Page 78 of Surrender
The architecture was beautiful—a large, Art Deco-style building that almost resembled an old factory with its red and orange brick and wrought-iron grates on the windows.
The wooden double doors, which I assumed were the entrance, were large and square, with two vertical metal bars serving as handles.
Above them in brass lettering, readMaison Vesey.
“Wait,” I announced, eyeing the couple of guys who stood off to the side in the shadows. One with a cigarette in his hand, the other leaning back against the wall with his arms folded and his chin to his chest, like he was sleeping.
They both wore leather cuts.
One with patches, the other without.
I spun back to Lucy. “Is this where Nate and the boys work? The fancy strip club?”
She laughed, putting the car into park and unclipping her seat belt.
“Your man wouldn’t let me take you out unless a couple of the boys came with us,” she explained, rolling her eyes. “Figured we might as well save them the trouble.”
“Nate knows we’re coming, right?”
“Nate knows damn well everything,” she teased, and she wasn’t wrong.
He’d explained to me recently what it meant for him to be Sargent at Arms for the club. It was his job to know everything and everyone, as he was tasked with keeping them safe and ahead of any potential harm.
Had it worried me? Yeah, for a moment.
But then I remembered how naturally that came to him—the need to protect and care for the people he loved. Whether that job was appointed to him or not, it was something he would have still put above everything.
“So…” Lucy questioned with her brow raised. “You in?”
The bass of the music coming from inside was already rattling the car windows, but it wasn’t heavy and thumping like a nightclub. It was smoother and more melodic than I had expected.
I pressed my lips together for a second. “I’m pretty curious.”
“You’ll love it,” she said excitedly, throwing her door open and climbing out.
I rolled my eyes and did the same, though I couldn’t stop smiling. “So, you’ve been here before,” I said as we walked to the boys at the front doors. When I got closer, I realized Match was the one with the smoke hanging from his lips. The younger kid who looked like he was taking a nap, I recognized but hadn’t met.
“Ladies,” Match said with a grin, grabbing the long steel door handle. “Enjoy.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, and his grin only grew as I stepped through the doorway and into a dark foyer with what I guess you would callmood lighting. A beautiful young girl stood at a dark, polished wood concierge stand, with something in her hands that looked much like a menu they’d give you in a restaurant.
“Welcome to Maison Vesey,” she greeted, stepping forward. The outfit she had on was very 1920s flapper, but a little shorter, and a little skimpier—to be expected.“My name is Gina, and I’ll be your hostess for the evening. If you’ll just follow me.” She headed for the hallway to the left, and Lucy and I both fell into step behind her.
“I thought this was a strip club,” I whispered, not really knowing what I expected, but it wasn’t this. “This is next level.”
Lucy giggled softly. “Yeah. I guess maybe strip club isn’t the right word. It leans more toward like a burlesque-style speakeasy. More like you’re getting a show and having a drink, as opposed to just getting a hard-on from watching boobsbounce around.”
“So I should try and hide my hard-on?” I teased, and she nudged me in the ribs just as we stepped out into the club.
Lucy was right.
Strip club wasn’t really the right word.
It was dimly lit, and there were a couple of small stages around the room—everything very simple and dare I say, elegant. A bar lined the back wall, the dark wood again matching the vibe, and open shelves on the wall displayed bottles of liquor, backlit to make them glow.
We followed Gina to a booth in the far corner, near the larger stage, and I could already see Nate sitting on the back of the booth seat, leaning back against the wall, his eyes fixed on the stage, where a girl was dancing to music that reminded me of the musicalChicago.
“Didn’t my mother teach younotto sit on the back of the furniture?” I asked him as we stopped in front of the booth. The boys used to sit just like that on the back of our sofa while they played video games, and Mom was forever telling them to sit down before they fell back through the bay window behind it.
