I end the call before he can badger me for details that there’s no way in hell I’m giving him. The TV is still playing the news, with the news anchors discussing what happened at Hedon andthe judge and assistant DA who appear to have abused their power.
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” I mutter. Nor would it be the first time criminals used whatever leverage and power they had for a get-out-of-jail-free card.
I leave the bedroom to go to my door, where room service will have brought up my soup and bread.
I think about the police commissioner and the DA refusing to disclose who owns Hedon. I had tried to investigate it myself—as best as I could, at least—but found nothing. However, I assumed it wasn’t tied to any criminal faction in the city because, with all the other clubs, their involvement was either openly known or at least whispered about. With Hedon, there was nothing.
Hedon’s strict, thorough membership vetting process and its member conduct policies, along with the lack of criminal ties, were exactly why I sought out a membership there.
Technically, I’m still in my trial week and haven’t paid the full membership fee.
After my run-in with the redheaded stunner leaving my wolf’s private suite—he’s not your wolf—I have to decide what I’m going to do. Do I accept full membership now that my trial week is over and ignore him, and explore this world of kinky sex with someone other than the masked wolf? Or do I tuck tail and run?
Both options equally suck.
Chapter 25
Army
Thelasttwodayshave been hell. I’ve monitored Leeva as much as I could through the bugs planted in her hotel room, fitting that in between dealing with the warrant and search shitfest while catching up on urgent MC duties I’d neglected over the past week.
My worry escalated as I watched her seclude herself, hardly speaking except when her stepkids—another mindfuck right there—called to check in on her. I could tell her mind was running nonstop. I didn’t need to wonder what she was thinking; she was convinced her masked man had fucked another woman.
Then I could tell she had woken up with a migraine yesterday. She finally took the pain medication she hated so much and was basically comatose. Last night, I couldn’t help myself, and I broke into her suite again. I didn’t jack off and rub my cum into her skin like a moisturizer, though; I just held her while she slept, getting some much-needed sleep myself.
I had reluctantly left her a few hours ago, knowing she’d soon begin to wake from her sedated sleep. I stopped by Hedon andmet with Riveria to make sure everything was as fine as it could be. Attendance had dropped slightly, and some members had canceled their memberships after the fake news and rumors about what had happened. Hopefully, the news conference with the police commissioner and the DA will set the record straight and clear most of the smear from Hedon.
But still, damage was done. Once accused, always guilty in some people’s eyes. And unless we wanted to combat this publicly, outing ourselves as the owners, we couldn’t do shit. At least, not publicly.
Out of the public eye, there was plenty we could do. The evidence was false, which meant someone was trying to strike at Hedon. What wasn’t clear was whether they suspected we owned it and were targeting us specifically.
If that was the case, then I had a top suspect. That’s why I was supposed to be in Ash’s office right now, strategizing.
But it’s a struggle to tear myself away from monitoring Leeva. However, as I listen to her side of the phone call, I’m glad I overheard it because it sounds like she’s leaving the hotel in the morning.
And I’ll be waiting, ready to follow her wherever she goes.
After she’s back on her bed, watching a rom-com and eating her soup, I close the app and tuck my phone into my jeans. I leave my bedroom, lock the door, then exit the second-floor area where the Council members have our private rooms. Hurrying down the stairs, I make my way to Ash’s office on the main floor.
The clubhouse is a sprawling building with all the amenities for living on-site. There’s a small private kitchen reserved for Council use, as well as a commercial kitchen for everyone else, and a large dining area, like a mess hall. Laundry facilities, game rooms, and a gym are also available. There are bedrooms for the brothers and prospects who live here, as well as for the Bunnies, who are also known as the Club Pussy. They aren’t requiredto live on-site, but they all choose to because they want to be around and available—they’re as ravenous for sex as any of the brothers who want to indulge.
For me, I’ve never indulged when it came to them. Not even after Leeva had become “forever forbidden territory” to me.
But now, miraculously, and due to a loophole, she isn’t forever forbidden to me.
I still needed to get to the root of how she had managed to erase all evidence of Guerilla’s tattoo. But for now, I need to focus and be at the top of my game, because I still haven’t admitted my sins to Ash, Bane, or Pix. Plus, I’m not in the clear yet because the MC could still decide I’m guilty.
Digits had given me a week’s grace, but that was over. He’s been consumed with the situation with Hedon like the rest of us, on top of his already overflowing plate of duties to manage the MC’s risks and threats against us. But my time has run out, and I know I have to come clean soon.
I enter Ash’s office and shut the door behind me. The room is soundproof, and Digits would’ve done a scan to ensure no one planted anything in here to spy on our discussion. We trust the people we allow to come into the compound, but only within reason. Some we trust less, though, especially lately, such as the old guard lately. And with what we talked about in here, one could never be too careful.
The office isn’t what you’d expect for the leader of a criminal faction. It’s relatively small and bare; Ash chose not to take the office his father had once used. Partly out of respect for Zeus—because in Ash’s eyes, there was no better leader—and partly out of mourning, since Zeus was taken in his prime, far too soon for any of us. And partly because Ash wasn’t about displays of power. Though you’d never know it, he’s among the wealthiest men in the city: a sly, cunning businessman. Ash prefers the small, almost cramped space.
He sits with his boots propped on his desk, his fingers intertwined over his stomach, and the silver rings on his fingers glinting in the overhead lights. He watches me with hooded eyes. “Glad you’re finally gracing us with your presence, Army.”
I’m sure he suspects I’ve been trying to track Leeva down now that we all know she’s back. Bane and Pix would, too. Aside from my urgent MC duties, I’ve been MIA this past week.
I lean my shoulder against the wall, crossing my arms over my chest. “Riveria said things are settled down at Hedon,” I dive right in, not responding to his taunt. “The press conference went off as it was supposed to.”
