26. Sienna
TWENTY-SIX
SIENNA
The Past
I’m in.
The adrenaline rush that came from fooling the bouncer at the front door never ceased to amaze me. Neither did my complete inability to learn from my mistakes.
I ascended the narrow staircase of Velvet Desire. The club was owned by the Callahan family and had earned a reputation for catering to the city’s underbelly.
It was rumored to be the most exclusive—or most depraved—club in New York City. A notorious club where people went when they wanted to forget their names, their inhibitions, or occasionally both.
I’d been banned from it. In fact, I’d been banned from every club associated with the Callahan name.
And no, it wasn’t a ban that would eventually be forgotten.
Tyran Callahan had made it personal after he almost caved in to this fizzling attraction brewing between us.
I was so damn close to breaking his walls and he knew it.
However, I failed, and the last time I’d shown up at his club, I’d barely made it to the front steps before the bouncer had planted himself in front of me and told me to turn around.
I asked him why, and he told me that Tyran had given him clear instructions to keep me away from him. I was flattered and hurt at the same time. That man gave me so many confusing signals.
No matter though, because I was in.
Of course, the wig helped a lot.
I ran my fingers through the long, dark waves spilling over my shoulders and glanced sideways at Kai.
“Would you recognize me?” I asked.
“No.” He shot me a wry look. “But I’ve got to tell you… This is the stupidest thing you’ve ever done.”
I rolled my eyes. “Why?”
“I just don’t get your obsession with this man.”
“Then you’ve never been kissed right,” I said.
Kai snorted. “I just think you want what you can’t have.”
My steps faltered. “Do you really think so?”
He tilted his head, watching me. “No, not really, but I do think every time this man turns you away, he fans the flames of your obsession.”
“There you go with that word again.”
“I don’t know what else to call it, Sienna.” We resumed walking. “We’ve done some crazy things in our time. Sneaking into a sex club where criminals fuck and make deals tops them all.”
I bumped my shoulder into his. “You’re just jealous because this tops our golf cart adventure.”
“You have to admit, it was less risky to drive the golf cart into a fountain with me wearing a speedo and you a bikini.”
I stopped halfway down the hallway.
Kai nearly walked into me. “What?”
I turned slowly. “Are you scared?”
“How does that even—”
“Because I don’t want to get you in trouble.”
It was his turn to roll his eyes.
“I was born in trouble. Now focus, Sienna.” He caught my elbow and led me down the hallway. “You have a mobster to seduce, and I have a distraction to find while I wait for you.”
I grinned.
Kai was my best and favorite friend. He was beautiful, shameless, and entirely willing to help me make terrible decisions.
“I still can’t believe they didn’t recognize you,” he whispered.
I smoothed the front of my dress. “I’m not. Men aren’t too bright sometimes.”
“I’m offended.”
I smiled. “You’re the exception to all of that, you know that.”
“Good save. That man,” he said, leaning closer, “is going to absolutely lose his mind over this look.”
“I sure hope so.”
“And he should be impressed at the way you’ve illegally infiltrated his phone and this club.”
“I haven’t infiltrated anything.” Then I put my index finger to my lips to tell him not to talk about that. You never knew if they had audio surveillance.
But it was exactly my hacking skills that helped me corner Tyran over the last few months.
He leaned closer and whispered, “You’ll be banned for life after this.”
I laughed under my breath. “Only if I get caught.”
Kai’s mouth twitched. “I suspect the moment he kisses you, he’ll connect the dots.”
I smacked his arm. “Then we just won’t kiss.”
He didn’t answer because we entered the large space and didn’t want to be overheard by the wrong person. Instead, we shouldered our way through the crowd.
This club wasn’t an enormous, glittering space, but it oozed with money, dark deeds, and sin.
The shades of burgundy, gold, and black dominated the room while inviting velvet couches sat at the edges, surrounding the space. And stretching along the far wall was a long bar made from black wood, its surface gleaming beneath rows of low-hanging brass lamps.
“The Callahans have excellent taste,” Kai remarked while we both glanced around, soaking it all in.
My pulse kicked hard and fast. Maybe it was because I wasn’t supposed to be here, or maybe it was the anticipation of seeing Tyran soon.
Kai nudged me. “Stop staring with those innocent wide eyes.”
“I’m just taking in the ambiance.”
“Sure you are,” he said, his tone full of sarcasm.
I turned toward him.
“Have you ever seen a place like this?” I lowered my voice. “It’s so… erotic.”
Kai’s grin widened.
“Jesus, sometimes I feel like your parents kept you too sheltered.”
“Shut up.”
I rolled my eyes and turned toward the bar. We slid onto velvet stools, then placed our elbows casually on the bar.
“I think we look like we belong here,” I whispered under my breath, looking at the glass behind the counter that reflected the room. I hoped for a glimpse of the familiar face.
“What can I get you?”
I jumped in my seat, but luckily Kai kept his cool and looked at the bartender with one of his “melt your panties” smiles.
“I’ll have a scotch, no ice. My friend will have a cola.”
“With vodka,” I added. “Vodka cola.”
Kai glared at me and waited for the bartender to disappear before he hissed under his breath, “You’re underage.”
I shrugged. “So what? I’m not drinking soda in a club like this. It’ll make me stand out.”
“Oh, because you’re so blending in,” he muttered. “That red dress and those red shoes scream hooker.”
“Thank you.”
I turned on the stool and looked over the room again.
The music thudded through the floor, low and heavy, vibrating into my bones. Bodies moved beneath the red lights. Laughter drifted from the bar. Somewhere behind us, someone shouted, and a chorus of drunken cheers answered.
However, Tyran Callahan was nowhere to be found.
The bartender came back with our drinks. Kai pulled out a stack of bills. “Don’t worry, hon. The boys over there paid for the lady and for you.”
We shared a look. He grimaced, but I smiled, took my drink, and lifted it in the air.
“Cheers,” I mouthed, then turned toward my best friend and added, “To bad decisions.”
“To your inevitable death by the mobster.”
Kai raised his glass and we clinked our glasses, then drank them empty.
I laughed.
“He’s not going to murder anyone.”
A deep voice sounded behind me. “That depends.”
My entire body went still while Kai’s eyes widened.
I slowly turned around and Tyran Callahan stood over me like a thunder cloud.
His gaze traveled over me slowly. Starting at my blood-red five-inch heels, up my bare legs that were suddenly sporting goose bumps, over my red dress, and then stopping on my wig.
Then his eyes narrowed and he locked eyes with me. “Hello, Sienna.”
My stomach dropped and I swallowed.
“Hi.”
His gaze flicked toward Kai before returning to me. “You’re banned from all my clubs.”
“No way.” I lifted my empty glass, wishing it was full so I could quench my suddenly dry mouth. “If it makes you feel better, I’m Madam Sienna tonight.”
Jesus Christ, where did that come from?
His expression darkened and he stepped closer.
“I think it’s time for a harsher lesson for you, little blondie.”
“Not a blondie.” I twirled my dark strands and smiled stupidly. “See, dark hair.”
Kai muttered beside me, “We’re going to die.”
“Did you miss me?”
He stared at me and tension stretched between us, threatening to snap like a rubber band. It would hurt like a bitch, and yet I kept smiling.
He reached up, caught a strand of my wig between two fingers, and tugged gently.
The wig shifted. “I like you better blonde.”
My stomach fluttered.
My voice was a breathless whisper. “You do?”
His smile appeared, but it was slow and predatory. All wrong, but I was too blind to see it.
“Now follow me to my office,” he rasped softly.
I looked at my friend, who was shaking his head vigorously, telling me it was a bad idea. He wasn’t wrong, but I was already sliding off the barstool.
“I’ll wait for you here,” Kai said, then looked up at Tyran. “Hurt her, and you’ll deal with me.”
Tyran didn’t even spare him a glance as his hand pressed on the small of my back, ushering me toward the door where two bodyguards blocked a narrow, dimly lit hallway with a sign that read “Private” in ugly green.
He spat something to them in what sounded like Gaelic, then urged me forward.
We passed several doors on both sides of the hallway. They were mostly private card rooms, probably some illegal gambling. Inside those rooms were men wearing expensive suits, smoking expensive cigars, and betting their fortunes while surrounded by oak and half-naked women.
But there was one room that was left cracked open, and I gasped.
Some man was getting a private lap dance, a woman wearing nothing but a thong grinding against him like her life depended on it.
I didn’t realize my steps had halted until Tyran nudged me forward, shaking his head.
We walked up the private staircase toward a single wooden door. He opened it, closed it behind us, then headed toward his desk, where he leaned against it, tucking his hands into the pockets of his suit.
And all the while, my eyes drank in his private, expensive space, with a view of Manhattan stretching beyond a wall-sized window.
The oak furniture had a comfortable, lived-in quality to it, probably because so much time was spent here.
An expensive couch sat off to one side, beside a door that appeared to lead to a private bathroom.
And then there was the pool table—which was a strange thing to have in an office.
“What do you want, Sienna?” My attention returned to the man in a three-piece suit that oozed with confidence, experience, and sex appeal.
“You.”