by K. M. Scott
“Olivia, this is what Club X is. I need to know you’re okay with this. I need to know this is something you’d protect for my brothers and…for me.”
His blue eyes bored into me searching for the answer. All I could do was nod my agreement. This was so new and exciting that I had no words. I wanted to be the kind of woman he’d bring to a room like this. The kind of woman who excited him as much as he excited me.
With a sharp wave of his hand, the two dancers stopped their seduction and the lights dimmed to darkness behind the window. Had he misinterpreted my silence to mean I wouldn’t protect him and Club X? Nervously, I asked, “Is something wrong? Why did you send them away?”
A genuine smile spread across his lips. “I had the feeling they were making you uncomfortable.”
He did think I was some pathetic prude. “No, no. I was fine. I didn’t mean to act like I had a problem with watching them. It was fine.”
I wasn’t very convincing. Cash just shook his head and continued to smile. “It’s okay. It’s not everyone’s thing.”
He did think I was a prude. I turned my body to face him and reached out to touch his arm. “No, I don’t want you to think I can’t handle what happens here at the club. I wanted to see everything tonight. I guess I just wasn’t prepared for it. But that doesn’t mean I can’t handle it.”
“I believe you, Olivia. Don’t worry. Your job isn’t in danger because of tonight.”
A feeling of relief washed over me. At least the display of my inhibitions hadn’t caused him to reconsider hiring me. That was important, but that he saw me as some kind of sheltered, uptight woman bothered me. Men like Cash March didn’t want someone like that.
Someone like me.
He stood to leave and I followed him, past Kane who stood near the stairs and down to where Stefan watched the crowd of Godivas debauch the men who escorted them. They spoke about something I couldn’t hear and Cash turned to me with a smile. “Enjoy yourself tonight. I’m going to head back into the office. If you need anything, come find me.”
Then he walked away, leaving me standing there wanting to say, “Don’t go. Stay here and let’s get to know each other.”
Instead, I just watched as he weaved through the crowd and vanished behind a group of Godivas. All around me were people having the time of their lives, the beat of the music pounding through the club like the rhythm of everyone’s heart as they grinded against one another, and I felt like some kind of middle school dance chaperone. Josie and even Erin would have walked right back to that office and showed him exactly what they needed from him, but I couldn’t. I stood planted in that spot next to the wall as if my feet were trapped in concrete.
“Having a good time?”
I looked up to see Stefan standing next to me looking every bit the player he always did. At least he didn’t think I was some inhibited school marm. “It’s great,” I said, hoping he didn’t see right through my playacting.
“What do you think of these women? Wild, huh?”
“They look like they’re having a good time. Can’t blame them for that.”
Stefan chuckled. “Just wait until they go upstairs. Kane and his men will have their hands full.”
I let my mind travel to the thought of all these Lady Godivas living out their wildest fantasies upstairs in Kane’s realm, and a twinge of jealousy nipped at me. I wished I could be like them. They seemed so free and happy. I wanted to be like that.
“From what I’ve seen, Kane can handle himself.”
Nodding, Stefan gave me a wink. “We all can handle ourselves, each in our own way. You’ll see that after you’re here a while.”
Pressing a smile onto my lips, I wondered what way Cash handled himself. As I stood there fantasizing about him handling me, his brother touched my shoulder. “I bet you’re not as serious as you seem, Olivia.”
A line of Godivas danced by us with their boy-toys, and I looked up at Stefan to see him grinning like a kid in a candy store about to binge on sugar. “Maybe I am. Somebody’s got to be serious, right?”
He leaned down until his mouth was right next to my ear. As his lips grazed the side of my face, he said in low voice, “That’s what Cash is always saying. Maybe one of you should try being less serious. Just a thought.”
And with that he left me standing there watching as he and the rest of the Godivas and their men danced up the stairs to the fantasy rooms. I looked around at the bartenders and a few customers who already were too drunk to enjoy the offerings on the floors above and knew something had to change.
I had to change or I’d forever be boring Olivia standing by as the world marched by me.
Chapter Six
Cassian
Kane strolled into my office and took a seat in front of my desk. My half-brother rarely stopped in to see me, so I put my work aside and looked to see him wearing an uncommon grin as he sat leaning back, his right leg draped over the arm of the chair.
“Something on your mind¸ Kane?”
“Maybe. You look like you have something eating at you. Perhaps they’re the same thing.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly as I sat back in my chair. I’d just returned from a meeting with our accountant Mitch, who had once again reminded me of the financial ramifications of Stefan’s constant need to fuck the women under him. Literally. Obviously, my frustration with my little brother was written all over my face.
“I just got back from the accountant’s. Do you know what percentage of our income is now devoted to legal fees courtesy of Stefan?”
Kane shook his head. “You know I don’t get involved with that part of the business. I leave that misery to you.”
His dry humor wasn’t helping me get into a better mood. “I’d willingly trade you my misery for your duties upstairs.”
With a deep chuckle, Kane gave me a grin. “They’re not your style. You’d be surprised at how dirty I have to get up there. You’re not the strong-arm type, Cash.”
“Don’t tell me any more. I don’t want to deal with the legal issues you cause too.”
He laced his hands behind his head. “No legal issues from me. I know how to hide my dirt.”
“Nice. Well, the answer to my question is nearly twelve percent. I’ll tell you, I’m pretty fucking sick of paying for his sex antics.”
“Stop him then.”
Another deep sigh. “That’s easier said than done. Each of us is an equal partner here. I can’t just lay the big brother smackdown on him. I also can’t trade places with him since I’m pretty sure he’d run our business into the ground. And I don’t think asking you to trade places with him would work. It wouldn’t be open season on bartenders, but I can only imagine what trouble he’d get into in your area.”
Kane nodded his agreement. “Good point. My people need a strong hand to guide them. Letting him loose up there would be like letting a fat kid loose in a bakery. Hell, he’s already tried to hit on a few of the dancers. If I hadn’t made it clear to them they’d lose their jobs if I caught them anywhere near him, he’d have been all over them. Stefan’s a lot more like our father than we are.”
“Stefan’s a fucking man whore. Our father was never this bad. If he had been, we’d have dozens of brothers and sisters out there.”
“Let’s hope we don’t,” Kane said in a low voice, sending a chill down my spine. God, I hoped we didn’t have any long lost siblings out there.
“I don’t think you came down to talk about our brother’s inability to keep his dick in his pants, so what’s up?” I truly hoped Kane had something that would make my day better and not worse.
“I got an interesting request recently.”
Kane infrequently bothered to give me the details of his part of the club, usually only when a member reserved a room for something wilder or more bizarre than what he was used to. I settled in to listen to his story, happy for a reprieve from my problems with my other brother. “Do tell. I can use a good freak show story, as long as this isn’t going to
involve the cops or more lawyers.”
“Nope, this one won’t get us into any trouble at all.”
“Then hit me with it. Just tell me, is it better than the guy who wanted Siamese twins? That was fucked up.”
Kane gave me one of his rare laughs before his expression turned more serious. “Yeah, Sheerer likes the weird stuff. I can’t tell you how fucking hard it is to find Siamese twins willing to hang out with a guy like that. That put a dent in my budget that quarter. Thank God he’s a platinum member. And I don’t even want to imagine how much it would have cost if he wanted them to fuck him instead of just sit with him. No, this one involves your assistant.”
In that moment, it felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. “Olivia?”
“Yeah. You gave her a membership, so she wants to use it.”
“What did she request?” I asked, my curiosity piqued more than I thought it could be concerning Kane’s area.
“She wants a room and she wants to…how did she put it? Experience being out of control. It’s just a basic level request. Nothing big.”
“Out of control?” I repeated, stunned that my relatively proper assistant had even requested a room upstairs.
“Yep. It’s no Siamese twins gig, but I thought you’d find it interesting.”
I found it more than interesting. The idea of Olivia even approaching Kane with a request like this surprised me. After giving her the tour of the fantasy rooms, I’d felt like something had changed between us. We’d been getting to know one another and then within a few days, she was all business, as if finding out what the club was really about had changed her opinion of me.
“Did she ask for anything specific?” I asked, trying not to appear too interested.
“No. She didn’t seem to understand how it all works. She filled out the request form, but she didn’t include any details about exactly what she wants. I had the feeling she was a little shy about it all.”
I input my password into my laptop and brought up my calendar. Typing in meaningless comments on a few random dates, I worked to look nonchalant. “So what do you plan to give her?”
Kane slid his leg to the floor and crossed his arms across his chest. “I have nothing planned as of yet. She reserved this Friday, so I have three days to figure it out. Any suggestions?”
He wasn’t buying my disinterested act. When the hell did I become so goddamned transparent? “I have no idea. I don’t get involved in your domain, remember?”
“I just thought you might want to be a part of this.”
Obviously, I hadn’t been as slick as I thought I’d been about how much I liked Olivia. I didn’t want to see her get in over her head upstairs. “Take it easy on her, Kane. She’s a nice girl. I don’t know exactly what she’s looking for, but don’t go overboard and scare her off. I like working with her.”
Kane’s smirk told me he saw right through my cool attitude. “No problem, Cash. Maybe I’ll hook her up with Samson. The ladies like him.”
Samson looked everything his name implied. Giant with muscles and long blond hair, he was requested more than any other of Kane’s performers. The Godivas had kept him busy for hours at their party, and he’d left with enough tips to fill a bank bag. Kane knew all this too. Nothing like a little brotherly ass busting.
“Samson sounds fine, Kane. He’s experienced,” I bit out, struggling to keep my cool.
“Yeah. He’ll treat her right. Don’t worry. I think she just wants to loosen up a little. Nobody knows how to loosen a woman up better than Samson.”
Fuck. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, the very idea of that Fabio type doing his phony seduction routine with Olivia made my stomach turn. And my half-brother’s thinly veiled reference to Samson loosening anything on Olivia got under my skin. Kane had called my bluff, so I had no choice. I had to show my hand. “I don’t think Samson is the man for the job. He might be a bit much. Olivia doesn’t need that.”
Kane raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You know what she needs?”
“She doesn’t need your resident fucking gigolo, Kane. All she wants is a taste of our world, not enough to choke on as she tries to swallow.”
Another rare smile brightened up his face. “Well, then what do you want me to give her? Are you thinking you want me to do it? You don’t have to worry about that non-fraternizing clause. I’m not like Stefan.”
The thought of him taking care of loosening up Olivia was barely better than Samson. My half-brother had a penchant for the rougher side of things, if his choice in piercings and the rumors I’d heard were any indication of his preferences. I couldn’t imagine him having the patience needed to take care of a woman like Olivia. She didn’t need Samson’s heavy seduction or Kane’s rough style. A woman like her deserved something more sensual, something I doubted neither Kane nor Samson excelled at.
I typed Olivia’s name into my calendar for Friday night. “I think that might be unnecessary. Leave this to me. I’ll take care of it. You said she reserved Friday night, right? Just make sure I know the time and what room you give her.”
“I’m surprised, Cash. You never bothered to get involved when Kate took advantage of the fantasy rooms.”
Looking up from my laptop’s screen, I said, “Olivia isn’t Kate.”
Kane smirked. “No doubt. Kate knew how to have a good time. That’s why her husband made her quit this job with you. From what I hear, he thought you were fucking her. I don’t think you were, but I can tell you that girl knew how to party. Olivia, on the other hand, could very well be a virgin for all I know.”
Kane’s gossiping about my former assistant amused me. He said so little that when he did say something like that I couldn’t help but imagine him like some Peeping Tom on the upper floors spying on our patrons as they lived out their fantasies. Maybe that strong, silent thing he had going on was all an act.
“I had no idea you knew so much about my assistants, Kane.”
Leaning forward, he tapped his knuckles on the top of my desk. “Just takes a little paying attention. Kate was a good time. I liked her. As for Olivia, I get the feeling she’s a bit more uptight. It’ll be interesting to see how this all goes.”
Closing my laptop, I shook my head. “I don’t want her to feel like she’s doing anything wrong, so don’t say anything to Stefan so she gets scared off.”
“Not a word, Cash,” Kane said as he stood to leave. “I’ll put her in one of the smaller rooms on the top floor so you two can have all the privacy you need.”
He turned to leave, but I stopped him. “One more thing, Kane. Make sure you make it early, around midnight, and make sure she wears a blindfold.”
Kane said nothing, but the look on his face showed I’d piqued his interest. I had no intention of explaining what I planned for Olivia, though. That was between her and me now.
And then just as my day was looking up, in walked another dose of misery for me to deal with. Looking up at Kane as the two met at the door, one of Tampa’s VICE squad, John Sheridan—or as we called him when he wasn’t around, Shank—had a look on his face that told me anything I’d been worrying about with Stefan would be child’s play compared to what he wanted to discuss.
“Kane, how you doing these days?” Shank asked as they shook hands, the question meant to be a thinly veiled reference to my half-brother’s past run-ins with the law.
“Same as always.” Looking over the policeman’s head, Kane shot me a look of disgust. “Don’t worry, Cash. I’ll take care of things.”
“John, what can I do for you?” I asked as he sat down in front of me and smiled that greedy, cop smile he always gave me.
“Just my usual monthly visit, Cassian. You know how this works.”
Reaching into the file cabinet behind me, I grabbed the envelope Shank had come for. I handed it to him, and he slid it into his jacket pocket, as always. “I do, John. You know how thankful we are for your help.”
Shank patted his chest where our monthly pay
ment sat inside his coat. “I like working with you, Cassian. You’re a real businessman who understands the way of the world. You’ve got a nice thing going here. I’m happy I can help to keep it nice.”
Nice. I’d heard that word from Shank enough to know it meant he wanted something. Something more than the twenty grand we paid him every month to make sure Club X didn’t get shut down. Hesitant to know what he wanted, I leveled my gaze on his pockmarked face and stared into his dark eyes. “What can I do for you?”
Expecting him to want something akin to a pound of flesh, I was surprised to hear his next words. “Did you know I have a daughter?”
I’d anticipated a different answer, and as worry ebbed from me, I shook my head. “No, I didn’t.”
Leaning back in his seat, he smiled and for a moment I thought I saw a proud father in the man who shook me down for protection money every month. “I do. Her name is Lorraine, after her mother, God bless her soul. It was just the two of us after my wife died, so she’s my entire world.”
Unsure of what to say since this John Sheridan wasn’t someone as easily hated as the one I usually dealt with, I nodded and mumbled, “That’s nice, John.”
“I want you to give her a job here.”
And there it was. The pound of flesh. Shank might very well have been the ugliest man I’d ever seen. Greasy, salt and pepper colored hair pushed back from his face allowed the world to see the ravages acne had left on his skin, and eyes like a snake’s didn’t add any good to the overall picture. If his daughter looked anything like him, there was no way she’d be able to be a dancer or a bartender for me. Plus, did I really want some relative of Shank’s getting a bird’s eye view of the inner workings of Club X?
But there was no way I could say no. Not if I wanted to keep our arrangement going. “You want your daughter to work here? Things get kind of rough here sometimes. I wouldn’t want her to get hurt.”
“I trust you. She’s a good girl, a lot like her mother. She has experience bartending, so just tell Stefan he’s got a new worker.”
