by Eden Summers
“That’s not good.” Shay slid a glass of wine toward Cassie and another in front of Zoe.
“T.J. wanted to leave straightaway. I could sense his annoyance. But the surprising conditions didn’t curb my curiosity. We were out of town, finally in a place where I wouldn’t feel nervous about my friends and family finding out about our sexual tendencies.” Cassie placed the mask on the bar beside the wig and grabbed for the wine glass. “We’d been talking about going to a club for so long…work had already started on the Vault. And even though the scene was far from erotic, I wanted to understand what a sex club was all about. There had to be a reason why women were there, right? So I begged T.J. to hang around, just for one drink.”
She sipped her wine, the sweet taste exploding over her tongue in complete contrast to the liquid she remembered consuming that night in Brisbane. The bartender—dressed in a frayed wife-beater and ill-fitting silk boxers—had leered at her as he handed over the soda glass filled with cheap wine. He was just one of many men who’d eyed her like a dish they were determined to taste.
“T.J. didn’t drink. He stayed at my side, his hand always protectively placed on my hip as we watched men rut like dogs in heat. There was no seduction. No interest in pleasuring anyone but themselves. The women were merely a vessel to be used.”
“Drugged?” Shay asked.
Zoe swiveled in the stool, her knee grazing Cassie’s thigh. “Paid escorts, I’d assume.”
“Yeah.” Cassie gave Zoe a nod. “Apparently, it’s not uncommon. T.J. had murmured in my ear that some clubs who can’t obtain willing female clientele actually pay escorts to attend. So in retrospect, I was like the rainbow unicorn—the one willing female who had turned up to this sleazy place without monetary compensation.” She shrugged off the stupidity, because she hadn’t even broached the worst part. “I made a vain attempt to salvage the night. I ignored our surroundings and tried my hardest to feel sexy as I stripped to my underwear. But my halfhearted attempt to get T.J. in the mood didn’t work.”
The humiliation of going down on a husband that couldn’t get hard was just as potent as how naïve she’d felt walking into an environment she had no right being in. “After twenty minutes inside that place, I’d lost all hope of exploring this part of our sexuality.”
“Oh, sweetie.” Zoe placed a hand on Cassie’s shoulder. “You can’t judge the lifestyle by one seedy club.”
Cassie ran her finger mindlessly through the ring of condensation left on the bar from her glass. Time hadn’t dimmed the memory of that night. It was the first regretful moment of her married life. One that had sparked a continuous tally of devastation.
“It gets worse,” she uttered. “Our hotel was a half-hour drive away, so I decided to use the bathroom before we left. T.J. did the same. It was the first time he’d strayed from my side, and he wasn’t happy about it either. He told me he’d be waiting right outside the bathroom door once he finished, and that I shouldn’t speak to anyone while we were separated.”
She stared at the polished bar, seeing the memory replay in her mind. T.J. had been pale with concern, extinguishing the adrenaline in her veins and replacing it with fear. He’d clutched her biceps, reiterating that she wasn’t to speak to anyone. Not even the women.
She’d nodded, and done as he requested, entering the empty bathroom and using the facilities as quickly as possible. She’d been poised to flush the toilet when the swing of the bathroom door had announced someone else had entered. As she’d clutched her handbag to her waist, she’d opened the stall door, prepared to keep her head low while she washed her hands and then get straight back to T.J.’s side.
“A man followed me into the bathroom,” she whispered. He’d been one of the younger men, somewhere in his late twenties, she guessed. Tall and scrawny with the glaze of a drug-fueled high in his eyes. “At first, I thought maybe he was disoriented. That he’d picked the wrong bathroom. But he showed no shock at seeing me walk from the stall. He’d known I was in there.”
The recollection was vivid. He’d had oily blond hair and a sharp, bird-like nose. His eyes had been devoid of emotion, light blue and feral. There’d been no defining scars, only a permanent frown on his forehead. But his boxer briefs were what she remembered most. Probably because the image of his erection pressing against the crotch still made nausea creep up her throat.
“I smiled, somewhat nervously, as I approached the basin to wash my hands. I joked about him being in the wrong bathroom. Although something inside me was screaming to run, I didn’t want to act like a fool in case he’d made a genuine mistake.” Her ears filled with silence, her mind consumed with memories. “He made no move to leave. Instead, he approached me. And again, I did nothing. I kept denying what was clearly happening. I didn’t think that a man would ever try to hurt me in a public place with my husband in the bathroom next door.”
It had been too blatant to be real. Nobody could be that stupid. But apparently, she had been. “He started talking, his words slurred as he asked what my plans were for the night. He wanted to know why I was there. If I was unsatisfied with my current lover since it was obvious T.J. wasn’t in the mood.”
She’d washed her hands, tracking him in the mirror as he continued to approach. “He’d been watching us. Me. And my pathetic attempts to try and go down on T.J.” It made her feel dirty, but there still hadn’t been any confirmed threat, nothing apart from intuition screaming at her to leave. “I assured him I was there out of curiosity, and that I’d decided this was no longer a lifestyle choice I was interested in. I began to walk for the door when he stepped in front of me, blocking my path.”
He’d seemed to ponder her words as his gaze raked her body in a way she’d never experienced before. He was sizing her up, determining something she couldn’t or didn’t want to understand. “I didn’t want to scream. I had already started blaming myself. If I hadn’t gone there, this man wouldn’t have had the wrong impression of me. He thought I was a slutty whore, and I wasn’t. So I tried to talk him down, assuring him I wouldn’t be going back into the main room.”
His eyes had been vacant, icy-blue irises that reflected an empty soul. The first step he’d taken toward her had made her realize she needed to act. It finally sank in. He was a threat and she needed to get out of there. “I’m not interested.” She’d raised her chin and glared at him as her head had begun to pound with too many thoughts to comprehend what to do. Did she try to hurt him? Did she run? Was T.J. right outside the door like he’d promised, or had something happened to him too? “I’ll scream.”
“Hey.” Zoe’s hand came to rest on Cassie’s back again, rubbing in soothing circles. “You’re safe now.”
Cassie tried to shake away the nightmare, but he kept approaching. “It didn’t go much further.” She didn’t want to relive the way his hand had lashed out, climbing under her loose skirt to tear away her G-string before she could scream. “I called for help, and T.J. was there in an instant. My husband was unrecognizable, his expression contorted in anguish and rage as he threw the guy to the floor and started pounding his fists into the man’s face. Again and again and again. More people entered the room as the bastard on the floor stopped fighting back.”
Cassie met the distraught features of each woman in turn, both of them riveted by her story. “They had to drag T.J. off him.” He’d been rabid. Crazed. “He was yelling as they hauled him from the building. His voice was so loud, demanding they let go, shouting for them to get their hands off me as they yanked me along after him. Their greedy palms touching me in places I wish I could forget.”
She didn’t remember how they arrived back at their hotel, and the memories after that were like photographs. Snapshots. She’d sat on the shower floor, hugging her knees to her chest as the water cascaded over her body. The darkness of the room as she lay in bed, while the sound of T.J. vomiting carried from the bathroom. The muted plane ride home. And the
silence they’d both shared for the weeks that followed.
“He wanted to call the police. That night, he even drove to a nearby police station. But I couldn’t do it.” She squeezed her eyes shut briefly. “There were too many reasons to keep my mouth shut. I’d placed myself in that position. I’d been stupid. I know it doesn’t excuse what happened. I just couldn’t risk public scrutiny either. My family would’ve been devastated. I would’ve lost my job or been pressured to quit from the nastiness of others. But the determining factor was Vault of Sin. T.J., Leo and Brute are loyal men. I didn’t want them to contemplate abandoning their plans for the private part of the club to spare my dignity. So I told T.J. I didn’t want anyone knowing. Not the police, not family and definitely not our business partners.”
They’d never discussed what happened with anyone. T.J. had barely mentioned the night in the last twelve months. Yet she refused to feel guilty about opening her mouth now. If it meant saving her marriage, she’d disclose every last detail, her pride and reputation be damned.
“That asshole deserves to be shot,” Shay seethed.
Cassie inclined her head. “Yeah. It wasn’t the best experience I’ve ever had. Then again, I was lucky T.J. saved me. It just wasn’t enough for him. He blames himself, and I think what happened destroyed him more than me. I never truly got him back after that night.”
He hadn’t been able to look at her for weeks. He couldn’t touch her without his eyes glazing as he lost himself to hindsight. In his mind, the blame over not researching the club rested solely on his shoulders, with him unwilling to let her take any responsibility. He considered it his own weakness for succumbing to the temptation of exposing her to something new. He thrived on broadening her sex life and wouldn’t forgive himself for rushing in unprepared.
“A month passed before he started sleeping on the couch, claiming he didn’t want to keep me awake with his restlessness. That night turned into every night until I started noticing the spare bed was being slept in. Six months later, he moved out.”
“I need to clear my head. Just a few days. Maybe a week.”
He’d been exceptionally agitated the day he’d walked from their home. As if the months of guilt had collided, and she’d had no desire to hurt him more by making him stay.
“I don’t know what to say,” Shay whispered.
Cassie met her gaze and winced at the sorrow shining back at her. “There’s nothing to say. I didn’t want to believe he was serious about the divorce, but after tonight, I think it’s clear he can’t get over the past. He’s never looked at me in anger before.”
She sipped her wine, uncomfortable in the silence with these women who were practically strangers. The chatter of people in the distance was all she could hear until footsteps echoed up the Vault staircase, the pounding getting louder.
“Quick,” Shay blurted. “Put the wig back on. The mask too.”
Cassie’s heart throttled to high speed. Although T.J. knew she was here, she didn’t want anyone else to find out.
As Shay straightened and Zoe turned to face the stairway, Cassie hitched the fake hair back into position and slid the mask into place. She was still straightening the stray strands of hair sticking out at odd angles when the footsteps stopped.
“Ladies.” Leo’s honeyed tone filled her belly with nerves. “There seems to be a misunderstanding that I need to get to the bottom of.” The pounding of his shoes against the floor sounded again, getting closer and closer. “T.J. is under the impression someone paid an escort to seduce him.”
What? Cassie’s gaze snapped to Shay, hoping to gain some understanding while she kept her back to her business partner.
“I thought you said he knew you were here,” Zoe muttered under her breath.
He did. T.J. had whispered her name as they’d kissed. Right before he’d demanded she leave.
“Shay.” The name was a deeply masculine growl. “Please tell me you don’t know anything about this. I assured T.J. my adorably sweet girlfriend wouldn’t be stupid enough to risk her job by getting involved.”
Shay released a nervous chuckle. “Honey, you say the nicest things, but your tone implies you don’t think I’m that sweet.”
“Yeah,” he grated. “I should work on that.”
Shay strode around the bar and sauntered toward Leo. Cassie swiveled in her stool, keeping her face shadowed by her hair as Shay stopped in front of her boyfriend and leaned to whisper something in his ear.
As the faint hint of her words drifted forward, Leo’s scrutinizing gaze snapped to Cassie. His frown deepened, the wrinkles increasing with each passing second until Shay stepped back.
“What’s going on here?” Leo approached, shoving his hands in his pockets in a vain attempt to appear nonchalant.
Zoe scooted to the side of her stool, turning her knees into Cassie. “If you want to leave right now, no questions asked, just tell me. I’ll escort you out. You don’t need to speak to him. We can go somewhere else and talk about this.”
We. Such a simple word, yet the friendship behind it brought an explosion of warmth through Cassie’s body. “Thank you, but I think he deserves to know why I caused the scene downstairs.”
Zoe inclined her head. “It’s up to you.”
Cassie removed her mask and checked her reflection in the mirror across the bar. There wouldn’t be any beauty awards heading her way in the near future, and even without the mask, she was still barely recognizable.
She pushed from the stool and straightened her shoulders as she faced Leo, a man she’d met numerous times but didn’t claim to know well enough to anticipate how he’d react. She gave him a sad smile and pulled off her wig, exposing the blonde hair beneath.
He squinted at her, his gaze raking her face, then lower, all the way to her high-heel-covered toes.
“Fake nails.” She placed the wig on the bar and wiggled her fingers. “Fake tan.” She indicated her body with a wave of her hand. “Contact lenses.” She pointed to her eyes. “All of it’s fake.”
“Oh, shit.” His voice was barely audible. “Cassie? Is that really you?”
She gave a regretful nod. “Hi, Leo.”
“Jesus Christ.” He massaged his forehead and began to pace. “I need to tell him.”
“No.” Cassie scooted forward, her heels tapping frantically along the floor. “Wait.” She grabbed his arm as he turned to leave. “What did you mean when you said T.J. thinks someone paid an escort?”
“I mean exactly that, Cass. He’s down there, almost coming to blows with Brute because he thinks the woman he was making out with was a hooker.”
Cassie shook her head. “He said my name. He knew it was me.”
Leo peered down at her, seeming to read her thoughts when she couldn’t even understand them herself. “You can interpret it however you like, but he’s down there thinking he cheated on his wife. He has no clue you’re here.”
“He doesn’t?” She felt like a parrot, repeating the words in her head over and over again. But if he didn’t know she was here, why had he said her name? “He must have been thinking about me.” A smile tilted her lips. A weak, almost useless smile that filled her aching heart with hope.
Then whiplash had her straightening. He may have been thinking about her. However, to his knowledge, he’d been kissing someone else. He’d cheated on her…with her.
“Cassie, I’m sorry, I know you’re hurting.” Leo stroked her cheek with his knuckles. “But you have to leave. I can’t be a part of this, not only because he’s my business partner. He’s my friend above all else.”
“And he’s my husband.” She swallowed over the dryness in her throat and dropped her hold on his arm. “I’ll do anything to get him back.”
“We’ll figure out another plan together,” Shay offered.
“Shay,” Leo warned. “I don’t want to hear this.”
His ocean-blue irises darkened with contempt. “You don’t understand. T.J. is going out of his mind. He’s beside himself. I’ve never seen him so distraught.”
“That can only work in Cassie’s favor.” The sound of Zoe’s footsteps approached. “If there’s still emotional attachment, surely there has to be a way to stop the divorce.”
“You both need to stay out of it,” Leo grated. “We won’t stand for drama in the club. No matter who’s involved. Tonight has been bad enough. The only saving grace for you, Cass, is that he has no clue it was you.”
Drama hadn’t been her intent. She hadn’t even planned to seduce him. That was a bonus. One that would’ve kicked her in the balls if she had any. “I’m sorry for the stress I caused. I just can’t let him go. I know he still loves me.”
Leo inclined his head. “I know that too.”
Wait. What? “You do?”
“Yes.” His tone was comforting even though a scowl creased his forehead. “You don’t understand what’s going on downstairs. I’ve just spent the last ten minutes holed up in the bathroom with him. He’s spilling secrets and losing his shit. It’s obvious he loves you.”
This was the first true glimmer of hope. Doubt had started to whittle away the certainty of T.J.’s affection. Now her confidence was renewed. “He told you about the other club.” It wasn’t a question. She could see understanding in his eyes.
He nodded and gave her a somber smile. “He mentioned it. Among other things. And to be honest, I understand his reasons for the divorce. Maybe it’s for the best.”
The meager glimpse of hope shattered, leaving her chest hollow. It wasn’t Leo’s words. It was the pity in his expression. The complete lack of belief for any happiness in her future.
