Page 47 of Elicit (Decadence After Dark)

“Come in,” her soft voice flits through the wood.

I enter to find her sitting in her usual spot, on the cushioned ledge of the bay window. When she sits there, she really does look like a caged bird, staring wistfully through the glass.

“Everyone is downstairs waiting to leave.” I sit beside her.

She passes me an apologetic look. “Do you mind if I stay behind? I’m not really up for a trip into the city.”

“Are you sure? You’ve barely left the house in three months,” I try to persuade her. “Some fresh air might be good.”

She looks over at me with the saddest eyes to date. Gone is the confident vixen every single one of my clients wants. And the ferocious woman who sets my bed—and my heart—ablaze. The person sitting next to me now is just a girl. A complex, lonely, innocent girl.

I touch her cheek. One day I’m going to uncover all her secrets. Uncover all the heartache that weighs on her and eradicate it.

“Can I bring you anything back?”

London shakes her head lightly. “I have everything I need right here.”

I’m all you’ll ever need,I want to exclaim, but I play it cool. Emotion floods my chest as I chastely kiss her goodbye.

“Stay out of trouble.”

“I can’t make any promises,” she flirts.

“Don’t give me a reason to punish you,” I threaten playfully.

“I like being punished.” Her cheeks flush.

I love to punish you.

I don’t get the chance to articulate my thought as my name echoes through the house.“JETT!”

Mr. Cranky Pants is ready to leave.

“I’ve gotta go.” I spring up, drop one more kiss on her head, then hurry out the door.

“What’s the issue, man?” Kayne barks as I jog down the stairs.

“Put a cork in it. I was checking on something.”

“You mean someone,” he remarks snidely as we cross the glossy foyer.

“So what if I was? That’s my job.”

“Job, right.” He closes the front door behind us. “You work overtime with that one.”

“So what?” I yank on the driver’s side handle of the black stretch limo.

“So nothing. Just saying.”

“Just saying what? You obviously have an opinion.” I start the car and check on the girls in the rearview mirror. They’ve already popped the champagne and have the music blasting. I close the privacy window and then pull down the half-mile driveway to the main road.

The city isn’t far by any means from the elite suburban New Jersey town we reside in. Twenty-five minutes at the most with no traffic. But it’s eight o’clock on a Friday morning. We’re pretty much screwed.

“My opinion is you have a girlfriend,” Kayne shares passively as he types on his phone.

“London is not my girlfriend.”

“Uh-huh.”

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