“Thank you for letting me in tonight. I know it’s been forever since we’ve talked,” I yell above the thundering music pouring from hidden speakers inside Redemption.

Marco’s answer is a wicked grin as he takes a swig from the bottled water in his hand. It’s the first time we’ve stopped to talk since I sauntered onto the dance floor an hour ago. Marco took one look at my face and immediately led me there. I gulp down some water as well, because I’m scorching. On nights like this, Redemption seems to have been made for the needs pulsating through my veins. Mulberry crushed-velvet-lined walls tempered the sound from overly jacked-up speakers in the club. Crystal chandeliers are placed in lieu of a disco ball; the multicolored spotlights aimed at them jettison light into millions of different shapes and colors. Scantily clad bodies contort themselves into new positions in time with the throb of the music. This isn’t just a club. It’s pure elegance and raw sex.

With the world spinning out of control, I might need both of those things without any judgment.

Leaning forward to make myself heard, I ask him, “Why did we never work out?” I’m intrigued to know the answer. Enough years have passed since my affair with Marco that we’ve become friends and I can handle the response.

“Probably because you are far too independent, ma chère amie, for the things I need in a long-term companion.” Marco turns his head slightly to tell me directly in my ear, “It also doesn’t help when the woman you’re trying to seduce is in love with another man.” He shrugs his broad shoulders before turning his head away.

It suddenly clicks—the gentle letdown from the man in front of me. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“How did you not know it yourself? How can you still not know? I am beginning to fear you love only once in this pathetic life,” Marco murmurs, nuzzling my ear. It’s too bad I don’t feel anything close to what I do when Colby’s merely standing in the same room.

Damn Colby, and right now, damn Marco.

“You talk as if you speak from experience,” I counter, pulling away from the intimate embrace. That road between us is long past.

His entire countenance softens. “Maybe I do. It’s hard when you’re struck blind by the beauty of a woman, the complete acceptance you receive from her, and you can’t find it with someone else.” His remarkable obsidian eyes look into mine.

I guess Marco’s remembering some femme fatale he met long ago, before he ever came to New York from Paris. I imagine she’s as dramatic-looking as he is, with long sleek hair, pale skin, and perfect lips. I smile thinking of how perfect they would look together. Unlike Colby and me, who likely resemble a bat and a ball standing next to each other. “Yeah, babe, but that’s what people who love you do.”

Marco’s lips twitch. “God knows, I tried often enough to get over you.” My eyes bug out. Me? “But you are quite difficult to forget.” He shrugs, as I stand there gaping like a fish. My mouth won’t close. “I am content here. And I still get to enjoy your company on occasion because you are too generous not to be my friend, Cori.” His lips tip in a soft smile.

I’m stunned speechless. Over the years, Marco gave me a place to just be…me. Cori. No worries. No responsibilities. No cares. Just me.

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a handkerchief as he turns to face me fully. “Stop. There is no crying here at my club, Corinna. I built it to take all this troublesome worry away from any number of people.” He frames my face with one hand. Wiping away the tears spilling over with his handkerchief, he continues. “That, and to take their money.” I can’t help but laugh. Leaning forward, he kisses me on the forehead. “Much better. My Corinna deserves nothing but happiness for all of her days.”

I wrap my arms around him, oblivious to anything other than the music throbbing in my veins and the need pulsating in my soul to suck up every morsel of life while I can.

Stepping back and taking a deep breath, I reach for his hand. “Okay then. Make me happy. I want to get back out on your dance floor.”

Laughing as he grabs my hand, he answers, “After you, ma chère amie. Do we require any special music?”

Grinning, my hips already swaying, I yell, “Maybe.”

The maple-colored engineered hardwood floors are fabulous. Our shoes glide on them as our bodies fall into a natural synchronization with one another. All of my stress over Colby and my constant worry about the time bomb inside my head fades away as I shimmy on the dance floor.

Suddenly, I’m glad I wore my barely there, sexy gold velvet dress as a spotlight hits my dress and it changes into a million different hues. I raise my hands into my hair as I feel Marco press himself behind me. I’m laughing and breathless as a song by Jason Mraz ends.

“I love this place,” I yell to Marco over my shoulder. He just tugs me farther into the center of the throng of moving bodies before the DJ cuts the music down.

“Welcome to Redemption! If you can’t find it here, you can’t find it anywhere.” A huge roar goes up from the crowd. My grin must be splitting my face apart.

“I’m sure your waitstaff has told you how to send in requests to the booth. Send texts to DANCE or 32623 all night long, and I’ll spin it for you.” Damn, Marco didn’t tell me about that new feature. I have a thousand songs I could have requested. The DJ goes on, and I stumble as his words penetrate. “I got a request a little while ago from one of the owners. Think you can keep up with him?”

Marco’s breath brushes against my ear. “Ready to follow my lead?” With a dangerous smile, he brushes his lips over my shoulder.

“You suck at leading,” I murmur back directly into his ear. His body starts to move against mine even as he gives the DJ a thumbs-up.

We’re illuminated by a spotlight as the DJ says, “If that’s Corinna with him, folks, I think we should clear the dance floor for this. It’s going to be one hell of a show.”

I toss my head back and laugh. “Who’s in the booth?” The deep bass drops and pounds its way through the club, and we naturally sway against one another as the dance floor begins to clear.

Marco names one of his guys as he reaches down and spins me out so I’m facing the booth with the darkened windows. I snap off a quick wave before I’m expertly spun back into waiting arms. Suddenly the beat drops and Marco twirls me into a sharp turn as “Shape of You” comes on.

My body becomes liquid incandescence. An exaggerated hip roll, a pelvic thrust. My arm wrapped over my own body, beckoning as it slides between my breasts. A deep plié showing the length of my leg in my dress, twist, spin, reverse arch. My hands are continuously moving up and down the front of the soft velvet.

Heaven. Hell. Who cares? I’m redeemed.

Marco’s my counterpoint. His muscles are only accented as the sweat pours off his body, making his dark shirt cling to him. He’s got every female eye on him. His legs are showcased in his tight dress slacks as he squats in a pelvic thrust opposite me on the dance floor. I watch him drop his hands to his junk, and it takes everything in me not to break into laughter. I turn away from him, swinging my hips until my ass rests on top of the thin heels of my shoes before I sway back to standing.

I’m so caught up in the dance, I don’t realize it’s time for us to dance together until I feel him up against me. His sweaty shirt sticks against my exposed back as I toss my arm up and over my shoulder. There’s nothing but seduction in our dance, and since we’re us, we’ve been laughing at each other through the whole thing. Spinning around, I run my hand through his hair; he runs his over my back before twirling me out and back again. The song is starting to wind down when he says, “Trust me?”

“Yes.” With everything but my heart. Unfortunately, that’s been branded for someone who I’ll end up devastating myself over. Again.

“Close your eyes.”

I do, and my senses burst wide open. I feel Marco guiding the last steps to our song, his hands on top of mine running over the velvet on my dress. I feel a high letting myself out of my mind.

The song ends with me bent over Marco’s arm, my leg hitched around his waist. I’m giggling, and I open my eyes with my head still upside down.

And I meet Colby’s blazing eyes.

Suddenly, I’m dizzy for an entirely different reason.

One that might make me sick.