Page 47 of Clubs

Trembling, falling into his chest, shaking when darkness took hold of my vision, I groaned around the gag. The pleasure overtook me full throttle, peaked by the heat of his cum, the contractions of his cock. I’d had a thousand magnificent orgasms with Declan, but never one like this. Never one so intimate, so vulnerable.

And before mine had even ended, he whispered, “Because I’m gonna walk away, sweetheart. I love you, and I don’t want to, but you’re not giving me much of a choice.”

Only then did it end.

When he felt the contractions slow, he tossed the vibrator onto the bed.

Reaching above me, he released the cuffs.

But when he stepped in front of me, it was almost impossible to meet his gaze. Tears pearled down my cheeks, and I hoped I could pass them off as an involuntary reaction to the pain.

Unbuckling the gag around my face with one hand, he swept a tear away with the other. As it clattered to the ground, he took my face in his hand. “Say it, Brooke. Please say it.”

But I couldn’t.

I just… couldn’t.

So I stood there. Naked, warring with tears in my eyes, staring at him, and trying so hard to form the words, but to no success.

Gradually, any hope that shined in his eyes faded.

He released my cheek, and he walked away.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

BROOKE

I was already teary-eyed when I was leaving Declan’s. I felt like there was a twenty-pound weight sitting on my chest. Everything he said, the way I had apparently made him feel, my never-ending failure to be enough for those around me, it was all weighing on my psyche in a way that it never had before.

I wasn’t enough.

That’s what it all came down to. I wasn’t enough. I wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t good enough for Declan. I wasn’t who he needed in a partner. And I wasn’t good enough for my sister.

That’s why Ria wound up the way she did. Yeah, I turned out alright. Went to college, got a good job, had the pretty floors, and the nice bookshelves, and the cute knickknacks, and my house always smelled good, but for everyone else, I was a failure. I tried to help, I tried to be what they needed, and my attempts crashed and burned every time.

So imagine my anguish when I landed in my bedroom, only to find my sister digging through my closet. Not on top, where I hung my clothes, or even the shelf overhead where I tucked my bed linens.

On the floor. Where I kept my safe.

There wasn’t much in it. A few nice pieces of jewelry, none of which were worth more than a few hundred bucks, and a small nest egg. The money I had left from when I had worked for the Chambers. Barely more than five grand. I didn’t trust banks, and it wasn’t enough to invest in anything, so that was where I kept it. In case I ever needed to run, in case anyone ever came after me, I had those five thousand dollars tucked in my safe.

And that was what my sister was holding now.

Mouth dropping open when she turned my way, her fingers trembled around the wads of cash.

“Nice,” I said. “Just gave you money yesterday, and you’re gonna steal from me?”

“It’s not—”

“What it looks like?” Swinging my jacket onto the bed, I raked a hand through my hair. “Of course it’s not what it looks like. It’s never what it looks like, right? You had a good reason. Just like you had a good reason when you let your fucking dealer dump a body behind Declan’s bar.”

With tears in her eyes, she shook her head. “It wasn’t like that.”

“Then what was it like, Ria?” I snapped. “What was it like when you were fishing around in my safe for the little bit of money I have stashed away? What was it like when he killed that girl? What the fuck is going on? What did you do?”

Straightening, practically holding her breath to keep from crying, she set the money on my dresser. “It’s complicated.”

“Then explain it to me, god damn it!” It was without thought when I raised my arms at my sides and all but screamed a laugh. “Explain to me what the hell is going on. Tell me how deep you are so we can fucking fix it. Because right now, Declan is on the line because of what you did. That son of the bitch detective is trying to get him put away for murder, and I don’t know how to fix it if I don’t know what the fuck is going on, Ria.”

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