Page 86 of Ethan's Sky

“I can’t help but feel there’s something familiar about her. I can’t put my finger on it. But it doesn’t matter. I’m not going back. She freaked out after we…” I give him a look that says we fucked. Kieran’s eyebrows hit his hairline. “She’s not like the other dancers.” I explain. “She has a personal bodyguard. She doesn’t give private sessions. I was the first, and only one she’s ever done that with from what Santiago tells me.” The cold water in my hand swirls and a spin the bottle in my hand trying to focus on the movement instead of the way her face looked when she came on my lap. “She wears a wig and a mask. They all wear masks, but she’s hiding…something else.I’m not sure if it’s from everyone or only from me, but she’s afraid of something.”

“Did you do something to scare her?” He raises a brow, his voice taking on a sterner tone.

“No. I mean, we fucked...” My hands go up. “But she initiated everything. She had rules. No touching unless she allowed it. She set the pace, controlled everything. I even told her we didn’t have to. I only wanted her time. To get to know her.”

“You mean to say you didn’t want to fuck her?”

“Of course I did! But I was willing and content to watch her dance or talk if that’s what she wanted. I’d been trying to get a few minutes of her time for a while. So, when her bodyguard said she wanted me in a private room, I took the opportunity.”

“How much did you pay for her time?”

“Nothing.” Kieran’s brows raise to his hairline.

“You’ve been trying to pay for private dances, she wouldn’t give you the time of day, and then out of the blue she gets you alone in the back and fucks you…for free?What changed?”

“Fuck if I know.” I shrug.

“Do you know the lass, outside of the Pearl?”

“That’s what’s weird. It feels like I do. She’s hiding something. She wouldn’t take her mask off, let me see her face, even in the private room. Since we had sex, she’s been MIA. She fucking vanished.”

“Maybe she was there to pay off a debt to Vincenzo.”

“No,” I snap. “He takes a lot of precautions when it comes to her, but I don’t think it’s anything like what you’re suggesting. She wears a wig and a mask. They all do, but she never takes hers off. I’ve seen the other women who work there walk around without theirs.”

“Maybe she doesn’t want people to know her identity. In her line of work, it’s not uncommon for some men to become infatuated with a fantasy of the women they go there to watch. Maybe she’s had a bad experience with a stalker and is being more cautious now.” The thought of anyone stalking her, wanting to tie her up and hurt her makes my fists clench. The water bottle in my hand crinkling as I crush in my grasp.

“There’s this pull between us, I can’t explain. It’s almost like…” I choke on my own words. I remember Xander mentioning how Skyler wore wigs when she worked for Cash at his bar to hide who she really was from the clientele.Hold up.

“What about the blonde, Skyler? Who is she?”

“Isn’t that the fucking question of the century?”Could she be…?

“I mean to you. Who is she toyou?” Kieran reiterates his question.

“I don’t know how to answer that,” I tell him honestly. “She was once the girl I thought I was going to marry and spend the rest of my life with.”

“What changed?”

“Everything.” I scrub a hand down my face, collecting my thoughts. “She left me. The night Emily was killed, Skyler was there. She was the only witness who could testify, put the bastard away for life, but she …ran.”

“Jesus, kid.” Kieran lets out a deep sigh. “Did she witness the girl’s death?”

“I honestly don’t know. My mom told me Skyler was the one who called the cops to tell them where to find Emily’s body. Shortly after the phone call, Skyler vanished.”

“Vanished? But you said she ran. Which is it, Ethan?” He looks at me puzzled.

“Well, I can’t tell you everything. It’s club business. You understand.”

Kieran nods. He knows the rules of the club and how important being a part of the Kings is to me, so I know he won’t push for more than I can give.

“I was told she ran. It seems that isn’t the case. At least, not how Skyler tells it.”

“How does she tell it, then?”

“She doesn’t tell me much. According to her, she can’t tell me anything, except she left for me,and it wasn’t her decision.”

“Whose decision was it then? Do you know?” I nod. He throws his hands up expectantly waiting for me to give him a name.

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