22. Arsen
twenty-two
Arsen
C lub X. I stare up at the black building with disdain. This is where it all started, the original club that the Hellfire Society started with. The place is still in good standing; my father made sure of that. This was his favorite place after all. I know I should head in; standing outside like some stalker isn’t the best image, nor is waiting around and letting word get back to the last two members of the society.
Heading to the door, I waltz in like I own the place, which I suppose technically I do now. Jerry, one of the day security guards, spots me, his hands raising to stop me when he realizes who I am. “Sir.” he nods, moving to the side to allow me to pass. Walking through the second set of doors, I’m hit with the scent of sex, smoke, and alcohol. The main room is dark, with soft red lights lining the room to give it a sexual feel. A stage sits in the middle of the room surrounded by the few patrons with an already naked woman swinging her hips to the music front and center. I ignore all that and head for the back hall. This hall leads to private rooms and the office. By passing all the rooms, I can hear soft moans follow me as I make my way to the last door on the left. This one can only be opened via keycode. I enter mine and hear a soft beep as it lets me in. My father’s main office is at the house, but this place was his next favorite hangout so I’m hoping to find something useful. The room is a standard-looking office. A desk, a few chairs, and an entire computer setup for surveillance, and since my father spent most of his time in the private rooms with girls, that’s all he needed.
As I take a seat at the desk, I’m a bit surprised how easy this has been so far. I was somewhat expecting James and William to have men at all the skin sites, ready to take over or something. Then again, their master plan so far hasn’t gone according to the playbook.
Now that I think about everything, I realize our fathers weren’t preparing us for new roles within the society. No, all of our “jobs” were to keep us looking the other way. Keep us from realizing their true intentions because as I sit here and start going through desk files, I’m spotting quite a few unknown businesses. I thought I knew of all the clubs and warehouses the Castro family owned and used, but I’ve found three so far that I’ve never heard of, and these are just the physical files. I shuffle through a couple more drawers, finding some disturbing photos of Henry in some compromising sexual positions. I sort of wish I could bleach my eyeballs right now. Those images will be scarred into my brain now. Gag.
Making a stack of all the files I plan to take with me, I turn to the small computer setup. There’s a tablet my father used to take work home. It allows files to get compressed and backed up in one place, so I start the process to upload all files possible. It gives me a twenty-minute timer once I hit start, so I decide to head to the bar and see if there are any rumors floating about.
Once at the bar, I order a drink and survey the room. I look for anyone trying to avoid my gaze and find one woman. Rebecca. Becca is an old side piece of mine. She thought if she could sleep with one of the bosses, she could get ahead, but it never really worked out for her. I only kept her around because she was a good fuck with a nice ass, but seeing her does nothing for me. Calling her over with a nod of my head, she hesitates before plastering on her fake-as-fuck smile and sauntering over with a sway of her hips. The girl is still pretty with big blue doe eyes, pouty lips, and a killer body, but my dick doesn’t even twitch at the thought of possibly fucking answers out of her. Not that I would even consider it now. Somehow I think if Ali found out I even thought about it for a second, she would cut off my dick.
But just thinking of my girl possibly at “home” naked and needy has my dick perking up. Fuck. Not now. I can’t have Rebecca thinking this is for her.
“Hi, Arsen. Long time no see, baby.” She bats her lashes at me as I take a sip of my drink. Her hand comes up to rest on my chest, but I snatch it midair before she can touch me with her talons. Her eyes pop wide as I tighten my hold on her wrist to the point of pain. But the thought of her touching me, leaving her scent on me, makes me want to puke.
God damn it, I’m whipped!
“Don’t touch me,” I tell her before tossing her hand away. She cradles it to her chest, her eyes watering as she stares up at me. “I need to know if there are any rumors going around.”
“W-what kind of rumors?” she asks, taking a small step back as I stand.
“You tell me.”
She shakes her head no before pausing. “There was something. A client came in a few days ago talking about how things were going to change around here. He’s a regular, but I don’t know his name or anything; he only goes by Mr. E. He was acting weird, but I figured he was drunk.”
I frown at her words. Mr. E? “Acting weird how?” I ask, curious.
“Well, he usually likes to be in control, gets a little rough, and doesn’t care what girl he has. But the last couple of times I’ve seen him, he asks one of the girls to wear a wig and a bunny mask. Gets rougher than normal, but he pays the girls extra so they usually don’t mind. But he’s been crossing lines lately. Even makes them say their name is…” She trails off in thought, but a sick feeling lands in the pit of my stomach.
“Ali?” I question, hoping I’m wrong and this is all one big awkward coincidence. Please be a coincidence.
“Yeah, that’s it. You know him?” she asks, eyeing me, but I don’t answer as I down my drink and head back to the office to check on the progress of the download. I need to get back and go through all this information because if Rebecca was telling the truth, then Ethan could be more involved than we think.
The download dings as I enter the office. Throwing the tablet and files in a backpack I found under the desk, I head for the back lot when I get a message from Cash that he is heading back soon too. Perfect. I make a beeline to a small shed structure and grin when I spot a spare bike. When the guys and I were not one-woman men, we would show up here to party but sometimes leave with different girls, so I always kept a bike here in case. Tossing the backpack on my back, I grab the keys from under the tire fender and rev the engine. With this beast, I bet I can make it back before the others for some one-on-one time with Ali.
As I race back to the old gym, something keeps wiggling at my mind. We know what our father’s play is. They want us dead. But if Ethan is now a player in this mess, what does he get out of all this, and what is his sick fascination with our girl?