“Um, yeah. I’d like that,” I manage to say. Truthfully, I’m barely paying attention. There’s still a pit in my stomach thinking about whether that could have been Chase.
“Great! There’s a hot new club opening tomorrow. I’ve got a friend who works there, so I’m already on the list. Care to join me?”
I should. I should want to go to a new club, with this handsome foreigner who seems to really like me. I should want to date, should be excited he’s asking me.
I should leave the past behind me. Move on.
“Sounds great.” I force myself to smile, my chest oddly tight. “Tomorrow it is.”
25
ALEC
Oscuro.Opening night.
I roll my shoulders and straighten my spine. A soft opening, really. Only the bottom three floors will be accessible to the public tonight, while we organize the finishing touches on the rest of the building.
But it needs to be perfect. Everything tonight needs to be perfect, with so much riding on this. The board of directors is already on my ass about this venture, questioning the expense, the time and energy we’ve dedicated to this project. And it feels like someone has been trying to sabotage this launch at every opportunity. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let them get away with it.
Behind me, Ashton stares at the security feed that dominates half the manager’s office. We spent a small fortune to have extra cameras installed, last-minute, to cover every open area of the club. If someone tries anything here tonight, we’ll see it.
“Have you seen Doc’s new setup at home?” Ashton asks, fidgeting as he watches the monitors. The black-and-white feed shows a small but growing crowd already filling up the first-floor bar. We’ve limited capacity tonight to just friends and family—a short list of people known to the club’s partial owners and employees—but we’ll start letting in more as the night goes on.
“I’ve seen it,” I answer. Hard to miss, now that Sebastian has converted a full room of our compound into a veritable altar to his voyeuristic tendencies. One full wall of monitors, each showing a different camera feed of Sydney’s shop and the stairs leading up to her apartment.
Ashton rubs the nape of his neck, looking uncomfortable. “I’m starting to think it was a mistake to encourage this. The, uh, watching.”
I turn to raise an eyebrow at him. “You’ve never had a problem with him watchingbefore,” I remind him.
Frankly, I’ve never given a shit either way, but there’s no hiding that Ashton is a bit of an exhibitionist. Showing off to an audience has always been his preference, not mine.
“That’s different,” he grumbles. “That’s just sex, you know? But watching her all day? Checking in on her while she’s working?” He shakes his head. “That’s not normal.”
I check the time on my phone and scowl. Doc and Viper should be here by now. I want all four of us here tonight, in case something goes wrong.
“I don’t give a fuck if it’s normal,” I assure him in a low voice. “It’s about keeping her safe. That’s all I care?—”
No.
It’s just like the first time I saw her. My eyes find her immediately on the monitors, pulled to her like a magnet.
Sydney. She’s here, downstairs, at my club.
Even through the black-and-white video feed, I recognize the red dress she’s wearing. It’s the same one she wore the first night I saw her, bright red and skintight. My woman in red.
But I don’t recognize the man with her. The man who’s currently putting his arm around her, guiding her inside. Touching her so casually.
Touching my fucking woman.
From the angle of the screens, Ashton can’t see her. I only realize I stopped speaking mid-sentence when he nudges me.
“Boss? What’s up, what’s going on?”
I’m dialing a number on my phone before the words are even fully out of his mouth.
“Doc? Where the fuck are you?” I grind out, voice lethally low, eyes fixed on Sydney through the monitors.
The roar of background noise lets me know he’s on his bike, taking the call through his helmet. “Calm down,” Sebastian says. “We’re on our way. Traffic’s brutal tonight. We just?—”
