NICHOLAI
It’s been over a year since I’ve stepped foot in the warehouse that houses the Billionaire Bad Boy Club. The smell is dank and musty. Cigar smoke and alcohol mix with various brands of cologne and perfume to make a scent that’s not nearly as enticing as I once found it to be.
I recall taking in a big breath when I used to walk into the dark place. Now I’m trying not to breath too deeply at all as I scan the room for her blonde hair.
I have no idea if her father made her dye it or cut it off into some short hairstyle. I have no idea if she’s gained a ton of weight since she was stuck in a castle for over a year. I have no idea of anything. I just know she’d act nervously as this isn’t a scene she feels comfortable in.
But all I see are women hanging onto men and their every word. No one is looking lost or seemly seeking someone out. Then Hawthorn catches my eye as he is looking right at me from behind his simple mask.
One thin length of black leather covers his eyes. He’s easily recognizable which I find odd. He gives me a nod then leans over and nibbles on the redhead’s neck he has his arm around.
Looking away, I wonder if that’s his newest addition to his harem of slaves. Someone should warn the poor girl that he isn’t what he seems to be. From what the woman I rescued from him said, he took the BDSM thing to a level of hell she never knew existed.
I suppose his looks are what reels the unsuspecting females into his lair of evil. He should’ve been kicked out of the club for his actions. The thing that’s really odd about James Hawthorn is that once he makes a woman his slave, since I took that one away from him, he never brings her back into the club again.
I know of three that no one has seen at any function or at the club again. It’s scary once you really think about it. I mean, where are they at?
Making my way to the poker table, I pick up a drink from a passing waitress and she gives me a look of surprise. “Bill, you’re back!”
“I am. I don’t suppose anyone has been here tonight, asking for me?” I sip my drink as my eyes can’t stop searching for Natasha.
“No,” she says. “I’m glad to have you back. If you need anything at all you will let me know, won’t you?”
“I will, thank you,” I tell her, then continue towards the poker table.
A hand on my shoulder stops me and when I turn I am looking at James Hawthorn, face to face. “Yes?” I ask him as he moves his hand off my shoulder.
“I sent you an invitation to which you’ve yet to respond,” he says with a certain amount of agitation I didn’t see coming.
“That’s Christmas Eve. Though I doubt my family is doing anything, I must check with them first before I can send the message back to you,” I tell him and see a grin move over his lips.
“I hope you come. I think it’s time you and I buried the hatchet between us. I want to move forward without you as my enemy. Don’t you want that too?” he asks as he offers me his hand.
As I look into his eyes that are dancing with a certain amount of amusement for some reason, I reach out and shake his hand. “The past is the past. We can move on from here, James.”
“Good,” he says then we stop shaking hands and he looks at me with a half-smile as he takes a sip of his clear drink. “It’s been over a year since I’ve seen you here. What’s so special about tonight, might I ask?”
“I’ve had one hell of a terrible day. I need to let off some steam,” I say then take a sip of my own drink and wonder why the man suddenly wants to be friends.
“I saw the news. But I also saw the jackass who told those lies about you had confessed, getting you off the hook. That should’ve been a huge relief to you.” He looks at me intensely then says, “But you don’t seem to have any relief showing in your tense expression. You should grab a female and beat her until you feel better.”
“I don’t beat women,” I say then take a long drink to help rid me of the irritation the man is making rise inside of me.
“Of course you don’t, Grimm. I meant no harm in the remark. It was a joke,” he says then looks past me. “But I am here to enjoy the women so I will see you later. I do hope you decide to attend my ceremony. It’s going to be at the Central Park Zoo. There should be fresh snow on the ground and her blood will look amazing as it drips all over it.”
My insides quake with his disgusting portrayal of what he has in store for our members to watch. “Did you manage to save a bunch of fake blood from Halloween?” I ask him.
“Fake?” he asks then turns to follow a woman who’s just walked by. “Sure.”
I watch him move in behind the woman like a lion stalking his prey then his hand goes around her throat and he turns her to face him. His mouth is on hers and he’s taking her away to a private room before she knows what’s happened to her.
I shudder as I watch him and wonder why he’s still in this club. He is not a thing we are about. He is evil and he reeks of it. I pity the foolish woman who has agreed to be his slave. She is in for hell.