by CR Robertson
I pulled the trigger and his eyes squeezed shut, his body rigid. The chamber was empty, but the second in my revolver wasn’t. This visit was designed to scare them into behaving. Did he really think I’d get his brains on my favourite biker boots? Swivelling on my heel, I marched toward the door, tucking my gun into the back of my jeans. Ash and Jordan flanked me on either side.
The footsteps behind us told me that Marco had chosen the wrong option. We spun together, our extensive martial arts training kicking into action. A gun went flying out of the hand of the man directly behind me when my foot connected with his wrist. The base of my palm forced his nose up, the crack and the blood spurting told me it was broken. I kicked him in the chest to get his blood away from my clothes.
Jordan had another man pinned to the wall, landing multiple blows to his head and torso, even as he slid down the wall.
Ash crouched low, his spinning kick taking out the legs of his opponent as his knee came up to crash into his throat. He collapsed into the foetal position gasping for air.
Marco ran toward me, fists blazing.
“Fuck this,” I muttered, letting the fighter in me loose.
My foot connected with his jaw, his head jolting back as my fist landed punches where they would achieve maximum impact to disable him—nose, throat, and eyes. He lunged forward and my arm snaked around his neck to immobilise him and cut off oxygen.
“I don’t want to kill you today,” I hissed in his ear. “But I will.”
He struggled, but all he was doing was using precious oxygen. Jordan and Ash dealt with the remainder of his goons without a shot being fired.
“The first chamber was empty.” I taunted him. “The rest are full.”
He stiffened, not moving a muscle. This wasn’t our first time arriving to have a chat with someone, so I knew just the right amount of pressure and how long to apply it for before the person passed out.
“Pay the debt,” I reminded him. “Or next time we leave no witnesses.”
I dropped him to the floor and stalked out of the room, Jordan and Ash following in my wake.
“Fucker pissed on my boots,” Jordan grated out, shaking his foot in disgust. “Lucas better pay for a replacement pair.”
I chuckled at his expression. “Uncle Lucas treats you like a son, Jay. He gave you your Harley last year for Christmas and you got misty eyed because you were like a child visited by Santa.”
“Fuck off, I got dust in my eye,” Jordan retorted.
“Hmmm. There’s no shame in showing your softer side.” Just to aggravate Jordan further, I winked at Ash, who laughed at our friend’s expression.
“You two are complete fuckers. One of these days you’re gonna find a snake in your bed,” Jordan grumbled, slamming his helmet on.
The remainder of the day, we hummed Christmas songs every time Jordan was close by until he snapped and threatened to shoot us.
It was with an extremely heavy heart, I put my bike back into storage at the airport and boarded a plane to Krakow to look at the hotels that we’d mentioned to Dad. While we were there, I wanted to see if there was anywhere suitable to expand The Midnight Rooms. My franchise was developing at a steady pace, with people queueing up to join my clubs. The exclusivity and anonymity appealed to a variety of different people from different walks of life. The Twilight Rooms catered to fantasies, with expansions being added at a rapid rate of what people wanted. If you had a kink, we provided it.
Now that we were back to official business, there was a driver waiting for us at the airport. I missed the freedom of the wind beating against me on the open road, of having no one but my friends beside me. Behind the blacked-out windows I contemplated the restrictions I lived by. We were constantly under scrutiny unless we disappeared like we had for the past two days. Those were rare and precious occasions that didn’t happen often enough to lift the burden of the family business from us.
Ash typed away on his phone, the corners of his lips quirking up every so often, suggesting he was messaging a female. I really hoped it wasn’t my cousin, because there would be hellfire and brimstone if he broke her heart.
Jordan stared out the window impassively, his foot tapping against his knee the only sign that he was thinking at all. There were times he was an emotionally impenetrable ice fortress. Something broke in him the day his parents were murdered in their home. His mother had hidden him, and he’d been trapped for hours in the house with their dead bodies. There were times he disappeared into himself for hours on end before his darkness emerged and he became the avenging angel of death and destruction. No one wanted to be there when that version of Jordan arrived. He was a scary fucker who left no witnesses or bodies.
To give myself something to do, I lifted the paperwork that had been left for us to read and began to flick through it. The architecture of one of the old buildings caught my attention, its interior specifications within the parameters of what I needed for The Midnight Rooms.
Staring at the pictures, I envisaged the rooms set up for the purposes of pleasure. One room had the perfect layout for my own private room, the indentation in the wall between two chimney breasts the perfect place for a four-poster bed. The memory of my last encounter with Cas permeated my thoughts. She’d believed herself to be bad at sex, yet the opposite was true. Her reactions made me hard sitting here remembering them. Some women made no noise during sex, yet she let herself go, giving me everything.
A deep-seated need pulsed inside, the thought of her tied to the bed I wanted to put in that room tormenting me. My hands had explored every curve on her body, every inch of soft skin. The mental picture of her materialised in my mind, her hair wrapped around my fist. The only aspect of her I didn’t know was her features, because even those soft but full lips had been explored by my fingers. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been tempted to kiss someone, and that was what gnawed at me. What was it about this woman who I’d met in the dark?
“Zee?” I glanced up to find Ash staring at me. “Is there a problem with the paperwork?”
My eyes followed his gaze to the crumpled paper in my hand.
“No,” I replied. “Just lost in thought. Dad’s having problems with his current wife and I’m trying to think of ways to avoid the situation.”
It was partly true, but in reality, there’d been so many ex-fiancées, girlfriends, and wives I rarely kept up anymore. Dad was a handsome man, widowed early in life. He didn’t adapt well to life on his own and filled the void with beautiful women who didn’t give a shit about him.
His meaningless sexual encounters gave me the idea for The Midnight Rooms. In a drunken stupor, he once told me that any warm body in the dark kept his ghosts at bay.
Ash studied me in the dim light in the back of the car. “You do realise you’re a terrible liar.”
A sad smile flitted across my lips. “I’m an excellent liar, you just know me too well.”
The car came to a stop, halting any further probing into the mess of my life. This was the moment that I became what the world expected to see—a playboy billionaire without a care or trouble to weigh him down. Sliding my sunglasses into position, I exited the limousine behind Ash and Jordan.
We were surrounded by people trying to catch our attention and make a good impression, as we could be their new bosses. My lips smiled in the appropriate places, but it never reached my soul. The last time I smiled because I was happy was lying in the dark with a woman who had talked to me as if I was a human.
Cas.
She tempted me more than I wanted to admit, and I couldn’t explain why. All I knew was that Tuesday was too far away, and that with every hour it got closer, my heart beat a little faster and excitement throbbed in my veins.
Wandering through the hotel, I admired the architecture and nodded in the appropriate places. We’d narrowed it down to three locations that were equally beautiful and had proximity to the town square. We could look all we liked, but the next phase was in the hands of our legal and financial teams.
We’d make our decision based on their findings.
After lunch, we moved our attention to possible locations for The Midnight Rooms. Both of my friends became partners in the international locations, as I needed trustworthy people to visit them and find any irregularities. The original ones I opened back home remained exclusively my business interests. Jordan took an active role, visiting a different location every month to check records and security. Ash tended to lose himself in The Twilight Rooms, embracing his need for dominance. Different locations allowed us to indulge different flavours on our sexual palate.
“This definitely has the right feel to it,” Jordan shouted from the next room. “The architecture is amazing. We could really work with it for The Twilight Rooms and add some themes. The number of people requesting paranormal role play is increasing every day.”
It certainly took all sorts to make a world. Someone biting on my neck wasn’t in my top ten kinks. Or having a man dressed as a wolf crossbreed and mounting me didn’t feature there either.
My gaze worked around the room I stood in. It was more beautiful than the pictures depicted, but the four-poster bed would definitely fit and some of my other favourite toys could be incorporated as well. Every premises we opened around the world had private rooms set aside for Jordan, Ash, and me. This would definitely be mine. If I closed my eyes, I could smell Parma violets and feel Cas clinging to me as she made those tiny whimpers in my ear.
“I think Zee’s found his room,” Ash said in a loud voice that drew me out of my fantasy as he went to find Jordan. “I doubt we need to look at the other properties. This has the right vibe, the location is excellent, and it’s vacant. We could start renovation work immediately.”
I agreed.
Our patrons enjoyed the benefits of using any Midnight or Twilight Room across the globe. Everyone needed a release, and our establishments were safe and free from risk on medical and reputation aspects.
Walking through the rooms, I listened to the sound of our shoes, visualising what this place would become. This was the noise that greeted us as we wandered through the darkness. It was what I did in every new location to help me decide if it was the right place to open our business. This place had the right tone as we moved from room to room.
“This place has my vote,” Jordan informed us as he stuck his head into a massive reception area.
“I’ll get the structural engineers out to have a look,” Ash replied. “What about you, Zee?”
“Yeah, it has the right feel to it. The dungeons are a perfect location for The Midnight Rooms. It wouldn’t take too much to get them ready.” It didn’t escape my notice that old manacles hung from the walls.
“Let’s do this,” Jordan said as he emerged from the room. The excited look in his eyes said he’d already made the decision and had begun the renovation work in his head.
“You realise the Council will be pissed if they ever find out what we’re doing in our spare time.” I trailed my fingers through my hair, imagining Dad’s reaction to his son being involved in the Midnight and Twilight Rooms. Our names were buried deep in paperwork that wouldn’t be easy to find. “You know how they feel about anything to do with sex.”
Jordan gave a feral grin. “They’re happy to order an execution, but God forbid someone enjoys a little BDSM and the world will come to an end.”
“I have no doubt every one of them has frequented one of our businesses,” Ash agreed, bouncing his eyes. “Could you imagine Malcolm with a ball gag in a bondage suit…”
I choked on laughter at the image of the serious accountant of the Council in that type of attire. “He’d be more likely to be found hanging from a St Andrew’s dressed in a cock ring with a dildo up his ass.”
Jordan thumped my shoulder, a tear running down his face as he laughed. “He tends to walk very stiffly.”
My teeth bit into my bottom lip to stop the grin on my face as I pushed him off. “Dick.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, but you love me.” Jordan made kissy sounds that had me rolling my eyes at him. His moods were as mercurial as the planet.
Instead of replying, I grabbed him around the neck and mussed his hair up before pushing him away. “Okay, now we’ve sorted the business, let’s go and find what this town has to offer.”
Ash hooted and Jordan gave his normal wolfish howl as we wandered into the heat outside. The light was starting to fade, and lights began to illuminate the city. Tuesday was three nights away, but I was counting every single hour. When I wanted something, nothing stood in my way. Standing in the doorway of this old building, I knew that Cas was what I wanted, and I’d find a way of having her.
***
Chapter Thirteen
Cassandra
The past few days had passed in a whirl as all the files arrived from Mr. Bartholomew. Sasha sequestered a room that we were using to sort everything into our filing system. It was Monday afternoon, and we’d worked all weekend, but standing looking at everything in order brought a smile to my face.
“We’ll be able to start briefing everyone when we’ve had time to go through each of these sections fully,” I said when Sasha glanced up from what she was working on. “Have you catalogued each of these into their relevant areas?”
“Just working on that now. Collette is going to help me finish it all off tomorrow.”
The fact that tomorrow was Tuesday made my heart skip a beat and heat to accumulate between my legs. Megan and I had appointments after work in the beauty salon so I could have myself waxed until there was nothing left anywhere.
“Great. Let me know if you need anything,” I replied.
“We should be fine with the indexing and cataloguing. Go enjoy yourself.”
She knew I was off to be pampered, and approved since she’d been pestering me for months, if not years, to enjoy myself. She’d hated Carl more than I had by the end, her motherly disapproval of him bringing a lump to my throat. Megan and I had become a family when we found each other in the foster system. You never realised what you had until you lost it, and that included family, so we created our own.
Sasha took on a mothering role in my life from the moment I started working here, guiding and protecting me. She had Megan and me join her family every year for Christmas dinner.
“Waxing is never fun!” I grimaced at the thought.
She winked at me. “The rewards afterward will be the fun part.”
“Sasha!”
“What? I’m single, not celibate. Get out of here and make yourself beautiful for the big date you’re on the countdown to.”
I wanted to object, but what was the point? Sasha was right. I should have remained objective and aloof, but the thought of Zee made my knees weak. In the middle of everything, I tried to be the carefree person who had sex and walked away. Megan should have known that wasn’t who I was under all my insecurities.
That last night, as Zee held me, he opened up a hidden chamber in my heart. He listened to me, really heard me, and it broke through the darkness in my soul and allowed a sliver of light in. Which was ironic, as we only ever met in the dark and I had no idea what he was like in real life.
They say that “love is blind”, but what happens when you’re attracted to someone when all you’ve seen is their soul?
“Ready?” Megan stood watching me.
I blinked several times in confusion. Megan waved her hand in front of my face, smiling.
“Earth to Cassie, come in Cassie.” Her eyebrows lowered as she studied me.
“Sorry,” I shook my head and rolled my eyes at myself. “It’s been a few long days.”
Sasha held up some files and waved them to confirm my story.
A huge grin spread over Megan’s bright red lips. “Well, tonight we let our hair down and enjoy Thai food and cocktails.”
“Goodnight, Sasha,” I said, lifting my handbag.
“Have a great time, ladies. I’ll have the coffee on for both of you in the morning.”
“Why did yo
u get the nice assistant, and I got the battle-axe?” Megan moaned as we headed to the door.
“She’s probably reacting to you calling her names,” I pointed out and received a tongue poked out at me in retaliation. “I doubt anyone likes to be called Gargamel.”
“Well then she shouldn’t be a dark, imposing figure destroying my happiness. Can I help it if I’m a cheerful little Smurf and she’s determined to steal my smurfberries?”
There was no arguing with Megan when she was on a roll, so I linked my arm through hers. “Come on, little Smurf, let’s escape before you have a bullying and harassment case slapped on your ass.”
Megan shrugged one shoulder. “I quite like getting my ass slapped.”
Al was walking up the corridor and stopped in his tracks to stare at us. “One of these days, you two ladies will have an appropriate conversation in the workplace.”
Megan gave him her best innocent stare. “We were just discussing a case, Al. Sometimes it helps to get a second opinion. What do you think in a divorce suit if the husband insists on spanking his wife every night? My client said she enjoyed it at the time, but now objects, as he stopped cuddling afterwards.”
My boss’ cheeks burned as he glared at us before scurrying up the corridor.
“Meg!” I admonished her. “You know he doesn’t like that type of talk.”
“Then he should stop listening!”
She would never change.
Half an hour later, I was staring at the ceiling while my hair was ripped from my body. I was in the middle of an inner rant about sexual inequality and women having to wax when the beautician’s face appeared above me.
“Did you go to the sex dungeon?” she asked, chewing the side of her mouth.
My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open before I neutralised my expression. “Um…”
“I don’t mean to pry, but most of the stories I hear in here are boring in comparison to you and your friend. I’d no idea such places existed outside the romance novels I read.”
“You and me both,” I admitted with a shy smile.
