And now there I was, smiling nervously at the hostess as she asked me to follow her to my table.
The restaurant was dimly lit with candles — romantic and sexy, and yet also spooky in an exciting kind of way. We meandered through tables, through a curtain into a back dining room, and then suddenly, there he was.
He was tall, his features sharp in that “from money” way, with dark eyes and brown hair slicked to the side. I wouldn’t say he was gorgeous at all, as Andrea had described Blaine, but he was attractive enough. And yet, there was something dark, glinting there in the shadows of his eyes. He stood as we approached, his eyes narrowing at me.
“Hi, Ryan?” I smiled warmly. “My name is—”
“You’re late, Mia” he growled the second the hostess left us.
I frowned worriedly. “Am I? I’m so sorry, I thought we’d said we were meeting at—”
“It’s fine,” he snapped dismissively. I started to sit, but he suddenly grabbed my arm with a strong hand.
“Let’s go.”
My brow furrowed as I bit my lip. “Aren’t we having dinner?”
“Change of plans.” His eyes slid over me, sending an uncomfortable chill through me as he lingered at my cleavage, his eyes sparking.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I thought we were—”
“You’ll do whatever and you’ll go wherever I say,” he hissed under his breath, eyes flashing at me.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, not sure what I was apologizing for.
“I forgive you.”
There was something edged and sarcastic about his voice that I hadn’t expected, and I shivered.
“Maybe Andrea didn’t tell you how this works, but we’re going to the club now.”
Andrea had not told me this.
“Oh, dancing?”
He laughed, though it felt more like he was laughing at me than anything else.
“Not that kind of club. This one’s a bit more exclusive than that. It’s where everyone goes with their girls.”
I frowned at his words, the use of “their girls” as if he owned me or something, but I quickly smiled. “Oh, I didn’t know that.”
“Well, surprise then.” He smiled darkly as he stood. “My car’s out front.”
“I—” I swallowed an uneasy feeling settling in my chest. “I should—”
“You should know your place and do as I say.”
I did frown then. “Excuse me?” I barked out a laugh, eliciting looks from a nearby table. “I don’t know what sort of girls you’re used to, but you better believe I—”
“I’ll put it in terms you’ll understand,” he interrupted. “Come to the club and have a drink with me, or you don’t get paid.”
His eyes met mine, holding them, and I shivered again at that hint of darkness there.
“Okay,” I finally whispered, scared by that look. After all, I was supposed to be getting $5,000 for a dinner with this creep. I might as well get paid.
He smiled wickedly and grabbed my arm, hard, escorting me though the restaurant. “Excellent. And please don’t forget to smile when we get there.”
We rode in silence in the back of a limousine. I was still furious at the way things had gone on this “date,” but I sure as hell wasn’t going to walk away without getting paid. And if going to his stupid club and smiling for his douchebag friends made that happen, so be it.
I was going to have a serious discussion with Andrea when I got home, though.
In the car, I pulled my phone out of my clutch and scowled as I typed out a message to her:
“We have to go to the club first, but then I’m coming home. This sucked.”
I got a sad face back, followed by “I’m so sorry!”
Then she texted again.
“What club? U going dancing?”
I frowned in the darkness of the limo, thinking of Ryan’s words. “It’s where everyone goes with their girls.”
I opened my phone again. “The club — doesn’t Blaine bring u there 2?”
Her reply came instantly.
“No??? What club??”
“We’re here.”
I jerked my head up at Ryan’s voice. His eyes dropped to my phone, narrowing. “There’s no phones in there.” He held his hand out, and my brow went up.
“Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously,” he muttered, glaring at me. “Jesus, someone needs to teach you how to behave.”
Under any other circumstances in the world, and I’d have slapped him across the face. But “any other circumstances in the world” wasn’t getting paid $5,000 to have dinner.
“You’ll get it back later, I promise,” he said with another dark smile.
I nodded, closing my passcode protected phone and placing it in his palm. He pocketed it, and then stepped out, giving me a hand to help me out as well.
It looked like we were somewhere in Soho, by the look of the old factory-style loft buildings and cobblestone side streets. Ryan led me to an unmarked door, manned by two large men in tuxedos, who nodded at him with cold familiarity before opening the door for us.
Red light glowed ominously from within, and I froze for a second, before Ryan’s hand tightened on my wrist, pulling me after him.
The red antechamber was small, and the sense of being trapped washed over me as the men in tuxedos closed the doors. The velvet wall in front of us suddenly swung open and I gasped.
The club was unlike anything I’d ever seen. Sensually lit by recessed lighting and dimmed, low hanging crystal chandeliers, the place oozed sexuality. Dark booths and alcoves half-hid a myriad of gorgeous couples, dressed to the nines in suits and incredible evening dresses. Soft beats pulsed across the room, and I brought my hand to my mouth as off to one side on a raised platform, two completely nude women danced sensually in a cage.
A cage.
Ryan’s hand on my arm tightened again as he pulled me into the hedonistic place that I never in a million years would have imagined myself in. We walked down a small flight of wide, curved, velvet-lined stairs onto the main floor and headed for the dark bar in the corner. The bar top was some sort of frosted glass, lit from beneath, sending an eerie glow up against Ryan’s face as he gruffed out an order to the bartender.
My heart hammered in my chest as I glanced around the place — it was full of younger, gorgeous women coupled with mostly older, mostly strikingly handsome and powerful-looking men. Off in one of the dark recessed booths, a beautiful brunette in a short black dress sat astride the lap of a man with piercing dark eyes, her hands stroking his chest while her lips nibbled at his neck, all while he sat there calmly sipping his drink. In another corner, on a rich looking sofa, two other girls giggled and bit their lips before they slowly came together in a soft kiss, right in front of a grinning, impossibly handsome man who nodded, stroking their arms.
My pulse pounded in my chest, my eyes widened as I took in the raw sexuality going on around the room. Ryan pressed a glass of champagne into my hand, and I shivered.
Where was I? And again, Andrea’s words came rushing through my head: there’s no sex implied.
Clearly, Andrea’s Blaine hadn’t shown her this place.
I took a nervous sip of my drink as my eyes continued to move across the room, and that’s when I first saw them.