Page 31 of Room One Hundred and Six

Twelve

Luna

“It’s right here.”

The club has grown quiet with all the members gone home or retired to a room. Neon lights bathe the gleaming floor in greens and yellow, but I can see my way into the hallway.

All three of my lovers trail close behind me, their gazes on every move I make. Out of mistrust or desire? I wish I knew. It’s not like I’m going to run. Where would I go? Back to Ivy’s? These three spoke as if they knew the crazy thief queen. It would only be a matter of time before they showed up outside Ivy’s penthouse a few blocks from here and demanded she hand me and these diamonds over. I don’t know what made me tell them everything, but it felt good. I no longer feel like I have no options.

I roll up the cuff of my borrowed shirt and reach behind the piece of furniture I tucked the diamonds behind. I pull out the loot. I hold them out to Jasper but he pushes them toward me.

“Hold them for me. I need both my hands.” He pulls weapons out of two shoulder holsters, checks the rounds in the clips before replacing the guns in their places.

Come to find it out, they had every intention of spending the night in Room 106 and stowed their weapons to comply with club rules. They didn’t know who they would spend the evening with when they booked the room, but had hopes they would find someone. Voss was quick to let me know they hoped it was me after they saw me walking into the elevator bound for Club Sin.

I’ve been floating on those words ever since.

Jasper ushers us toward an elevator and Shayne punches the button SB. Sub-basement. I don’t know why, but the hairs on the back of my neck just stood on end. I’m covered in nothing but Jasper’s borrowed shirt since he could grab a fresh one from his apartment a few floors below, no panties and my stilettos are feeling a little tight on my swollen toes. I have a lot of reasons as to why I might be uncomfortable, but the knots in my gut make me think it’s not because of what I’m wearing nor my shoes.

“How well do you know the buyers?”

Flashes of fear in my mind's eye tell me this is how my father must have felt going into his deals.

“They are new in the game for us, but some background digging showed they are good buyers. They pay and I didn’t find any evidence of them leaving bodies behind after a deal. That sort of shit tends to travel through the underground.”

“It’s how we found your father’s killer,” Shayne fills in and a few pieces click together on the topic.

My shoulders relax a bit, but I clutch the diamonds a little tighter.

“There’s more to a buyer than their willingness to be paid,” I remember him telling me one time. “Their personality and their customs have to be factored in.”

He was a wealth of information I never got to tap before he was taken from me.

“Breathe, Luna.”

I look up at Voss as the elevator comes to a halt and the doors open. We turn to see the vast cavern yawn before us. Nothing, not even parked cars line either side of the large underground…” What is this place?” It’s not a parking lot. That is above us. This floor is secret and I can't see any exits.

“A place where a lot of shady shit happens, miss.”

I jump at the strange voice that comes out of nowhere. The man it belongs to steps out from the shadows, a cigarette hanging from his slips. The cherry glows angrily and throws the man’s face in a stark red.

He drags on the cigarette and lets out a curl of smoke as he speaks. “You must trust the men you walked into a dead-end place with. That tells me a lot about them.”

The man with dark eyes, darker hair and a trench coat walks closer. But what really gets me are the two other men who come out of the darkness behind him.

Epic entrance. I only wish it didn’t make my knees knock.

All three walk toward us in a slow gate like they do this kind of thing all the time.

They probably do.

“I do trust them,” I answer and when I do, the truth of my words wrap around my heart and I no longer feel scared.

The stranger gives a stiff nod. “Then we are in the right place.”

I push past Jasper and come to stand in front of him. Voss wraps an arm around my middle while Shayne comes up on my other side. One sign of danger and I know these men will step between me and death. It’s in the possessive hand on my midriff. The way Jasper's shoulder brushes mine and how Shayne places his body slightly in front of me. They want to give me the chance to be a part of their deal, but also protect me.

The one in the middle turns the sides of his coat’s collar up and the other two look like they live for shady meetings in the belly of a dark cavern. All have easy gaits and the casual confidence of being the most powerful men in the room is apparent.

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