“You should do it!” She looks at me, beaming, gripping my arm too excitedly.
“No, no. Absolutely not, and do not volunteer me for that either!” Suddenly, I’m hyper aware of my surroundings. Feeling eyes on me. I look around, but only see men and their showgirls lost in conversations or consumed by the dancer on stage. I shake it off, chalking it up to my anxiety and the alcohol.
We sit in one of the booths close to the stage, and the blonde gives us a soft smile. The song ends, and she steps off the stage at the back.
“Did you get paid dancing?”
“Oh, fuck yeah. I walked out two million dollars richer that night.”
My jaw drops as I gawk at Jessie. Two fucking million? Jessie giggles at my shock. “Who are these people?”
She shrugs, “Millionaires? I have no clue. All members have to sign an NDA before gaining access, same for the showgirls.”
Yeah, I had to sign one just to come here as a friend with Jessie. “Low Life” by Future starts playing, the curtains open, and a new dancer is on stage. This girl is curvy and has me questioning my sexuality. Her dark black hair cascades down her back, tattoos cover one leg and the opposite arm, her whole torso, and up her neck. She’s stunning and gives off mysterious vibes. Her cheek dimple piercings glint in the spotlight like little stars as she struts around the pole and seductively squats on her stilettos. She keeps her gray eyes on me the whole time.
The fine hairs on the back of my neck raise as a chill of awareness crawls down my spine. I take another once-over the room, and everyone still seems lost in their own conversations, but a table above our recessed booth sits two men. Men in black helmets with tinted visors. What the hell?
“Are you allowed to wear helmets here?” I whisper to Jessie.
She shrugs, keeping her eyes on the show ahead. “A lot do, to hide their identities. It’s pretty common here if you’re like a senator or married or something.”
I look back at the men again, although I can’t see theireyes, I’d say they’re drilling right into me, making me squirm in my seat. Every inch of their bodies is covered in black leather, down to their black leather boots. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say they look like Ryder and Hayden, but they’re both caught up in that meeting.
“Psst! Jess!” I whisper, but it comes out more as a strangled shout. She looks at me, concerned, eyes wide and bouncing side to side aimlessly, “Don’t look right now, but casually glance up at those guys in the helmets.”
She waits a few seconds and takes a sip of her drink before quickly glancing up at them. “What about ‘em?”
“They haven’t stopped staring at me.” The weight of their stares is making it hard to breathe, like a vice around my neck. I can promise one thing, though: if they’re here to take me, they have a whole can of whoop ass barreling their way.
“You’re overthinking it. They probably think you’re hot!” She winks.
Yeah, maybe, but they look threatening. The way they sit as if they own the place. Both are turned to fully face our booth, arms crossed over their chests, and legs wide. Warning bells are screaming at me to go.But go where?There’s nowhere for me to go. The Uber won’t be picking us up for another hour, and I definitely can’t call the boys. They’ll be pissed we snuck out behind their backs.
Ryder
The meeting ended earlier than we expected, and what a surprise we got when we went home and realized the girls were missing. After watching the security footage and seeing them leave by Uber, I checked Kelsey’s location using the GPS chip I had Teegan install in her new phone. Luxe. They fucking went to Luxe behind our backs.
My hands fist at my sides, riding up the elevator to the twentieth floor. I recall specifically telling Kelsey not to come here without me. I’ve been here many times over the course of my three-year membership, so I know what secrets lie behind the hidden closed doors. This place is basically a high-dollar sex club. They require members and guests to sign an NDA, and if you want toplay, you are required to see the doctor here for testing first.
“Good evening, gentlemen.” The hostess greets. We nod as we pass her, going straight to the entertainment room. When I tracked her coming up the elevator, this is where it said she was. Hayden walks beside me, or steps in sync. The door is darker through the tinted visors, but I can still make out the velvet walls and golden accents. We have our Bluetooth pieces in our ears, so we can hear each other crystal clear without having to talk loudly and be recognized.
“To the right,” Hayden speaks in my ear. I glance that way, finding Kelsey and Jessie sitting in the lower level in arecessed booth. There’s an empty table on the upper level that gives us a perfect view of them, so we take it, getting comfortable in the stools.
Kelsey has no idea what she’ll be returning home to. Jessie? She’s never listened to rules anyway, so telling her “no” does me no good. I will get creative and have extra work sent her way in the office, though. She’ll be too busy to do anything outside the office for a week.
Watching Kelsey squirm under our heated stares is probably torture enough. She has no idea it’s us and probably believes we’re still in the meeting. We’re completely covered, black everything. Jeans, leather jackets, boots, helmets, and gloves. Not a single inch of skin exposed.
There’s a dark-haired, heavily tatted dancer on the stage, but my attention is fully on the girl having a panic attack below us. I tilt my head to the side when she looks back over her shoulder at us, letting her know we are, in fact, staring at her. She wore everything I’ve gifted her recently. The two-thousand-dollar two-piece dress, Christian Louboutin heels, and I see the sparkly diamonds of her Graff hoops dangling from her ears. She curled her long brunette hair, so it drapes over her shoulders, shaping her heart-shaped face perfectly.
My eyes look around the room, daring any fucker in this room to touch her. They will regret it the second they do. Luckily for them, they’re all mesmerized by the show on stage. I don’t blame them. The girl’s beautiful, but not as beautiful as Kelsey. That girl is myobsession. One day, mymark will be tattooed on her left hand. She will beminetill death do us part.
“What do you say we give them a little scare?” I ask.
Hayden chuckles darkly, “What’s your idea?”
“Follow my lead.”
While Kelsey and Jessie are transfixed on the stage, we walk down the burgundy carpeted steps to the booths. We stop in front of their booths, and two sets of wide eyes gawk up at us. I motion with my hands for Kelsey to scoot over. It still hasn’t dawned on her that it’s us, which makes my blood boil when she submits and makes room for me to sit. In this position, she would be vulnerable if I were out to get her. There’s no way for her to escape. We’ll be talking about that later.
