This is bad. Really bad.
I need to talk to Tobias.
* * *
The faded grey brick gives me a sense of nostalgia as my bike comes to a stop. I don’t come here during the day anymore. I usually arrive in the darkness of night for a round of kinky play in theKitty Cat Club.
This used to be my home. After everything went down—the slaughter, burning down the Kays’ house to hide the evidence—Tobias and I found ourselves homeless at seventeen. We took what little we had and squatted in this abandoned apartment building, turning it into the Hellcats’ meeting ground, which now serves as our hub.
Well, their hub.
TheKitty Cat Club,a BDSM sex club, opened later, but we quickly found it was a necessity. Tobias and I need a sexual release because of our trauma, and the club lets us channel our more primal instincts in a controlled environment with consenting adults.
I knock on the front door, and the lookout slides open, revealing a young man.
Must be a new recruit.
He opens the door and speaks with a curt tone. “What is it?”
Yeah, he definitely has no idea who I am. “I’d like to speak to my brother, Tobias.”
I hear someone curse, followed by hurried footsteps, and soon Jackson emerges. “Torren!” He quickly unlocks the door.
“How’s it going, Jacky?”
He gives me a fist bump, smiling as he looks me up and down, before chewing out the recruit. “Remember this face! This is Torren Kay. Royal treatment when you see him, dipshit!”
The new recruit apologizes, and I assure him it’s fine. I don’t give a shit about having my ass kissed.
But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like it.
“I’d like to chat with Tobias. Is he in?” Tobias doesn’t have a cell for his own protection, so I can’t check in before I stop by.
“Yeah, he’s in his office. I’ll take you.” Jackson leads me into the foyer and up the stairs. It’s a six-story apartment building, and each floor is dedicated to a different division of the Hellcats, from hitmen to intelligence; they all have their own floor.
Tobias’s office is one flight up, where the sex workers live.Prostitution is illegal—they can’t go to the police when they’re in danger, so we provide protection and a place to live. Sex work is something we’re far too familiar with, and we wanted a safe place for those who choose that profession. They can have client visits whenever they’d like, pay a small fee for the room, and receive an hourly rate if they want to work in theKitty Cat Club—which is completely optional.
If anyone causes them trouble, a Hellcat intervenes.
As I follow Jackson down the hall, the pungent scent of perfume and sweat makes my nose crinkle. Men and women in leather mills about, some recognizing me and stopping to greet me with nods or grins.
We reach the double doors of Tobias’s office, and Jackson knocks.
My brother’s annoyed voice rings out, and I chuckle to myself. The doors open, revealing Tobias at his gigantic black desk surrounded by higher-ups.
Tobias’s gaze lands on me, and a warm smile stretches across his face. He waves me in, dismissing the men surrounding him, who all nod or shake my hand on their way out.
The door closes behind them, leaving me alone with my brother.
Tobias rises and gives me a great, big hug. “Missed you, Tor.”
“Likewise, Toby.”
We both hate the nicknames we give each other, but we continue using them anyway. We like to fuck with each other. It gives the illusion that we’re normal.
“It’s been too long,” Tobias says as he sits back down.
I sit on the leather-clad chair opposite him and cross my legs. “I know. That’s my fault.”
