Chapter 9
Nine
Belle
I t’s almost five the next afternoon before I am back on Club Genesis property. No way in hell I took the men up on their offer to drop me off at home. I might as well slap a flashing neon sign on my forehead: Mafia princess, stay clear.
Nope. Not happening. I like Gage, Aziel, and Rush. I do not want to scare them off. Before they released me—their words, not mine—I had to promise to call them later tonight so we could discuss the details of the contract. Only then was I able to escape their teasing kisses and warm arms. Not that I wanted to.
Feathers of anticipation at what I have done leave me anxious and excited. I’m all about adventure and adding excitement to my life, but if my brother finds out what I’ve done I have no idea what he will do. For the most part I have a strong bravado, but there are times my knees shake. Not out of fear for what he will do to me. Harlon would never hurt me. But out of fear of disappointing the man who has always been there for me. That is almost worse than a physical beating.
There are hidden passageways only a select few know about. After the cab drops me off a block away from the club, I use them and make my way to the top floor. I pause outside my door and take a deep breath and send up a silent prayer of gratitude I didn’t run into anyone.
I rub a hand down my borrowed Guns N’ Roses T-shirt and too-big sweatpants—another reason I took the hidden backways.
“I don’t owe anyone an explanation for my actions. I am an adult. The family business is not my concern. I have a right to do what makes me happy.” I quietly chant my rehearsed mantra over a couple of times.
I slip the golden key to my room into the old-fashioned lock and turn.
“So how was dinner? Or did you go straight for the dessert last night and stay for breakfast given it’s been twenty-four hours since you left.”
My heart attaches itself to my throat and hangs on like Tarzan swinging on jungle vines. Wide-eyed, I scream and slap a hand toward the light switch. White light floods my small entryway and living room. Adrenaline shoots through me and I nearly pass out from fear.
I clutch my chest. “My freaking God!”
Piercing blue eyes latch onto me and the devilish smile lifting my cousin’s nude-colored lips has me moving from wondering if this is my end to wanting to commit a murder of my own.
“Damn it, Sapphire! I nearly died walking through my freaking door.” I drop my dress on the end of the small sofa and walk around the coffee table to kick at my cousin’s Jimmy Choos.
“Why the hell are you sitting in the dark and ambushing me Godfather style? What if I had a gun? What if I had shot you? What if I had brought visitors?” I exclaim each possible scenario and the longer I talk the higher my voice scales.
She takes in my borrowed attire while she’s dressed to kill. Almost literally given her job title. The emerald power suit she’s encased in hugs her breasts and hips with the same amount of compression.
Her soft laughter turns wicked. She planned her attack. Probably from the second I walked out the door last night.
“I regret giving you a key to my room,” I shoot back, heading for the small kitchenette off to the left of the main entrance. It’s an open floor plan between the front door, living room and long bar that serves as a countertop and eating area. The bedroom is off to the right when you walk into the place and so is the single bathroom. My brother usually likes leaving the cozy suites for members, but I claimed this one as mine. I hate being at the mansion so far outside the city. Here I feel tapped into the energy. There all I feel is dead and shoved into a corner.
I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and hand one to a cocky and smiling Sapphire.
“Harlon isn’t in here, is he?” I force my nerves to settle by focusing on the swirling lines decorating the wallpapered walls. They are in silver while the background is black. I’m starting to see a pattern between all the low-key high-crime locations in this city.
“Not unless he has an invisibility cloak.”
We both pop the caps to our water. The whole time we drink, her eyes come back to roam over my borrowed clothes.
“Wanna tell me what happened or do I have to torture the answers out of you?”
I fall to the couch and spill the entirety of the last hours to my best friend. The only thing I leave off is the whole primal connection I feel with them the second I am in the same room. She’d lock me in this tower herself if I start spouting off crazy mumblings about instant desire turning to something deeper. Besides, how can I explain something I don’t entirely understand myself?
Furiously blushing under her attention, Sapphire hangs onto all my words and slips in the right kind of questions at the right times. “The Gilded Key Society, huh? I didn’t really think you would go through with it, but hey…” she shrugs. “When do you start?”
“Day after tomorrow, I think? I am not sure. We have to talk tonight.”
Her bottle of water is halfway up to her mouth when she says, “You’re going out again? I don’t know if I can cover for you tonight, babe. Your brother is agitated about something and is prowling around the halls.”
“What can he do to me? Send me to the basement?”
She shrugs. “Maybe not you, but I’m not on the no-kill list.”
I squeeze my eyes shut and press a thumb to the crease between my brows. “Stop playing around. Harlon would never hurt you.”
Her head lolls from side to side. “Yeah I know, but all kidding aside, you should just tell him what you are up to. He’s not your keeper or your jailor.”
I chew on the inside of my jaw. “Last night before I left, I was in his office. The warning he gave me was…chilling. Like he would do whatever he has to do to make sure he doesn’t lose me too. Like Cassandra. Their shared wife still haunts him.”
There’s sorrow in her eyes and understanding. “Can you blame him?” Sapphire’s voice turns soft. She reaches out and takes my hand. We sit there a second and just enjoy the silence. Or at least I do. I don’t get much of it, so I savor the quiet.
“Where is Polaris? I’m surprised you two didn’t gang up on me.”
Sapphire cants her head. “She was here, but your brother and partners called her away.”
Ohh. Interesting. “I wish those four would just get a room already and have at each other until they can all just find some kind of happiness. I see the way she looks at Harlon and the other two.”
The open end of Sapphire’s bottle is pointed in my direction. “I think we should stay out of it. We all have to figure out our own paths to happiness.”
I purse my lips not buying her change of mind. “Since when do you not want to play cupid with me?” I study her face for a minute thinking back on the last time she hooked up.
“Have you seen the Southern Alliance lately?” I tease with a smile. My brother’s enemies—really, my father’s—are my cousin’s lusty obsession.
Sapphire snorts, throwing her arm into a big X. “Change of subject. Can you start your sexy show sooner? I think you need something to do.”
I let the topic drop. For now. “About that. Come with me.”
Her pretty blues go wide. I didn’t mean to invite her to my sex routine, but moral support, right? “You don’t have to watch but knowing you are out there backing me up will make the difference. Please.”
Her eyes scan my face. After what feels like long minutes, she finally smirks. If anyone can make a gesture look sarcastic it’s Sapphire. “Good to know I don’t have to watch my cousin get railed by three guys, Belle. Geez.”
“So?” I ask expectantly, looking her dead in the eye. I take my attention off her for a second and she’ll flat-out make a run for it. I just know it. “I’ll secure you a table in the back where you can do all your murder-for-hire work while I get my kink on.”
Her head falls forward and her answer is muffled under the tumble of hair that falls over her face.
“Come again?”
“I said. I’ll bring my laptop.” Her voice is amused.
Okay…well. That’s a yes!
I spring up and head for the door. The last day with the men and all this sex talk with Sapphire has me hungry.
“Want something from the kitchen?” I look at my phone. “The kitchen will be opening soon. I’m sure I’ll find someone down there to make us a Ruben sandwich.”
“Nah, babe.” Sapphire stretches to her full height and smooths out her powerhouse pants suit looking every bit the deadly undertaker she is. Only I know she would rather be changing pampers and cuddling newborns than dealing with Club Genesis and its runners. Her secret drive to have the whole nine yards with family is her true desire in life. I envy her. I wish I knew what I wanted.
Sapphire leans in and kisses me goodnight. “I have a meeting in ten downstairs. If you run into your brother, try not to piss him off, okay?”
I bat her concerns away. I’m growing tired of worrying about my brother. “New client tonight?”
She cocks her head and waves. “Can’t talk about it. You know that. If I finish early enough, I will come back and help you with that sandwich.” And with that, my best friend leaves me to my own devices.
I take the hidden passageways from the top floor down to ground level where the kitchen takes up a good portion of the ground level. Smells of rich delicacies tingle my senses. The men insisted I eat before I left. We had the leftover lasagna we didn’t finish last night for a late lunch today. It was divine. Gage claims he’s not a good cook, but from what I tasted nothing came from a bottle. It was all homemade and by him.
I round the corner leading to the kitchen and come to an abrupt stop outside the doors. One is swung wide and I can hear Harlon speaking with someone in a low, harsh tone. But who? The second person speaks softly and I have to strain to make out the words. It’s a woman. Polaris?
“Polaris, fucking woman. You are going to get us killed. All of us. You can’t work here anymore. I’ve made my decision.”
That answers that I guess. I cling to the wall.
Harlon sounds enraged. I’ve been on the receiving end of that anger. Polaris isn’t as tough on the inside as I am against his alpha, high-handed bullshit. I straighten myself and consider my options.
“Harlon, please.”
Pause.
“Santi, don’t let him do this, please. I have no other place to go. I can’t go back to New York. My sister doesn’t need my problems right now.”
I feel the pain in her words as if it were my own and it makes me want to reach out to Gage, Rush, or Aziel.
Polaris’ sister, Nova Masters, is expecting her first baby with the head of the mafia and badass biker, Ares. My new friend is right. They are dealing with their own shit right now. Bad family blood, the fight against the same people who kidnapped and nearly trafficked Polaris, and probably more shit I don’t know about. Going back to New York would not be a good idea. It would be traumatic and I won’t let that happen.
“Please listen to me,” she begs again and it’s growing intensely harder to stay quiet. My heart wants to weep at the pain in her voice. I grip the ends of my Guns N’ Roses T-shirt and inhale the scent of Gage’s cologne to settle my nerves. It works but doesn’t stop the wall of tears threatening to tumble. I fight hard to hold them in check.
I press all of my body to the wall and strain my hearing but there’s nothing but continued silence.
Polaris can’t leave. Harlon wouldn’t do that to her? I won’t let him throw my best friend out. Where would she go? Who would protect her? She’s already gone through so much.
“Polaris, damn it.”
That is Harlon. I pause, ready to bust in and save my friend.
“Santi.”
My brows shoot up. There is a totally different tone to the way Polaris says Santi’s name. There’s pleading and then there is sultry begging. Low pants and harsh breathing filter through the quiet space. Where is all the kitchen staff? And the waitresses?
I move to step around the corner when I hear footsteps come up from behind me. I jump when a heavy hand lands on my shoulder. Seized by a strong grip, I am whirled around and pinned to an unforgiving chest.
Brown eyes pierce mine.
“Cassius,” I breathe out, picking my heart off the floor for a second time tonight.
“As I said, we can’t have you here, woman. You leave tonight.”
Harlon’s tone is razor-sharp. Deadly.
Water spills out to wet my lashes for the fear my friend must be feeling. “Cassius, please,” I gruffly whisper as I look up at him. My heart clenches and I can’t take my eyes off Cassius out of fear of losing a friend.
He holds a finger to his lips. “Don’t speak of this to anyone, Belle. Not if you care for Polaris.”
I nod.
“Go now, sweetheart. I need to help your brother and my friend with something.”
“And Polaris?”
His face turns grim. “She’s not going anywhere. That’s a fucking promise.”
Back in my room I grab my phone and slide down the back of my door wanting to cry and bury my face into Rush’s chest while Gage and Aziel hold me. I pull up our group chat and send out a message.
I miss you.
Aziel is the first to reply.
Come back to us.
I send back:
I wish I could and drop my phone on the bed wishing I had full control over my life.