Page 96 of Love After Never

And with all the information I sent out to Devan, those cruisers are coming for her eventually.

A split second of indecision stills my hand on the black pull to the backdoor.Don’t do this.

The voice in my head is Gabriel’s, which only reinforces my determination. One step inside, and the music from the floor is already banging through my senses. I take one last look outside at the approaching twilight, the darkness of an evening to kick off debauchery. I’m ready.

Iwas born ready.

This is for Taney and for all those other women who had no choice. Who fell beneath Jade’s spiked heels for one reason or another.

I round the stairs with the gun now steady in my hands. The music might be on but there is no one here. Too early. Jade, though—she’s always here.

Climbing the stairs, I still see no one, but I’m too close to stop now.In for a penny, in for a pound. I kick open the door and step into the room half a second later.

Jade sits behind her desk completely unperturbed. She looks up slowly from her paperwork, her face a mask of apathy.

“Well. You’ve certainly seen better days, Miss Sinclair.” She purposely sets her pen to the side and laces her fingers into a steeple in front of her. “I don’t suggest looking in a mirror.”

“Unluckily for you, I don’t need to look good to kick your ass.”

Her grim smile shifts into a smirk. “Is that what you plan to do? Or will you actually use your gun? I’m not a Sub you can intimidate.”

“Why did Taney tell me not to come back to this club?” I jerk the gun toward her in emphasis.

Jade pauses before saying, “We both know the answer to that. I wondered when you’d put the pieces together, Detective.” She tsks, her lips slicked with red a shade darker than the suit she wears. Her head, buzzed close to the scalp, glows in the light of the chandelier. When I look closer, I can see that the lines around her eyes are deeper, her foundation makeup caked into the creases.

The thought of this woman at Whip watching me and Gabriel has bile rising in my throat.

“A bit slower than I thought you’d be, if I’m entirely honest,” she adds.

“Well, not so slow that you made an escape. You’re mine now.”

A viperous smile teases across her face. “Darling.” Condescension drips from the pet name. “I’ve been doing this longer than you’ve been alive. Do you really think you’ve managed to get a step ahead of me? Think, Layla.”

I hesitate.

“Have you ever wondered why you are theonlycop allowed in through my doors? I’ve always known what you do for a living. It’s not exactly a secret. Ask yourself why I would willingly give you free rein when one wrong look at my operation might have you whipping out your cuffs.”

“You’re right. It’s what I am,” I bite out. Why had I turned a blind eye to her? Why hadshe?

“No, darling, being a cop is what youdo. Who you are is the same as any of the sinners downstairs, except you’re too stubborn to accept it. You would rather pretend that your sins don’t count once you’re out the door. And you were so busy pretending that you never gave a thought to mine.” Jade’s smile hides a murderous secret.

Stone-cold fuckingbitch.

“The risk I took in letting you through those doors should tell you what you need to know. About the two of us.”

A weird tension travels from my lower back all the way up to the top of my skull. While I don’t let my guard down, the wariness grows.

“What are you talking about?”

She’s maneuvering me in a definite direction. If I move too fast, she won’t answer.

Jade sighs, looking at a loss by having to explain things to me. “I saw you liked sex, Detective. Did some research. Found out exactly who you are and where you came from.”

“You know nothing about me.” My bitterness is clear.

“I know you’re a child who lost her father at such a young age.” She clicks her nails on the top of her desk before rising, pressing her palms flat. “Maybe karma was giving me a chance at redemption so what’s left of my conscience can rest easy. Not that it hasn’t, truly.”

Her features twist into a leer at my confusion.

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