Page 79 of Devoured
CHAPTER 22
Roland
Almost there, Iris texted. I sighed and tossed my phone on the bed. My forehead pulsed worse than before, the pain rattling around as if my brains were inside of a blender. I ambled over to the wet bar in the corner. Perhaps Iwasgetting too old for popping pills and getting drunk on the job, but fuck it; it was how I had thrived for this long. I poured myself a martini; hair of the dog. What that actually meant was you substituted one mask for another. More alcohol to make up for the lack of pills. The headache, the hangover, thewithdrawal, you simply numbed one aspect with another, so you could forget about everything else.
Suitcase packed. Flight and tour scheduled. All that was left was a final conversation with the Dahlia District’s new owner. Then in New York, I would never have to think about her again.
One mask for another.
One last chance for me to stay.
I got the text from the concierge that Iris had arrived and was requesting entry. I let her up. Stuffed my phone in my pocket. Checked myself in the mirror: I looked like shit. My hair was freshly washed in shaggy strands across my forehead, but the dark circles crowding my eyes made my cheeks look sunken. I put on that practiced smile, but it was more forced than usual.
A bang on the door. I opened it, then gave Iris a half-smile as if nothing was wrong.
Because it was true. There was nothing wrong between us, because there wasn’t anything there in the first place. It was a bet. A bet between business associates.
“What can I do for you?” I asked.
She blinked up at me. “Good. You’re sober.” She pushed past me and plopped down onto the long sofa to the side of the room. A long, dark peacoat wrapped around her shoulders. A loose beanie on her head.
“What’s up with the security?” she asked, nodding towards the window. “You told them it was okay to come into the club now?”
“I dropped the security.”
She squinted her eyes at me. “When?” She motioned towards the window again. “There’s a car waiting outside. I guess it’s a different car, but it’s one of the same guys as before.” I waited for her to drop it. This wasn’t what she had come here to discuss. “Well?” she asked. “When did you drop the security?”
I shrugged. “Don’t know.”
“How do you not know?”
“What, Iris?” I barked. “Why so many damn questions? I told you; I don’t remember.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “Do you remember anything from yesterday?”
I sneered. “I was high, not dead.”
“Do you remember what you said to me?”
That I loved her? Yes, I did.
“Get on with it,” I said, snarling. “That’s what this is, right? Another business talk.” I took a deep breath and rubbed the bridge of my nose. It wasn’t Iris’s fault that I was a jackass. Nor was it her fault that I couldn’t stand the fact that I cared about her, not when she could betray me too. That I wanted her to succeed. That she deserved it. More than anyone.
“All right,” she said carefully. “I think you should stay.” She paused, gauging my reaction, but I gave her the same blank face as before. “The club is fine as it is, of course. But you’re right; it could use some upgrades and restructuring. And while I know how the club operates, I don’t know the ins and outs of business.” She shifted in her seat, showing that it was hard for her to be honest. “So, please. Will you stay?” Her voice was weak at that request. “The club needs you. The servers need you. I need you.” She bit her lip, looking at me with those big round eyes. “Please stay.”
I bowed my head, trying hard to accept her words, to take them at face value. To remember that she owed me nothing. To remember that all she wanted was her home. How could I blame her for that?
But taking her words at face value left me in the dark, where I was nothing but a guide to her. A mentor. After she used me, she could discard me. Like the rest. Like Lexi had planned to do, before I got rid of her instead.
“It’s always about business, isn’t it?” I said.
“I’m pretty sick of you saying that,” she said. She came forward, meeting me in the middle of the living room. “You say that like you’re not guilty of it. But you are.” She stared at me, her eyes vibrant and fearless. “You would never have given me a second thought if it weren’t for business.”
How could anyone, anyone in their right minds,notlook at her twice? She was captivating and intimidating, even to me, and yet she drew me in too, made me want to figure out what was going on in her mysterious head. How could someone be so powerful, and yet so vulnerable? Who could pretend to be unafraid, yet shudder in surrender when it came to her desires? When it came to me.
“It’s always been business first,” she continued, “It was like that with your ex, right?”
I grit my teeth. “What?”
