Chapter 19
19
A s we ascended a flight of concrete stairs from the parking garage, the languorous bass grew louder and louder, and my heart beat faster and faster. We pushed through another door and crossed onto marble floors, but we were still in some kind of vestibule and not the main room where things were happening.
I had to keep reminding myself to breathe, and I glanced over at Reaper. He looked perfectly relaxed, but of course he did. This was his home, his people, his domain. I was Persephone descending into his underworld, but he didn’t have to drag me. Now that I was on the precipice, he would’ve had to drag me back out if he wanted to stop me from witnessing what was on the other side of the final door.
“Ready?” he asked with an eager twinkle in his eye.
I looked at his outfit, then glanced at mine. “Am I…underdressed? Or wearing the wrong thing? Am I going to stick out?” I blurted the series of questions, and his mouth curved upward.
“You can wear whatever you’d like or nothing at all to my parties.” With a hand on my waist, he leaned down to whisper, “I know which I’d prefer you in, but I’ll admit seeing you in my jacket does things to me, darling.”
I shivered at how low his voice dropped on the last word.
He offered his arm, so I took it, instantly feeling a million times braver. If I entered a room on his arm, no one would be looking at me. They’d be transfixed by him because it was impossible not to be. He must’ve had a different beautiful person on his arm every time they turned around. I’d be interchangeable with the others.
I focused on the feel of his muscled forearm under my palm, steady and absolutely sure of himself, as he pushed the door open and strode into a maelstrom of hedonism.
“You’ve been to my home, but this is your first experience with my club. Welcome to Petite Mort.”
For a split second, it was sensory overload: the sultry music, the moody lighting, body-painted dancers swinging from aerial silks and naked go-go dancers in cages. People were gathered in clusters around the periphery of what amounted to a ballroom, and a closer look revealed that in front of each cluster were people engaging in some kind of performance. Bondage. Flogging. Dancing. Fucking. Some things I didn’t even understand at first glance…or second.
As I’d predicted, most of the people in the massive room seemed to sense Reaper’s entrance and turned to stare at their lord of the underworld as he led me deeper into his realm. But their eyes didn’t stay on him like I’d thought they would. They shifted to me.
These people didn’t just look at me…they recognized me. I was positive because I recognized many of them: The judge who’d been fawning over Reaper the first night I’d met him was kneeling at a man’s feet, holding his drink like he was nothing more than a table. The secretary of state smirked at me from where he stood watching someone get tied up. I recognized models and actors among the crowd as well as billionaire philanthropists and some from the tech crowd. It was like some kind of kinky Forbes list.
They were whispering to one another as they stared, their eyes shifting from me to Reaper and back again. The reason finally dawned on me. It wasn’t solely because Juliet Bryson had just entered their den of iniquity. It was because up until a minute ago, they’d all been sure I was a virgin. It was one of the only things most of them knew about me, outside the things they knew about my family.
Having sex with Kevin had been my normal for almost a year, but none of these people knew that. They’d all assumed I was still waiting for marriage…until I’d walked into this room on Reaper’s arm. Now they were reassessing me entirely. Did they think it had all been a charade and I’d been a secret slut this whole time, or were they assuming my virginal vow had been no match for Reaper’s sexual magnetism?
From the delighted looks on their faces, I was quite sure it was the latter. One look up at Reaper confirmed my suspicions. He wasn’t looking at anyone directly, but he had an air of satisfaction about him, like he was just so damned proud of himself.
He’d purposely strutted through the middle of the party with me on his arm! He wasn’t trying to reassure me—he was gloating, letting them all believe we were lovers.
My cheeks flamed, and I knew better than to make a scene, but I pulled my arm away.
“Something the matter?” he asked softly, steering me across the right side of the room with the barest touch at my lower back.
“I wouldn’t want people to get the wrong idea,” I said, looking between us.
His shoulders stiffened, and for a brief instant, something like hurt flashed across his face. “Wouldn’t want them thinking the pure Juliet Bryson had stooped so low, you mean?”
People moved out of his way respectfully, staring but not daring to approach, as he guided me down a hallway where it was quieter and there were fewer eyes watching.
I let my anger burn away the shame. “I mean deliberately parading through the middle of the party with me on your arm to gloat. You lied to me! You promised no one would tell, but these people know my father. They work with my fiancé. There is zero chance that little stunt won’t make it back to one of them.”
The repercussions started to sink in, and I spiraled into panic. Kevin would never marry me now, but he’d kill me rather than live with the humiliation. He might take it out on my whole family. And if he didn’t kill me, my father would do worse. He’d punish Jacque because he knew nothing he did to me would be worse than that.
I was breathing too quickly, but I couldn’t seem to stop. I’d just burned my whole life down in a moment of weakness in which I’d trusted this man.
He narrowed his eyes, and his tone was sharp and angry. “No one will tell.”
I laughed bitterly. “You think NDAs magically stop people from opening their mouths when it’s something that juicy?”
He smiled harshly and nodded. “I don’t need an NDA. I’m in possession of information that could destroy every last member of my guest list, and they know it. There’s something liberating about it, really. People at this party can be truly free because I won’t take a violator to court. I’ll make them wish they were dead.
I took deep breaths, seeing reason behind his words. What was happening at this party went far beyond mutually assured destruction, but I should’ve known there was more to it with him involved.
“Then if it wasn’t to gloat, why would you parade me through the party on your arm like that? Don’t tell me you didn’t do it on purpose. There’s always a reason with you.”
He swiped a hand across his mouth, looking exasperated. “I was doing you a fucking favor. You said you wanted to fuck someone tonight. I just made you the most interesting person at the party—take your pick!”
I frowned. “You’re saying they all want me now because they think I’ve had sex with you?”
He shrugged. “Something like that.”
I was at a loss for words. I could call him arrogant or presumptuous, but I had said I wanted to have sex with someone and that I didn’t want it to be him. And there was no way him showing favor to someone wouldn’t spark the interest of others. He could have bedded absolutely anyone he wanted. If someone was interesting enough to catch his eye, I’d want to know what they had to offer as well.
The emotion on his face was gone, replaced with his mask of cool indifference. “Now, if we’re finished here, we do still have an ongoing issue with some big bad bikers to attend to before I can release you to have your last night of freedom.”
We found our way to a room that had a formidable-looking bouncer outside, but they immediately moved aside with a nod when Reaper appeared. It almost looked like a boardroom inside, with a long wooden table surrounded by chairs, but there were couches scattered around the edges as well.
The music was much quieter in there, so it was abruptly silent when all six people at the table whipped around to look at us. I immediately recognized Grim lurking in the corner and Azrael’s hulking form, but I didn’t recognize the petite but tough-looking woman on his lap. She had a faux hawk and was lean yet muscular. She wore a tank top and a pair of loose sweatpants like she had nothing to prove.
Ophelia, stunning as ever, perched on the edge of the table in a shiny blue dress that looked like it was made from rubber that had basically been poured onto her. Another woman I didn’t recognize sighed with what looked like relief at our appearance, leading me to believe they all knew exactly where we’d been. She studied me like she could read my every secret, but I held her gaze, feeling like I was being tested. When she broke eye contact to look at the man with his arm around her, I almost choked.
Not the most famous person here was an understatement.
“You’re Alex Chase,” I spluttered, then immediately blushed. “I’m so sorry. I’ve never been on this side of the starstruck interaction before, and I think I’m going to die of embarrassment.”
He gave me that devastating smile he was known for and extended a hand. “Just Alex works. And you’re Juliet Bryson. This is my wife, Elena.”
I shook both their hands, suddenly placing Elena. She was a dominatrix, and they’d met when she was teaching him how to portray a dominant for a part in a movie. Apparently, sparks had flown. I’d read all about it online.
They looked at each other significantly in that way deeply connected couples could, conveying an entire conversation with a facial expression. Then Elena said, “I want no part of any of this. I just wanted to make sure he got back okay.”
She nodded to me, then kissed Reaper on the cheek as she softly said, “Don’t fuck it up this time.”
She didn’t look at me again, but I was positive she’d meant for me to hear. Don’t fuck what up?
Alex and Elena worked their way around the room, hugging the others as Reaper said, “I believe you’re acquainted with Az, Grim, and Ophelia. This charming little gremlin is Styx.”
I frowned, wondering if that was a nickname she’d chosen for herself, but extended my hand. “I’m Juliet.”
“Even I know that.” She laughed, shaking my hand without getting off Az’s lap. “And I grew up in a cult that had almost no contact with the outside world.” She was one of those effortlessly charming, instantly likable people. She felt my engagement ring and flipped it over to see the enormous diamond. “I’m surprised King lets you out of the house alone with that thing on…”
He doesn’t.
I sheepishly switched it back to my left hand. There was no point in pretending here where everyone already knew too much about me.
Reaper’s expression darkened as he looked at it, and I wanted to cast it into the fires of Mount Doom.
The sounds of the party filtered in as Alex and Elena opened the door to leave, but as soon as it got quiet again, Az said, “What happened out there? You leave without a fucking explanation, then I get word the deal was called off, that Thor is out for blood, and then you waltz in here with Kevin King’s fiancée on your arm!”
He was growing increasingly agitated, and Styx ran her fingers through the sides of his hair where it was shaved like she was soothing him.
Reaper crossed to the window and leaned on it, staring out at darkness. “Juliet made some poor choices unrelated to her fiancé and ended up at the clubhouse with Thor. He refused to let her leave, and she called me for help. After we left, she shared that some of Kevin’s men were at Thor’s bar tonight, so I called the deal off. By then Thor worked out who she was and is convinced we set him up…which doesn’t even make sense, but he’ll figure that out when he calms down.”
They all stared at him wide-eyed, but it was Az who spoke first. “You just strode in there and challenged him on his own turf without even telling us where you were going? What if it had gone south?”
Reaper shrugged. “It didn’t.”
It was clear from the worry on their faces that this wasn’t the type of business arrangement I was used to seeing with Kevin’s associates. This was a family. Az wasn’t mad about the deal. He was devastated Reaper had put himself at risk.
“I’m so sorry,” I blurted. “I shouldn’t have called him for help like that. It wasn’t fair?—”
Ophelia held up a hand. “Babycakes, you did the right thing. We’re glad you’re safe. It’s this reckless motherfucker we’ve got a problem with.”
Reaper rolled his eyes. “I told Thor I’d send one of my people over tonight to figure out how to put the deal back together. We don’t have much time, or we’ll lose our shot.”
I looked between them, worried about what would happen if he sent Az and the two fought. Az looked like he could crush Thor in a fight, but surely Reaper wouldn’t send him alone.
“Can you handle it, O.?” Reaper asked, looking at Ophelia.
He was sending Ophelia ?
She pursed her lips. “Not if I’m going to get in trouble again.”
Reaper gave a long-suffering sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’d prefer you didn’t reduce Thor to tears again, but if you must, I won’t say a word this time. Just handle it please, O.”
I…what?
She preened like she was pleased. “I’ll head over there now.”
She winked at me as she left, like she knew I was standing there dumbfounded. They were serious. This wasn’t a joke.
“Ophelia can handle herself,” Reaper said softly, like he was reassuring me he hadn’t just sent her to her death.
“She’s the only one who can handle Thor. I hope the poor motherfucker deserves what you just sent his way,” Az muttered, shaking his head, reminding me that Ophelia was his sister.
“Can you pull security footage from the bar?” Reaper said, looking at Az.
“Yeah, you want it now?”
Reaper nodded, his expression distant like he was deeply focused on a problem. “What time did they get there?” he asked me.
“I didn’t have my phone, but I think I got there somewhere around ten.”
“The other three were already there?”
I felt like I might be doing something bad by telling him things, but it was a little late for that. He’d saved me. If nothing else, I owed him for that. “They must’ve been.”
“Describe them,” he said as he paced back towards the window.
“Will anything bad happen to them? Josh, my driver, he might work for Kevin, but he’s a good guy. I don’t want to him to get hurt. He’s not an enforcer. He was probably just there to pick something up or give one of them a ride.”
Reaper finally looked back at me, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully. “I won’t do anything to them tonight. I just need to know what they were up to.”
He looked at Grim then Az and jerked his head towards the door. “Let’s pull the footage in my office.” He sketched an extravagant bow in the remaining woman’s direction. “Styx, my love. Would you mind showing our guest around in the meantime? She’s looking for some adventure this evening. Something of the more consensual variety than what she was going to experience with Thor. Please see that she finds it. I’ll return your man as soon as we’re finished. Shouldn’t take long.”
Without another glance at me, he pushed the door open and walked away.
I didn’t know what I’d been hoping for, but it hadn’t been that. He didn’t care who I went out there and fucked, and I wasn’t sure why I even wanted him to.
Styx kissed Az thoroughly, then slapped the giant man’s ass as he followed Reaper out the door. As soon as it closed, all her sweetness vanished. “You dumb fucking cunt.”