Page 51 of Savage

I took another scan of the roped-off section we were in, making a mental note of all in our vicinity in case someone tried to get the jump on me, then retook my seat.

“Fine, let’s chat.” I ran a hand over the back of Cooper’s hair and rested it on his shoulder.

“You said you want some of that Rapture. What are we talking here? You want to sell or you want to score?”

“Why not both?”

Mick scoffed and looked to one of the guys fondling the gun at his hip. “You hear this guy? Why not both. Like he’s the one making the rules.”

I shrugged. “You asked. I heard it’s the new party drug on the scene. I want in.”

“I don’t need another seller.”

“Yes you do.” It was a bold move I was about to make, but I had some inside information that I knew Mick would salivate over. “You’ve heard of Lucien Vale, I assume?”

The question was irrelevant, of course, because everyone in the adult entertainment industry knew of Lucien. As the public owner of The Veil—New York’s most exclusive sex club—he had a reputation that reached all corners of the city, from the elite to the underbelly.

“What’s he got to do with this?”

“What if I told you I could get your product into his club?” If that wasn’t the biggest fucking dangling carrot, I didn’t know what was.

“I’d say you’re full of shit.”

“But you’d also be wondering…what if he isn’t?”

Mick sat up and shoved the woman off his lap, and as she squealed and stumbled onto the couch beside him, I did my best to pretend not to notice.

“How do you know Lucien?”

“Does it matter?”

“It does if you want to convince me you can get shit past his doors.”

We’d prepared for this moment, Lucien and I, trying to come up with a believable story of how I knew him if Mick asked. With my role tonight as a dom, there’d been a pretty logical solution, as long as I could get it out of my mouth without gagging on it.

“He trained me.”God, if Lucien could hear me now, he’d be rolling around on the floor. “Taught me this way of life and how to be a dom.”

“And you’re going to just betray him?”

“How is it betraying him? You don’t think he’s moving stuff through his club? Come on.” I shook my head. “But he keeps that shit in house. He’s not going to bring me in. I need some extra cash, fast.”

Mick rubbed his chin, the wheels turning behind those cunning eyes.

“Think of it,” I said, knowing he was right there. All he needed was a little more incentive. “Your product, in the hands of the Upper East Side, the rich, the famous…? I bet I can double—hell,tripleyour monthly income. Just give me a chance.”

Mick looked to the guy who’d stopped me and Cooper on our way in and gave a clipped nod. He disappeared behind oneof the thick curtains, and seconds later reappeared with a silver tray. He placed it on the table between the couches at Cooper’s eye level, and when the lines of fresh powder came into view, Cooper’s entire body stiffened.

I squeezed his shoulder, doing my best to relay that everything was going to be okay. But that was little comfort, I was sure.

“This isn’t Rapture.” I knew that because the drugs I’d seen going around were pills in a packet. Not powder.

“No, it isn’t. We’re waiting on a new shipment of that. This is some of the finest coke money can buy. I told you we were going to sit, relax, and chat.” Mick picked up the rolled hundred-dollar bill he’d tossed on the table earlier, then leaned over the tray and snorted one of the lines. As he sucked it back, he tossed the bill toward me and gestured to the tray. “This is therelaxportion of our little meeting. Try the goods, Clay.”

“I think I’ll just?—”

“Try a full line or the deal is off.” Mick fell back on his seat. “You don’t insult your host by turning down his product. In fact, why not start with your plaything? Let him join the party.”

Cooper tensed under my hand, and I remembered the vehement way he’d denied ever taking, orwantingto take, drugs. It was a firm no, and I wouldn’t let this fucker force him.

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