Chapter 24 Daniel
Chapter twenty-four
Daniel
Reluctantly, when I drop my girls back off at their house, I’m forced to say ‘goodbye’ to the two loves of my life.
Irritation simmers just beneath my skin.
I know I need to be patient. I understand her hesitation, and I’m trying to remind myself to be patient.
But I’m tired of this. I’m ready to be with them.
I’ve waited years to be with Nell again, and every time I get to see Danny or FaceTime with her, the more I’m ready to move both of them into my house for good.
A week of texting and calling and FaceTiming later, I’m at the club again.
The White Envelope doesn’t hold the same appeal for me as it did. I’d used the club as a way to keep myself busy and my mind off of the woman I let walk away all those years ago. Now it’s just another thing keeping me away from my girls and the life I want for us.
At my desk, I open the email from the PI I hired to look into Nell.
He’s the same one I used to try to find her all those years ago.
But now, with an address, he had enough to find her and start his investigation.
I should feel bad about spying on her, but I’m so desperate to be with her, I’ll use every advantage I can get.
The report doesn’t paint a good picture, and my stomach sours.
Born March 15th, to Hall and Samantha Sills.
Mom skipped town only a few months later.
No contact. Father lived paycheck to paycheck, renting a rambler on the sketchier side of town.
Nell graduated high school with honors but never applied to any colleges.
When she was a teenager, her dad married Genevieve, a young widow.
Shortly after, he bought the house they were in now, but financially he was underwater.
A few years later, he took out a second mortgage.
Several personal loans and lines of credit that were luckily in his name only, so his debt wasn’t inherited by Gen.
Cruises, expensive trips, designer purchases. Honestly, if the cancer hadn’t taken him, he was only a few months away from bankruptcy.
Obviously, the report doesn’t say whether Gen knew about their financial situation or if Hall had taken out all these loans without her, but unease slides through my veins.
Her sisters had been overly interested in my family and upbringing.
Maybe they were used to a certain lifestyle and were trying to finagle their way back into it.
Cass knocks on my open door, and I look up, rubbing my eyes.
“You have two guests at the front door asking for you by name?” she asks, zero judgement in her tone. Cass, or Cassidy, can be a hard ass when she needs to be, but she’s the kind of friend who would die, or kill for you. She’s a breed of her own.
I exit out of the email and try to push aside any of the trepidation that threatens to overwhelm me.
The family dinner, the lack of Nell and Danny in my life, a rose-glasses-free look into her history and now mystery visitors had to be locked in a box inside my brain to be dissected later.
After all, I’m a businessman, and if someone’s on the outside of the club, it means they’re not members but maybe want to be.
Most of our members have to be nominated and vetted thoroughly before we extend the invitation.
But whoever it is, I’m always able to charm them.
I open the front door and find Chastity and Grace standing in the cold, thick fur coats wrapped around themselves.
“Oh, Daniel! Just the man we were looking for,” Chastity says, and they slide past me and into the foyer.
“Chastity. Grace. How are you two?” I ask as they both stick their cheeks out to me, expecting a cheek-kiss in greeting.
I fight an eye roll but hold them both on the shoulders and oblige.
It always seemed like a ploy by new money to seem more European and traveled.
“What are you doing here?” I ask as they hand their coats off to Nina behind the counter, revealing the expensive, tight gowns they’re wearing.
“We did a little Googling,” Grace chimes in, waving her fingers in front of her as if she’s typing.
“...and discovered that you were one of the owners of this gorgeous club.” She coos as she looks around the small foyer.
The building is old and undeniably beautiful, but she can’t see a thing from in here.
Chastity slides up to my slide, looping an arm through mine. Grace slides her hand into the crook of my other arm. “... and we were hoping you were working tonight so we could beg you for a tour.”
My molars gnash gently before I paste on my professional smile.
Nell would want me to have grace with her sisters, no matter how I feel.
“Of course.”
Maybe I can give them a quick tour and show them out. They’re probably just curious.
“Nina, would you find me two NDAs, please,” I ask, walking up to the reception desk. In a flash, two forms lay on the desk between us.
“NDAs? We don’t know those. We’re family,” Grace coos, running an unwanted hand down my chest.
“Standard protocol. No one gets in without one.”
They make small sounds of protest, but sign them, nonetheless.
I wait for confirmation from Nina that they were, in fact, signed correctly before I push aside the curtain that leads to the Green Room.
I’ve given this tour thousands of times, so I break into my speech. Only a little faster and a little more clipped than normal.
I explain the Green Room, the rules, the vetting process, the Red Room, the themed rooms, the mission behind The Envelope, the management structure before offering them each a drink. Grace asks for a Negroni while Chastity asks for a French 75. I fight the eye roll.
Old money can smell new money. Both old and new money can smell no money.
And that’s what these girls smell like. They may look the part - designer gowns and fancy drinks - but the way their eyes hungrily search the crowd for someone of importance, the way they arch their backs to highlight their bosoms, the way they completely bulldozed their way into an exclusive club without invitation tells me they don’t have the society skills or decorum of anyone who has experience in these circles.
I’m not one to judge anyone’s socio-economical experience and backgrounds.
In fact, we have several members who we’ve sponsored their memberships because they couldn’t afford the hefty price of admission.
And the only reason we price the general membership so high is that people who have more to lose tend to follow the rules better.
Give them the benefit of the doubt, I tell myself. They might not be important to you, but they are to Nell.
Hopefully, they don’t become regular members, though, because I’m not really keen on seeing my future sisters-in-law naked.
When I return, they take their drinks gratefully and sip, their eyes still scanning the thin crowd. It’s still early.
Chastity turns towards me, and her tits rub against my arm. I stiffen but glue my smile to my face.
“Why don’t you show us some of the rooms?” she suggests, and I’m not all that convince the boob rub was accidental.
That is typically part of the tour, and maybe if I show them the rooms I can convince them to leave sooner.
“Right this way,” I say, holding my arm out and motioning to the dark hallway that leads to the rooms.
“So, Nell said she was working here as a cleaner? Isn’t that wild?” Grace asks, an obvious flirtation to her voice.
I open my mouth to respond, but Chastity beats me to it. “Can you imagine cleaning up... bodily fluids? So gross. I could never.”
“Of course not. That’s what the cleaners are for, though,” Grace replies, and irritation creeps up my spine. It’s so goddamn obvious to me how they see Nell as a second-class citizen. How they see her as not as good as them when it couldn’t be further from the truth.
I know it’s not fair to compare. Nell grew up with a single parent on a blue-collar income. Chastity and Grace probably grew up with more and found themselves struggling financially as a family. I grew up wealthy, shunned it all, and built my own wealth. Everyone comes from different backgrounds.
But fuck, Nell’s character shines so much brighter than these two women in front of me.
Her softness, her humility, her sacrifice, her work ethic.
Her willingness to do anything and everything it took to take care of the family that she had left, even when she wasn’t appreciated for her efforts.
She did it with a smile on her face because it was the right thing to do.
My protective instincts fire up, wanting to defend Nell’s choices in jobs, but the other part of me - the part that knows how important family is to Nell - shuts me up.
I shake away my thoughts and continue the tour.
“This block of rooms has the standard setup - a bed, dry bar, and ensuite bathroom with a toy cabinet. Rooms ten through fifteen have more BDSM themes. Fifteen through seventeen have thrones. And rooms seventeen through twenty are voyeur rooms, with two-way and one-way mirrors.”
Chastity slips into an empty room, Grace following with a giggle, and I’m forced to follow them - both as a good host and to make sure they don’t do anything that will get us sued. How someone could hurt themselves on a vibrator, I don’t know, but I’m sure these girls could find a way.
Uncomfortable with the situation I find myself in, I clear my throat before continuing the tour.
“The mini-fridge holds water, ice, and cold towels. This cabinet contains a variety of toys, all in their original packaging. The cleaning crew comes through every night to launder the sheets and disinfect surfaces, as you know.”
The pair hold hands in front of their mouths and titter with giggles. It annoys me probably more than it should.
It’s when Chastity spins and, hooking a thumb under her gown strap... when Grace closes the door to the room behind me... that I know I’m in trouble. Chastity pops a hip in what I’m sure she thinks is a seductive move before dragging both gown straps down her arms, letting it pool at her waist.
Grace steps into me, her chest to my back, running her hands up my arms, when I finally lose my shit.
A voice in the back of my mind reminds me that this is Nell’s family - to handle them with kid gloves, even if I want to “This is Sparta” kick Chastity away from me.
Chastity opens her mouth to say something provocative, I’m sure, but I’m beyond done with these two.
Fury ignites in my veins as the reality of what this really is sinks in.
They saw my Rolex and heard my family name at dinner.
They see a wealthy business owner. And they’re willing to seduce their sister’s boyfriend - at least I’d like to think I’m her boyfriend - in order to steal him away.
I need these women away from me - away from the Envelope - five freaking minutes ago.
I lift my gaze to the ceiling, side-step Grace, step out into the hallway and shout for Antonio. Luckily, his post at the entry to the hallway is only a dozen or so feet from the room we’re in.
“Please escort these two women from the premises. They are not allowed back in at any time. Put them on The Blacklist,” I say, struggling to maintain a calm exterior. I don’t need rumors flying about what happened tonight, but I also will not stand for this.
“Oh, Daniel. Is that really necessary?” Chastity coos next to me, running her hand down my arm.
“It’s Mr. King to you. And yes.”
I walk away, knowing Antonio can handle two women by himself. In fact, I hear him start as my footsteps take me away from them. “Ladies, we can do this the easy way or the hard way...”
When I get back to my office, I shut the door behind me, plop on my couch and hold my head in my hands.
I’m angry at myself for putting myself in that position - of being alone with two women in a room in a sex club.
I’m angry that I’ll have to tell Nell what they tried.
I know it’ll hurt her, and I fucking hate that.
I hate that I haven’t convinced Nell to start a life with me yet.
I hate how little I get to be with them.
I hate that her sisters are such terrible people.
I hate how obviously manipulative her stepmother is.
When my phone buzzes, and I see a text message from Nell, I can’t bring myself to answer it. I need to calm down first. To figure out a game plan.
I promised to put both her and Danny first, and I need to figure out how to do that after tonight.
Instead, I text Declan, Serenity, Cassidy and Harrison to meet me in my office and tell them everything.