Page 17 of Room Twenty-Three: Tangled & Teased

Not making any decisions and being totally dominated. Every choice would be in the other person’s hands.

Obviously, it could only be at a place like Club Sin. A safe place where I could discuss my boundaries and make sure the person tying me up didn’t go too far.

How far would they go?

Who are they? The man or men I would allow to enact the fantasy that I’ve only just realized I have. Would Jove, Beau and Atty take me there? They’ve been to Club Sin in London, and Atty told me they like to share.

I think I would hold back on sex. I’m not sure I want to go all the way. Losing my virginity in a sex club is not high on my have-to-do-before-I-die list. But dangling in the air while I’m tangled in knots, while they touch me and tease me, is.

And it’s perfect. Being in New Orleans where nobody needs to know what I do here. This will be my little venture into this sexy, unknown world.

I hold in a snort because I can only tell one person. She’d understand. It’s a secret I could only share with my best friend Lia, just before I take her one hundred dollars when I win our bet.

Atty made it clear last night that the three men liked to share in the clubs and aren’t interested in anything but a one-night stand.

Perfect.Now to ask the men because that’s fine with me, too. One-night is all I need.

Is it?

They’ll agree to it. I know they will. They’ll only touch my body while I float in the air. I won’t ask for anything more and that’s hardly breaking the client’s “no touch” rule I overheard them arguing about.

Dinner is crawfish etouffee. The juicy crustacean is sweet and coated in a rich garlic, tomato and Cajun spiced sauce. And with a serving of rice, it’s delicious, everything I like to eat in one dish.

I take another mouthful as I watch the men as they eat. Waiting... biding my time.

I catch Jove’s eye as I stare from one man to the other. I find him staring at me more and more now. He doesn’t smile. It’s like he is trying to work me out.

“Are we going to Club Sin again tonight?” I ask, taking another meaty crawfish from my plate and chewing as I wait for the answer.

Jove shakes his head. “Not tonight. Tomorrow we’re talking to the girl’s parents again. Tying up some loose ends that have arisen.”

“Am I staying here?”

“You can. There’s been no threat to your life, and it looks like your father was right and the killer believes they got the right girl when they killed your cousin.”

I swallow as I remember the night. “I know you’re not investigators, more like bodyguards, but I think I saw the man who killed her.”

Jove drops his fork and stares at me. “Where? Here?”

I shake my head. “I mean, the night she died.”

“Go on,” Beau says.

“We were on a beach on the Gold Coast. It was my twenty-first birthday. And Lydia...” I stare at the men. “My cousin...” I swallow at the thickness in my throat. “She met a man who wasn’t dressed right. He was in a suit. We were all in casual beachwear. Anyway, he wasn’t alone.”

“How do you know?”

“I didn’t at first, but there was another man in a large, black SUV. He was dressed in black and staring at where we were on the beach.”

“Could you recognize any of the men?” Jove asks.

I chew the corner of my mouth and nod. “The man Lydia was talking to had a cigarette in his mouth and the light of it showed he had a scar on his cheek.”

“A burn, a birthmark?” Atty asks.

I shrug my shoulders. “I’m no expert, but I’d say it was too perfect for it to be a burn. It looked like a knife slash.”

“How do you know the two men were linked?” Jove asks. “The man who was standing near the SUV. How do you know he was associated with the man your cousin was talking to?”

---