Page 41 of Beneath the Blindfold

Courtney tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “She was, uh . . . complimentary of your place.”

“I gotta sit down.” I plodded over to the nearest couch, dropped into it, and set my forehead in my hand. Holy shit. No point dancing around it. “Whatcha think when you found out?”

Her heels tapped across the floor, and she sank slowly down onto the other side of the couch. “I was worried. I mean, what you’re doing isn’t legal.”

“I’m fine,” I said, rubbing my forehead with my fingertips. “I ain’t going anywhere.” Not to prison, because I had an airtight arrangement with the Feds.

“Right after I found out, you met Kyle and you said he helped you with stuff. So, I suspect he advised you how to operate without . . .” she searched for the right thing to say, “getting into trouble.”

I let out a breath. I was glad to come clean on one secret, but couldn’t tell her the whole truth. If my deal with the FBI collapsed, it wasn’t just my neck, it was every one of my employees’ too, and that was a big deal for me.

“Something like that.” I straightened and turned to her. “You mad at me for not telling you?”

“No. I figured you would when you were ready.” She smiled softly. “But . . . I got impatient. You know I fucking suck at keeping secrets.”

It was true. How had she gone months without telling me she knew about my club?

“And as long as we’re talking about secrets . . .” Her breathing picked up and her face flushed.

Fuck. This had to be about Tariq. Did she know he’d been a regular until their divorce? Until I’d finally stopped being a stupid fucking idiot, picked her over him, and threw Tariq’s ass out of my club?

“I didn’t have a date tonight.” She licked her lips nervously. “I thought maybe you’d tell meeverythingwhen you were ready.”

My heart stopped skipping and slammed into a brick wall. “What?”

She lifted up and scooted closer to me. The nearness of her tripped proximity alarms in my head, and I tensed to keep myself from leaning into her. She swallowed a breath. “I know our situation’s complicated. We’re friends, and I was with Tariq. I get why you’re nervous.”

I played at being casual. “Who’s nervous?”

Courtney moved again, inching her way toward me, and I stayed glued to the couch cushions. I liked this a lot. The building could be on fire, but I wasn’t fucking moving.

What was she getting at, though?

“If you didn’t have a date tonight, why’d you tell me you did?” And all that shit with Kyle—what was that about?

She slid until she was right beside me. Her knee, wrapped in that sleek leather, was up against my thigh. Courtney pressed her lips together, and her gaze dropped to my chest. I didn’t like seeing her anxious, but couldn’t think of a damn thing to say to make her more comfortable.

“I was hoping you’d tell me not to go.”

“Fuck, Courtney.” Sitting beside her was like being on a roller coaster. It flipped my stomach, but in the best kind of way. “I should of. I wanted to, but I thought it’d fuck things up between us.” I couldn’t fight the urge any longer and leaned close, right up to the edge of the friend zone, and then pushed passed it. “You want . . . more?”

I’ll give you everything I’ve got, just say the word, girl.

She stared at me like she was torn, but between what? Nerves? Worry about things changing? Her eyebrows came together. “Yeah, I do, but—” she glanced around the room, “—I need to know whatyoudo here.”

My brain was still stuck on her answer and I couldn’t follow. “I run the club.”

“What I mean is, I’m not going to get into anything with you if I have to . . . share.” Her expression went hard. “I already shared my man once, and it’s definitely not my thing.”

Now I got it. “I don’t fuck my girls. I don’t even touch ‘em.” She gave me some side-eye, but I laughed. “For real. I’m their boss.”

I stopped before I said the girls were like my sisters, because that always sounded creepy as hell, but it was the only way to explain how I felt. I cared about every one of my employees like we were a twisted, messed up family. And you see someone naked enough times, it stops being weird and becomes your version of normal.

Same for watching them fuck on the security footage.

Still didn’t look like she believed me. “What happens at an audition?” she asked.

I’d changed some things when I took over. Originally at an audition, the girl got naked and went down on the owner. For Joseph, that wasn’t just about her proving herself, it was to give him power. I wasn’t into any of that.

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