. “Meaning?” I frown, needing further explanation. I’m fucking tired.
“Meaning that we need Bones as a partner,” Jasmine answers.
“So, you will own a percentage of it?” I clarify. How would Jasmine and I be fifty-fifty if he owns a portion as well?
“Just on paper,” he states.
