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“Good point. Let me start over. When you came into his life, you turned it upside down in a hot minute. I’ve never seen Pax fall so fast and so hard, period. He broke every single one of his stupid rules to be with you, and for Pax, that says a lot. And when he failed to protect you, and literally had a hand in bringing danger to your doorstep, he couldn’t forgive himself. And I don’t know how to help him do that. I don’t think I can. It has to be you. He’s a mess without you, Diamond. Truthfully, I can barely stand the guy these days.”
“I don’t know what I can do, Jase. I honestly don’t. What am I supposed to do? Get a room there and follow him around like a lost puppy until he agrees to speak with me? I don’t think so, and it would be too painful to be there anyway. Vegas was a good chapter in my life for many years. The goal was to hide in plain sight while getting over my mother’s death. The goal has been accomplished. It’s time for a new chapter.”
“I agree that it’s time for a new chapter, but I don’t think it needs to be here in LA.”
“I’m not going back to Vegas, Jase. I’m not. There is nothing for me there. No family, no place to stay, no boyfriend, and no job.”
“What if I helped you with two out of four and gave you a job at Aubergine again?”
“You fired me.”
“That was then and this is now. Think of it as a strategic move in the game of life. I have a plan.”
She shouldn’t consider even hearing him out, but he was being so sweet, and he had a lot of good points. And he was Pax’s best friend. And dammit, she just wanted to know. Where was the harm in hearing the plan? Just because she listened didn’t mean she had to participate, right?
“Okay, fine,” she agreed reluctantly. “Tell me your plan.”
Jason’s face broke into a huge grin. He leaned forward and began to whisper.
* * *
“What?” Pax barked into his phone.
“I need you to bounce at Aubergine tonight, man. Jerry got food poisoning from some bad sushi or something.”
“Pay your employees better. Then maybe they could afford the good sushi, and you wouldn’t have this problem. I’m busy.”
He could hear his friend’s teeth grinding on the other end of the line. “Dude, you are an ass. You know we pay Aubergine employees only fifty cents less then you pay over there, so shove it up your ass. May I remind you that Aubergine is your club too, and we need to make up some of the money we lost last month with all the craziness. And we need a bouncer. I’ve got a big new event planned tomorrow night. Without a bouncer, I’m going to have to cancel, and refund all the tickets I sold.”
At the mention of cold hard cash, Pax’s ears perked up. He did after all, have a vested interested in Aubergine’s funds. “Oh, yeah, what kind of event?”
“Just a demonstration—Vegas style type of thing—hoping to bring in a new crowd, you know.”
“Fine. I’ll do it. You owe me.” Pax hung up without saying goodbye. Jase was on his nerves lately. Of course, so was everyone else. It wouldn’t hurt for him to check out Jase’s new event. His own numbers were down since the incident as well, and he needed something new and exciting to draw the crowds back in.
Tonight was Tuesday. Vanilla Night was on the roster, and as had happened before, none of his girls had any infractions. Jase said it was because he was such an ass lately that everyone was afraid to be around him, much less volunteer their ass to him and a paddle. Maybe Jase had a point, but it didn’t solve any of his problems.
He stared out the window of his suite, letting the memories choke him. He could hardly look out his bedroom anymore without having a near anxiety attack, which was insane, because he hadn’t even been there. He didn’t even have the whole story. He had sent Diamond away before he had even bothered to get all the details. But it didn’t matter. To him, the room was a reminder of his failure. He had vowed to keep her safe from harm and he had failed. He didn’t deserve her. He didn’t deserve to be a dom either.
* * *
Pax entered the nightclub at Aubergine the way he always did, through the back entrance, but when he got there, he stopped short. A huge poster covered the door advertising the night’s entertainment.
It was a full size monstrosity with hot pin-up girls in various stages of undress, bent over various pieces of furniture. Large paddles decorated each corner, and unrolled belts created a frame. “Fetish Night” was scrawled across it in large red letters.
“That son of a bitch!” he yelled, ripping the poster off the wall. “Who the hell does he think he is?”
Hurling the door open, he started to storm in, his mouth already open to rip Jase a new one when he found him. He didn’t have to look far. Jase was standing right inside the door, arms folded across his chest, with a knowing smile on his face. “What’s up, bro?”
“Don’t you ‘bro’ me, you worthless idea stealing bastard!” He roared shoving the poster in Jase’s face. “What is the meaning of this?”
Jase shrugged, remaining uncharacteristically calm. “I told you. The numbers are way down this month. We needed a draw. We have to get some new faces in here. The club’s losing money.”
Pax threw the poster on the ground and stomped on it. “By competing with your best friend? Who, might I add, you wouldn’t even have a business without? Did you forget about that little fact? I saved your ass, man, and this is how you repay me?”
Jase wasn’t reacting the way he normally would have, and that was making Pax more and more irate by the minute.
“Dude, chill. It’s one night. If it bothers you that much, I won’t do it again. I promise. I’ll find something else next time. But honestly, I sold enough tickets for tonight to make up all the missing income, so after tonight we’ll be back on track, and hopefully have some new customers. And eventually, the old ones will see that the dust has settled and they’ll be back too. No harm no foul.”
