Desire (12 page)

8

Isaac

Sloane’s club looks pretty good from the outside.
The sign is gone, so she’s obviously changing the name like I told her to. I wonder if she took the rest of my advice. Convincing her to sell out was difficult and I’m not sure that it worked, but she’ll lose the place if she doesn’t. It’s always weird when I get done with a long job because the world keeps turning while mine stops, but this is extremely surreal. I am a different person now. I have to tell her, there’s no way around it. She’ll know anyway. The only person that can read me better is Maya.

Okay, the inside is basically gutted,
it obviously hasn’t reopened yet. And she appears to be moving the bar further in, so maybe she is redesigning it completely. Whatever she’s doing looks fucking expensive and I can’t lend her another dime now that I have to protect Maya. I hope she wasn’t counting on that.

“Isaac!” S
loane throws her arms around my neck. “You were gone for way longer than I thought, we have so much to talk about.”

“Clearly.” It’s so
good to see her, but I feel a guilty because Maya might be upset right now if she knew where I was.

Dodging pipes and piles of wood,
I follow her back to the office. There’s plastic sheeting all over the place, everything is getting torn down. Sloane is beaming, she looks so happy. Will I really have to give this up? If the situation was reversed, I’d demand it from Maya. But I basically have two real friends in the entire world and it would kill me to lose this one. I can’t talk to Jace like I do with her, he doesn’t understand and honestly, I don’t even want him to. Not to mention he is still majorly pissed off at me and now money is involved. I’m getting ahead of myself. Bailing on Sloane is not an option right now. One day at a time.

“So, yes, I
realized that you were right and swallowed my pride. I’m pretty much doing everything you said,” Sloane informs me. “Thanks for that recommendation on the architect, by the way. She is fucking amazing.”

“Did you find someone to help you with marketing and publicity? Because I don’t really know much about this shit. You should get a second opinion.”

“Actually, you do, because I did bring in a guy and he loved everything you came up with.”

“Seriously?”

“I have so much to tell you. But…” She opens the door and my heart stops beating. “I thought I’d thank you first.”

I squeeze my eyes shut as fast as I can, but it doesn’t matter. I’ve been out of the apartment for less than an hour and I’ve alr
eady practically cheated. There’s a naked girl spread out on Sloane’s couch with a comically large bow tied around her chest. Too bad it wasn’t covering her tits, but I guess that wouldn’t make sense. Spinning around, I lean against the doorframe and look at the ceiling, trying to breathe. I do have to end this. This friendship isn’t appropriate anymore and it never can be. I may have never shoved my dick in Sloane, but we’ve had sex. A lot. But I can’t cut her off now because I have to use her again. I am such an asshole. I don’t deserve either of them.

“Sloane, we need to talk.” My voice is so hoarse.

“Are you okay?”

No. I am not fucking okay.
The walls are closing in. I don’t want to be inside a building right now, certainly not this one, definitely not this particular room. I shouldn’t have come here. “Do you want to grab a bite to eat?”

“
Isaac, you are hurting Audrey’s feelings.”

Great. Just make me feel worse. “I truly appreciate the thought, but it’s not a good time for me
. I don’t feel very well.” Do I apologize to the girl? Sloane is more than a little miffed. She has a shorter fuse than I do, but the explosion isn’t as big. “What do you want me to do, Sloane?” I snap. “Bend her over your desk even though I’m not in the mood because all I want to do is pass out? I need a fucking rain check, alright?”

“Okay, okay. What do you want to talk about?”

“Well, the club and… I don’t want to talk about it here. There are too many people around.”

“
Isaac,” she groans. “I don’t want to go anywhere, I just got here. And stop being so paranoid, no one is fucking spying on us. This is my domain.”

“Seriously, I would kill for a
real piece of pizza right now. And if I don’t get an energy drink, I’m gonna fall over.”

“We’ll order in,” she says. What the fuck
. This is always the problem with two people are used to getting their own way. Every little disagreement can turn into a huge battle of wills and I’m just not in the mood right now. And if her girlfriend could put some fucking clothes on or get the hell out of here, that’d be great. But she does sit a Monster right in front of me when Sloane snaps her fingers and I don’t even try to resist.

“I’ve been trapped in a high rise for more than three weeks, I could really use some air.
Please
.”

“Did you just say please?”
She looks at me like I just did a magic trick or something.

“Never
mind. I’m going for a walk, I’ll talk to you later,” I say, getting up to leave.

“Hold on.”
At least Sloane waves the girl away, but she has to scoot past me to get out the door. Audrey gives me her best come hither eyes and licks her lips, a pair of lips that have been around my dick quite a few times. Goddammit.
Sorry Maya
. “We’re alone now, you private bastard. Spill your guts.”

“
What the hell is wrong with you? Make her put some fucking clothes on. At least shoes, this is a work zone.”

“
Audrey will be fine, she’s a smart girl. Man, what is your problem?”

“Nothing.
Except that I’ve been awake for 30 something hours straight. I’m just exhausted.” Sloane doesn’t buy it for a second and I need to give her something. But I don’t want to talk about Maya here, I don’t know why. Maybe it has something to do with all the good times I’ve had in this room. “Okay, I’ll fucking tell you. I’m… moving in with Gloria. That’s why, well if I wasn’t so tired, I can’t play with your girls anymore. But really Sloane…” My anxiety is obvious, but I lay it on extra thick because I need to get the fuck out of here without starting a fight. “I should probably be checking into rehab again but I will never be able to stop using completely without fucking hurting somebody. I don’t know what to do.”

“Shit, Isaac. You were doing so well.”

“No, I wasn’t, I just got really good at hiding it and found the perfect mix. Now, can we go get that fucking pizza? I need to be outside, I’ve been going fucking nuts.”

“
Isaac, did you hurt anybody?”

“Anybody? You mean my last client?” I snap
, drawing the attention of the workmen leering at Audrey. “No. It was a very strange job.” Has she screened these assholes? And her girl is totally fucking eavesdropping, the last thing I need is a rumor. But spreading the official story couldn’t hurt. “I hardly touched her at all, she needed to practice taking orders outside of bed,” I say a little louder than necessary. “For the last month, I’ve basically been teaching her to cook and watching her clean and try not to cry while I call her a fucking whore. So as you might imagine, I have been bored out of my mind and would really love to play with your little toy right now, but I can’t until I know it won’t set Glory off.
And.
I’m. Fucking. Hungry. For a
real pizza
. That I would like to eat while I look at a blue sky and feel the wind blow on my fucking face.”

“Okay!
Chill the fuck out.”

“And congratulations on the new club. We can talk about that too, I have some more ideas. But—”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, the wind in your hair, the sun on your face. I get it. Let’s go.”

I doze off for about twenty minutes in her car.
This pizza is fucking fantastic, I wish I could bring some home to Maya. God, I can’t wait to see her face, see her room, hell, I’m even looking forward to meeting the cat. Sloane keeps looking at me like she wants to ask me something. I have been playing this game way too often lately.

“Just fucking say it already.”

“I was about to say the same thing to you,” she laughs, taking a big bite. “What did you really want to tell me?”

I gulp. “
Where’d you get those guys?”

“
Isaac, why are you so fucking twitchy? They are just normal construction guys. And yes, I did background checks, they’ve never worked for your clubs. I want to stay as far away from that bullshit as possible.” Stop fucking offending her, asshole. Sloane isn’t stupid and she’s just as paranoid about surveillance as I am. “Seriously, what is up?” she asks. “I’ve seen you strung out and you’re not. And there’s no fucking way you’re boning Gloria again, let alone living in her house. Totally unnecessary, but good cover story.”

“I
am struggling a bit with benzos and I have been for about six months.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but I’m pretty leveled out right now. As for Gloria… I am actually moving in with her. Not fucking her though. But I still can’t touch your girls anymore.”

“Good luck with that,” she chuckles.

“I’m serious.”

“Dude, aside from the fact that you do not owe that cu—,” she stops herself before she pisses me off. “That woman
anything
, even if you do start fucking her again because
you’re
the one in charge, there’s no way in hell she would ever find out. Besides, we’re business partners now.” She beams at me. “You have a totally legitimate reason to come here. Like, all the time.”

“That’s not it.”

“What, you’re backing out on me?”

“I never technically signed up, Sloane,” I laugh. “We talked about this for a
few hours while you were drunk. But, yeah, I’m in.”

“Still at 10%?”

I should demand twenty, but she can barely afford that, plus I’ll need enough favors to cover the difference. “Yeah, ten. Not on paper though and I need cash once there is some. And there will be.”

“Like, slip you fifty thousand dollars in a briefcase cash?”

“Something like that. But it will be a while until you’re at that level, unless you start running an underground gambling ring, in which case, I’m fucking out. I’m not going to jail.”

“No, no
. Trust me, it’s completely legit. I don’t want to end up in the joint any more than you do.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? You only go outside when I drag you there and you’re a fucking
lesbian dominatrix. I think I’d have a much shittier time.”

“
Yeah. You are
way
too pretty for prison.” She laughs for a second, then her eyes narrow and she shakes her head. Something is up.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes,” she answers too quickly. “Well, I am running out of money. If this doesn’t work out…”

“It will.”

“And now I’m worried about you. Are you seriously moving in with Gloria?” I nod reluctantly. “So, you’re out then? Did you tell your father?”

“I did. He went for it.” I get a little nauseous as I flash back on the fucked up nature of that conversation and the fact that Maya saw it.

“He just said okay? No strings?”

“Gloria
is
the fucking string, Sloane.”

“No, she’s more like a noose around your neck, but I guess it’s the lesser of two evils.”

“Yeah, it’s a big fucking upgrade.”

“No, it’s a marginal improvement. At least you get paid to
choke the other girls. The shit you do with her… man, you cannot go back to that. Not to mention, you’ll have to be her fucking lap dog again.”

“
I was never her fucking lap dog. You don’t understand the complexities of our relationship. And I already told you, I’m not fucking her.”

“Isaac, if you are in her house, you are in her bed. That’s
just how you guys are.”

“Not this time, we
’ve already discussed it.”

“Then she fucking fooled you, because that bitch’s pride cannot handle—”

“
Sloane
…”

“Hey, it’s true. But sorry. Seriously though, she is
n’t going to put up with the monk routine for long and she will never stop guilt tripping you. With the history you have, you are bound to cave and—”

“That is not going to happen.”

“Isaac, you can’t resist her. You’re still in love with her.”

“I’m not.”

“Isaac…”

“I’m not. At all. I never was,” I w
hisper. Sloane tries to hide the pitiful look on her face. “I can say that with absolute certainty now because…” She’s waiting for me to finish but I can’t breathe. This will crash and burn if I tell her and she fucks this up or one of her girls hears something.

“Your face is green, dude. What the hell is up with you?”

“You would never fucking turn on me, right?”

“Of course not.”