Page 43 of Love In The Shadows

I ducked under the counter and scratched around until I found a fresh bottle of bourbon. “Looks like I had one here the whole time,” I said, popping up to present the bottle to Liam. “Ready for another?”

He lounged against the counter and dropped a pointed look to his still full shot glass. “Like I said, love, I was waiting for you.”

“Right.” I smiled but felt the edges trembling as my thoughts drifted back to Bennett. I wanted to get out of the club. Call him or run down the street to see if anyone had seen where he’d gone. Surely, three larger-than-life men in dark suits would have been hard to miss. Someone would have seen something, right?

Liam wasn’t losing interest fast enough, and I didn’t have the energy to keep dodging him.

I poured myself a shot of bourbon and clinked my tumbler with Liam’s. “Thanks for waiting, handsome.”

“For you, Avery, I’d wait a lifetime,” he crooned.

Damn, this tip better be worth it.

Liam rambled on about his business dealings while I mimicked interest with an occasional nod. The napkin tucked in my bra was a constant reminder. What could three point six mean? What did it have to do with anything? It looked like Bennett’s handwriting, but I couldn’t be sure. Was it money? Three-point six million? Bennett didn’t have that kind of money. Or did he? Was he paying Richie for information? Or the other way around? Was there something else going on entirely?

“Where’d I lose ya, gorgeous?”

I blinked away my collection of thoughts and sighed at Liam’s polite question. He was still smiling at me, not irritated that I’d zoned out, which only made me feel worse. He was a good client. And while he was flirtatious, he was never pushy. On the contrary, I was usually flattered to play his game.

“I’m sorry, handsome. I’m just not myself tonight.”

“Anything I can do to help? I promise I could take your mind off your troubles if you’d let me.”

I smiled and opened my mouth to reply when Barbie reappeared out of the corner of my eye. “Excuse me,” she said, coming over to my side. “But Mr. Dalton is requesting you.”

My heart rate jacked up again, and my smile melted into a tight-lipped grimace. “Of course.” I brushed my hand over Liam’s. “Forgive me. Next time?”

“Of course.”

Barbie slid into my place, getting Liam another round, and as I passed out of earshot, the two of them were carrying on fine without me. I tugged at the edge of my tight shirt, trying to cover the sliver of skin showing before marching back to the red room.

Richie had been joined by three other men, all in dark suits. I couldn’t tell if they were his usual goons, friends, or business partners. All I knew was that none of them were the men I’d seen with Bennett. My heart sank as I scanned their faces. Richie was lounging on one of the couches as a blonde straddled him. She went on, oblivious to my presence, and tossed her long hair back as she arched and shoved her bared tits in his face.

When I entered, Richie shoved the woman off, unceremoniously dumping her onto the couch beside him and shot to his feet. The woman bristled but quickly went to work on the beefed-up man who had been sitting beside Richie—who was all too happy to get his leftovers.

Gross.

“How can I assist you, Mr. Dalton?” I asked, resisting the urge to wrap my arms around myself.

Richie’s eyes narrowed at me as he crossed the room, only stopping when he was close enough for his cologne to invade my nostrils.

“I need to speak to Reed,” he said. “The other girl told me you’d be able to contact him. But, you know, Red, I don’t care for these fuckin’ hoops I gotta jump through. So, before my patience thins any further, I’d suggest you get his ass down here.”

“I’ll let Mr. Parkston know you’d like to speak with him,” I replied. Was he going to complain about me snooping through his private room? Sure, I was only cleaning, but if a man like Richie wanted to cause a stink, I had no doubt he’d find a way to get me fired. He’d never warmed to me. But I suspected that was mainly because I didn’t throw myself at him like nearly every other woman on staff. No amount of money was worth riding that fat, greased-up pig.

I turned to leave, but Richie whipped his arm out and snagged my wrist. “Listen, Red, when I finish my business with Reed, maybe you could come back, and we can take care of a little business.” Nausea swept through me at his suggestion. I tugged my arm, but Richie held fast. He offered a sharp-toothed grin. “That Eric was quite taken with you. I wanna see what all the fuss is about. Besides, wouldn’t want you to get lonely now that he’s gone.”

“Gone?” the word slipped from my lips before I could stop myself. I didn’t want to play into his game and from the sick gleam in his eyes, that was precisely what I’d done.

Richie released my wrist and gave me a twisted smile. He’d hit his mark, and he knew it. “That’s right, Red. You won’t be seeing him around here anymore. He’s gone on a bit of a vacation.”

The tone of his voice implied it was a permanent vacation.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Tori

I scrambled out of the red room as fast as my heels would take me and made a beeline for the private offices, praying that Reed or Paige would be there working. As I rushed into the room, I ran right into Reed.

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