14 Rich
Once Kimber is home and settled in the following day, I go to the club. She said she has work later tonight, which I’m assuming means the store since she didn’t mention Sins.
Tyson grins when I walk in, and I notice his partner isn’t around. “Rich! I hear Vinny’s going to hire you for a new voyeur room. They want some new additions by Christmastime.”
Blinking, I match his pace as we walk into the main room. It’s a little busier than expected for a weekday afternoon. “Don’t they need you to build it?”
He shrugs. “The room’s already built - they just want to modify it. Emeric mentioned it earlier.”
I nod. Updating a room is the last thing on my mind right now after this past weekend, but it’s a good reason to speak to one of the owners. “Are they in? Jo, Vinny?”
“Jo’s upstairs somewhere,” he says, tucking his hands into his pockets. “She’s hyper-focused right now, so I’d ask her about the room later.”
“Christmas is only two months away.”
He grins again, winking. “There’s not too much to modify.”
I catch his arm when he turns away, and he shoots me a curious look. “There’s a few attorneys who play here, aren’t there?”
Tyson blinks, looking thoroughly perplexed by the conversation shift. He reaches up and rubs the back of his head, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah, a couple. David and Myla, and there’s Addison but she kept talking to me about probate yesterday. What do you need?”
My tongue drags across my teeth, my mind screaming to stay out of it. “A defense attorney.”
“Oh.” Tyson wiggles his eyebrows, glancing around.
I know who David is; he’s been a member forever.
If I remember right, the girl Tyson mentioned is his partner, and I sold them a very custom, very lavish, choker set last year.
I don’t know her very well though. “David then. Myla’s personal injuries or something. ”
Nodding, I glance around. “Is he here?”
“They’re attorneys, dude,” Tyson says with a laugh. “Check back in a couple hours.”
“Great,” I say, my gaze shifting when the door to the office opens.
I spot Jo’s trademark strawberry blond hair, and she’s moving at a breakneck pace across the room to speak with Callie.
The two lean in towards each other, and my focus shifts.
“By the way, go talk to Kimber sometime. She’s lonely. ”
“You want me to swing by and talk to Kimber,” Tyson clarifies slowly, and I shoot him a look. “We’re buddies, but that sounds like girl talk. I’m good for gossip and punny jokes.”
I sigh. “Well, who does she hang out with here then? She’s been in her head too much lately.”
“Dude.” Tyson grins, crossing his arms. “Something going on with you two?”
I shrug. Kimber has more of a presence at S I knew all of that before she started. “You won’t tell me about what happened for you to want to revoke her membership-”
“It’s a privacy thing,” she interrupts, shaking her head. “I don’t know why I need to explain this to you, Richard. We’ve known each other long enough. I cannot allow someone who could cause issues into the club.”
I grit my teeth, taking a breath before I start again. Now I almost wish Vinny were here; I’m used to arguing with him. “You’ve let in problematic people in the past.”
“And once we know someone is a danger to our members, we remove them,” she says, narrowing her eyes.
“That’s why our guards are all privately hired.
We want them to be able to handle anything that goes wrong.
If she wants to discuss it, that’s Kimber’s decision.
You are neither her partner nor her spokesperson, and I think she’d be offended that you’re stepping on her toes. ”
“Your guards are meant to protect the people in the club,” I say carefully, well aware Jo isn’t going to budge on explaining anything.
Dragging my tongue across my teeth, I hope she feels like listening instead of turning around to confront Kimber about what the hell I’m doing butting in.
“Kimber lives for the experiences here. She wouldn’t do something to purposefully jeopardize that.
If you take this safe haven from her, you will do more harm than good. ”
Jo sits back, tapping her chin. “What do you know about what happened?”
“More than you do,” I say, and she shrugs and doesn’t argue. Jo’s looking at it from the legal side, from the business half of her that needs to protect the club she’s built. “Brynne made a choice. She’s the part of Kimber that she tries to forget about.”
“I won’t pretend Brynne and Kimber are different people,” she replies.
“Brynne Kimber is her name. They are one in the same person. Running from the past never works out. If she was the victim of something, and I’m not saying she is, then there will be a court document to prove it and there will be no reason she can’t come here.
We just need proof, and Kimber knows that.
I’m not going to take anything from a loyal member and an old friend unless I have to. ”
I blow out a breath. This isn’t really what I wanted to hear, but Jo sounds less upset than she did on the phone when she called Kimber. “Don’t cut her off yet. I’ll let her know to get you what you need so she can come back around as she pleases.”
Once I tell her that I spoke to Jo about this.
She hesitates, cocking her head as she watches me.
I do my best to keep my gaze on her face, but it’s hard when all those scars are glaring at me.
They are mostly little lines, but they are all over her skin.
They are more prominent than the piercings in her cheeks, which is saying something.
The only thing that’s really changed about Jo is…
I lift a brow. “You’re not wearing your hats.”
She offers me a strained grin. “No cover-ups either. I don’t want to hide anything about myself anymore.”
Nodding, I lean back in the chair, switching topics. Usually, if I can talk to Jo for a few and soften her up she’s easier to convince. She’s already friendlier than she was with Kim on the phone. “Where’s Vinny?”
Something flickers across her gaze, and she fights back a smile. “Home. We were gone for a long time and there are still some matters to attend to.”
“Of course. You seem different somehow.”
“I’m happy,” she says slowly, and this time the smile breaks through. “It just took longer than I thought.”
I don’t know exactly what that means, but Jo seems more relaxed the longer we talk.
It’s a drastic change from December last year when she called me in a panic about overstocking before they had to leave.
She’s calmer now, more comfortable in her scarred skin, and she doesn’t seem like she’s looking over her shoulder so much anymore.
Even with a scary husband like Vinny she always seemed worried about something.
Jo blows out a breath. “I like Kimber. I know she’s had issues with some of our members, but for the most part I do like her.
She knows that. I just can’t bend the rules on safety for one person.
I need her to get me what was requested, and then we can gloss this over.
I doubt she purposefully hurt someone unless it was deserved. ”
It’s as close to telling me the truth as she’s going to get. I’m itching to see whatever the court document says, but Kimber would probably lose it if I asked. She seems pretty torn up about the whole thing.
Jonah.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask about him, but I just got Jo in a good mood and don’t need to set her on edge again. If there’s something to learn about Jonah, I can ask David. He’s the next person on my to-do list.
“Go see Kimber,” Jo says knowingly, snapping me out of my thoughts. She’s moving on to another stack of papers, a grin tugging at her lips. “Tell her I say hello, and I look forward to seeing her back at the club soon.”