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I smile and nod before grabbing my bag and turning to leave his office. As I walk down the quiet hallway, I dig my phone out of my pocket and find Talon’s name in my contacts. After the last interaction I had with Tristan, I’m not sure I’m ready to face him again now that he knows the truth about who I really am.
“Hey, Cleo,” Talon says upon answering.
Even though it’s accurate, it’s strange to hear him address me by my name. I clear my throat and shift the weight of the bag to my other shoulder.
“Are you busy? I wanted to ask if you could give me a ride back to the hotel?”
“Where are you?”
“I came to Purgatory to pick up my money, and I don’t feel comfortable taking this much money on the bus.” I tighten my hand on the strap of the bag and clutch it even closer to me, even though I’m standing alone in the hallway.
He says something to someone in his background before he responds to me. “I’m actually about to go into a meeting with a client right now.” Then he says the words that I had been dreading. “But I can send Tristan. He’s free, I think.”
I fight the urge to groan out loud and pinch the bridge of my nose. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” I say, my voice flat. Aside from the last conversation I had with him, I’m not looking forward to being in a car alone with him after the last ride he gave me.
“I’m sure it won’t be as bad as you think it is now that he knows who you are,” Talon says.
I pause. “He told you? What did he say?”
“Not much.” Shuffling sounds fill the line before he sighs. “But really. You should let him take you back. I don’t know how long this meeting will take, and it’s probably not a good idea for you to be sitting around the club with that much money either.”
As much as I hate it, he’s right. There’s too much traffic in the club to feel comfortable sitting with this much money. I’m pretty sure some people may be able to put two and two together when they see me leaving Lucian’s office with a bag that I’m guarding with my life in a club in which women can sell their virginity. The last thing I want to do is make myself a target.
“Okay, fine,” I agree reluctantly. I can only hope that what he said about Tristan is true, and maybe this ride can come without the disgusting strings his last one did.
I go out onto the main floor of Purgatory and find a dark, secluded corner to hide away in, making sure to keep my bag out of sight as much as possible. My senses are on high alert, my eyes constantly scanning my surroundings and checking on the bag between my feet what feels like every three minutes. I constantly check my phone, making sure I haven’t missed a call or text from Tristan. The longer it takes him to get here, the more anxious I become. The sooner I get this money into the bank or somewhere safe, the better I’ll feel.
My phone buzzes in my hand after what feels like an eternity, an unknown number displayed on my screen.
“Hello?” I answer cautiously.
“It’s Tristan. I’m outside,” he says and hangs up. I frown at my phone screen, which now displays the Home Screen.
Stuffing my phone into my pocket, I secure my bag and hurry out the door, ready to put this club and everything I’ve been through inside of it behind me for good.
TRISTAN
The tension in the car is thick as I navigate my way through traffic back to the hotel. There are so many unspoken words that we need to talk about, but I don’t even know where to start. It’s obvious that she’s nervous about being alone with me, as she’s practically hugging the passenger door and trying to sit as far from me as possible. I can feel her cautious gaze on the side of my face every now and then, even though she doesn’t say anything. Prior to knowing who she is, that wouldn’t bother me. But now I know it’s her, it sends a heavy feeling in the pit of my gut.
A part of me doesn’t even want to initiate the conversation because I don’t want her giving me vague answers or talking in circles to avoid answering me. I just want answers, answers that will allow me to finally be able to close the chapter of my life that she’d left open when she left without giving us closure.
So, I opt to take the easy route and ask something that may be a little simpler for her to answer.
“Why’d you use our mom’s name instead of your own name for your apartment?” I ask, my voice filling the otherwise quiet space.
Her using my mother’s name should’ve been a dead giveaway, but it’s obvious I wasn’t thinking much. It’s not like people in this city didn’t know my mother; my family is pretty influential around here. But still, Cleo should’ve popped into my head as a suspect, but for some reason, she never crossed my mind at all.
She turns her gaze to the window and watches the passing scenery as we continue down the road.
“I used to see this guy named Garrett for a brief time.” Her entire posture grows stiff in the passenger seat next to me as she continues speaking. “But I learned early on that he was a little obsessive.”
“Obsessive how?”
She gives me a small shrug. “Just got really pushy and weird with me after we’d gone on two dates, which were major red flags for me. He got violent when I refused a third date and then pretty much started stalking me.” She drops her gaze to her lap. “When things got a bit too dangerous for me, I just packed up what I could and left to start over in a new town. I used a name that he wouldn’t know.”
“How’ve you been managing since then if you didn’t have anything?”
Just when I didn’t think I could feel worse, she managed to do so. I figured there had to be extreme circumstances that she was trying to get out of it if she was willing to sell her virginity to strangers.
