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“Thank you, Mr. Rivera,” she mumbled and moved back to her post.
I stared at her in silence, wondering what the fuck would happen to her. Most people thought I didn’t give a shit about women, but the ones who worked for me were under my protection. I would fucking destroy anyone who tried to hurt them.
With that knowledge weighing heavily on me, I walked through the front door and spoke to the bouncer.
“I’m going out for a few hours. Dagger is here if there’s an issue.”
“You got it, boss,” the guy replied.
I was about to walk away when I stopped, driven to ask him, “You all right? Everything okay?”
His eyes flared in surprise. “Yeah, great. Thanks.”
I nodded. “Good man. Call me if you need me.”
I strolled away from the entrance of the club, sliding into the rear seat of the town car that was parked out in front. I was being driven back to my apartment when I got a phone call from a private number.
“Target is going out tonight.”
“Where?” I demanded, gripping the phone more tightly.
“Temptation.”
I hung up and told my driver, Andy, to hurry the fuck up.
8
Wren
Skimmingmy hands down the stretchy electric-blue fabric of the dress I was wearing, I looked at my reflection in the mirror. Even I had to admit that I looked great. I’d gone a little heavier on the eye makeup, lighter on the face, and painted my lips a bright red. Darcy was going to have a fucking aneurysm when she saw me.
With one final check of my reflection, I grabbed my phone and switched purses, making sure I had all the essentials, which included a condom. Because a girl never knew when she might need one. Plus, seeing Bane this evening had left me an aching mess despite the proposition he’d made.
Since coming home, that had been all I could think about, but even as I tried to come up with all the reasons why I shouldn’t, I kept returning to the fact that Hawk would be off the hook after this. It wasn’t a stay of execution, rather just a reprieve until he fucked things up again.
So when I looked at it that way, there was no point in even considering the offer, was there? Of course, I wasn’t a cold-hearted bitch. I understood that Hawk would probably not be walking this earth anymore if I let Bane destroy him like he wanted to.
Slipping my feet into the only pair of heels I owned, I locked my apartment and walked outside to call an Uber. I only had to wait a few minutes before I was safely tucked into the back of an air-conditioned minivan driven by what looked like a soccer mom.
“I love that dress,” she exclaimed as she navigated her way through the busy LA streets.
“Oh, thank you,” I replied, pulling the hem down a little. It was funny—if I were wearing a pair of shorts, I wouldn’t give a fuck how far they’d ridden up, but in a dress, it was a different story.
We ended up chatting the entire way to the nightclub, and when she pulled into the curb, she gave me a bottle of water and told me to keep hydrated. I got out, making sure everything was in place before strolling over to the bouncer and giving him my name.
“Welcome to Temptation,” the bouncer said. “You’re in the VIP section. The hostess will escort you to your table.”
VIP?What the fuck?
I nodded mutely and walked inside, my breath leaving me in a whoosh. This place was amazing. The lighting was moody, the music moving through me in an almost erotic beat. A young woman with blonde hair met me just inside the front door. When I gave her my name, she guided me through the club to a VIP area cordoned off with a red velvet rope. Unclipping one end from the pole, she smiled at me as I walked in. Surely, there had to be some sort of mistake. Darcy had said Baron was only the accountant for this place. Somehow, I found it hard to believe that his position would warrant the VIP section.
I stood there for a moment, simply absorbing the club’s mood and wondering where I could get a drink.
“Here,” someone said behind me, holding the stem of a champagne flute. I looked down at the tattoo-covered hand and spun around.
“What are you doing here? Please don’t tell me you own this club, too?”
He shook his head, his eyes giving nothing away, especially in the low light of the VIP section. “No, Evangeline wouldn’t sell it to me,” he replied easily. He gestured to the champagne again. “Drink?”
