Chapter Sixteen
I couldn’t ignore the fact that Willa had parked Cameron’s Rolls even closer to Pendulum, as if daring someone to see her. Monday meant a quieter night at the club, but that offered no reassurance.
She risked being followed—all the way to her brother’s home.
I rapped on the driver’s window, throwing a glance toward the club to make sure no one saw us. Willa sat there, frozen.
“It’s me,” I said to reassure her.
She called through the glass. “I can see that.”
“Then open the door.”
“Why are you here?”
“I will smash it if I have to,” I said calmly.
Willa was staring at me wide-eyed.
I was glad it was me who had seen her, and not some brute from Pendulum.
I slammed my palm to the glass. “Now!”
She quickly unlocked the door.
I opened it and reached in, taking her arm with a firm but gentle grip, helping her out of the car.
The connection between us felt electric as I guided her forward, the world around us fading as we moved together to the other side of the car.
God , she was wearing a short pinstripe number with a silk blouse, and on her figure, it looked devastatingly seductive.
I opened the passenger door, the moment between us hanging in the air, before I nudged her in with a delicate gesture, my fingers brushing hers as she settled inside.
Back on the driver’s side—before I climbed in—I shrugged out of my jacket and threw it onto the backseat, then got behind the wheel.
This feeling…
Willa ignited a fire within my soul, leaving me disoriented and making it difficult to reclaim my composure. My mind was offering up all the ways I could pleasure her for this—but she first deserved a severe punishment for putting herself in harm’s way.
Seated in the plush comfort of the luxurious interior, I admired the sleek dashboard, which contrasted sharply with the petite woman almost dwarfed by the grandeur of the car.
I let out a sigh of frustration. Not only had she returned to Pulse360, right into Jewel’s hive, she was now here, outside an even more sinister location—where her colleagues couldn’t intervene.
On Saturday, the last time I was at Pendulum, I’d been dragged out by well-meaning friends. Atticus and Jake had saved me that day. Ironic it was me saving Willa now.
Her graceful presence caught my attention, and for a moment, it shifted my entire mood.
“Going somewhere interesting?” she asked.
“I’m more interested in what the hell you’re doing.” I fought the desire to reach out and rest my hand on her thigh, and then slide it up farther, all the way to the place where I could pleasure her into subservience.
Instead, I merely turned in my seat to face her. Her pouty mouth responded to me gatecrashing her evening.
My eyes lingered on her lips as I held out my palm. “Keys.”
I didn’t need them with her in the car with the fob, but I wasn’t going to take the chance she might throw them out the window when we were driving.
Willa didn’t move, just moved her gaze back to Pendulum, staring at that intimidating front door.
“Bad idea,” I said.
“You come here.”
I could tell she wasn’t just referring to my presence tonight. How did she know that? I frowned at her, wanting to ask, but then thought better of it. This wasn’t the time or place for an extended conversation.
“Get out,” she said, her voice husky.
I wanted to smile. It was the way she had spoken her order with volition. Like she held any authority over me. “It’s not your car.”
“At least I’ll give it back.”
That made me laugh out loud, and from here I could see the lifeguard hut on the beach that I’d spent the night in—all to protect her brother.
“That doesn’t bother you?” she asked. “That you borrowed his car and lost it.”
I raised a finger. “What you’re doing here is worse.”
“Why?”
I tracked a couple entering the club, observing them carefully and hoping they didn’t look this way.
“Willa!” I insisted. “Give me the keys.”
“Not until you’ve told me what this place is.”
I pulled out my phone. “Ask your brother.”
She placed her hand atop my phone and lowered it. “I’d rather not.”
Willa was too magnetic—that Cole charisma was seriously addictive.
No time to drink her in or admire her feistiness.
“Either you give me the keys, or I’ll search you.”
“Go on then.”
She oozed the confidence of a woman of privilege. A woman who knew her worth.
I clutched the steering wheel. “You can’t be seen here.”
“But you can?” Reluctantly, she handed over the car keys.
Our hands touched and I tried to ignore that spark. I tucked the keys into a pocket.
There, in the distance, familiar slitted headlights appeared—the chauffeur driven town car that belonged to Jewel Hadley. The same one that had stalked me the other night when I’d tried to leave the club. Jewel had climbed out of that same car and cursed me with her presence—resulting in a night spent in a chilly lifeguard hut.
With a flick of my wrist, I turned the headlights off.
“Down,” I commanded, voice low and urgent.
Willa’s eyes darted to the chauffeured car, registering recognition of the elegant woman climbing out. “Is that…?”
Without answering, I reached over and put my hand at her nape, pulling her head down into my lap. Her soft gasp filled the air, a mixture of surprise and unspoken tension. But I didn’t let go. My hand stayed firm, pressing her down as I kept my eyes locked on Jewel Hadley.
Willa’s new boss—that fact alone caused a chill to shudder up my spine. Something sinister was going on. A game played at the highest level—Willa might have a thing for chess, but this was the real world. No amount of strategizing would outmaneuver the woman standing outside of Pendulum, her every move as calculated as the queen on a chessboard.
Still, I couldn’t shake the memory of how effortlessly Willa had used her talent to protect her queen, only to sacrifice her in the end.
She was certainly brave.
Jewel ascended the steps of the club. For a moment, she hesitated, glancing in our direction. My pulse quickened, but her gaze slid past the car, oblivious, before she turned away.
I started the engine, the hum filling the charged silence, and I drove away from the curb without saying a word.
Willa’s forehead rested on my lap, her hands gripping my thighs, her fingernails pressing into my skin, sending a sharp jolt through me that awakened something raw and untamed. Her face was far too close to my groin, her warm breath brushing against me like a match poised to ignite.
What had started as a calculated move had spiraled into something dangerous. I was supposed to be her protector—sent by Cameron—yet here I was, fighting the instincts of the very danger I was shielding her from.
I accelerated, heading fast for the entrance to the freeway.
“Get up,” I said.
“When the view is this impressive?”
I peered down at her. “Seriously?”
She didn’t obey—yet. Her dark locks spilled across my lap, soft and untamed, exuding a dreamy vulnerability that felt almost otherworldly, a moment steeped in allure. This felt like the most natural thing in the world, to be this close, this intimate, even though we hardly knew each other.
“Now that’s trust,” she said, and giggled nervously.
Again, I grabbed her neck and lifted her head gently.
She pushed up off my thighs and sat straight in her seat. “Who was that?”
“Tell me you are no longer working at Pulse360.”
“Why is that any of your business?” She scraped her fingers through her hair to neaten it, though it could be construed as frustration.
I glanced in the rearview, hoping no one had clocked either the car or the woman inside it. So far, there was no sign of anyone tailing, no hint that Jewel had sent her dogs after us.
For some unfathomable reason, Willa had discovered Pendulum.
An uneasy feeling settled in my gut. “Who told you about that place?”
Defensively, she folded her arms. “What place, Greyson?”
“Who are you investigating?”
“Actually, it’s something, not someone.”
“Elaborate.”
“Why should I tell you anything?”
Annoyed, I glanced over to scrutinize her expression. “You can explain it to your brother.”
“Did he send you?”
“Investigate the answer to that, since that’s what you’re good at.”
“Don’t patronize me.”
“Are you for real?” I mean, this woman had exposed herself to a hazard beyond her comprehension.
She nudged my arm. “Is that a kink club?”
“It’s a ‘none of your business’ club.”
“The coincidence is not lost on me,” she said. “Me seeing you at my brother’s and now you’re driving me home.”
“Who said anything about taking you home?”
She blinked, and then hugged herself, unsure.
“Like it?” I asked. “The taste of danger? Does it turn you on?”
“Are you going to tell me what you do in there?”
“It’s a gallery,” I said. “By appointment only. Your wild imagination had it become something more.”
It wasn’t entirely a lie, though the art was undeniably erotic, the clients unapologetically debauched, and the atmosphere far too decadent for someone as innocent as her.
It was art, in every sense. A breathtaking sort that touched your soul and awakened every sense within you.
I had to force her out of this orbit, launch Willa out of Pendulum’s trajectory. Not exactly what Cameron had in mind, but then again, it was me he’d sent to bring her home.
But first, I’d scare the curiosity right out of her.