Page 14 of Forbidden Flames

Only one way to find out, he told himself. But before he left Emily’s house, he paused in the doorway to her bedroom, watching her sleep. She’d reached out, her hand resting on the place where he’d lain just moments ago.

With any luck, he’d be right back in that place in less than an hour. Emily lived only about ten minutes from the club. So, he’d probably beat the police as well as the other guys on his team.

Chapter 14

Gerald almost giggled as he finally breached the security of the clubhouse. He knew better than to try the first floor doors or windows. The doors to the club weren’t just locked, they were electrified. The entire first floor was watched by cameras, some hidden and others visible. Gerald wasn’t even sure about all of the layers of security on this place, but he also knew that the previous owner, a great guy by the name of Jerry Harris, had allowed the club members to take their lady loves upstairs. For a price, Gerald thought with a heavy sigh. Jerry might have been a good guy, a bit lax on the oversight of his club, but he was also an ass about money.

Those were the good old days, he thought as he climbed through the now-open window. He’d had to climb all the way up to the third floor. The second floor windows had been locked up pretty tight as well as the first.

Gerald wasn’t a fan of heights, but getting the home address for his beautiful dove was a priority. So he’d climbed the rickety, wooden ladder all the way up to the third floor. He couldn’t leave her alone, Gerald thought. Someone might swoop in and win her. He needed to get his claim in quickly. Gerald knew that he wasn’t much in the looks department. And there were several neanderthal guards working here at the club that put a normal human being to shame in the muscles department. But Gerald had money. Well, his mother had money. And Gerald got money from his mother.

Soon, the old bat would die and then he’d have loads of money! More money than he’d know what to do with, he thought as he licked his lips and slid the window mostly closed.

Now that he was inside the clubhouse, Gerald looked around. All of the beds that had been here during the previous owner’s tenure were gone. “Pity,” he grumbled and dusted off his sports jacket and adjusted his tie. “Those had been convenient.” Some of the wait staff downstairs hadn’t minded earning a few extra dollars by laying unresisting on their backs on those old beds.

Still, Gerald was on a mission. “Emily, my dear, you are just a few steps away from everlasting happiness!” He knew that, once he’d wooed her properly, Emily would become his mistress. Maybe he wouldn’t even need to woo her. Maybe she’d be enticed by his wealth and the promise of more to come once his mother bit the dust.

Making his way down the stairs was too easy. “No cameras up here!” he sing-songed with a skip to his step. The second floor of the building housed the administrative offices so it was simple to walk down the hallway and read the names on each doorway. Emily’s office was at the corner, which seemed odd. Corner offices were usually reserved for directors and high level management personnel. Emily was merely a waitress, although she also seemed to be the boss of the wait staff.

“Girl boss!” he said with a giggle, then looked around self-consciously. He hated giggling. His mother repeatedly told him that the sound made him come across as weak and creepy. Gerald smoothed a hand over his greying hair and adjusted his shoulders. He wasn’t weak. He was a man’s man and a wealthy one at that!

With one finger, Gerald tested the doorknob, then jerked his hand away. “Ouch!” He stuck his finger in his mouth, irritated that the bastard Hendrix had electrified the doorknobs here as well as downstairs. “Why does he do that?”

He looked around, trying to find another way to get into Emily’s office. But there was nothing in this hallway, not even a communal printer.

“Human resources?” he questioned to the dimly lit area.

Before he could start his search for the office of the human resources director, he heard a sound. “What the hell?” he muttered, irritated that someone would interfere with his clandestine search.

Turning, he rushed back up the stairs. It took him little time to reach the third floor because, thankfully, the bastard hadn’t electrified the doorknobs up here. Muttered curses, Gerald hauled his legs, then the rest of his body out of the third floor window. Carefully, trying to silence his heavy breathing, he moved down the ladder. Whoever had discovered his break-in wouldn’t know to look here on this side of the building. Gerald figured that whatever guard had come to the club to do a security check still didn’t know that someone had actually broken in. No alarms had gone off, so Gerald knew that he’d gotten away with his mission.

“Sort of,” he thought as he put his loafered foot down on the dew-damp grass and started running towards the barn. “They’ll never know!” he giggled again as he raced towards the spot behind the barn where he’d parked his car.

Gerald ran so fast, he nearly threw up when he finally tumbled into the driver’s seat of his car. With one more glance, he looked back at the clubhouse. No lights were on inside other than the security lights, but those had been on before he’d entered the place.

But the ladder! The ladder was still leaning against the outside wall!

Biting his lip, Gerald debated going back for the ladder. However, he figured that no one would notice the ladder on this side of the house for a while. It wasn’t like anyone actually came around to this side.

“Be smart!” Gerald hissed, then dismissed the ladder and pressed the button to start his car.

He drove away from the club, grinning at his daring. He’d done it! He’d broken into the precious clubhouse! None of the other club members had that kind of daring. They all played by the rules. Only he had been courageous enough to get inside when it was closed.

As soon as the tires to his BMW gripped the asphalt, he pressed the accelerator and sped away, still giggling. Feeling good, Gerald turned up the music on his stereo and sang along. Of course, he hadn’t gotten his lady-bird’s home address, but now that he knew how to get inside, he’d try another time.

Chapter 15

Hendrix watched the BMW bounce along the grassy pasture towards the street. Whoever it was, they had to drive along the tree line, then onto the club’s long driveway. From his vantage point on the third floor, he saw the exact moment that his security cameras flashed, catching the front, then the back of the sedan. “Bingo!” he muttered. Now he had an image of the driver and the back license plate.

Turning, he headed down to the basement floor where two of his team members were already pulling up the security footage. Hendrix wasn’t sure who had broken in, but he had his suspicions. These entitled assholes thought they could get away with anything. But Hendrix never let them. As soon as they broke the rules, Levi…now Emily…kicked them out of the club. It was an absolute policy. These members broke federal, state, and local laws on a nearly daily basis. They convinced the public that they were the good guys, that they were providing a product or service at a “great” price.

In reality, they were all scammers. That sort of mentality, the perception that they could get away with anything, continued here with their membership dues.

Hendrix always enjoyed the conversations with members who would be kicked out. Yeah, it was a power trip, but he didn’t care.

Walking into the security office, he nodded a greeting to his team members who were already clicking away at the computer.

“Who was it?”

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