Arranged love

EMILEE

AN HOUR LATER, we’re walking into Seven Deadly Sins. The music is pounding, and the place is packed. I’m not surprised. The one in Chicago was always the same. It was in an industrial part of town, with nothing but abandoned warehouses surrounding it, but everyone knew what it was and where it was located. Sometimes I’d have to text Josh and tell him that I was there, and he would let me in through the back because of the long line around the building.

Grabbing Jasmine’s hand, I drag her to the bar. She hangs on to Haven. Pushing our way through, I come up to the bar and see Josh over in the far corner with his back to me. He’s bent over pouring alcohol into a glass.

I lean over the bar and scream as loud as I can. “JOSH!” Hoping he hears me.

He straightens and spins around. His green eyes meet mine, and a huge smile spreads across his face. “Lee!” He shouts my nickname. He pushes up the door at the end of the bar, comes around, and wraps his arms around me, picking my feet up off the floor. “Oh my God.” He places me back down. “What in the fuck are you doing in New York?” he asks loudly over the music.

“I could ask you the same thing.” I laugh. It’s nice to see him. He was more of a friend than a fuck. We hung out all the time. We’d go shopping, to dinner, movies. He was my best friend. My only friend in Chicago. Seeing him now reminds me of how much I miss him.

“I’m here for the weekend. But may be moving here,” he answers.

“That’s awesome,” I say not really sure what to do now or how to act. I never told him I was leaving. Or about my mother. I just quit answering his calls, and he quit reaching out.

“Did you move here?” he asks.

I shake my head. “Just here with some friends.” I gesture to Jasmine and Haven.

He introduces himself and then he asks us what we’d like to drink before returning back behind the bar. Moments later, he’s placing three shots of Crown in front of me. Apparently, we’re here to get fucked up if you ask Jasmine. She had placed our order.

We each down ours, and she’s ordering more.

TITAN

I stand in the middle of this freak show. When it comes to sex, I’ll try anything on a woman, but I draw a line when it comes to one wanting to parade me around like a dog on a leash with a gag in my mouth. I can’t say that for the others who are at Kink tonight.

We’ve been here for over three hours and gotten nowhere.

Nite, Luca, and Avery are upstairs at the nightclub keeping lookout. Bones, Tristan, and I are downstairs. He was able to get us down here. We had to act interested. Well, I did. I think Bones is into this scene. I can’t say I’d bring Emilee here because I don’t like the idea of strangers watching us. That’s why we have The Palace back at Kingdom. It gives the client and their queen privacy. Here, you have a lot of eyes on you.

Like right now, we stand in a room. The silver plaque above the door we entered said the Gallery. We stand in the back, up against the wall. There are five rows of seats in front of us, ten seats in each row. A glass is all that separates us from a room. A woman enters a door in the back.

She comes to the center and removes her black robe. She’s completely naked underneath. She looks to be early thirties. Her black hair is down and over her shoulders, hiding her rather small tits. She comes to the center of the room and spreads her legs wide. There are ropes secured to the silver rings on the floor. She places each ankle in one and pulls them tight. Then she looks up at the two ropes that hang from the ceiling. One by one, she secures her own wrists in them. Once she accomplished what she wants, she stares at us through the glass.

“Can she see us?” Bones asks softly.

“No,” Tristan answers. “The glass is a two-way mirror.”

“Why is she just standing there?” I wonder.

“She is waiting for someone to come play with her.”

I look over at him. “You’re joking?”

He shakes his head, watching her. “Nope.”

“What if no one goes in there?” Bones asks.

“Oh, that is never a problem here in Kink. That’s why the members show up every night. There is always someone willing to play when a toy is offered.”

And sure enough, the back door opens, and two guys enter. The woman tries to look over her shoulder to see, but she isn’t able to see them due to how her arms are secured above her head.

The guys begin to undress … “I’m out,” I say and push off the wall. I exit the room and into the hallway. It’s very dim in Kink. There’s music playing but nothing like a club. It’s soft. I’m guessing they want you to hear the men and women moaning more than the songs. It’s a part of the appeal.

The door opens behind me as Bones and Tristan exit.

“Your guy spent most of his time in the Gallery a few nights ago,” Tristan says. “If he shows, he’ll go there first.”

“I’ll wait out here in the hall to see if he goes in there,” I say, not in the mood to look at dicks tonight.

“Why don’t we ping the number?” Bones offers. “He may already be here. We haven’t checked all the rooms.”

“We did earlier today,” Tristan answers, signaling to a bartender. “There was no activity. He’s either thrown it away or had it off.”

A cute blonde behind the bar begins to pour three glasses of scotch.

“I still think something is fishy about this,” I say through clenched teeth.

“There has to be an explanation,” Bones agrees. “And we’ll figure it out. We just need to find him. And fast.”

Tristan walks up to the bar and takes the glasses of scotch the blonde made for him. She gives him a big smile and her white teeth glow from the blacklights around the bar. She winks at him.

“Thanks, love,” he tells her.

“Anytime, T.”

“I can’t believe I’ve been coming to New York forever and didn’t know this place existed,” Bones says, taking a sip of his scotch. Then he looks at me. “Do you think Mr. Bianchi is a member here?”

I shrug. “Not sure why he wouldn’t be. The guy runs the fucking mafia.” Luca’s dad is what you would consider any member of the mafia. A ruthless motherfucker. He’s been fucking around on Luca’s mother for years. He’s always had a side piece. They don’t marry for love in the mafia. Well, most don’t. Luca just happened to marry a woman he loved. But there were other reasons to that as well. “At least now you know about it. You can bring Lola here when you come visit her.”

He shakes his head. “She wouldn’t come here. Plus, I ended that.”Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

“When?” I ask.

“About an hour ago.” He takes a drink of his scotch.

“Does that have to do with Jasmine?” I ask.

He snorts. “No. Lola called me and informed me she had planned us a trip for next weekend. We were going to England. She wanted me to meet her parents.”

Tristan whistles. “How long were you two fucking?”

“Three months,” Bones answers. “Two months too long.”

Tristan pulls his cell out of his pocket and unlocks his screen. After reading a text, he puts it back. “No sign of your guy upstairs.”

I run my free hand through my hair. “Maybe we should go back to the suite and regroup. Try to ping his cell.” We still have the phone of the bastard who we killed a few days ago. We can dig through it to see what else we can find. Plus, as much as I don’t care for this place, it has made me horny for my girl.

“Can you get us back in tomorrow night if we need it?” I ask.

He nods.

“I’m buying a membership,” Bones says before throwing back what’s left of his scotch.