Page 56 of The Broker

Watching Noah when he’d been with Shannon had made me uncomfortable, but only because it’d been so insanely hot, I hadn’t known how to handle it. This? Watching these strangers? It only had a fraction of that heat. I felt uncomfortable in a different way, as if I’d intruded.

I ripped my gaze away, wheeling it around to look anywhere else, until it landed on Noah. His expression was... curious. Like he wanted to know what I was thinking.

“I’m trying not to stare,” I whispered.

“Why?” He asked it so casually. “They want people to watch. If they didn’t, they’d be in one of the private rooms.”

“Private rooms?”

It was only then I noticed the rest of the space, beyond the woman going down on the man who continued to stare at us. The wall opposite the doorway we’d come through was linedwith black doors, which were decorated with brass numbers, and all were ajar.

He followed my gaze. “Looks like no one’s using them right now.” He took a sip of his Manhattan, and then used his glass to point to the archway on the right. “We’re heading that way.”

I peeked into one of the private rooms along the way, finding it kind of underwhelming. All that was inside was a full-size couch and a love seat that had been arranged like a sectional in the narrow space.

Beyond the archway, there was an old, ornate staircase that turned the corner as it traveled upward. It was stunning and must have been original to the house but looked like a bitch to clean with all the woodwork. Just off the base of the stairs, there was another black door that hung open—although this one didn’t have a brass number on it.

That wasn’t the only thing telling me this room was different. The walls were painted a deep red, and the hairs at the base of my neck tingled with awareness. The doorway was at the end of the room, so I couldn’t see much of the inside, but when I started to go in, Noah’s hand went out to stop me.

“Not yet,” he said. “Let’s go upstairs first.”

It made me wonder if whatever was in that room was the grand finale.

The staircase creaked and groaned as we climbed it, and then we were on the second floor, which was a bit of a maze and totally deserted. These had once been the bedrooms of the house, but the doorways had been widened to make it easier to move around. The flow of it still wasn’t great, but I kind of liked that.

There were more quiet corners and alcoves this way.

The lounge atmosphere continued up here, but this one was cozier, with exposed brick walls and a fireplace—although this one looked like it was no longer functional. The most dramaticdifference was that the side tables up here weren’t empty. They had large dishes on them, like the ones you’d see filled with candy, only these shiny wrappers didn’t contain treats.

“Is that a giant bowl of condoms?” I hadn’t meant to giggle, but I couldn’t help myself. There were bottles of lube next to the dish too. “This shit is wild.”

He chuckled. “They want their guests to stay safe and have a good time.” He was quiet for a moment, letting me take it all in. “This floor is the only part of the club where men are allowed to get naked.”

I scrunched my face with confusion. “What about women?”

“They can get naked anywhere.” He must have realized he needed to amend it. “As long as they’re inside the club.”

“Isn’t that—I don’t know, sexist?”

He shrugged. “If it is, I’m okay with it. It’s safer this way, and... men are pervs. I’m glad I’m not seeing dicks the second I walk through the door.”

Oh, my God. A grin spread across my face. “You’re not wrong.” My grin stilled as I remembered what he’d said. “Wait a minute. The guy downstairs was getting a blowjob.”

“He was.” Noah took another sip of his drink. “Maybe he forgot, but I’m guessing he knows he’s breaking the rules. Some people like getting caught.”

“What’ll happen to him?”

“He’ll get thrown out, and his membership revoked.” He ticked his head toward the stairs, indicating he wanted to head back down. “Places like this have zero tolerance for rule breakers.”

I walked beside him, having to move at a faster pace than normal because his strides were longer. “Places,” I repeated. “You’ve been to others?”

“Yeah. There was a club in New York I went to often enough I became friends with the owners.”

“Friends like us?” I asked as we descended.

He found my question amusing. “No. Claire and Enrique are in their late sixties, and they’re heavy into masochism. That’s not one of my kinks.”

My breath caught. Well, now Ineededto know what all his kinks were. I was dying to find out because... what if his aligned with mine? What if he could show me things I didn’t even know I was into?

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