“You’re over thinking this,” Cordelia said, putting her shoes back on. “Nothing’s going to happen.”
“How do you know?”
“Look, he doesn’t get to tell you what to do. He can’t be all like mad because you showed up and you won’t sleep with him. If he is mad, he’s a piece of shit you don’t want to be friends with anyway.”
“Well, who says we want to be friends?” Harper remarked.
Cordelia raised her eyebrows. “Lovers then?”
“Oh, shut up!”
Cordelia’s cell started buzzing. She picked it up. “Text from the car company. They’re outside the building.”
“Oh shit,” Harper said standing up. “This is happening way too fast.”
“Breath mint?” Cordelia asked. She opened her handbag and tossed one to Harper.
She accepted it.
Cordelia walked with Harper to the door of the apartment. “If you really don’t want to go, I’ll tell the driver to fuck off. If you are that upset.”
Harper looked at her friend nervously. “Maybe that would be for the best.”
“You’re not up for this?”
“I don’t know.”
“So you are up for this?”
“Just – give me a second –”
Cordelia would give her a second. Not much more after that.
Harper closed her eyes and reflected on her confrontation with Bane before he left. She was torn between the fear of seeing him again, and the fear of not seeing him again.
But why should she care about that anyway?
Did he really mean that much to her?
“I’m waiting, gorgeous,” Cordelia said prompting a response.
“Let’s go,” Harper whispered.
Cordelia smiled as they stepped out and closed the door behind them.
“This won’t be anything, trust me,” Cordelia said. “We’ll be back here in a couple of hours.”
She couldn’t have been more wrong.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
A man in chauffer’s attire was leaning against a long black limousine out the front of Cordelia’s building when the girls exited. Harper stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of it.
“You girls the ones who asked about Bane?” he sang out in a polite voice.
“Yes, that’s us,” Cordelia said eagerly.
The chauffer stepped across to the back door and held it open. They ducked their heads inside the vehicle and the chauffer closed it behind them.
Cordelia stretched her legs across the leather. “Comfy.”
“Why are we in a limo?” Harper murmured. “Who said anything about a limo?”
“This Bane of ours,” Cordelia mused, “maybe he’s rich. You ever think of that?”
“I don’t know what to think,” Harper replied.
It wasn’t a long drive they had in front of them. About a quarter of an hour north of the city, they reached a woodlands terrain where the road began to constantly twist and turn. They eventually came to a large property walled off with iron gates, they had to wait to be opened. The limo then traveled slowly across the gravel towards the parking area where a dozen or so other limousines were present. They didn’t really get a look at where they were though until they were outside the car.
As the driver held the door open, Harper stepped out into night atmosphere to gaze upon the wonderfully lit building before them. It wasn’t a house exactly – more like an establishment. It stood a grant three stories tall and had a wide spanning deck that ran around the entire building.
Flashing neon lights above the open front door filled in the blanks for what T.S.C. stood for.
“Trillionaire Shifter Club,” Cordelia read out loud, standing beside Harper. “Well, I guess we’re in the right place.”
Harper approached the chauffer as he attempted to return to the car.
“What are we supposed to do?” she asked. “We haven’t been here before.”
“Bane will be waiting for you inside,” the chauffer replied. “Just ask the hostess to point you to his table.”
“Okay thanks.” She turned back to Cordelia. “You hear that?”
“Sure did,” Cordelia replied. “Now come on, Harps. One foot after the other.”
She turned back to the chauffer. “You’ll take us home when we’re ready, won’t you?”
“That’s up to Bane,” the chauffer replied.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Bane was on the second floor of the clubhouse, looking out towards the window where the girls had just gotten out of the limo. He was standing far away enough in the shadows that they couldn’t see him peering out, and that hopefully his companion wouldn’t notice either.
“Is that them?” Chilton Burrows asked walking past him.
Bane turned away sharply. “Yes.”
“I thought you said you didn’t think they would come.”
“I guess I was wrong.”
Chilton walked back to the bar Bane was leaning against, and patted him on the back. “So which one is yours?”
“The red-head,” Bane said in a low voice, and picked up his shot glass.
He tossed it back.
“So I guess the brunette’s mine?” Chilton said.
“If she wants you, I won’t stop you,” Bane said.
“And if she doesn’t want me?”
Bane eyed his cheeky companion. “I would be very careful with coming on too strong with her.”
“Why is that?”
“She’s been through an ordeal tonight. Some guy, was trying to take her by force.”
“Really?” Chilton beamed. “And let me guess? Big, Badass Bane came along to save the day?”
“No one else was going to.” Bane signaled for the bartender to pour him another.
“So what’s my girl’s name? You know what it is, don’t you?”
“I didn’t catch it.”
“What about your one?”
“Didn’t catch that either.”
“Well, your apathy is really impressive,” Chilton said, “but it would still be nice to know what to call them, don’t you agree?”
Bane picked up the refilled glass. “I still have doubts about her.”
“Doubts?”
Bane lowered his eyes. They both took a shot together.
Bane put his glass back down and ordered another refill.
“She’s supposedly getting married,” Bane said. “I somehow doubt that will have changed by her coming here.”
“Didn’t you tell her though, not to fuck around with this?” Chilton pressed. “We don’t have time for women in committed relationships. We don’t have the patience to just let anyone in and out of this world.”
“I told her,” Bane said.
The door opposite opened, and the hostess Melanie walked through.
“Couple of girls downstairs to see you, Bane,” she announced. “Do you want to come down to see them, or should I bring them up here?”
Bane looked at Chilton.
“Send them up here,” Chilton said.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
As the hostess signaled to Harper and Cordelia, they quickly began to ascend the stairs towards her. Since she had entered the club, Harper’s fears had dissolved some. All around them were the sounds of natural rainforest and all the little insects and birds adding their sounds to the background. She could even smell the scent of the leaves, and feel the watery mist hovering in the air around them. There was something serene about this place. Something enchanted. In other rooms she could hear the sounds of both men and women conversing with one another. Everyone sounded happy and alright.
They entered the dimly lit room on the second floor behind the hostess, where Bane and another man were standing at the bar. The other man was wearing a grey jacket without a shirt underneath, his bare chest tough to look away from. He spoke before Bane did.
“Good evening ladies,” he said pleasantly. “Welcome to Trillionaire Shifter Club. My name is Chilton, b
ut I prefer to be called ‘Chill’, and of course you’ve already met our handsome friend here … Bane.”
Bane glanced at Chill, looking a bit put off.
Chill ignored him.
He reached out for Harper’s hand to shake it. “And you are?”
“Harper,” she said taking his hand.
Bane’s eyes flickered.
Soon Chill was onto Cordelia.
“Cordelia,” she said sweetly.
Chill kissed her hand before she stole it away.
“Why don’t you come and sit with us – let’s get a table, Bane.”
Bane ran his fingers through his hair and stepped away from the bar.
As they walked to the table together, Harper noticed he failed to make eye contact with her.
“A seat for you, and a seat for you, and well, Bane knows where to sit,” Chill said helping everyone to their seats. “I’ll go get us a few more drinks to get this started.”
“I’ll have –” Cordelia began.
“A-a-ah,” Chill cut over her. “Leave it to me.”
He left the three of them alone together.
“Are you okay?” Harper asked Bane. “Sorry, for barging in on you like this.”
He looked up at her. “It is quite a surprise.”
“A good surprise?” Harper asked. “Or a bad one?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Bane replied.
“Oh,” Harper leaned back. “Well, that sounds ominous.”
“What’s up with this address?” Cordelia asked, placing Bane’s business card on the table. “We looked it up, looked you up, couldn’t find anything.”
Bane reached out and plucked the card from the table. He put it in his pocket.
“Hello,” Cordelia blurted out. “I asked you a question.”
“It seems you found your way here okay,” Bane said quietly.
“Yep.”
Chill returned to the table with drinks for everyone. He had given both Harper and Cordelia a goblet shaped glass with a bubbling dark blue liquid inside.
“What is it?” Harper asked as Cordelia just started drinking hers.
“Delicious!” she cried.
Harper took a sip. Her tastebuds immediately began to ignite.
“Mmm,” she murmured. “Very nice.”
“What do we call that one, Bane?” Chill asked. “Is it the Fallen Dove or something?”
“The Ocean’s Swan,” Bane corrected. He frowned a moment. “You just ordered it, didn’t you?”
“I forget these things,” Chill said smiling at Cordelia.
Harper turned to Bane. “You okay? You seem kind of down.”
“He’s not down,” Chill said. “He’s just wondering what the fuck you’re doing here.”
Bane glared at him. He went to speak but Cordelia was already talking over.
“We’re here because Harper thinks Bane is a bear shifter,” Cordelia said. “I was like, ‘No way. You’re crazy, Harps.’ But she was full on serious.”
“They don’t call it Trillionaire Shifter Club for nothing,” Chill said.
“Oh so you’re a bear shifter too?” Cordelia declared loudly. “Well, let’s see it then.”
Harper looked over nervously towards her friend.
Cordelia looked away from her.
“Come on, Chilly, let’s see you break it out.”
Chill opened his hand, looking at Bane. “She wants to see the bear.”
Cordelia burst out laughing. “Yeah, let’s see Bane’s bear too.”
Harper knocked Cordelia’s knee. “Shut up…”
Cordelia glared at her. “You shut up.”
“You know, we’re not circus performers,” Chill said grinning. “You’re being very rude Miss Cordelia.”
“Oh really, I’m being rude?”
“Very, very rude.”
Chill stood up from the table, while Bane looked over his shoulder.
“What are you doing?” Bane asked.
“I don’t know,” Chill replied. “Maybe I’m obliging the lady’s request.”
Cordelia burst out with hysterical laughter.
“Don’t Chill,” Bane warned. “You’ll frighten them.”
Chill raised his hands in the air and aimed them towards Cordelia. “Am I scaring you? Am I frightening you?”
“No,” she giggled.
“What about now?”
Instantaneously Chill’s whole form shifted into that of a towering polar bear. His arms were still pointed towards Cordelia as though he was about to lunge at her.
She screamed and fell out of her chair.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
A moment later, the polar bear was gone, and Chill was helping Cordelia to her feet. Harper looked over and realized she was holding Bane’s hand.
She quickly retracted it.
“What the fuck?” Cordelia wheezed in Chill’s arms. “What the fuck was that?”
She looked across at Harper. “They’re trying to drug us!”
“You’re just drunk, darling,” Chill said.
“I am not,” Cordelia protested. “I’m fine! I’m ready to party!”
At that point she collapsed.
His arms sagged a little, but Cordelia’s hair never touched the ground. Chill scooped her feet up.
Both Harper and Bane stood.
“I think she needs to lie down for a moment,” Chill said. “I’ll take her to one of the beds upstairs.”
Harper glanced over at Bane, alarmed. “Wait a second. Will she be alright with him?”
“Don’t worry,” Bane said quietly as Chill took Cordelia away. “He’s all bark, no bite. He won’t hurt her.”
“What if he touches her?”
“He won’t,” Bane said somberly. “That’s not Chill’s way.”
“Are you sure?”
“He’s my best friend. Of course I’m sure.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Chill pushed open the doors leading out to the staircase landing, and walked through them carrying Cordelia. Harper wondered if she should follow him.
“So,” Bane said, his voice right by her ear. “So why have you come here?”
Harper turned around, forcing a smile. “It’s messed up. I’m really sorry. We were just talking and she phoned the number, joking around.”
“I knew it was too soon for you to have second thoughts about your relationship,” Bane said.
“Well,” Harper gushed. “I mean, we’re just – we just met. We don’t know where this would go, whether I was engaged or not, doesn’t make a difference.”
“It doesn’t?”
“Well, I mean,” Harper began, “I don’t want to leave the impression –”
“Don’t worry,” Bane assured her. “You haven’t.”
“Oh.”
He walked past her and stood by the window. “It’s just another night,” he said. “Another wave of meaningless coincidences. You are but a shadow to me. An outline of what I desire, but not the real thing. You’re a reminder. A reminder of what I truly want. But you aren’t real. Not in this moment. Not to me.”
Harper took a step towards him. “You’re making me feel really bad now. Have I let you down or something?”
“You don’t exist,” Bane whispered.
“What?” Harper cried. “What does that mean? ‘I don’t exist’? I exist. I’m right here.”
“But you aren’t,” Bane said. “You’re in the arms of another man. Someone you love. Someone you want to spend the rest of your life with.”
“But…” Harper began. “But … all I can think about is you.”
She turned away from him, stunned by her own words. She quivered, afraid of what they could mean.
She heard Bane’s footsteps behind her.
“I’m not here to ruin your life,” he said. “And I’m not going to pressure you just because you have come here.”
He pulled out a chair for Harper to sit down. He sat down also.
“Do you know where you
are?” he asked her.
“Trillionaire Shifter Club,” Harper said after a moment.
“If you left this house right now, and climbed over the gate, you’d find yourself in a world you’d never been to before,” Bane said. “You wouldn’t be able to go back and find your man. You wouldn’t be able to find any of your friends or acquaintances, or any of the places you’d ever been to. Because you have left that old world behind. This is a new one.”
He picked up his glass and drank from it.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying,” Harper said slowly. “Are you saying I can’t go home?”
“You can and you will,” Bane answered. “But understand how far you are away from it now. This place, this sanctuary, is so special. So infinitely one of a kind. There is magic here, magic that even I don’t understand the full meaning of. Because it’s different every time.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Harper asked.
“Because you’ll ask yourself these questions later. You’ll try to find this place but you won’t be able to. And of course, you’ll never see me again either.”
“Wow,” Harper whispered. “I feel like we’re breaking up or something.”
“I guess,” Bane said. “In a way, we are.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
It was all gone now. All of it.
It was over.
Harper was in the back of the limousine again, on her way home. Not back to Cordelia’s but the house she lived with Joshua. Where she belonged.
She had been very wary of leaving Cordelia alone in with Bane and Chill but they both assured her they’d take her back straight away home the following morning. Harper had tried to wake Cordelia up to see if she was well enough to go back with her anyway, and she had woken in a momentary daze.
“I want to be here,” she had told Harper out of earshot of the guys. “I really like Chill. He seems like a great guy…”
“I’ll stay here with you,” Harper insisted. “Make sure they don’t do anything –”
“No,” Cordelia replied. “Go home and be with Josh. I can see how much it hurts you to be here. Sorry for dragging you into this…”
Bane: Trillionaire Shifter Club Book One Page 3
