Chapter Two
Mason
“How are the businesses?” my father asks as soon as he answers the phone, which isn’t surprising.
Normal sons might get a, “How are you?” or a, “How are things on your end?”, but nothing about my life is normal, and I’ve come to accept that a long time ago.
With that comes a father who couldn’t be any less like the ones on television.
In a world like ours, the harder and colder a person is, the better.
My father, the incomparable Jack Payne, is no exception.
He’s spent years being ruthless and single-minded in his pursuit of building an empire, and nothing, not even his sons, is going to get in the way of that. As a young boy, I’d often stare up at him and wonder if it was worth it.
If the price of the life he’d chosen had been too much.
As a man, I know better.
Being on top felt good—great, even—and I’m glad he’s drilled that into me.
“Running smoothly,” I answer, sitting back in my chair, one leg finding its way over the other.
I’m exhausted. Father always made everything look so easy.
Maintaining several businesses is not for the faint of heart, but it works for me because I saw more in my first decade than most people have their entire lives.
I reach across the desk for the decanter of whiskey and pour a generous amount into my glass.
I pause with the glass halfway to my lips. “How’s ‘traveling’?”
He says he’s traveling because he’s getting older, and it might be his last chance to do so, but I know better.
He won’t think about death until he’s forced to, which will only be when he’s on his deathbed.
I know he’s up to something, especially where my brother is involved.
The two together hardly mean anything other than trouble.
My father clears his throat. “It’s fine.”
“Where exactly are you?”
I know I’ve caught him in a lie by the way he pauses, and I know if he were in front of me, he would have backhanded me for doubting him, something he did all the time when I was a kid.
Maybe I should resent him, but there are two things my dad taught me to value: Respect and when to keep my mouth shut.
“After all these years, Mason, you still don’t know how to keep that trap shut.” His voice is low and menacing, each word dripping with disdain. “Where I am doesn’t concern you, and you’d do best to remember that.”
My father is a skeptical man who doesn’t trust anyone, not even me.
It’s a bit fucked up until you realize he spends most of his days protected and trying not to get killed by his enemies.
Betrayal among family isn’t unheard of, and for people like us, family means everything.
It brings new meaning to the words, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”
I take a long sip of my drink, the bitter liquid trickling down my throat before it settles in my stomach.
“Did you attend that meeting with the Everetts?” he asks. The phone breaks up, and it sounds like he’s going through a tunnel. I want to ask where he’s going, but I already know what he will say, so I keep my mouth shut.
Whatever he’s doing isn’t any of my business.
“Yes, sir.” Leave it to my father to control things even when he’s nowhere around. He’s compelled to make sure everything is perfect, a trait I inherited from him.
“And how did it go?”
“They left happy enough.”
He considers my words as if debating whether to berate or praise me.
Finally, I can almost hear the smile and pride in his voice.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less. Have you also gone down and checked on Mercy lately?
I can tell you from experience that if you leave it alone for just a few days, you’ll come back to a hell house. ”
I like that he still calls the secret levels Mercy because of the small cursive sign left behind by the previous owners, a relic from when the place used to be a hotel and a sanctuary of sorts.
It’s one of the few inside jokes we share.
His words ring true, though. I have, however, grown into my schedule since he’s been gone, and that includes checking out the club frequently and making sure the rules are enforced. “I go often enough that there haven’t been any worries.”
“Mason.” His tone is serious. “It’s imperative that you show me how well you can do this.
There will come a time when I step down, and as my first-born son…
” I’ve heard this speech a thousand times, and if it were up to him, I’d hear it a thousand times more.
“You’re my first choice, but if I don’t feel that you’re capable of handling… ”
I grip my glass tighter. “I understand.”
Nothing I do will ever be enough for him.
I shouldn’t be surprised he’s still giving the same tired speech after all this time, even when we both know I’m the most capable of my brothers.
He grunts and goes quiet. He doesn’t like to be cut off, but if he wants me to run the family’s businesses successfully, he should understand that I can’t spend all day on the phone with him. “I expect to be home soon.”
“Everything will be waiting just as you left it.”
“It had better be.” The line goes dead. No “I love you” or “See you soon.”
Then again he’s never been that kind of father.
My mother was the affectionate one before she died.
She was probably even too nice when she shouldn’t have been.
It wasn’t a surprise when she ended her life because this existence was too cruel for her.
My siblings and I mourned, but my father took it the worst even if he wouldn’t admit it.
He really loved her, a fact we knew even if we never heard him say the words.
Love is dangerous when you’re dealing with shady businesses where people are always looking for a weakness.
That’s why I never plan to fall in love.
A short while later, I have one hand in my pocket as I walk in through the front entrance of the main building, receiving several nods. I smile as I reach the set of elevators in the back.
I pull the membership card from my pocket and swipe it through the readers. The doors leading to the lower floors are only available via a special entrance that I designed.
I made sure it won’t open without an active membership. The doors creak and pull apart to allow me entrance.
I’m one of the few people with keycard access.
Members have a special tattoo on their wrist that glows under UV light, the kind the elevator can scan and recognize.
It’s all a little more elaborate than I would like, but it’s necessary to keep us in business.
The elevator opens to a door with the sign “Mercy” on top of it, written in a delicate cursive.
Mercy.
A perfect nickname for the sex club.
Membership here is exclusive and expensive, and several of the members are big names in the real world with kinks they would never want anyone to know about. That’s why anything that goes on inside these doors is strictly confidential and without loopholes.
This is a place of no judgment. The media has such a bad stigma surrounding sex, and if it’s not plain vanilla, they’ll call you out for being kinky and a sinner. In reality, everyone could use a bit more spice in their life. Sex is supposed to be fun.
Not everyone has to be into BDSM, but this isn’t a BDSM club, either. It’s open to anything so long as a member has the cash to back it up, with a lineup of women waiting to do whatever a man’s heart desires if it means working up money to pay off their debt.
Women aren’t forced to be here. We’re neither evil nor sex traffickers, but the option is open the second businesses fall behind on their payments.
Some might call it crude, but a job is a job whether you get fucked or sit behind a desk for eight hours a day.
The women can leave at any time, but a breach of contract adds more to what’s owed.
They’re also still on the hook to repay their debt within a specific time frame or risk losing everything.
In all the time I’ve overseen Mercy, you’d think I’d have more dirty kinks, but despite being here constantly and seeing more sex than porn stars, I no longer participate in the activities we offer.
Sex has become more of an afterthought, with everything else I have to deal with, and I don’t mind not missing it as much as I should.
As long as I have someone to satisfy my needs when they arise, that’s all that matters.
The second the door opens, I’m fully immersed in Mercy.
It’s not like a regular club with music pounding so loud I can barely hear myself think.
We’re classier than that. It’s sultry and seductive, with a woman’s voice bringing you into the mood to want to push someone against the wall and fuck them until they’re screaming your name.
We take all the precautions here, ensuring the girls are on birth control and clean before they’re allowed to work. Men endure the same tests because we want everything to be the best it can be, which involves raw dogging it, at least for most people.
The lights are dimmed and purple, not so dark that you can’t see but dark enough that you can’t fully make out everything around you.
Still, it’s hard not to notice the couple against the wall as I walk in.
His back is up against the wall, and his pants are slung down, although his boxers are still hugging his hips while a girl is on her knees and taking him in her mouth.
She gags loudly but doesn’t stop, taking him deeper and deeper like he wants.
He grips her head and looks as if he’s never experienced so much pleasure.
He probably hasn’t.
Sex doesn’t bother me.
It never has, so it’s easy to walk past that scene and others like it. The lobby is sleek, with hardwood floors and expensive paintings on either side of gray walls.
The real fun is in the back.
The bar area is the first peek at what really goes on behind closed doors, with drinks flowing freely and people talking over each other, dancing, and in some cases, fucking against the nearest available surface.
A hallway is roped off from everything else with a velvet rope, and only silver members are allowed inside. A bodyguard is standing in front of it but quickly moves to the side as I approach. He’s massive, intimidating, and fully armed, but that’s nothing compared to the destruction I can cause.
I nod at him and move to the iPad on the side of the rope where members sign in and request rooms for shows with the women of their choice.
I log into the admin panel, and it only takes me seconds to find what I’m looking for.
When I do, I unclip the velvet rope, slip past, and walk down the hallway, examining everything to make sure it’s all in order.
This hallway has the same dim purple light and dark floor with several rooms lined up along both walls, each with a keypad lock. My steps are quiet, and I walk nearly to the end before reaching room 4.
I punch in my universal code, and the door unlocks as the monitor flashes green. I push the door open and glance over the three people in the room. It’s a simple room, one just with a bed in the middle and some toys in the corner.
A fairly good-looking guy is on top of a ginger girl while a redhead sits on the edge of the bed, watching and touching herself.
The man sits up and offers me a cocky, sideways smile. “I don’t know how you got into this room, buddy, and I’m not usually the type to share, but Ryn over there might like the company, so come on in.” The man doesn’t recognize me, but Ryn does, and she drops her hand and swallows.
“Playtime is over, girls,” I announce. “Get out. Keith and I need to have a little chat.”
The girl under Keith, Mona, slides away, and the women get dressed. Keith looks at them, confused and a little agitated. “Why are you leaving?” He’s got a thick Southern accent that I suspect is fairly dramatized because he thinks it’ll make him more attractive.
It doesn’t.
“Just because this bozo said something?”
“This bozo is the owner of the club,” I counter as the girls scurry from the room, no doubt to find their next assignment or call it a day and retire to their apartments.
Keith’s eyes widen, and he starts to get off the bed and search for his pants. I give him the time he needs and respect him enough not to watch as he gets dressed, almost as if he’s putting his dignity on.
Once he’s dressed, he walks toward me with his hand out and a cowboy hat on his head. His matching boots really push the southern image he’s selling. “I’m Keith, nice to meet you.”
I make it clear that I won’t be shaking his hand. “I know who you are, Madison.” I refer to him by his last name.
He nods and smiles. “Well, it’s a fine establishment that you run here, Mr.…”
I ignore his wordless request for my name. “As I’m sure you can guess, I’m a busy man, which means pop-ins are by far my least favorite thing to do. I’m not here to make small talk.”
“Why are you here?” He looks genuinely clueless.
“The membership contract you signed had a clause that states one of the biggest rules we have here, Mr. Madison. Do you remember that rule?”
He thinks about it for a second, and a knowing look passes in his eye before he shakes his head. “Aw, the contract was exceptionally long, and I can’t remember every detail.”
“Ignorance doesn’t permit you to break the rules.”
“I’m sorry?”
“A big rule we have here is that you don’t try to take the girls.”
He snorts. “She’s a human being. How could I take an entire person?” His drawl is a bit lighter now that his temper is growing.
“I looked into your activity, and you’ve requested her every time you come, at least five times a week. That’s not the issue. The problem is that you keep trying to get her to leave with you. Do you wish to pay off her debt?”
If he isn’t, he’s wasting everyone’s time.
I have eyes and ears everywhere, and I like to keep tabs on what’s happening. Realizing that one of my more popular girls is considering leaving because of this prick is a nuisance.
“I don’t understand what you’re…”
“She has a balance of almost two million dollars. Should I charge it to your account?”
His jaw drops, and he stares at me as if I’m a madman. I’m sure he’s overwhelmed, thinking of what he wants to say, but I don’t give him a chance. “Is that a yes or a no?”
“No,” he answers quickly.
“So you won’t be paying off Mona’s debt?”
“No.” His hands tighten at his sides.
“Which means you violated the rules of Mercy. We don’t allow second chances at this establishment. You’ve broken the rules, and I have no choice but to revoke your membership and ask that you leave the premises immediately.”
Keith looks shocked and shakes his head. “Wait, no, I…”
“All decisions are final. You have five minutes to leave before you’ll be escorted out.”
I turn my back to him and walk out of the room, imagining the stupid look still on his face.