Roman frowned. “I’m frustrated because the Survive and Thrive Foundation told me they had to get back to me about sponsoring the upcoming event.” Survive and Thrive was the largest charity organization in the city, and several big events were funneled through their organization. It was one of the pathways to obtaining greater recognition because everything was so pretentious in this city, which was the main reason Quinn had suggested it in the first place. Besides, the upcoming event they were hosting was an admirable one, which focused on the children who’d been orphaned, a cause Roman knew all too well. Their mother had died at a young age, and although they’d lived with her sister at the time, who he considered his mom to this day, he and Quinn could have been one of those disadvantaged children.
Quinn looked at him sympathetically. “What did they say? Don’t need the money? Full of sponsors? Your business isn’t legitimate?” There was a long list of excuses, but this time there had been none.
“They actually didn’t try to feed me bullshit this time, just said they didn’t feel as though Club Valentine would be a good representative for their cause. I even offered to donate anonymously, but Miss Snyder, their fundraising officer, said it was unnecessary and unneeded.” There had to be someone in the organization who was a member, and he planned to find out who.
“Damn, dude, she didn’t even take your money with no strings attached? I know that frustrates you—”
“It doesn’t frustrate me, it pisses me off. Who is she to sit in her damn ivory tower and judge me?” Irritation tinged his voice as he got up to pace while continuing his rant. His body was on fire, the anger burning within him, a living, breathing animal he could barely contain. Not just for the club, but for everyone who’d ever been made ashamed about having sex.
“Because people want to have sex and I provide a safe and reasonable place, somehow I’m the bad guy? That’s bullshit! Everyone who comes in here is a consenting adult, and she has no clue what these people would be doing if they weren’t in my club. They would still be having sex, but because they’re a bunch of pretentious assholes, I am the one made to feel like what I’m doing is wrong.”
“I feel like I missed something here, because you don’t normally get this worked up over something like a charity event.”
“It’s not just that.” Roman ran his fingers through his hair, black locks probably spiking in different directions, and collapsed in his chair, his entire body seeming to deflate. He was damn sick of fighting, had been doing it from the very beginning, and he was so tired of having to justify his actions. He lived and breathed the club, and was strung so tight he felt like was going to snap.
Like the string that’d finally had enough and broke in two, never becoming whole again. Something was going to have to give. He couldn’t figure out Alexandra’s place in the complicated, fucked-up puzzle that was becoming his life, where pieces were spread out on the table but wouldn’t fit together like they used to.
He stared at the televisions, at the couple in the upper-level bar who seemed to be talking in the corner. They would probably move downstairs at some point, or maybe not, because this club wasn’t just about sex, but no one wanted to acknowledge that fact. They were too busy trying to make him out to be a glorified pimp.
Quinn went to the decanter and poured a generous splash of whisky. The drink reminded Roman of a certain pair of eyes attached to a knockout brunette who was free for the taking. Roman gestured for a drink, which Quinn poured. He sucked it down, wanting the burn to expel some of the knot that had settled in his gut since the other night.
Roman ran through the incident with Janie and Ben from the other night, as well as the other business information with Quinn before he knew he’d put off the inevitable long enough. “I didn’t really want to do this now, but I need to give you a heads-up. We have a new female member, Alexandra Kane, a local lawyer.”
“I thought we weren’t adding any new members. And especially not Alexandra Kane, the lawyer who’s followed in her father’s footsteps?”
Roman held up his glass for more when Quinn went to fill his, not addressing her identity. “We aren’t. She’s an exception.”
Quinn scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. The conversation in question happened less than a week before, so Roman had no reason to add someone new. “Why is she an exception?”
Roman cleared his throat. “She’s not just any member. She’s here to see me. Exclusively.”
Quinn leaned back, rubbing his chin while he contemplated Roman’s statement. “You mean to tell me, you just made your newest hookup a member? After we said no new members? When you could hook up with her somewhere else?”
“No. I mean she’s becoming a member so I can sleep with her.”
Quinn shot up so quickly the chair fell back with a resounding crack. “You better be kidding me because what you’re doing is one step up from a damn escort service.”
Roman bristled at the thought. He was the damn owner and Quinn was his younger brother, so he had no room to judge him. “She’ll be the same as everyone else. The only difference is I’m the member she’s sleeping with.”
Quinn cocked his head at him like he was crazy. “No, the difference is she’s paying the owner for sex.” He bent and picked up the chair, putting it back in its spot before resuming his seat. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and hands together like he was begging. “I’m warning you now. You’re my brother, who happens to be a very successful businessman, an intelligent person, and one of my best friends. This is going to end badly. No good can come from this. Especially when you bring in Marcus Kane’s daughter. The same Marcus Kane you’ve been obsessed with for years. Why would you even allow her in the club? ” Roman conjured up the image of Alexandra, her dark hair strewn across his bed, breasts bouncing as he slammed into her. His cock flared to life at the prospect of her in his bed. He pictured his birth mother, so beautiful and broken, who’d been irrevocably damaged by Marcus Kane’s actions. He thought of that damn house, where everything went down, and made up his mind.
“It’s done. Nothing bad will happen. It’s mutual gratification. Nothing more, nothing less.” He left off their side deal. His brother had never understood his obsession with the house. Roman was determined to see his plan through if for nothing else than to destroy that crumbling place that held nothing but bad memories for him.
***
The bars shut with a resounding clank, ensuring there was no escape. Alexandra never got used to the sound, no matter how many times she heard it, thankful she got to walk out of them when she finished with her client. She sat at the table, running her palms down her skirt, shaken up by the email she’d read right before walking into the jail.
To: AK
From: Roman Valentine
Subject: Valentine
2:30 p.m.
Alexandra,
I received the information from your test results. I expect to see you tonight at 8 p.m.
Roman
Her leg bobbed up and down while she opened the folder and looked at the pathetic amount of information she’d been able to gather about the case. Mr. Corey Davis was arrested as a suspect in the robbery of a pizza parlor. He allegedly stole $750, all the money from the till, and shot the owner, seventy-five-year-old Mr. Leo Dominic. Mr. Dominic is going to make a sympathetic witness. She shook her head, reading about the positive identification from Mr. Dominic. Normally, eye witness testimony was worth nothing, but Mr. Davis was a frequent customer, so he had no reason to lie or mistake him.
Shit, she thought, glancing up when the bars opened and her client walked in. She stood up as he entered, assessing his likability with a jury as he was escorted by an officer, his face unsmiling and his arms littered with tattoos. Her heart sank when she read “Thug Life” on his neck, the skull and crossbones peeking out from the orange jumpsuit seeming to solidify the mantra he’d made public on his neck. Her lips tipped up at the corners, hoping to put him at ease so he’d talk to her. She didn’t flinch while his intelligent eyes assessed her.