Chapter Twenty-Two
G reyson held his hand up to prevent Jewel from coming any closer. “This one’s mine.”
“Excuse me.” She looked offended.
He pointed to the door. “If you don’t mind.”
A jolt of fear slithered up my spine, followed by relief that Greyson wasn’t throwing me to the wolves—one she-wolf in particular.
That was the same woman I’d interviewed with, the same woman I was investigating, and here she was turning her morbid fascination on me.
“You know the rules,” she said. “If she’s new, she’s showcased.”
His jaw tensed. “I’m aware.”
“You got over Amelia pretty quickly,” she said. “It’s good to see.”
His lips trembled with emotion, but she didn’t catch it.
“We have a ceremony in twenty minutes, and I expect to see you both there.” She eyed me carefully. “Name?”
“She’s silenced,” said Greyson. “A punishment perfect for her smart mouth.”
That seemed to placate Jewel. “Very well.”
His lips curved into a snarl. “Anything else?”
She whirled around and headed for the door. “Speak to me like that in front of a sub again, Greyson, and I’ll see you banished.”
“No, you won’t,” he said. “Because you like it.”
She paused and turned around with a wry smile. “Don’t try to guess what I like.”
“I’ve seen it,” he said, smiling back at her. “And I approve.”
She gave a nod, glanced at me one more time, and then left.
A weird aura remained in the room after their cryptic conversation. Clearly both had seen what the other one was into.
I exhaled, releasing the tension in my body.
Greyson stood there, silently processing what had happened. “You okay?”
“Yes,” I said. “It was cruel of her to mention Amelia.”
“Par for the course.”
“Do you think she recognized me?”
“Hard to say.”
That wasn’t the answer I needed to hear.
“That’s the viper you want to investigate.”
He was right to question my judgment. Jewel was mixing with nefarious people who liked the kinds of things that went on in the black apple room.
But if Greyson hoped all this would scare me off my story, he was wrong.
He met my gaze. “Hopefully, you realize your mistake now.”
“Are we going to the elevator?”
He frowned. “Jewel’s expecting you in the High Chamber.”
“I can’t go in, right?”
Greyson stepped forward and gripped my arm, leading me out of the room and in the opposite direction of the way I’d come.
“You’re so damn lucky I’m here.”
“No one can make me feel less than the person I am.”
“Then you don’t understand Pendulum.” With an ironclad grip, he led me down a sprawling hallway, moving with a terrible swiftness, passing several doors.
He finally opened one to our right and shuffled me inside the room. Then, he let go of me and moved toward a writing desk. He lifted a lamp and unscrewed the bottom, withdrawing a phone. Greyson tapped away on it, sending a message.
He glanced up. “You didn’t see that.”
Uneasiness settled in my stomach as I tried to guess who he was messaging.
He put the phone away and turned to glare at me. “You’re about to see the consequences of what you’ve done.”
“All I did was—”
“Infiltrate one of the most dangerous clubs in the country.” He shook his head. “We are weeks away from closing a deal. This is the only way to manage Jewel. You’ve jeopardized that now.”
“What are you saying?”
“You wanted in, you’re in.” He pointed toward a wall. “This is the sixth floor. If you don’t know the rules, you weren’t invited. If you weren’t invited, then you’re dead.”
I hurried over to him. “I have to go.”
“I’m giving you what you came for—a front row seat.”
“But it’s not safe.”
He stared down at me. “Don’t leave this room.”
I tried to grasp the profoundness of his words, realizing I’d been playing with fire, and the furnace was only getting hotter. “Where are you going?”
“To solve this.”
I pointed toward the door, as though it was as simple as that.
“What were you hoping to achieve, Willa?”
“It’s just a story.”
“You are about to become the fucking story.”
“I’m onto something important.”
“You wish that were true.”
“You’re protecting them.”
“After this, you and I will part ways. I don’t like your methods. I don’t like the choices you make. I hope, in all honesty, I never see you again.”
I felt a gut-wrenching heartache.
I was going to have to do this alone.
“She killed Dean Hersey,” I whispered. “Soon afterwards, oil tycoon Lance Merrill died. She’s connected to both deaths.”
“Stop talking.”
“You know it’s true.” I felt the bitter taste of his compliance. “You must bring in the police. Something bad is happening here.”
Greyson sighed. “Look, Willa. Jewel is beyond our grasp right now. Obviously, we are trying to change that.”
“Something must be done now.”
He raised his chin defiantly, his dark eyes serious. “If you mess up our deal, the place will belong to her. She wins.”
“I can do that?”
“You seem to believe we’re not doing everything we can. We don’t need your interference. If anything, you’re sabotaging us.”
“Us?”
“This stunt you pulled just made us the center of attention.”
“You and me?”
“Yes, Willa, as my seeming submissive, there are expectations that must be met.”
“What can be done?”
“What are you willing to do?”
“How do you mean?”
“Are you willing to be fucked in front of an audience?” he asked flatly.
I looked that way, recalling the two women in the elevator, one playing with her friend to prepare her for the High Chamber.
I looked back at Greyson, who wore a frustrated expression.
“Look at you, dressed like this,” he said. “Completely clueless about how this world really works. You walk in here, tangled up in your psychological issues, feeling unloved, trying to prove yourself because your brothers have left their mark, and you haven’t. Your ignorance is going to push you to the brink, to a place so dark and dangerous no one will be able to pull you back.”
“But you’re here,” I said bitterly. “Doing these things. Watching these things.”
“Yes, and I promised everyone I’d never come back. But here I am. For you. So do exactly as I say. Do you understand?”
I’d wanted to experiment, sure, but not like this, not in front of my boss, even if she didn’t know who I was, and certainly not in front of strangers.
And I wasn’t ready to be a toy for this man in any capacity, even though my body craved him in every conceivable way.
“Is it bad?” I looked at him for the answer. “What we have to do?”
“That depends, Willa, on how far you’re willing to go.”