Page 2 of Room One Hundred and Six

Not me, that is for damn sure. I’m more about security. Money gives that so that is what I’m after. When we got into the fencing business, we were lucky to have a friend who showed us how not to get killed in our first year. Vincent Moone caught us trying to line our pockets with blood money when we could barely scrape enough together to feed ourselves. It was a stupid move on our part.

Back then we were at the bottom of the food chain tasked with watching over a pile of money needed for a drug deal between the Seattle crime boss at the time and some head honcho from Columbia.

I didn’t pay attention to a lot of people’s names back then. All I cared about was making sure my brothers had three meals a day. Anyone caught with sticky hands earned a permanent spot in the ground. We didn’t get caught lining my pockets all because of Moone. The four of us became fast friends, and he taught us how to survive in the criminal world. Our friend did for us what our low-life drug dealing parents never could. He protected us. In return, we failed him when a deal went sideways.

Through the years I tried to keep tabs on his wife and daughter. It didn’t work out that way for multiple reasons. Another point we failed the man on and one I’m not proud of.

But it is what it is.

I slide back the rest of my drink and motion for Shayne to toss me my jacket. “Let’s get this done with.” I straighten my tie and tuck the bag of diamonds in my inside jacket pocket.

“It’s a little early, no?” Voss straightens his tie and slides into his jacket beside me.

I shrug a shoulder. “Maybe we’ll catch a show while we wait.”

We have multiple safe houses scattered throughout the city. This one is located five floors below Club Sin. Shayne likes the convenience of adult entertainment with the push of a couple of buttons.

In a few steps, we are out of the apartment and heading toward the bank of elevators when Shayne throws a hand up for us to stop. In front of us is a black-haired beauty in a white leather coat draping to her knees. Below that, her legs are a beautiful canvas. Lush leaves grace shapely calves and on her feet are the prettiest pair of stilettos in an emerald green to match all the leaves covering her skin.

I can’t bring myself to look away. She presses the button for the elevator, turning her head to look over her shoulder. Does she feel our eyes on her? Is she a first-timer at the club? Maybe Shayne was right about needing to get out a little. Her eyes dip closed, and she draws in a deep breath. The way she drags the tip of her tongue over the bottom of her lip stirs the need to feel a woman’s flesh under my hands.

Not just any woman. Hers. She doesn’t know it yet, but that woman will find three lovers tonight.

Shayne raises his hand like he’s calling first dibs. “We are all seeing the same thing right? She’s not a mirage?”

Voss grunts beside me summoning up my thoughts exactly. She’s very real.

“After we do the deal, I want to find her. There’s no way she’s not going to the club.”

In truth, we don’t have time to play tonight, and that is unfortunate. All that beauty should be appreciated.

“Agreed,” I find myself saying and for the first time in a long time I actually mean it.

Two

Luna

Iam a twenty-six-year-old virgin holding an invitation to a sex club and I’m looking to score.

The former is a dirty little secret I could easily end up taking to my grave. The latter is how I’m going to go from broke ass bartender to the big leagues. I’m done penny pinching my way through one massive hospital bill only to be hit with another. Tonight is my chance to change the whole trajectory of my life and that of my sister’s. She’s counting on me, and that is all the motivation I need.

I can take care of my pesky V-card after I juice up my shriveled-up bank account.

Straightening my shoulders, I infuse my steps with all the sultry energy I can conjure as I step off of one elevator to the thirty-sixth floor only to face another bank of metal boxes. This one has a small podium in front of it with a man in an impeccable tuxedo and kind eyes.

Behind me the doors snick closed and a cool silence wraps around me. To get to Club Sin everyone has to stop on this floor to have their membership checked. I fix a few wayward strands of hair and tuck the knot of my coat into place. What I have on underneath the white leather is not meant to be seen in ugly fluorescent light of Club Sin’s opulent foyer.

“Good evening. Welcome to Club Sin, Ms. Moone. May I see your invitation?”

I’m impressed the older gentleman knows my name, but the security camera in the elevator most likely helped with identifying me. I take a mental note of that detail. “Good evening. Am I too early? The elevator ride up was a bit lonely.”

The gentleman checks a large analog clock on the wall tucked between two large standing vases overflowing with white roses to my right. “It appears you are on time, Ms. Moone. The shows are just about to start. If you sign here, you can join the other members.”

The elegantly dressed host offers me a fountain pen after I produce my invitation courtesy of my future boss. Rich black ink glides over thick, eggshell colored paper as I sign my name in the club’s ledger with gold leaf edges.

“Lovely.”

“Thank you, ma’am. Step this way, please.”

---