“And you still work here?” I asked softly, hoping to get more information.
“Of course I still work here. Greyson knows he can trust me.” She made a face. “I love him, you know.” She looked back through the window at Greyson. “And love means loving someone no matter who they are.”
“Oh.” I stared at her carefully then. “I didn’t know.”
“I’ve loved him from the beginning. I thought at one point that my love could change him. Or at least save him.” She sighed. “You can’t help who you love.”
“Does he love you?”
“He doesn’t do love.” She shook her head and then looked at me with a mean expression. “What are you even doing here? You should be in a test room.”
“I was just walking around.”
“I already told you that could get you in trouble.”
“I should get going,” I said reluctantly and she nodded.
I walked away quickly and slowed as I rounded the corner. I peeked back and watched as Patsy knocked on the door and entered the room. I quickly returned to the doorway and held my ear up against the door. At first, the sounds were muffled, but I realized that was due to the loud beating of my heart. I took a couple of deep gulps of air to control my breathing and tried listening again.
“Greyson, it’s for the best.” I could hear Patsy’s voice clearly now, and it sounded like she was pleading. “We should leave. We can start over. You know I’ll always support you.”
“No, Patsy. I’m not going to leave.”
“But you have to. She knows what happened and now—”
He cut her off angrily. “How do you know she knows?”
“She told me.” Her voice was tight. “And there are others.”
“There are others who want to do what?”
“They want to take you down, Greyson.” Her voice was frightened. “It’s not safe here anymore.”
“I don’t run from the truth, Patsy. This is my club.”
“But, Greyson,” she pleaded.
“You need to leave now.” His voice was curt.
“Okay.” She bit back a sob. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you. She will be the undoing of you and me.”
I ran back around the corridor quickly, opened the door to a room, and slipped in to hide. I watched Patsy leave Greyson’s room with a dejected face and tried not to feel emotional.
I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t realized just how in love with Greyson she was. Did he love her? Had he ever loved her? Had they ever been intimate? I cringed at the thought and ignored the sick feeling that was building up in the pit of my stomach.
I left the room and ran back to Greyson’s study. I was about to knock on the door when I realized it was still slightly ajar and he was on a call.
“Brandon, it’s Greyson.” His voice was smooth as he spoke. I peeked an eye through the opening to spy at him as he talked on the phone. His features looked hard and his body looked tense. “We have a big problem. No, I don’t want you coming and bringing your girlfriend with you again.” He paused, and I could see him pacing back and forth. “Look, Brandon, I need your advice. We have a Maria problem going on right now.”
I fell backwards then and clasped my hand over my mouth. The blood drained from my face as I walked quickly back to my room. Was that the real reason why Maria was dead? Had she found too much information about the club? Had she threatened to tell the police? Had she been murdered? My footsteps increased as a flash of pure worry and fear hit me. Was I going to be the next Maria?
Chapter 6
Greyson
Ten Years Ago
The room was smoky and the lights were dim. The music was pumping at just the right level—high enough to create some excitement, but low enough so that the businessmen could relax and chat without feeling like they had to shout. The ambience of the club was spot-on—it reeked of money, sex, and a good time. I should have been happy about that. I had the hottest, most exclusive club in New York, but yet I wasn’t satisfied.
I watched as some of the girls danced in cages on the stage at the front of the room. I watched as a senator walked up to the stage and just stood there gazing at a beautiful Asian girl as she danced her way to the floor. He called over his friend, a man I recognized as a top director from Hollywood, and they stood there watching the girls dancing. They seemed to be entranced by the dancers and waited there for a few minutes before going back to their booth at the side of the room. I watched as Patsy walked over to their table, ready to take their order.
I was pretty sure they wanted the girl from the cage, but those girls were not able to be ordered. They didn’t do anything but dance. But I knew that Patsy could still make them happy. We had a bevy of girls who were ready to give lap dances, blowjobs, whatever the men asked for—if the price was right.
“God, it was a mistake to go home with Maria. You were right.” Brandon grimaced as he distracted me from my thoughts. “I didn’t realize she thought this was serious.”
“What did you think it meant when a girl asks you to go home with her?”
“I didn’t know her parents and her sister were going to be there. Shit, her little sister basically asked me when we were getting married.”
“Did you throw up?” I laughed. “Two whiskeys on the rocks, Denise.” I nodded at the girl in front of me.
“Sure thing, Mr. Twining,” she purred at me as she bounced her br**sts around. I didn’t even bother to watch her as she walked away, even though she had the fittest ass I’d ever seen.
“She’s pretty hot.” Brandon watched her as she walked away, and I groaned.
“Dude, do not date another girl from the club. Do not even f**k them. It’s not a good thing.”
“How was I to know that Maria would turn out to be a psycho?”
“You know she does coke.”
“Coke doesn’t make someone a psycho.”
“Don’t mess with the girls,” I said again slowly. “This is already a mess.”
“You don’t even know the half of it.” He sighed and leaned forward. “She said she loves me. She said that she can make things difficult.”
“She can’t be making threats like that.” I jumped up as I saw Denise approaching, grabbed the whiskeys from her tray, and downed them quickly. “Two more.” I glanced at her as I put the empty glasses back on her tray.