Page 88 of My Temptation

Nick nodded. “Exactly.”

“How did I miss that?” I frowned.

“Hard to see it when you’re living it,” Nick said, almost as if he was reminding her. “That’s why we have handlers. They help pull us out of the situation emotionally so we can see it more clearly.”

“Does that make you our handler?” Ethan asked.

Nick shrugged. “In a way, I guess it does. Gotta admit, it’s a little weird being on this side of the case.”

Nick was definitely always on the inside, in the thick of all the action, so I believed it had to be hard for him to be sidelined like this. “I can imagine.”

“This girl Truly took you downstairs.” Nick continued. “What was down there?”

“Didn’t Brody fill you in?” I asked.

“He did, but I want to hear it firsthand. Maybe something will stick out to me that didn’t to him.”

“Makes sense,” I agreed. “The downstairs area had a bar, but a curtain divided the room. On the other side of that curtain is a BDSM area and a small stage featuring some strippers.”

“It’s only divided by a curtain?” Nick asked.

“Pretty much,” I explained. “The room behind the curtain is more sectioned off, so you can watch the dancers on one side and watch or participate in the BDSM on the other.”

“Hard-core?”

“Nah.” I shook my head. “Beginner stuff really. It’s more about voyeurism. Some shit’s going on, and people are definitely having sex while they watch, but nothing extreme or illegal even, except the drugs. It actually reminded me of the motorcycle club’s bar where I danced.”

“That place was rowdy but nothing too crazy,” he agreed. “It definitely sounds like a front. They were smart. If the cops raid that place, they’ll see shit they probably don't want to see, but it’s all consenting adults.” He paused before continuing. “Brody said there’s another door, and that’s where you believe some other shit is happening.”

“It definitely is.”

“Guarded?”

“Heavily guarded,” I emphasized. “No one is getting in that room without getting past the guard, and last night, that guard was Samson.”

“You talked to him?”

“We did. I wanted in that room,” I admitted.

Nick grinned. “Doesn’t surprise me. Brody said you got that invite, but shut it down.”

“Ethan shut it down.” I gestured toward him while he silently watched us talk. “And in hindsight, he was right to do that. We needed backup on the outside in case shit went south.”

Nick put his hands on his hips. “How’d you sweet-talk your way into that invitation?”

“Didn’t have to.” I raised my eyebrows. “He knew I danced, said he heard it through the grapevine, which meant someone was definitely feeding him information.”

“Did he know you were with the Black Widows?”

“He didn’t say, but others knew I was involved with them because I shared that my ex.” I grinned at Nick. “You.” He returned my grin. “Had died in a raid, and I left shortly after, not wanting my fate to be the same.”

“Probably assumed not much is off-limits if you were involved with the Black Widows.”

“Exactly.”

Nick shifted to face Ethan. “He question you?”

“Nope,” Ethan admitted. “He pretty much ignored me until I told Mila she wasn’t going into that room without me.”

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