“Sure.” I let out a nervous laugh at my new name.
An hour later, Dean and Riley have walked me through every door, showing me the multiple ways I can access locked areas of the club. They’ve explained the keypad in the office that drops the shutters over the windows and puts the room into lockdown. Dean also shows me that there’s a fully stocked kitchen next to the bathroom. I could live in this space for days—maybe even weeks—if it were necessary. The only issue I have is that the two men here are the only other ones besides me with access to the room…or to override the lockdown if it’s activated.
“Will you give Becky access since she’s the Lead Detective in your division?” I ask hesitantly.
“Fuck, no,” Dean scoffs. “She already hated me, and I just gave her another reason to when I outed us to her this morning.”
I let out a sigh as I try to think of a way to voice my concerns. I trust Dean to keep me safe. He trusts Riley to keephimsafe. But I feel like I should have someone else onmyside with access if things go sideways.
My little sister has always been that person for me. Despite being younger, she’s always been more responsible and cautious than me. She’s kept me out of trouble more times than I can count.
“You said we’re partners in this,” I say with a stern expression. When Dean nods, I tell him, “You’ve got Riley as your right hand. I want my sister to be mine. What if I’m locked in and hurt and you can’t get to me?”
His eyes widen as my words sink in. After turning toward Riley to have some kind of silent conversation, he lets out a sigh.
“She can’t have the same access that we have,” Dean says, raising his hand before I can argue. “But we can give her an override code to get in if there’s an emergency. It will only work ifyouactivate the lockdown.”
“Thank you!” I throw my arms around his neck and pull him down to place a chaste kiss on his lips.
We return to the computer still set up on the table and Riley inputs the information I give him to set up Becky’s profile. It only takes a fraction of the time since she’s being set up for emergency access only. When he asks me for the code that will get her in, I give him our parents’ wedding anniversary, 0-4-1-1. Once he enters it, he saves the profile before closing the laptop and packing up all of his gadgets.
“I’m glad to see you two together, finally,” Riley says as he walks toward the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow night for the opening.” He gives me a wink before adding, “Maybe I’ll buy the first lap dance.” He laughs as Dean lunges at him before dodging him and jogging out the door.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Dean
After Mac left, I admitted to Sloan that I hadn’t let myself really think about how difficult it would be seeing her dance for other men in person. When her brows pinched in confusion, I gave her one of the many confessions I owe her. I told her about having Mac hack into security cameras so I could keep an eye on her over the years since she last saw me.
She was just as pissed as I expected, but not for thereasonI expected. She wasn’t mad that I watched her; she was upset that I didn’t just come for her instead of torturing us both by staying away. She was livid that I’d witnessed all of her failed attempts to fuck me out of her mind.
That led to my next admission. I told her about all the times I had to fuck other women to maintain my cover. While I could have chosen an ol’ lady for my time with the Hell Hounds soit was only one woman, that somehow seemed worse than the multiple nameless encounters. I never wanted to claim anyone until I could claimher.
When I tell her that, she climbs into my lap and kisses me. I let myself hope that it’s a kiss of forgiveness until she bites my bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. Then, she climbs off my lap to stand over me with her arms crossed as she demands that I take her home.
I want to refuse. I want to insist that she stay with me. I want the chance to earn the forgiveness that I don’t deserve. I want her…
“Right now, Dick,” she says, pulling me from spiral while also reminding me of the spitfire banter we used to exchange in college.
“I’ve got yourdick,” I growl as I stand and grab my cock. When she scoffs, I take a step forward, crowding her space. “At least you didn’t have towatchas I struggled to get it up without picturing you. Do you have any idea how hard it is for a man to fake an orgasm?” When she shakes her head, I tell her, “You’re not the only one who hasn’t gotten off with another person since before college.”
“How could you possibly know that I haven’t…”
“Because…” I cut her off as I lift my hand to collar her throat. “It wasn’t only security cameras that I had access to.” I watch her eyes widen as I admit, “It was every device in your vicinity. And now that I know the sounds you make when you come forme, I know that none of the ones I’ve tortured myself with were real.”
I feel her pulse race as her eyes dilate until all that’s left of her irises are the green rings around the outer edge. I’m not sure if she’s turned on at the thought of me watching her, or my confession that I haven’t had an orgasm with another woman since meeting her. Either way, her body is telling me exactly what I already knew.
“You’remine,” I rasp out as I drop my forehead to hers. “Say it,” I demand when she remains silent.
“I’m yours,” she whispers. She uncrosses her arms to remove the barrier she’d placed between us as the corners of her lips tilt up into my favorite grin. “But I’m going to enjoy driving you crazy every time I’m on that stage.”
“I know you will,” I laugh out as I let my hand drift from her throat. “I’m sure it will feel something like this.” I caress around the swell of her breast before dropping my hand to her hip, letting my own wicked smirk show when she whimpers as I knead her perfect ass.
Then, I drop my hand into the pocket of her leggings and pluck her phone out before stepping back to sit on the couch as she fumes at my teasing. I pull her into my lap and hold the phone up to her face to unlock it before installing our security app. I pass the phone to her to enter her own profile name and passcode as I explain that it works the same way as the hidden keypad on the wall with the addition of the tracking app.
“You can zoom in to show the exact layout of the building you’re in, or zoom out to show the map.” I put my fingers on the screen and pull them together to show her all of Thorngrove. Then, again until the screen shows the whole state of Tennessee. “The blue dot is you. The black dot is me. If Mac is logged into the system, his dot will be green.” I tap the icon that looks like a group on the side of the screen. “This will show everyone who only has limited access. Click on their profile and they will have a yellow dot if you want to track them.” When her head whips around to face me with a worried expression, I explain, “Employees of the club are required to share their location when they’re hired, but they don’t get this app. They can’t trackus,” I assure her.
“Good,” she says as she relaxes back against my chest. “I don’t want anyone tracking you but me…and I guess Riley.”
