Page 103 of Three Sweet Nothings (The Blindfold Club)

Chapter

THIRTY-SEVEN

Joseph’s Porsche was already parked in front of the club, and I went past, choosing to park down the block. It was expensive and a pain in the ass to own a car when you lived in the city, so most cars on the road were nicer, but I still didn’t like grouping my Range Rover near his. Even if the blindfold club was in the nicest part of town, which it wasn’t, I didn’t want to attract attention.

He met me at the door and gave me a warm smile. “How’re things?”

“Good.” Obviously good, because I was here. We hadn’t seen each other since the night we’d played together a week ago, and I was worried things would be uncomfortable, but of course they weren’t. Joseph was so confident, it overruled awkwardness.

Neither Joseph nor I had time to make it out to the suburbs again, so he’d arranged for his supplier to meet with us at the club after dropping off the monthly delivery of new ‘equipment’ this afternoon.

“How about you?” I asked. “How are wedding plans going?”

He smiled faintly. “I didn’t think I would, but Noemi says I have an opinion about everything.”

“Let me guess, the wrong one?”

He chuckled as we walked through the front door, surprising the guy sitting on the stool just inside. The man was huge, and as he lumbered to his feet, he recognized Joseph. “What are you doing here, man? Haven’t seen you in a while.”

“I have an appointment with the supplier,” Joseph said. “It’s okay, I already ran it by Julius.”

“Shit, he must have forgot. He didn’t mention it.” The bouncer leaned over and pressed a button, buzzing us through the second door. “He’s in his office, supervising a regular in room six. Supply guy’s not here yet, but he’s gonna start in room four.”

There was a slight pause as Joseph held the door open for me. I doubted the bouncer noticed, but Joseph’s body language hinted at something. We made our way through the first holding room, where the small bar on the side was dark. The club didn’t operate during the week, and not during the day.

“Something wrong?” I asked.

“No.” But his tone suggested it was. Abruptly he pulled to a stop. “It’s not my place anymore, he can run it however he wants, but I made it a rule not to take off-hours appointments. Especially not when a delivery is being made.”

I knew how the place worked. When I’d handled Julius’s case, I’d had to understand the transactions from start to finish. The client’s privacy was the foundation Joseph had built this place on. Sometimes the johns left the blindfolds on, not for the experience, but to keep their anonymity.

“I’m sure it’s fine,” he added. “Some of the regulars are hard to say no to.”

We moved on. The long hallway had a bank of doors on the right, each adorned with a single brass number. Like last time I’d been here, I tried not to think about how many times my sister had been in these rooms, selling sex to strangers.

We reached the door to room four, and Joseph grabbed the handle, pushing it open. I stood still in the hallway, hesitating as I peered into the dark, ominous space.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

“No, I—”

The door to the last room opened abruptly and a tall guy stepped out, his stunned gaze finding Joseph.

“Monsato,” he said. He seemed just as surprised to see Joseph as the bouncer out front had been.

Shit!

Shit, shit, shit!

“Mr. Crawford,” Joseph said.

Tariq pulled the door to his room shut. “Thought you didn’t own this place no more.”

“I don’t, but I help out from time to time.”

I needed to get the fuck out of there before Tariq recognized me. I turned on my heel to head back down the hall, but swift, heavy footsteps rang out. Too late. A strong hand latched onto my shoulder and jerked me around by the lapel of my suitcoat.

Tariq stared at me like he was letting the recognition set in, and fury burned in his dark eyes. I was prepared for a fist to come flying my direction, and for it to hurt like a motherfucker.

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