As Erin began asking for more details on Kane, my email dinged and I looked to see his reply. “I was wrong. He’s already emailed back. Here’s what he has to say. ‘Monday night is confirmed for a gold room with all the same components. Reserved for midnight in Room 12. Please follow the same instructions as always.’”
“He’s as personal as my credit card company when they explain why they’re raising my interest rate, Liv. Does it always sound like that?”
I nodded at Josie’s question. “Yeah. Nothing new there. I’m just surprised he replied so soon.”
“It’s a sign. I say it’s a good sign,” Erin said in her chipper voice.
“Let’s hope so.” I steepled my fingers and grinned. “Now we wait.”
* * *
I’d never worked late on a Monday night, so I was surprised at how many people actually partied at Club X on the first working day of the week. I’d obviously been missing out on a lot of life. Cash and Stefan had been out of the club all day, only showing up in time for the crowds to appear. I tried to get a sense of Cash, but other than being professional and friendly, I couldn’t get a vibe from him.
Just before midnight, I poked my head into his office and found him sitting behind his desk wearing a serious expression. He looked up at me and smiled. “Decided to work the late shift tonight?”
“I did. I have plans tonight, so it worked out.”
I watched for any change in his expression, but I saw none. That didn’t mean anything, though. It’s not like he was anything but cool in the office on most days, so I tried not to read anything into it.
“Have a nice night, Olivia.”
“Thanks! See you later.”
As I made my way upstairs through the crowds dancing to the techno music, I worked to still my jitters about what I was about to do. It was a big step, but Erin was right. I had to take this chance. I flashed a smile at Kane as I passed him at the top of the stairs and headed to my assigned fantasy room. I’d chosen a very informal sundress for work that day, so all I had to do was tie the blindfold around my head and wait.
Like every other night, my other senses kicked into overdrive once my vision was taken away. Each creak of the floor outside in the hallway put me on edge as I wondered if the noise signaled Cash’s arrival. Wiping my sweaty hands on my thighs, I tried to remain calm even as the reality that it was all going to be laid on the line in just minutes hung over my head.
I took a deep breath and let it out. I could do this.
The sound of the door opening made my heart pound, and I sat up straight on the chair, ready for him. He closed the door, and I quickly licked my dry lips, hoping my nervousness didn’t leave me with cottonmouth.
I sensed him standing in front of me and took the initiative. It was now or never, but I wanted him to see my eyes when I spoke to him. Sliding the blindfold off my face, I stared in amazement at the man looking down at me.
“Where is Cash?”
“He’s not coming.”
Leaping off the chair, I angrily threw the blindfold on the couch. “Kane, what the hell is going on? I said I wanted the same person, so why isn’t he here?”
Kane simply stared at me, his blue eyes hard. “I don’t know, Olivia. I just know he said he wasn’t coming.”
I couldn’t decide if I was hurt, humiliated, or angry. They all mixed together inside me like some emotional stew. Whatever I was feeling, I wanted some damn answers. I deserved better than having his half-brother give me some vague bullshit answer. If Cash didn’t want to do this anymore, he damn well better be prepared to tell me himself.
As I stormed down to the first floor, my brain filled with what I wanted to say to him. Who the fuck did he think he was? I wasn’t some bimbo plaything he could just throw aside when things got too real. If he didn’t want me, he was going to have to be a man about it and tell me to my face.
The crowd nearly parted as I walked through the nightclub. I imagined my expression told people to get the fuck out of my way, but I didn’t care. Hell hath no fury like a woman who wanted answers!
I knocked on his office door and didn’t even wait for him to invite me in. Throwing the door open, I saw him sitting in front of his laptop as he had been earlier, like leaving me waiting up there in that fantasy room was perfectly okay. I marched up to the front of his desk, placed my palms on the glass top, and when he turned to look at me, stared straight into his eyes. “What the fuck is your problem?”
His eyes flashed emotion for the briefest moment—anger or maybe confusion—and then he was calm again. “Excuse me?”
Leaning toward him, I said even louder, “Excuse me nothing. There’s no excuse for what you did.”
“Oh, so now you admit you knew it was me all along.”
His statement surprised me, and I stood up to my full height, folding my arms across my chest. “So that’s what this is about? Is this a punishment because I didn’t show you I knew?”
Cash calmly closed his laptop and pushed his chair back away from his desk. “I don’t want to have this conversation, Olivia.”
My blood pressure soared, and I felt my heartbeat hammering in my ears. “So that’s it? You decide you don’t want to tell me what the fuck tonight was about and I’m supposed to be okay with that?”
“You wanted to feel what it was like to not be in control all the time, so no, you don’t get to demand any answers from me.”
I stood staring at him, stunned at how cold he seemed compared to the man I’d grown to respect at work and the one who’d driven me half out of my mind with desire in our private room. “Are you kidding?”
He stood from his chair and straightened the knot in his black silk tie. “I simply decided I didn’t want to continue our time together.”
“And that’s it? Don’t fucking pretend that you didn’t enjoy our time together, as you call it.”
Cash appeared to consider my words for a moment before he returned to fiddling with his damn tie. Brushing a piece of lint off it, he said, “I don’t deny that I enjoyed it. I simply decided I didn’t want to continue it.”
“You’re an asshole, you know that? You knew I liked you, and still you left me sitting there tonight and had your brother tell me you weren’t showing up.”
I felt tears building up inside me from the anger I couldn’t seem to express well enough. His icy answers stopped me dead in my tracks, leaving me unable to tell him exactly how shitty he’d treated me. I watched for any reaction to my words, but all he did was brush off his fucking tie.