16. Soren
SOREN
“You sure you don’t want me to take you to the club?”
I spritzed myself with the cologne Phoenix had gifted me when I left Halo House and glanced over my shoulder at Jude. He was sitting on the bed, his arms crossed, staring at me with a frown.
Tonight was my first time working at Club Halo, and I was both nervous and excited.
I’d been by the club three times last week to observe the operation, and some of my fears about working in a nightclub had been allayed by how nice it was.
From what I’d seen, the clientele was more exclusive, especially on the VIP floor where I would be working.
At first, Jude had insisted I could take another week off before I rushed to work, but for the first time, everything was going well, and I wanted to earn my keep.
Whenever Jude gave me money, I never felt good about it.
He worked long hours in his workshop, and how much could he make from his job to take care of me financially?
“Aaron already agreed to pick me up,” I said. “And Phoenix said he would give me a lift at the end of the night.”
“That sounds like a whole lot of hassle instead of letting me drop you off and pick you up.”
“The club is out of the way for you.”
Jude rose from the bed and walked over to me. He placed his hands on my shoulders and turned me to face him. “You think that’s going to bother me? As your Daddy, it’s my duty to ensure you’re safe.”
I let out a soft sigh and smiled. “Aaron is literally a police officer and Phoenix is your best friend. You don’t trust them?”
Jude groaned. “You’re getting too smart.”
I beamed a smile at him. “Because I have a smart Daddy. You’re worried about me working at the club.”
“It’s not that I think you’re incapable,” he rushed to say. “You made breakfast this morning and there wasn’t an eggshell to be found. You’re doing wonderfully. Truly.”
“Then what are you worried about?”
“I don’t know. I’m usually there to fix things when they go wrong. If I’m not there—”
“I’ll figure it out. You can’t be there for me all the time, Daddy. I have to do this on my own, which is why I don’t want you there for my first night.”
“I understand.” He tipped my chin up. “You know I’m proud of the progress you’ve made, right?”
I slid my arms around his neck and clasped them. “It’s all thanks to you.”
He brought my face closer to his until our lips met, and with his free hand, he cupped my left butt cheek and squeezed. I moaned into his mouth, barely resisting wrapping my legs around his waist and urging him to take me on the bed.
As a royal, I’d had to be discreet. I’d been terrified of being outed and bringing shame to the royal family, so I hadn’t slept with anyone until I was nineteen.
And although I’d never been into hooking up, I’d had my share of sex partners, but none had been like Jude.
I’d enjoyed sex before, but Jude made it into a living, breathing thing between us that I couldn’t wait to happen.
Again.
And again.
A sharp knock had us pulling apart reluctantly. Jude glared at the door, and I chuckled.
“That should be Aaron.”
“Do you have your phone?” He followed me out of the bedroom.
“Yup. I’ll call you if I need anything.”
“You should let me buy you a new phone. One that’s more current.”
With a hand on the knob of the front door, I gave him a knowing look. “What happened to you insisting that it’ll teach me how to value things if I work and buy one for myself?”
“You can learn that in other ways, but a phone is essential to communicating with you.”
“And I can communicate with you just fine on it. You only changed your mind when you found out Aaron gave it to me.” I opened the door and smiled at the subject of our conversation.
“Did I hear my name?” Aaron asked.
“You’re not that important, Vale.” Jude scowled at the other man, but Aaron knew better than to take him seriously and laughed.
“Well, someone’s in a grumpy mood.” Aaron wolf-whistled as he eyed me up and down. “You look gorgeous.”
I smiled, which deepened Jude’s scowl. He made me feel so giddy whenever he was jealous.
He would never admit it, but that scowl surfaced whenever Aaron called or texted me.
And while his overreaction to my friendship with the cop was out of character based on everything I’d heard and personally knew about him, I also felt pleased that he wanted me all to himself.
“Thank you. Daddy took me shopping for new clothes today,” I said. “I needed a few things for working at the club.”
“Great. If you need anything else—”
“He can come to me,” Jude said.
Yikes. Time to get those two apart.
I pushed up on my toes and kissed Jude. “I’ll see you later after I’m finished at the club. You don’t have to wait up for me.”
“I’ll wait up anyway.” Jude’s hands settled at my waist as I kissed him again, slower this time. The kiss softened the grumpy look on his face, though not by much. “Call me when you get there,” he said.
“I will.”
“And if anything feels wrong—”
“I’ll call.”
Aaron cleared his throat from the doorway. “As touching as this is, someone shouldn’t be late on their first day on the job.”
Jude shot him a look. “Take care of him.”
Aaron nodded, the playfulness vanishing. “Don’t worry. I will.”
The evening air was cool against my face, carrying the familiar salt of the ocean. Who would have thought I would live so close to the ocean? I loved it here, and it made it bearable to part from the country that had rejected me.
Jude stayed in the doorway while I walked down the porch steps, and I turned once to find him watching us—watching me. I waved as I got into the car, and he waved back. It was harder leaving him than I would have thought. We’d spent so much time together over the past two weeks.
For the first few minutes, Aaron and I drove in comfortable silence. The sun had set a couple of hours ago. Jude and I had watched it from the deck. Now the streets of Headland Bay glowed beneath storefront signs and streetlamps.
“So,” Aaron said eventually, glancing at me. “I take it the arrangement with Jude is going well?”
“It’s great.”
“That convincing, huh?”
I laughed. “No, really. It’s amazing. I’ve had a Daddy before, and he was nothing like Jude. Jude’s the absolute best.”
“You’re nothing to scoff at either. Jude has always been excellent to the angels of Halo House, but he’s always given of himself without taking anything back. This is the first time that he’s allowed himself to want anything from a sub.”
I couldn’t quite hide my smile as I thought about the past week.
True to Jude’s words, with every passing day, I got better at helping out around the house.
A week ago, I could barely make toast without triggering the smoke detector.
Now I had prepared dinner twice and breakfast three times.
It wasn’t always perfect, but I was getting there.
Jude had even taught me how bills worked and how to pay them.
The financial lessons were even more confusing than cooking.
I always knew bills existed, obviously. I wasn’t completely clueless, contrary to my earlier behavior, but in Belvaria, people handled things for me.
Electricity arrived, water ran, and phones worked.
I had never considered that every ordinary comfort appeared because someone remembered a due date and transferred money to the correct company.
Jude had spread several envelopes across the dining table and explained each one. Utilities. Insurance. Internet. Property tax. He showed me how to read the amounts, check the dates, and pay them online.
I had been appalled by how often people had to spend money just to keep living in a house they already owned. It’d opened my eyes to being more grounded in the present. Of needing to pay attention and be deliberate about living because no one would be handling those things for me again.
A part of me was grateful for how things had turned out. I wish I hadn’t had to go through the betrayal, or losing my title, or moving away, but before those things—before California—I had understood almost nothing about the way most people lived.
I had attended meetings about the economy without knowing what groceries cost. I had spoken publicly about working families while never having cleaned a bathroom or washed my own clothes. I’d been privileged, and I’d taken things for granted.
My life had become smaller in some ways, but the world felt much larger.
The streets became busier as we approached downtown. Music thumped faintly through the closed windows before Club Halo even came into view.
The building occupied nearly half the block, its exterior sleek and dark, with warm gold lighting running around the entrance. A glowing halo-shaped sign hung above the doors. A line had already formed along the velvet ropes, although the club wouldn’t open for another half an hour.
My nerves returned all at once as Aaron pulled up near the staff entrance.
“You ready?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“How’s that good?” I cried.
“It means you care. For what it’s worth, Soren, Phoenix expects you to mess up. This is your first time, but in the same way you can now make eggs without the shells in them, you’ll get the hang of this.”
“I never should have told you about that,” I muttered under my breath.
Phoenix met us just inside, looking as immaculate as always. He was ethereal in a pair of loose white linen pants and a matching long-sleeved shirt. An earpiece sat against one ear, and he held a tablet beneath one arm.
“There you are.” His eyes swept over me. “And looking perfect.”
I glanced down at the outfit Jude and I had selected when we went shopping.
Like the rest of the floor staff, I wore Club Halo’s standard black and gold, though the decision was left to us how to wear those colors.
The fitted black button-down hugged my shoulders and tapered neatly at my waist, with the sleeves rolled to my elbows.
Slim black trousers skimmed my legs without being too tight, though Jude had made a comment about how snug they looked against my ass.
But to be fair, most of my pants fit me that way.
The only jewelry I wore was a thin gold chain Jude had given me earlier to celebrate the progress I’d made. He’d been puzzled at my reaction when I clung to him, barely containing my tears, but he had no idea how much it meant to me to have a piece of jewelry again after losing mine.
“Jude helped me choose the outfit,” I said.
“Then I’ll have to call him later to thank him for doing such an excellent job.” Phoenix shifted his attention to Aaron, color filling his cheeks.
There was definitely something up with those two.
“Thanks for bringing him in, Aaron. I’ll show Soren his station, and then we can have a drink?”
“I’d like that,” Aaron said with a nod, then winked at me. “Good luck.”
Once Aaron left, Phoenix led me deeper into the club. The music grew louder with every step. Lights moved across the ceiling in slow waves while staff hurried between service stations. The bouncers were just letting people onto the main floor.
Phoenix walked quickly, and I struggled to keep up and take everything in at once. I’d never worked before, and my stomach was tied up in knots. I was equally excited to be a part of something and terrified that I would be the downfall of that very thing.
“You’ll be upstairs tonight working the VIP floor,” he said.
“You sure that’s a good idea?” My stomach tightened.
“Yes.” He tapped the screen of his tablet. “You’ll be assigned to one table. Only two guests. I thought that would be best.”
“I guess that’s not bad.”
“It’s a very important table,” he said. “This client is one of Halo House’s top sponsors and has been for years. You have to give them the best treatment possible.”
I stopped walking, and Phoenix took several more steps before realizing I wasn’t beside him.
“Is there a problem?”
“If they’re very important, perhaps someone else should do it.” I wrung my hands. “This is my first night. What if I spill something?”
He shrugged. “Then you clean it up.”
“And if I forget an order?”
“You ask again.”
I groaned. “You’re being alarmingly calm about all these possibilities.”
Phoenix walked back toward me. “Soren, listen. You’re not being sent upstairs because I expect perfection. I specifically chose this client for you because he is kind, patient, and almost impossible to offend. He’s a Daddy, so he’s very understanding.”
“If you say so.”
Phoenix rested a hand lightly on my shoulder.
“You’re going to do fine. Jude has told me all about your progress.
All you have to do is be polite, listen carefully, and if you don’t know something, ask.
Nobody expects you to know everything on your first night, and I’d like to think I hire decent people who would offer to help. ”
I inhaled deeply and let the breath out. “Alright. Let’s do this.”