Page 59 of Forbidden Forget-Me-Not

I had almost said it anyway. Almost told him that his best friend had betrayed him. That I was wildly in love with his sister and that we were married because the look on her face last night devastated me. Laying beside the bed and listening to her sleep crushed parts of me that no one could see, but hurt all the same.

How we ended up married didn’t matter anymore. I wanted her. I always had.

I was no longer the right man to stand between her and the rest of the world because I could not think clearly or do my job properly.

Then Nathaniel snapped something into the phone, ended the call with a curse, and slammed the door shut before marching up the stairs to the plane.

Just like that, my moment was gone. So, I did what I always did.

I swallowed it.

Now the club throbbed around me as the exotic dancers moved beneath the pulsing lights. The music was loud, and the air was thick. Bodies pressed together in a way that made people forget where they ended, and someone else began.

Euphoria had started as just a strip club, but it had evolved into something far more lucrative. A dance floor gave the place a true nightclub feel, a space where people could lose themselves. The VIP area was decadent and discreet, designed to offer the illusion of privacy while remaining carefully monitored. Drunk laughter and terrible singing drifted from the new private karaoke rooms. The newest edition was the fantasy area. This section was reserved by those looking to have all they desired fulfilled, as long as it was consensual and no one got hurt.

Security for the underground area was state-of-the-art and exclusive, with more guards than every other club in the city combined. Nathaniel built everything to protect the people who worked here. The people who trusted him.

I did my rounds on auto-pilot, nodding at familiar faces, scanning exits, checking corners, cameras, and making sure no one stepped out of line.

All the while, my mind stayed somewhere else. Somewhere darker.

Unable to sleep, I’d left before dawn like a coward. Slipped out quietly because staying would have meant looking Kaylani in the eyes and knowing every second we shared was without permission. I wanted things I had no right to want, and deep down, I didn’t know how this could last.

We were born into separate worlds. One that gave orders and one that obeyed.

Distance was easier. But that was a lie.

All I had to do was get through my shift and find her. Then I could bring her back to my house where we could talk, spend time together, and hell, maybe even come up with a plan.

I finished loading the drugs that were being shipped out tonight from the vault into the armored truck. Nathaniel had purchased it as part of his new fleet after acquiring a security company. It was a smart move. He always thought outside the box. ‘Hide in plain sight,’ he liked to say.

“You’re all set,” I said, handing Merrick the paperwork as he climbed into the back.

With a nod, I shut the door and heard the large lock click into place from the inside. A fucking missile couldn’t take this truck out.

Once it pulled away, I turned and stepped into the secured hallway that led back into the club and spotted Ivan walking toward me. One look at his face told me something was wrong. His face was dark, lips pressed into a hard line.

“We have a problem. She’s here,” Ivan said.

“Who?”

“Kaylani.”

The world narrowed. “To see me?”

He shook his head. “VIP. Group of girls. She’s already been drinking. Guy was working the door and wasn’t going to let her in, but I told him to go ahead. It’s easier to keep an eye on her.”

Something cold flowed through my blood.

“That was smart thinking. Watch her. No hovering, but make sure nothing, and I mean nothing, happens to her. Nathaniel will kill us if his sister is injured or attacked in his club.”

She really was trying to give me an ulcer.

Ivan’s mouth twitched. “Already doing it, but thought you’d want to know.”

“Thanks.”

I moved toward the front of the club before I talked myself out of it and saw her immediately.