The Madam's Lover

by Serenity Snow

  He growled. “I want that madam arrested.”

  “The problem with that is you’ll be exposed if you’ve ever been there,” the detective replied. “Alexi’s well insulated. Her clubs look like normal clubs from the outside. She even has a license for the land-based casino. Getting her on pandering and prostitution won’t be easy. It has been tried.”

  Charles was surprised to hear that. He didn’t know much about Alexi despite the fact he’d been partially running this city for years. He thought she was just an uppity whore turned madam.

  “What do you know about her?”

  “Vice tried to bust her five times, and once they even tried to get her for assaulting a john, and two counts of murder and one count of murder with kidnapping.”

  “What happened with that?”

  “She beat it all.” He shrugged. “The guy she beat up for hurting one of her girls told them she was running a whorehouse and illegal gambling, but nothing was found, which is how I know she has her own moles in the department.”

  “Anything else?”

  “She’s rumored to do her killing herself, which is why there’s no witness and no one to talk to about the crimes. Girls won’t talk. She’s good to them. Staff won’t talk, there’s nothing to gain. No one fucks with her or her businesses.”

  “Alexi’s not a killer,” Charles said.

  “She’s made a rep for herself in the trade though. Like I said, no one has anything to gain by ratting on her. I can rattle her cage if you think she hired the gun who killed Trevor.”

  “Do it,” he said. “Go over there tonight. Right now. If you see my granddaughter, drag her ass out of that place.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Are you okay?” Alexi asked.

  Tatiana smiled, nodding. “Thanks.” They were seated on the floor in Alexi’s playroom with a low table before them laden with fruit, cold-cuts, cheese, bread, and soup.

  The light meal had been just what she needed to take the edge off her hunger. Alexi’s company had been just what she needed to ease her sadness.

  “You’re so sweet.” She reached across the table to take Alexi’s hand. “I’m glad you picked me up the other night.”

  “So am I,” Alexi said, making a face. “Anything could have happened to a beautiful woman like you on a deserted stretch of road.”

  “You know what I mean.” She leaned forward and crooked the finger of her free hand, beckoning Alexi to her.

  Alexi came, and Tatiana cupped her jaw and kissed her softly. Alexi moaned and drew back.

  “Sweetheart, you’re going to my head faster than alcohol ever could.”

  “Good,” Tatiana murmured. “Sleep with me tonight? Just lie next to me?”

  “If you want,” she agreed with a faint smile. “Shouldn’t you let someone know where you are?”

  “I’m a big girl. Anyway, I told my mother I was coming to see you.”

  “Me?” Alexi asked carefully.

  “She asked your name, but I haven’t told her yet,” Tatiana told her. “She’s not going to give up. She has it in her head I have to marry a certain kind of person.”

  “What kind of person is that? Wealthy?”

  Tatiana laughed. “To start, the person has to have some money and social position, yes.”

  “I see.”

  “I don’t care about that though.” Tatiana glided her hand down to rest on Alexi’s chest. “I just want to be happy. Don’t you?”

  “Yes,” Alexi murmured and crawled around to Tatiana’s side of the table to kiss her.

  Tatiana moaned and curved her hand around Alexi’s neck, holding her closer. She lay back on the carpeted floor, taking Alexi with her. Alexi braced on her elbows as their tongues dueled.

  Tatiana slid her hand beneath Alexi’s shirt to caress her back. She let the energy ease from her fingers to release the clip of Alexi’s bra before working the buttons of her shirt open. Then, she pushed her hands inside to tug the silky fabric of her bra to one side.

  Tatiana broke the kiss and trailed her lips over Alexi’s cheek to her neck and down to her breast. She cupped the firm russet mound and licked the dark brown peak before blowing over it.

  Alexi purred beneath her touch, and Tatiana increased the pressure of her mouth.

  “Oh, Tia,” Alexi moaned.

  A rap on the door made Tatiana start and Alexi put a hand on her back.

  “It’s okay,” she said. “Yes?”

  “You have a visitor.”

  “Not now, Zoe.”

  “It’s a detective,” she called.

  “Damn,” Alexi muttered. “Sorry, sweetheart. I’m coming. Get him a water. No drinks.”

  “Why would the police want to see you?” Tatiana queried with a frown.

  “I’m going to find out,” Alexi answered and sat up. She quickly fixed her bra and her shirt. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay,” she said. However, curiosity snaked through her.

  After Alexi was gone, Tatiana followed her downstairs. She had no idea where Alexi’s office was or if she’d gone to her office. So, she found the restaurant, and that’s where Alexi was seated at a table with what had to be the detective.

  Tatiana had seen him before talking to both her grandfather and Ewan. He turned his head and got to his feet, and Alexi followed him as he made his way to her.

  “Tatiana Rayne?” he asked. “Ewan’s girl, right?”

  “I am Tatiana, but I’m not Ewan’s anything,” she answered in irritation.

  “Your grandfather was worried about you,” he said. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” she said with a frown.

  “Then, let’s get out of here,” he suggested. “You don’t want to be in a place like this where the owner is suspected of killing your brother.”

  Tatiana blinked. “Alexi? Why would he say that?”

  “I’m saying it because your brother was in one of Alexi’s other clubs. A whorehouse. Alexi thought he owed her money.”

  Alexi sighed. “True, and as I said, I can’t help him.”

  “You own—you’re a madam?”

  Alexi laughed. “Not exactly.” She slipped her hands into her pants pockets. “I own a few clubs, and people like your brother come in for an evening of relaxation.”

  Tatiana went cold all over. Her brother had killed a girl in a club.

  Was it Alexi’s club?

  “Please tell me you’re not pimping out girls,” Tatiana ordered. “I need you to assure me you’re not a criminal.”

  “She can’t. We just haven’t been able to bust her,” the detective said. “Why don’t you let me take you out of here?”

  “No. Alexi?”

  Alexi just stared at her, her expression hard to read.

  “Oh, my goddess,” Tatiana exclaimed and turned and sprinted from the restaurant, shaking. She ran right into a strong frame and nearly toppled them to the ground.

  “Okay, there?”

  The woman from outside the room. Tatiana stared at her and then jerked out of her hold and took off. What had she gotten herself into?

  Alexi was part of what she despised. Someone who prostituted other women? How could she do that?

  ****

  “Is that it?” Alexi asked.

  “For now,” he said with a smirk. “Don’t leave town and don’t count on that girl not to talk when we ask her about your clubs.”

  Alexi shrugged. “Goodnight then.” Alexi left him, knowing he’d be shown out by Zoe.

  She headed up to her room, not under any illusions that Tatiana would even hear her out. But if she came back suddenly wanting to cozy up to her, Alexi would know it for the set-up it was.

  Tatiana wasn’t there, so she headed for the parking lot where she found Tatiana with Corri.

  “I don’t need your help,” Tatiana muttered. “Get out of my way.”

  “Corri.” Alexi put a hand on her shoulder.

  Corri gave her a brief look before strolling several steps
away.

  “I know you’re upset,” Alexi said. “That’s why Corri was trying to keep you from leaving.”

  She laughed derisively. “I thought she was trying to make sure you got here to stop me. Are you going to kill me, too? I trusted you, and you just let me talk about my family like you didn’t even know them.”

  “I knew your brother well enough to know he was an asshole, but I didn’t see any reas—”

  “When you picked me up that night, what was that about? Were you intending to seduce me to use me against him?”

  “Your brother couldn’t really be reasoned with,” Alexi told her evenly. “He thought your family’s money and position gave him rights he didn’t have.”

  “So, why get involved with me?” Tatiana demanded, a hand on her hip as she leaned toward Alexi.

  Alexi studied her. The rage in her eyes was clear, but so was the fact she was virtually glowing. Her eyes had streaks of blue in them as they slowly paled to brown-blue. Alexi cocked her head, taking in the phenomenon and cataloging it quickly.

  The animal recognized the power and batted at the energy coming off Tatiana. The woman understood she was in the presence of a witch who might attempt to kill her.

  “Speechless? I guess you need more time to come up with a good lie.”

  “I never lied to you,” Alexi muttered.

  “Why didn’t you tell me my brother had been in your whorehouse then? Why didn’t you tell me you were a bisexual madam?”

  “I’m not bisexual,” Alexi replied, resignation battling with hope. She had known getting involved with this woman would end badly for her. She’d just hoped she was wrong.

  “But you are a madam,” she bit out.

  “I’m a businesswoman,” Alexi said calmly. “I have a few clubs including this one. Some happen to be hetero clubs where men can go and enjoy themselves, fulfill every sexual fantasy that comes to mind.”

  “Where do you get the girls from?” Tatiana demanded. “You said you were an orphan. Did you—were you turning tricks?”

  “They’re well-paid, and clean. They can leave whenever they want, and they have the right to refuse sex with any man whenever they want.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Tatiana growled, and her eyes turned even bluer. Energy radiated from her face. “You’re nothing but a pimp. I bet the girl my brother was accused of killing is in a hole someplace and you were going to blackmail him for money.”

  “I mistook you for someone with good sense,” Alexi retorted impatiently.

  “You’re the one pimping out girls. I bet you traffic in them, too.”

  Now, that hurt far worse than the pimp comment. The girl was hurt and angry, Alexi understood, but she didn’t have to be her whipping post.

  “When I first ran away, there were few options for girls like me. We could hook with a pimp who beat us and took or money, or we could work two-bit jobs that didn’t even pay the rent on a hole in the wall motel.”

  “That’s when you decided you’d own your own brothel,” Tatiana shouted in an accusatory tone.

  “No. I watched girls die from disease, being beaten, and I watched their spirits die. There was no one to look out for them or me,” Alexi told her. “No, I didn’t hook. I joined a street crew for a small-time dealer.”

  Alexi pushed out a rough breath and held her gaze, the chill in them making her shiver.

  “I learned how to survive, Tia. No one beat back the dogs for me or put food on my table. I was a kid, but I learned the hard way, I had to provide and care for myself. I damn well did no matter what it took, and I didn’t allow anyone to hurt me and get away with it.”

  “Then, you became one of the monsters on the streets.”

  Alexi shook her head. “Think whatever you want,” Alexi said quietly. “But you’ve overstayed your welcome. It’s time you left.” Alexi walked away from her. “Corri.”

  “Oh, now you’re putting your bodyguard on me?”

  “Have her tailed. Make sure she gets home safely.”

  “Right on it,” she said.

  “You’re a jerk, Alexi,” Tatiana screamed at her.

  “I know, sweetheart,” she said. “Have a good night.” She headed back to her office.

  “Corri’s following the girl home,” Zoe said when she got there. “That detective is in Rayne’s hip pocket.”

  “I guessed.” She sat on the edge of her desk.

  “She might understand, Lex.”

  “She won’t,” Alexi said tiredly. “But I don’t have time to dwell on this.”

  “Lucid called.”

  “Okay. I’ll call her now, and I’ll let you know if I have to fly out there to check on things.”

  Zoe didn’t argue. She merely gave her a slap on the shoulder and exited.

  Alexi blew out a hard breath and walked around behind her desk. She toyed with the idea of screwing with the cop for ruining her chance with Tatiana but dismissed it instantly.

  She’d never had a real chance; it had only been her animal’s attraction that had made her believe something real could develop between them.

  Chapter Twenty

  Tatiana sat in her office with gritty eyes the next morning. It had been a struggle to get out of bed, but work had seemed her only solace as she lay there replaying her argument with Alexi.

  That she’d been fooled had been her fault. She hadn’t bothered taking the time to ask the right questions. She’d been so consumed getting away from Ewan and being herself that she’d overlooked every indication Alexi might not be exactly who she seemed.

  The conversation with Nina had been the first red flag.

  Had Nina been one of Alexi’s girls?

  She glanced at her computer and then turned in her chair to stare out the small window. The gray sky had finally erupted in rain, which fell in sheets now. She leaned her head back against her chair fighting the urge to cry.

  She had allowed herself to like Alexi, been so drawn to her that she hadn’t been able to see the set-up. She just didn’t know why she’d been made a pawn.

  “Your grandfather is connected to the mob.”

  Her mother’s words came back to haunt her.

  That’s how her brother had stayed out of jail. That’s why no one would have been able to punish him for killing that girl. That’s why the girl who had been going to stand up to him died.

  She couldn’t believe it. Her father must have known.

  “Do not push me on this, Melissa,” Charles said, getting to his feet. “You can pretend you don’t know what’s going on all you want, but you know as well as Daryl. Tatiana will join the families as planned with or without your blessing.”

  “What?” Tatiana demanded.

  “Not unless you want to,” Melissa said.

  “Interfere with my plans, and it might be over your dead body, Melissa.”

  “Dad,” Daryl snapped.

  “Ewan is about to embark on a very profitable life and become a very powerful man. He and Trevor were the next generation of this family’s power, along with Marcus. The two girls will be going along for the ride, marrying men of my choice.”

  Tatiana gasped as the snippet of conversation came back to her. She rubbed her arms, a chill coming over her.

  Was Alexi part of that dark world of violence and illegal enterprise?

  That detective who’d come to the club last night had acted like she was. He’d also behaved like he’d been there on a mission—retrieve her, and make sure she knew exactly what Alexi was.

  A rap on the door jerked her out of her thoughts.

  “Hey, Tatiana,” her boss said before she could even turn around.

  She faced the five-foot-eleven-inch-tall woman whose blonde hair and blue eyes had made her a modeling sensation. That star power was what had made this shop an instant hit.

  “Good morning, boss.” She smiled.

  Andrea had a pad in her hand and tore off a sheet. “I’m sending you to Texas.”

  “What’s in Texas?�
�� She frowned.

  “There’s a young designer there.” She handed over the page. “What do you think about these?”

  Tatiana took the paper and looked over the designs. “These pieces are great. They’d be so great. They’re timeless, but a change in color and a slight change in design for some of them would make them truly timeless.”

  Andrea grinned. “I knew you’d see what I saw.”

  That meant Andrea had wanted some confirmation that the twenty-something crowd would find the items more than adequate.

  “I want you to go to there and talk to her.” She smiled. “I’d go myself, but I’m going to France for a week to secure a new label.”

  “Me?”

  “You’re my head buyer.” She shrugged. “You have an eye for fashion, and I’ll let you know how much to offer her and for what.”

  “She’d be crazy to sell outright,” Tatiana said. “I wouldn’t even bank on it.”

  Andrea studied her. “You don’t think she’ll take my offer?”

  “Not with the chance to market these all over the country,” she said. “You’re not going to offer her more than she can make on her own with minimal advertising. So, I say offer to bring her on as a designer and give her a percentage.”

  “She’ll feel valued and her work will be exclusive to me.”

  “Exactly.”

  “I’ll write up a new offer. I want you ready to leave on the redeye. Have Sonia book your hotel and put everything on your expense account, including meals with and without the designer.”

  “Okay.” An expense account? The one she had before was so small it didn’t even warrant being called such. She always had to travel economy.

  “I’ll get this to you within a few hours.”

  “Okay.”

  “And don’t take that sad face with you,” Andrea said. “Men are a dime a dozen, so forget about him.” She breezed out closing the door softly behind her.

  This trip was probably just what she needed. Some time away, no matter how short, to breathe air that didn’t have the stink of her brother’s deeds and death or the soft vanilla scent of Alexi.

  The damn scent of her would haunt her for a long time.

  ****