“Seriously, though,” Flynn says, his eyes moving around the conference room as they brighten with interest. “Your new club, Syndicate? It’s phenomenal. I love the environmental angle you took to be carbon-neutral when you opened. I can’t believe you pulled it off. I even went there to check it out, and I was just blown away.”
Jax scoffs. “This is how guys make friends, isn’t it? You punch each other and call each other names, compare business strategies, and become besties.”
“Hey, I’ve wanted to meet this guy for years. Little did I know my sister would be sleeping with him at some point.”
“Jesus, Flynn,” Jax says, raising her eyes to the ceiling.
“Syndicate is one of my proudest achievements. Carbon neutrality is something we’ve been working toward for a long time,” I concede.
“It’s tough to do, I've been looking at ways to manage it for the new Ferry club.”
“Which building have you leased?”
“Temple Heart.”
“Fuck, I viewed that one. How did you get signed off?”
“I know a guy.” Flynn gives me a look so like his sister's that I can’t help but smile. They all have a very crooked quirk to their mouth when they’re being mischievous. Jax looks like that just before she goes down on me.
Shit.
“Let’s take a quick tour of the office,” I say. “I can introduce you to a few people as we go and explain that you’re not, in fact, insane.”
Flynn shrugs a shoulder, “If you want.”
“Is your eye okay?”
“Yeah,” he says, touching it gingerly. “I’ve been hit before for stuff I deserved a lot less than this one.”
Flynn is almost as enthusiastic about my business as I am. Plus, he has charm.
I take him slowly around the office and introduce him to as many people as possible. I know the rumor mill will be in full swing already, but if I can mitigate as much damage as possible, I will.
Flynn is good at networking, shaking hands with everyone, and apologizing unreservedly. I wish that Jax could be with us, but it would have been even more conspicuous if she had accompanied us on the tour, so I reluctantly left her at her desk.
Flynn asks me a constant stream of questions, almost all of which are pertinent, well-informed, and unique. He obviously loves what he does andadoreshis sister. I haven’t been able to get him to shut up about her, not that I would want him to.
“Plus, Jax has basically redesigned the whole club since she started,” Flynn is saying as we reach the roof terrace.
New York is laid out beneath us, and Flynn leans against the railing, much more confident in its ability to hold him than I would be. Plus, I’m not a fan of heights.
“She’d say it was a joint effort or whatever,” he continues. “But Jensons is completely revamped since she and Scott took over. We have this amazing space called The Blue Room, where women come to drink cocktails and chat. That was all her thing. She’s got DJs who are nothing like the ones I'd generally book. Some of them have become regulars, and it’s always busy in there, whatever the vibe.”
“The design of your dance floor is great. A lot of clubs have multiple spaces, but that central stage is incredible.”
“That was Jax’s idea too, we didn’t—” he stops, turning to me. “You’vebeento my club?”
“I have.”
Flynn leans back against the railing, grinning from ear to ear. “I can’t believe Gray Jones came into my club and I wasn’t even there!”
“How’s the Ferry club coming along?”
“Pretty good. We had some bumps in the road, but we’ll get there. I’ve been away too much.”
My shoulders tense as he turns to me, chewing his lip. “Scott said Jax has been wandering around with designer clothes and shit, I guess she has you to thank for that. I don’t really want to ask, but do you have any idea why she needs this money? I get that you’re her boss and I probably shouldn’t... Maybe you don’t care, but…”
He doesn’t need to tell me how worried he is about her. I can see it in his face. I want to tell him about Nick Monroe, about the lingering threat of seeing him inside Jensons, of the way he touched Jax so possessively, as if he had a right to do it.
