“Sit,” he tells me. Feeling like an obedient poodle, I take a seat and look around. Up here, we can see out over everything, watch what everyone is getting up to. Though it feels as if we’re on display. When Mark leans forward and tugs the edge of my skirt up to bare my thigh almost to my crotch, I realize that’s exactly what he intended.
I cross my legs and clasp my hand over my knee, giving him a smile that I hope is not as nervous as I feel. My mind is racing, trying to figure out how I’m supposed to turn this evening to my advantage.
“So…this is really different,” I say, running curious eyes over what’s going on below us. “Have you always been interested in this sort of…thing?” I ask.
“Yes. Believe it or not, erotica has always fascinated me. I don’t spend all my time deflowering virgins.” He laughs and I clench my teeth at the low blow. “I actually prefer my women to be more experienced in fucking.” He runs a hand down my thigh. I shift away a little, then give a wink as if I’m teasing him. “I’m guessing you’ve had some time to get that right by now, Andrea?”
“I’ve had my share of fun.” I give a shrug.
“Oh, I’m sure you have. Hell, if I’d known you’d turn out to be such a decent piece of ass, I might have kept you around a while after I popped your cherry.” He takes a mouthful of his drink, then tightens his grip on my thigh pulling it closer. There’ll be bruises there tomorrow. I grit my teeth.
“So, you had clubs back then?” I get back to the conversation. “You must have been a kid. I mean, you’re still young now.”
“Not that young.” He shrugs. “You should know that. You’re getting a little long in the tooth yourself and you’ll remember I was the same age as your big brother.” I feel like my heart’s about to stop. “Anyhow, I try to take care of myself.” He pats his gut. I nod, as if in appreciation. It’s bullshit. The man looks like hell. He may be in his mid-thirties, but at a glance, he could be twenty years older. Hard living has taken its toll.
“Tell me about your clubs,” I ask. I don’t have to feign interest. I keep hoping he’ll slip in something about my brother. Something that might give me more insight into what happened all those years ago.
“The first place I bought was a strip joint. Seedy as fuck.” He chuckles. “No class. Not like this.”
I smile. When I rest my arm on the table, I do my best to ignore the fact that my skin sticks to the surface. I don’t want to think what that might be.
“It’s uh…definitely something else,” I acknowledge. “Must be hard to keep an eye on all these ventures. You seemed to be discussing a completely different business deal with those um…gentlemen last night.”
“I hire good managers. I don’t have time to be dealing with the crap that goes on behind the scenes in places like these. Anyhow, I have to keep my name off the books; keep things respectable. Can’t hit Fortune 500 if people think you’re a swinger.” He jerks a head toward the area in front of us.
“You must rely a lot on people you trust. Has it always been that way?” I’m desperately hoping he’ll tell me he used to work with Kyle. But then again, maybe that’s something I don’t want to know. He gives a dark laugh.
“Andrea, the people I hire know better than to cross me.”
“What does that mean?” I frown at him. He empties his glass and raises his hand. I notice a waiter hovering nearby.
“What do you think it means, Andrea?” Another glass is set on the table before him.
“I…uh…I don’t know.”
“Take a guess.” He reaches into his top pocket and removes a small vial. I frown as I look at it. He opens the top and tips a small heap of powder on the table in front of us, then slides a card from his top pocket. “Don’t leave home without it.” He grins at me, then begins sectioning the heap into small lines. “Take a hit.” He’s holding a small gold straw, and he extends it to me.
Is he kidding me?
“Uh, I’m good, thanks,” I manage to get out. The man is doing freaking cocaine right here in front of everyone. Off a table that could very likely have body fluids on it. I doubt he cares. Without responding to my answer, he puts the straw to his nose, leans forward, and snorts up one of the lines. He rises and sniffs deeply, then repeats the motion on the other side. I try not to stare. And then I try not to gag when he wipes his dusty nostrils with his thumb and leans forward to rub that same thumb over my lower lip.
“It’s good shit,” he says. “Picked it up on my trip.”
“When you went to Columbia?” My lip is beginning to tingle. He nods. His pupils are dilating. They dilate further when he looks down at the stage. A man in a shaggy bull mask is taking a blonde woman from behind. She wails as he slaps her ass, pink coloring her asscheek.
“Looks like she’s fucking loving it,” Mark says roughly. His hand has dropped to his crotch, and he slides his fingers further up my thigh. I brace myself for a repeat of last night’s violation.
“Uh…sure,” I say, trying not to look.
“You’d better believe it.” He licks his lips, leaving them wet and gleaming. “But don’t take my word for it. You’ll find out soon enough.”
“What?” I frown at him, shooting a glance at the scene, then back at him. His lips curl into a leer.
“You’re up next. I’m going to fuck you in front of everyone.” I hear the metallic sound of his zipper sliding down.
Oh, my God!
Chapter 16
