CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
COLT
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Telling Riley I love her is the most terrifying thing I’ve done in my life. My heart is on my sleeve right now, and I have no idea what is going to happen next.
We’re standing outside the terminal as people circle around us, staring and making comments about getting out of the way and getting a room.
We ignore them all.
The only thing I’m focused on is Riley’s beautiful blue eyes.
I know she loves me.
I saw it in her eyes in the video on Bow Bridge and each time she’s climaxed around my cock. We’ve been falling in love since the moment we met.
Online and in person.
I can see it all clearly now.
Yes, knowing she’s carrying my baby has changed everything, but it wouldn’t make me love her if I didn’t. It just slapped me in the face and made me see sense.
“Say something.” I smile.
“I’m scared.”
“Fuck. Me too.” I blow out my breath. “Really fucking scared.”
Then I almost cry a tear myself when she slams into my chest and wraps her arms around me.
Thank fuck.
“You’re not forgiven,” she mumbles into my chest. “Not yet.”
“Okay?” I kiss her forehead when she looks up at me. “Where do we go from here?”
“Um, I don’t know. We live miles apart. We have companies, families, friends, lives in different countries.”
I nod.
I don’t have all the answers, and we’re going to take it step by step.
“I don’t know how we do this, baby. I just know that I want to. Tell me that you do, too. Then we’ll go from there.”
Leaning her head on my chest again, she nods. “No marrying other women. That’s a good start.”
I smile.
I can’t help but think of Jack in this moment. After he died, we all agreed we would only marry for love.
Doing the show was breaking that vow.
The likelihood of falling in love was pretty low, and what an idiot I was when the woman I want was standing—as she is now–right in front of me.
She’s in my arms.
This time, I’m not letting go.
“Come home with me. I’ll arrange the jet to take you home in a day or two.”
Worried eyes lift to mine.
“I know I need to earn your trust again, and I promise from here on in, I will be completely honest.” I draw in a deep breath, knowing I have one more thing to tell her.
To show her.
“Which is why I need you to stay for at least another day. I have something to show you.”
Riley’s eyes go wide.
I hope it’s not the last nail in the coffin and I lose her forever.
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AFTER A GOOD night’s sleep, I call my doctor and we get a pregnancy test done.
It’s positive.
We both agree it happened in Australia, given the fact she felt off when she arrived in the United States. Meaning Riley is no more than two weeks pregnant.
I invite her to stay for Sebastian’s wedding, but she declines.
“I need to get home and back to work.” Riley says.
In that moment I turn into a caveman, wanting to wrap her in bubble wrap, locking her in a bedroom to ensure she’s protected.
“You sure working outside is good for the baby?”
Riley bursts into laughter.
Groaning, I stand up from the sofa and walk into the kitchen. She follows and wraps her arms around me.
“I’m sorry. I love that you care.”
She hasn’t said she loves me back.
I’m pretending it’s not bothering me, but it is. I ripped open my heart to tell her how I’ve felt, and despite the intensity with which we made love last night, I still want her to say it.
“Okay,” Riley leans her hip against the bench. “Are you going to show me this thing?”
The thing.
The club.
She needs to know who I am and everything about me. I suspect that’s what’s holding her back.
I nod and take a step closer, pushing my lips against hers.
“Keep an open mind,”
“Jesus, Colt. If you have a secret family, I will kill you.”
I chuckle. “No, it’s not that.”
“Alien spaceship? Are you Superman?”
“Some women have called me that.” I smirk and walk across the room to get my phone and keys. “Come on, gorgeous.”
“The ego. Our child better be a girl.” Riley follows behind, and I shoot her a grin.
We head down to the garage and climb into the Lotus. As we drive through the streets of Manhattan and my stomach curdles with nerves, I take Riley’s hand and squeeze.
“Your nerves are making me nervous.”
“Sorry,” I glance over.
“Can’t you just tell me?”
I shake my head.
I could, but my instincts tell me it’s better if she sees it in person.
One bar at a time.
“Oh!” Riley exclaims when she sees the Obsidian sign. “This is your club.”
I smile.
God, I hope she is okay with all of this.
I’ve never cared what anyone thought about my choice of industry. Even my parents’ judgement has never mattered.
I do care now.
Parking, I round the vehicle and open the door.
“Why do I need to keep an open mind? Are the girls topless or something?” Riley laughs as I take her hand.
When I don’t respond and lead her towards the entrance, I feel her stiffen.
“Colt—”
“Afternoon, Mr. Winters,” the security greets me and pulls open the large black door.
I glance down. “It’s okay.”
Riley has gone a little pale.
We walk inside and she relaxes. “Oh. This is nice.” She grins up at me and walks around. “Nice décor.”
The public bar has high-quality features from top to bottom. The lighting itself cost me in the six figures.
I get her a glass of lemonade, her drink of choice these days, and I opt not to have one. Maybe so I have two free hands to catch her if she tries to run from me.
We walk around and move closer to the rear of the bar where the door that connects the two bars is located.
“You had me worried,” Riley slaps my chest.
I grab her hand. “There’s one more area.”
Her eyes lock with mine as I pull out a sheet of paper and pen. “Before I show you, I need you to sign this NDA to ensure what you are about to see is kept confidential.”
She swallows.
“So not a spaceship.”
I shake my head. Neither of us is joking around now.
“Colt...”
“It’s okay, but my agreement with my members forces me to have you sign this.”
“Okay.”
Trusting me, she signs on the dotted line and draws in a deep breath.
I nod at the security standing in front of the black door, and he reaches for the discreet handle and pulls it open.
“Mr. Winters.”
“Thank you,” I take Riley’s hand, and we walk in together.
There is a short hall before you see inside the club. The music is more erotic, the lights warmer, the décor tones a mix of black and red.
“Welcome to the Obsidian Club, as opposed to the bar,” I clarify. “This is an exclusive space where very wealthy customers come to enjoy themselves—”
“That woman is naked.” Riley grabs my arm but doesn’t look away.
I let it all sink in.
She’s silent, pressing into my side, whether aware or not.
My arm loops around her, my hand gripping her hip as my heart fucking pounds.
Don’t leave me, please.
“What is this?”
“You know what it is,” I say, because Riley is not na?ve.
Our eyes meet and she turns to me just as I cup her face.
“I couldn’t tell you. I can’t tell anyone unless they are a member.”
“Do you fuck girls here?”
“I have.” I admit. “In the past.”
Her eyes dart away as she repeats what I said. “In the past.” It’s a whisper, as if loading the words into her memory and working out how she feels about them.
Thump, thump, thump.
My blood pressure is rising as I try to be patient.
“I haven’t been with anyone else since the moment we met.” I lead her eyes back to mine. “I have no interest. This is business to me now, nothing more. I have a manager running the place, and if it bothers you, we can talk about it.”
“This is a sex club.”
I nod.
“Why me?”
My lips stretch into a soft smile. “I don’t know. You are my missing jigsaw puzzle Riley. I promise I’ll never lie to you again. I have been a playboy for a long time, but you’ve tamed me.”
“I did no such thing.”
“Maybe I tamed myself, because I don’t want to live another day knowing you don’t belong to me.”
I wipe the tear which pools and slips out.
“I do.” Riley sniffs.
“I know, baby.” I pull her against my chest. “You have always belonged to me.”
“Not sure I can be okay with this.”
“That’s fine. It’s a bar. I can close it, sell it, whatever. You and the baby are my priority.”
“I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You aren’t. But I’m going to marry you, Riley Scott. You are going to be my wife. I want you to trust me and be happy.”
“Don’t you dare propose to me in a sex club, Colt Winters?”
I grin so big. “That wasn’t a no.”
She slaps my chest, and I take her hand and kiss her with the force of all my love.
Then I scoop her up into my arms and carry her out to my office where I drop her to the floor and kiss her again.
“You wanted to see where I worked. This is one of my offices.”
Pressing into me, she glances around.
“You want to have sex on your desk, don’t you?”
God, yes.
This woman knows me well.