Chapter 12 Bianca
BIANCA
I’m about to take to the stage to begin my third set of the evening when I see Harrison walking briskly across the club.
Away from my sister.
Chet careens through the Green Door and meets Harrison halfway through the club. Chet grabs Harrison’s arm and escorts him out.
What the hell?
Is my sister kicking him out of the club?
After he saved my life just now?
Not to mention the mind-blowing sex.
Nuh-uh.
He came to Aces as my guest, and I’m not allowing this.
I quickly walk up to the microphone in the middle of my stage in the Hearts section.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please excuse me for a moment. The music will begin shortly.”
I cross over to Ewan and hiss in his ear, “I need you guys to do the next set without me. Improvise something.”
Ewan raises an eyebrow.
“Don’t give me that look right now. This is an emergency.”
Reid widens his eyes.
“Well, not an emergency. But something urgent. Just play what you normally play when you accompany me, but take turns improvising some solos. Should be fun. I’ll get back to you all when I figure out what’s going on.”
Ewan darts his gaze to me, to the Green Door, and then back to me, furrowing his brow.
“I swear to God, I wouldn’t be asking this of you if it weren’t important. Please.”
Once again, Pierce comes to save the day. He points his drumsticks at each of the other bandmembers and then shrugs.
The other bandmembers relent.
I cross over to Pierce and pat him on the shoulder. “Thank you.”
He nods.
I return to the microphone and make an announcement. “Aces Underground patrons, thank you for your patience. I’m afraid I’m feeling a little under the weather, so the band is going to take over without me for the next few minutes so I can get a breath of fresh air.”
The audience groans. They came to hear me sing. Even though I’m nothing without the band, I’m still the face of the entire operation.
“I promise you that Ewan, Brooks, Reid, and Pierce will give you a magnificent performance.” I gesture to Ewan. “Hit it!”
Ewan bursts into a series of virtuosic runs on the piano, improvising around the melody of “At Last” while the rest of the band fills in the accompaniment.
I knew I could count on them. They’re all fantastic musicians, and they don’t get the credit they deserve. The singer always gets the glory.
I duck off the stage and make a beeline for the Green Door. Chet and Harrison are just getting there when I waylay them both, placing myself between them and the door.
Chet cocks his head. “Miss Bianca. I’m afraid you’re in our way.”
“Not at all.” I cross my arms. “It appears you’re escorting my guest for the evening out of the club. So if anything, you’re in my way. My way of enjoying his company this evening.”
Chet raises his eyebrows. “It would seem you’ve already enjoyed Dr. O’Rourke’s company thoroughly this evening.”
I drop my jaw. Does Chet know about what Harrison and I did in the grand suite? No way. They wouldn’t have surveillance set up in an area where so much intimacy occurs. That’s a violation of privacy.
And if people are watching those areas, the last person I want watching them is Chester Tabbitt. I’ve known the guy for years and he’s never laid a hand on me, but he still gives me the creeps every time he rakes his bloodshot eyes over my body.
I sputter for a moment before gathering myself. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He smirks. “Of course you don’t.”
“If this has to do with the fact that we were in the grand suite together…”
Chet sniffs. “As a matter of fact, it has everything to do with that. Dr. O’Rourke here”—he shakes Harrison’s arm roughly—“was not supposed to be in the grand suite. It’s private for a reason. Only those who have reserved it and their guests of choice are allowed in there.”
Harrison whips his arm out of Chet’s grasp. “But Bianca would have suffocated if I hadn’t been there.”
“And we are incredibly grateful that you were there, Doctor. But rules must be followed. Break them”—he leers over the two of us—“and all hell breaks loose.”
I turn around. Sure enough, my sister is standing behind us, brandishing a large emerald lace fan in her gloved hand.
I cross toward her. “Rouge, I think that in consideration of the circumstances, Harr—I mean, Dr. O’Rourke—should be allowed to stay. He is my guest, after all.”
Rouge’s eyebrows twitch. “And I don’t need to tell you that employees of Aces Underground are not allowed guests.”
“You bring guests in all the time,” I return.
She curls her lips. “I’m not an employee. I’m the employer. Ergo, what I say goes.”
“Seems pretty hypocritical to me,” I say.
She unfurls her fan with a loud clack, wielding it toward me like a weapon. “Sister, you are welcome to start your own club anytime you wish. And when you do so, your rule will be law within its walls. Until then, you’re under my jurisdiction.”
I’m about to clap back with another smart remark when I realize that I need this job.
I’m working in my chosen field—or at least one adjacent to what I dreamed I’d be doing—and I make good money doing it.
I have a beautiful apartment in a safe part of the city, eat at expensive restaurants, and wear some of the finest fashions available.
And it’s all because of my sister. Because she reached out to me at my lowest point and offered me a steady gig.
So I instead close my mouth.
Rouge grins, walking a slow circle around the three of us. “Because of Dr. O’Rourke’s heroic actions, we are choosing not to involve the police. We absolutely could have him arrested because he is technically trespassing on Aces Underground property.”
“I came in because your bouncer allowed me,” Harrison snaps.
Rouge holds up a finger. “And the rules have since been clarified to Chet. They’ve been clarified to you as well, Doctor. You’ve been asked to discreetly see yourself out, yet here you still are.”
“But he deserves to stay,” I chime in.
Rouge turns her eyes to me, her eyes almost red as they sear into me. “I wonder, Bianca, how Dr. O’Rourke even knew that you were in distress in the first place.”
I open my mouth, but the words are stuck in my throat.
Why was Harrison there?
Was he spying on me?
Did he see me walk into the grand suite with Mr. Calloway? Was he jealous?
He wouldn’t have heard anything. I couldn’t make any noise after the body collapsed onto me.
I’m grateful he was there…but my sister makes a good point.
“Furthermore,” Rouge continues, “I’ve had a chance to examine the body.
It’s already begun to exhibit signs of decay.
His skin has become waxy, his eyes have clouded over, and his temperature has lowered significantly.
” She folds her fan back up and claps it into her other hand.
“He’s been deceased for an hour, perhaps longer.
” Her eyes glint with a roguish shine. “So what, dear sister, were you doing in that hour before his death was reported to me?”
Harrison and I lock our gazes on one another.
We know exactly what we were doing.
And I’m pretty sure Chet knows as well.
“I was… I was in shock,” I say after an endless pause. “I think we both were.”
Harrison nods. “We were comforting one another.”
I almost laugh at that. It’s not technically a lie. I’m much more at ease after letting Harrison’s huge cock rip through me.
Rouge purses her lips. “I see.” She runs her fingers along the ridges of her fan as she turns to Harrison.
“Nonetheless, policy is policy, Doctor. It’s nothing personal, but if I make exceptions for you, I will be expected to make exceptions for everyone else.
Aces Underground is not a charity, and people are not entitled to membership, no matter how ruggedly handsome they may be.
” She traces her free hand up and down his arm, which makes me want to smack her.
“But you’re an important man in the city.
It would not be surprising for you to one day receive an invitation to become a member in your own right. ”
I have to stifle another laugh. People are members of Aces Underground at Rouge’s pleasure, and many remarkable people in Chicago have never received an invite. Most members have some sort of exceptional power or influence that Rouge can weaponize for her own means.
While Harrison is undoubtedly a decent physician in a good hospital, he doesn’t quite fit that bill.
So unless his friend Maddox reappears out of thin air and starts bringing him to the club, this will be the last time he sees the interior of Aces Underground.
But I’ll be damned if it’s the last time I see Harrison.
I bow my head in mock submission and step out of the Green Door’s path. “Fine. Rules are rules.”
“That’s a good girl.” Rouge nods to Chet. “Escort Dr. O’Rourke to the exit.”
“Yes, my Queen.” Chet takes Harrison’s arm.
I reach into my clutch and grab a business card. The bulk of it is taken up by a color headshot, but it has my phone number and email address on it. I slip it into Harrison’s jacket pocket as Chet leads him out.
He looks back, and I extend my thumb and pinky out into a telephone sign. “Call me when you can,” I mouth silently.
He nods, his eyes fiery even as Chet drags him up the mirrored staircase and out of view.