40. Chapter 40 #3
Beside me, Lachlan went completely still, but I kept my attention fixed on anything but him. Across the table, Nik slowly lowered his phone while Lacey hid a smile behind her champagne glass.
His pale eyes settled on her. “Finish your drink.”
She blinked. “Excuse me?”
“I’m giving you thirty seconds.”
A laugh burst out of her. “Is that a threat?”
“No. That’s generosity.”
Lucian’s attention moved from the screen to Scarlett.
“You three planned this.”
Scarlett’s eyes widened. “Planned what?”
“Scar.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Lucian pushed his glass away and stood. “We’re leaving.”
“Already?”
“Aye, and if we stay much longer, I’m going to stop caring how many people are watching.”
Scarlett’s smile disappeared beneath a flush that spread rapidly over her face.
She was on her feet less than five seconds later.
Lacey laughed as Nik stood beside her. “You boys are terribly easy.”
Nik slid a hand around the back of her neck and drew her close enough to speak against her ear. Whatever he said made her breath hitch.
“Oh.”
He took her hand.
“Goodnight.”
“Have fun,” Lacey called to me as Nik led her away.
Scarlett followed Lucian but stopped long enough to lean down beside me.
“Don’t send the good ones too early.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
She grinned, kissed my cheek, then hurried after her husband.
I watched the two couples disappear along the balcony.
That left Lachlan and me sitting alone in the booth.
He still hadn’t said anything, so I finally turned toward him.
He locked his phone and slipped it into the inside pocket of his jacket.
“That was a mistake, Mouse.”
“Sending you a Valentine’s picture?”
“Thinking you can sit beside me looking pleased with yourself after sending me that and walk away without consequences.”
I leaned closer. “Who said I wanted to?”
His hand landed high on my thigh.
Heat shot straight through me.
For a second, I thought our evening at Xyst might end exactly as Lucian had threatened his and Scarlett’s would.
Then Lachlan pulled his hand away and stood.
Damn.
“I need to get something from the safe upstairs before we go.”
“Now?”
“Aye.”
I finished the last sip of my wine and placed the glass on the table. “All right.”
He held out his hand, and I took it.
The farther we moved from the main floor, the quieter Xyst became.
The private elevator carried us above the balcony levels, and when the doors opened again, the pounding music had softened to a distant vibration beneath my feet.
A sleek reception area stretched ahead of us.
Aria sat behind the desk in a fitted black suit, reviewing something on a tablet. She lifted her head when we stepped out.
Her eyes immediately found me, and for half a second, the professional expression slipped.
I saw the amusement.
“Happy Valentine’s Day,” she said.
“Thank you for the spa and everything else,” I said, laughing softly.
“You’re very welcome.”
Lachlan glanced between us. “What am I missing?”
“Nothing,” Aria and I said together.
His suspicion deepened.
Aria returned calmly to her tablet.
“The office is clear.”
Lachlan led me down the short hallway and opened a door at the end.
The room beyond was much larger than I expected. A long conference table occupied the center, with a broad desk positioned near a large window. A small private bar sat off to one side.
From up here, I could see the bar, the dance floor, the balconies curling around the enormous room, and moving lights sweeping across hundreds of people below.
“Is this one-way glass?”
“Aye.”
I walked closer.
“So they can’t see us.”
“Not unless someone screws with the settings.”
I rested one hand against the cool glass.
The view made the scale of the club even more impressive.
“You can watch everything without anyone realizing it.”
“Comes in handy.”
I turned toward him. “This club is so much more than I’d envisioned. But it suits you so well. Truly amazing.”
He stepped close enough to brush his knuckles along my jaw.
“I need two minutes.”
“For what?”
“Something in the back safe.”
I glanced toward the hall beyond the office.
“Secret mafia business?”
“Very secret.”
“Should I be worried?”
“Aye.”
I laughed.
He kissed me, brief and maddeningly chaste considering the photograph sitting on his phone. I had to admit I was a little disappointed by his reaction, especially considering how Lucian and Nik had been affected.
Then he walked through a door near the rear of the office and disappeared.
I turned back to the glass.
From here, the club looked completely different than it did from inside the crowd. Every moving piece became visible—the bartenders fixing drinks, security circulating along the edges, servers climbing the balcony stairs, patrons flowing between tables and the dance floor.
I was still taking everything in when the office door opened behind me.
“That view has cost a few men a great deal of money.”
I turned.
The man who entered had thick salt-and-pepper hair and a presence that made the room feel smaller around him. His dark suit fit perfectly, understated and expensive. He closed the door behind him and approached without hurry.
I straightened instinctively.
He was older than the other men I’d met through Lachlan, and there was something about his quiet authority that made me careful before he’d said a word.
He stopped in front of me.