Page 1 of Keeper of Secrets

PROLOGUE

The Club With No Name…

Masks were a necessity.The flickering candlelight cast the room in shadow, but the covering of their faces ensured that their identities remained a secret.

That was part of the fun…

Much of Ryker’s position at the club was to make certain that their meetings, their games—even the club itself—was kept in complete confidence.

Only one man knew all the members’ identities, and he was called Emperor.Ryker had suspicions about who the Emperor actually was, but he kept those to himself.Wasn’t it his role as the Keeper of Secrets to guard what should not be shared?

And besides, life had trained him not to say what should not be said.Likely why he’d been given the position in the first place.

His job was usually easy.

The Club was made up of men with power and position, and most wanted their activities here to remain out of the public’s eye.

Only the occasional fellow decided he wished for others to know about his illicit activities.And that’s when Ryker stepped in.

But that wasn’t what tonight’s meeting was about.Tonight’s agenda had a far darker subject matter…murder.

Specifically, one that had occurred three nights prior when one of their members had been killed just outside The Club’s doors in Hadley Square Park.Across from the club, the man had been on the way to their monthly meeting when the unfortunate event had occurred.

The question on everyone’s mind was this… was the murder random, targeted to the man in question, or somehow related to The Club?

The third seemed unlikely and yet…it had happened right outside their doors.

“Can we know his name, now that he’s dead?”a man called from the end of the table.The other nine members turned to the Emperor, whose only reaction was to grimace.

“How can we determine the cause of his murder if we don’t even know who he is?”another called.

The Emperor leaned forward, his dark eyes narrowing under his black mask at the impertinent speaker.He commanded with unparalleled dominance.“We keep our identities secret to protect all of us.”

“Except we’re not all safe, are we?”a third called, a man with a ruby red mask, his dark hair sweeping back from his high forehead.He was known behind these walls as the Master of Sins, and he created the games the members often played.

Well-liked for this fact, and for his easy way, the other men murmured their agreement.

Behind the Emperor, the Summoner cracked his knuckles, silencing the murmur.A massive man, the Summoner never spoke, Ryker believed he was mute, but it was entirely possible that he just chose not to speak.Who could say?

Either way, as the Emperor’s second, and the one man who delivered their written communication should it be needed, and therefore, knew several of the men’s identities, it made everyone more comfortable that he was built like a brick house and was equally silent.

“We don’t know that,” the Emperor barked, spreading his hands out on the table.“If you’re that concerned, perhaps you should give up your seat.”

Silence fell.

No one wished to give up his seat.The occasional man decided that he tired of the play, but the club’s turnover rate was incredibly low.

To act with such debauchery and then have a group with which to share without the worry of consequences.It was just too good.

“That’s what I thought.”The Emperor sat back in his seat.“Now…” He glanced about the table.“I’ve considered your words and have decided to create a subcommittee to investigate the death.”

There was a rumble of assent about the table that Ryker did not share.Because, if he wasn’t mistaken, the Emperor’s gaze, from behind his jet black mask, fell upon him.

He didn’t need a murder investigation to add to the list of problems that landed upon his door.

Just this week he’d received a letter from his father’s sister.Never married, Lady Mildred Somerset had spent much of her adult life meddling in Ryker’s.It wasn’t that he didn’t care for the old crow.She was the closest thing to a mother he’d had, his own gone far more than she’d ever been available to Ryker.

But Aunt Mildred had a way of always disapproving of his life and his choices.And now, some distant country cousin had died and his daughter, according to Mildred, was in Ryker’s charge.What the fuck was he supposed to do with a child?A girl no less?

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