Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 83961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“I don’t know what came over me,” he says. “Everything in the whole world just stopped existing when I saw your body.” He buries his face in his hands.
“Like you said, it’s not like he was going anywhere—”
“But there might have been a chance to save him if we’d acted quickly. I could have performed CPR until paramedics got here.”
I stand and look right into his eyes. “He was dead. Dead is dead. You shouldn’t feel any guilt at all. What we need to worry about now is getting rid of the body without arousing any attention.”
“Okay.” He scratches his shoulder. “I guess we should get dressed, then.”
I nod and grab my panties from the floor. I discarded them there at Mr. Calloway’s command, never imagining that I would be putting them back on in the company of a second, much more appealing man. “So…Harrison O’Rourke.”
He gets dressed. “That’s what they call me.”
“It’s a good name. Solid.” I slip my dress back on. “Do you ever go by Harry?”
“No.” He turns his head away sharply.
I swallow. His tone suddenly turned so curt. There’s a story there, but it’s none of my business. We finish dressing in silence.
I put my shoes on and stand. “My next set will be starting soon. We should go.”
11
HARRISON
I put my hand in Bianca’s. God, her skin is soft. Does she bathe in olive oil or something?
“How are they going to move the body out of the club?” I ask Bianca. “Are they going to have to clear all the patrons to make space? I don’t want anyone panicking.”
She shakes her head. “That won’t be necessary. We’ve had incidents like this before. I mean, never in the middle of…” She swallows. “Rouge has a process for dealing with these things delicately.”
I drop my jaw. “Wait, people dying here is so commonplace that you have a procedure in place to handle them?”
Maybe I don’t have to feel so guilty about the old man after all…
But what I said earlier was true. There may have been a chance to save his life. We’ll never know, because I chose to fuck Bianca instead.
Damn.
She sighs. “You have to remember that Aces Underground started as an illegal speakeasy during Prohibition. Everything is by the books now, at least on paper. But Chet has often looked the other way when people bring in narcotics and other hard drugs. Sometimes we have to deal with an overdose.”
“How have you not gotten shut down?” I ask. “Aren’t clubs like Aces liable for any illegal goings-on on their premises?”
Bianca huffs. “You clearly don’t know my sister. She’s got everyone with a lick of power in this town wrapped around her little finger. She does whatever the hell she wants and has never faced any consequences for her actions.”
“But even someone as powerful as Rouge can’t just bring a dead body through the front door of the club,” I say.
“Who says Mr. Calloway is going out the way we came?”
I lift an eyebrow. “There are other entrances to the club?”
But then I remember. Rouge told me that there is a separate entrance for the club’s waitstaff. Maybe she can take care of this with discretion.
“There are several. Usually the overdoses occur either in private areas like the one we’re currently in, or in the bathrooms. There are ways to move people around efficiently without disrupting the clubgoers.”
“Damn.” I rub at the back of my neck. “What the fuck kind of a circus have I gotten myself into?”
“A circus with only acrobats. No clowns.”
I’m not sure what she means by that, but now isn’t the time. We have a dead body to deal with.
“I’ll tell Rouge about the body,” I say. “You should get ready for your set.”
She darts her gaze from one corner of the room to the other for a moment before nodding. “Okay.” She gets on her tiptoes and kisses me on the cheek. “Thank you, my white knight.”
She heads back into the main area of Aces.
I follow behind her but split off as she heads to the Hearts section. Rouge is mingling with patrons in Clubs. I cross toward her, steeling myself for what I’m expecting will be another weird interaction with her.
She raises an eyebrow as I approach. “Dr. O’Rourke. Lovely to see you again. I trust you’re enjoying your evening?”
“I’m having a great time.”
Not a lie. Fucking Bianca was the most fun I’ve had in years.
She nods. “Wonderful.” She then turns back to the other patrons in the Clubs section and continues her conversation.
I tap her shoulder. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but there’s an issue of some concern that I need to let you know about.”
“You can take your concern to one of the waitstaff and they can assist you.” She waves me away with her hand, her bright-green fingernails cutting through the misty cloud of smoke cloaking the space.