Page 90 of Hard Luck (Blackstone House)

“No, he’s mostly East Coast and West Coast.”

“What kind of business is he involved with? Hotels?”

“Private members’ clubs. They do have accommodation on the upper floors, though. Plus restaurants, spas, business centres, and BDSM in the basements.”

“Wait, what?”

“He spotted a gap in the market. It’s all very discreet.”

“Are you serious?”

“Nearly always.”

Cole hesitated before he asked the next question. “Are you a member?”

Bella shook her head. “We lost touch for a few years, and we only recently reconnected. It was his wedding I was at the night we met.”

He’d wanted her to open up about her past, and the fact that it was a little wild shouldn’t have surprised him, given the way they met, but the guy was running a sex club out of his basement?

“The BDSM thing, does it make money?”

“Alotof money. Brax’s ex-wife tried to take most of it, but thankfully, that situation got resolved.” Bella rolled to the side and flopped her head onto the pillow. “Man, that woman was a bitch. She used to ‘borrow’ my shampoo, and she never replaced it.”

“You knew her?”

“He started dating her when we were roommates.”

“That didn’t upset you?”

“There was never anything serious between us. It was either Brax or a vibrator, and I was on a limited budget in those days.”

“Were you writing obituaries back then?”

She snorted. “No, I was mostly working in bars.”

“That’s quite a career change.”

“It took me a while to find something I was good at.”

“Did you always live in Vegas?”

“I moved around.” A pause. “I was living in Virginia when I met Brax.”

“But then you decided you’d rather bake alive in your own skin in the summer?”

“No, our landlord murdered one of our roommates, so we all had to leave.”

Cole looked for a sign that Bella was joking, but there wasn’t a hint of a smile on her face.

“Tell me that’s not true.”

“He killed her in her room. Two days passed before we found her.”

“Damn.” On instinct, Cole wrapped his arms around Bella in a hug. “That’s whacked.”

“Yeah, he was acting as if everything was fine. I ate breakfast with him the day after it happened, and he was perfectly normal. Or as normal as Levi got, anyway. He was always kinda weird. Used to pop pills like candy and spent a lot of time with his momma. Took his laundry over there, brought casseroles back with him, called her every day. And after we found Ruby, I just kept thinking that it could have been me or the other girl in the house, who was—and still is—a close friend. It messed with my head for a while.”

“This guy, Levi? He’s in prison now?”

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