I dropped down in the chair by the desk and let my head drop back as the last forty minutes played in front of my eyes. Every moment, every sound and smell, teasing me to the edge of orgasm again. Jenna had a way of turning me on far more than I thought possible. Sex with her would be heaven. My heaven.

"Nathaniel. It's time to close down the basement and Tamren was out running an errand for me. I’m not quite sure he’s back. Can you handle it please?" Fredrick stood beside the open door to the office.

"Of course, boss." I got up and walked toward him as I sucked air between my teeth. "Thanks for tonight. I needed it."

"Anything for you." He patted me on the back as I walked past him.

"The feeling is mutual." I made my way down the stairs and tried not to put too much weight on Fredrick's comments. He'd half raised me seeing that no one else would, but he was a money-hungry bastard like the rest of us. The lesson was clear. Protect yourself and no one else, cause only the cunning survived on the streets.

Bet Ashley's new hubby never saw the knife hit his back.

"Hey, handsome." A pretty brunette walked up to me as I stepped off the last stair into the main part of the club.

"Hey, girl. How are you?" I reached out and pinched her chin. I'd seen her before. Most likely fucked her. The faces ran together after a while. Fucking was a means of feeling alive. Nothing more.

Not until Jenna.

"Hey. Where you headed?" she called after me, but I ignored her and jogged toward the basement door. Something must have gone down for Fredrick to want to close down the black lights room early on a Friday night. The party was usually just getting started down there.

I pushed the door open and walked down the stairs as the smell of shit filled my nose. "Ugh. Damn."

"It's being cleaned up. Just go tell everyone to fuck off." Tamren lifted his hand and pointed to the back door entrance.

"What the hell happened? And I thought you were off running and errand."

"I’m back, and dude got toked up on Zandra and seized. That shit is toxic if you take more than two. Everyone is warned about that, but Superman here decided to give it a try." Tamren shook his head and glanced back over toward me. "He died right here on the fucking dance floor."

"The body?"

"Being burned on the west side of town." He shrugged and pushed a thick handful of dreadlocks over his broad shoulder. "Not my problem. Nor is it yours. Stay out of it."

"Hell yeah. I'm not at all interested." I turned and walked toward the door as I lifted my wrist to my nose and tried not to breathe in the tainted air. Nothing smelled worse.

The chilly fall night air felt good on my skin. I hadn't realized how overheated I'd gotten. Must have been because of Jenna. Pretty little thing trying to behave in front of me. I could almost feel her back on my lap, shaking like a leaf while she fucked herself good on my fingers. Came like a fountain. I wanted to taste her, to drink her down.

"Stop it," I barked at myself as I lifted my hands and yelled across the long line of people bitching about the wait. "Basement is closed. Mr. Carrington is fine with you guys getting in line on the main floor and treating yourself to one drink on him. Just move up here and I'll mark your wrist. If you're not interested, then have a nice night."

"What happened?" A big guy with tats all over his face moved right in front of me.

"None of your business." I pulled the sharpie from my pocket and tugged the top loose. "You want the symbol for tonight or you headed home, man?"

"Yeah, shit. Give it to me. I was looking forward to this."

"I get it." I scribbled a quick symbol on his wrist. "It'll be open again tomorrow night. Just come back and keep that thing on your arm. They'll let you in without a wait."

"Awesome. Thanks, man."

"Yep." I stifled a sigh and took care of the rest of the crowd, which seemed to grow by the second. Worry crept up deep inside of me over Ashley having to handle her husband's death by herself. Would she turn me in? Pin it on me?

I wouldn't put it past the bitch. She was out to take care of herself and that was it. Or was it?

How many times had she told me she loved me over the years? Too many to count. And I'd never said it once. Not to her. Not to anybody.

And I wouldn't for a long fucking time. It meant too much to me to use the term so casually. I finished up and walked back into the club, closing and locking the door behind me.

"Nate," Tamren walked up to me and put his mitt of a hand on my shoulder, "you know who that woman was tonight?"

"What woman? I thought you said a dude died down here."

"Naw, man. The woman you took up to the top of the club."

"Jenna?"

"Yeah, man. I've seen her before."

"Around this dump?" I ran my fingers through my hair as he released his hold on me.

"I don't know." He brushed his fingers against his lips and glanced past me. "I can't place her to be honest, but I know one thing."

"What's that?" It wouldn't go unnoticed that she was the most beautiful thing in the whole fucking building that night. I didn't expect it to.

"She's powerful, Nate." He turned his attention back to me. "I can't remember where her power is wielded, but she's important to the city."

"To New York?" I snorted. He had my girl mixed up with someone else. She worked at a fucking hole-in-the-wall coffee shop. She shook like a leaf while I fingered her. She wasn't powerful or important, at least not to anyone but me. And I planned to keep it that way.

"Yes. Just tread lightly dude, all right? We kinda like you around here."

"Is that a joke?"

"That we like you?" He laughed.

"No, asshat. That you're worried about my safety because of me being with Jenna."

"No, I'm telling you to be careful."

"All right, well, if you remember where you saw her and where she's powerful from... help a brother out. I plan on marrying that girl one day."

"No, you don't." He lifted his eyebrow. "You're taking this playfully, but I'm fucking serious."

"All right. I getcha man. Thanks for the warning." I turned and jogged back up the stairs, letting the conversation go. He had the wrong woman. Plain and simple.

* * *

I must have passed out when my ass hit the couch that night because I woke up the next morning with someone beating down the door of my apartment.

"Fuck." I jumped up, still half-asleep. "I'm coming. Shit."

"Open the door, goddamnit." Ashley. Great. Something was wrong.

I fumbled with it as my adrenaline spiked. "Just a second, Ash. Shit."

"Open it now!" She pounded on it harder, rattling my nerves.

I pulled it open and stepped back as she walked in and reached up to slap me. I caught her hand and pushed her backward.

"Don't hit me again, or I'll tie you up and take my belt to you in ways you'll not like."

"No, you won't." She came at me again, and I gripped her wrists and pinned them behind her.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? What happened?" I walked toward her, pushing her backward with my body until she slammed into the wall behind her. "Did the cops figure something out?"

"What?" Confusion filled her pretty face for a minute. "No. I'm not pissed about that."

"I'm going to let you go, but you swing at me, and I'll fucking swing back. You understand?"

"Fine." She jerked her shoulders side to side as if she were anywhere near as strong or fast as me.

"Stop," I barked and pressed my shoulder into her chest, pinning her still. "You hear me? Stop or get the fuck out. I'm not dealing with your crazy ass this morning."

She struggled for a minute more before exhaling and letting her head drop. Her whole body sagged, and it was a good thing I had ahold of her. She'd have busted her ass on the floor otherwise.

"All the stuff we've been through." Her voice broke and my heart constricted in my chest.

We had been through a lot. What the fuck was wrong with her? Did someone hurt her?

I reached up and brushed my hand down the side of her face and pulled my shoulder out of her chest. "What's going on, Ash?"

"You know I love you and yet you still deny me the one thing I want." She reached up with shaky hands and wiped at her face as her tears started to fall.

"I'm not going to be with anyone, Ash. That's not the type of man I am. A white picket fence and kids? Are you serious right now? Let this shit go, please. You're not that girl."

"Not the girl for you? Is that what you're saying?" She reached up, and I let her slap me in the chest before walking toward the kitchen. "Who was she, Nathaniel?"

She rarely called me by my full name.

"Who are we talking about now?" I followed after her.

"The girl at the club last night with the huge tits and long dark hair. You were dancing with her. You took her upstairs and probably fucked her silly."

"I didn't fuck her silly, and she's no one. No one means shit to me but you and Mikey. You know this." I put my hands on my hips and watched her from the opening to the kitchen.

She grabbed the orange juice from the fridge and turned back to glare at me. "I call bullshit. I've never seen you look at someone like that." Her voice broke again. "You've never once looked at me like that."

"You were supposed to kill your husband last night, run home and call it in, and lie to the cops when they got there. How in the fuck do you know how I looked at some whore on the dance floor? I sleep with other women. You know this. You sleep with every wagging dick in the neighborhood. Stop being sensitive. It's not you." I shook my head and turned to walk back into the living room.

"You're making this up to me," she called from the kitchen.

"Fine, whatever. How did it go?" I dropped down on the couch and ran my hands down my face. What a fucked up way to get pulled out of a deep sleep. My dream played at the edge of my mind. Me and Jenna walking down the beach, her in her wedding dress and me still in my tux.

It would never happen.

She'd find out who I was or what I'd done and it would be over.

That or Ashley would find out everything and kill her.

"No," I whispered and leaned back, trying to let the thought go. It forced me into a scary state of mind. If Ashley came near Jenna I wouldn't think twice about strangling her with my bare hands.

Just like I did her last husband, our first job.

"Yes or no?" She walked in and gave me an angry stare.

"Yes or no what?"

"Nothing. Never mind. It went fine last night." She sat down in the chair closest to her and drank from my orange juice container deeply. I would have usually bitched at her to get a glass, but it wasn't the time.

"He's dead?"

"Yes, pissed and shit himself thanks to the drug." She wiped her forearm past her nose, and for the first time that morning, I realized how exhausted she looked.

I got up and walked over to her, reaching down and pulling her into a loose hug. "We don't need to fight each other. We're partners. Friends. Let's stop this bullshit."

"I know." She rested her cheek against my chest and let out a long sigh. "I have to fucking go over there for a couple of hours to see his parents. You're going with me."

"As what?" I laughed and kissed the top of her head.

"My brother." She moved back and finished the OJ on the way to the kitchen.

"And you think these people are going to buy that shit?"

"They're grieving the loss of their only son. I promise you that they'll buy it. That, or they'll really not give a shit either way."

“I’ll go as a good friend, but I’m not going as your brother.”

“Whatever floats your boat, Nate.”