There’sa special place in hell for people with an exorbitant amount of wealth. And tonight, our club is filled to the brim with them.
Billionaires. Founders. CEOs. Board Members.
They all flock to this place like it’s their fucking house of worship. And I suppose, in a lot of ways, it is. Only, there are no gods that roam these dimly lit spaces, only devils. And the only ones being worshipped here are them.
Question.
What does one offer to someone who has everything they could want?
Answer.
Every fucking thing they can’t.
Our club provides a service.
These rich assholes pay to play in our space and in turn, we take extra precautions to make sure that their deepest fucked-up desires never see the light of day.
Oracle is the one place where they can lower theircarefully crafted masks. The one place where every single person in their vicinity has their own secrets to protect.
Harry, our head bartender, notices me approaching the bar and immediately sets down the glass he’s drying. He pours a double shot of vodka and wordlessly slides it over.
I take a long sip and let the weight of tonight’s decisions settle over me. Four of Casello’s men are dead. That doesn’t come without consequences.
From the corner of my eye, I catch one of our newer waitresses whispering to another. Her eyes flick towards me, and when she notices me looking, she immediately averts her gaze and walks in the opposite direction.
My jaw ticks.
They all think I’m unstable. That I’m a monster with a mean streak and a propensity for violence. They’re not wrong. Still, it would be nice for my reputation not to precede me everywhere I go.
I drain the rest of my glass and am just about to signal to Harry to pour me another, when I sense someone coming up behind me.
“Echo, thank god!” Athena exclaims, looping her arms around me. She pulls back and studies me for a moment, concern shining in her hazel eyes.
Earlier tonight flashes through my mind. Athena at the bar, laughing with some friends. Those four assholes backing her into a corner by herself. The look of terror on my baby sister’s face.
Athena reaches her hand towards the cut above my brow. I cleaned up before coming back here, but it’s probably still noticeable. “What happened?”
“Nothing.” I say dismissively. “Just a work thing.”
Her brow furrows, and I can tell she wants me to say more, but she doesn’t press.
At twenty-six, she’s only two years younger than me and four years younger than River, our older brother, but he and I make it a point to protect her from the more gruesome details of our family business. She wasn’t raise for it like we were, so she’s used to getting non-answers from us.
“Well, I’m just glad you’re okay.”
I cock my head at her. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
She tucks a strand of wavy brown hair behind her ear and leans in closer. “Security found bodies in the back alley.” Her voice drops to a whisper. “When you didn’t answer my calls… I thought?—”
“You thought I could be one of them.” I finish.
Athena nods, her expression tight. “Apparently, they were unrecognizable.”
Yeah.
Close-range shots to the head will do that to you.
“Where’s River?”
