Page 10 of Chandelier Sin
Jake’s line of sight was directed behind us. We both turned tosee a salt and pepper haired guy who was immediately recognizable—Lance Merrill, wearing a slick black tuxedo with shiny cuffs, and a slicker smirk.
A half-naked submissive crawled beside him.
He’d been expelled from Chrysalis for a level of cruelty few dared to display. Cameron Cole had thrown Lance out of his club. We’d wondered how he was going to retaliate. Blowing up our deal here seemed a reasonable guess.
He was checking us out, too. Perhaps poised for revenge on the guys he’d credited with losing his VIP status at Chrysalis. Men who take themselves down always look for someone else to blame.
Lance peered into the Key Chamber showing interest in the submissive talking with Jake. Then he meandered off without acknowledging us, his submissive crawling after him.
Arrogant fucker.
I started to go after his sub—do the decent thing and make sure she knew he was toxic.
“Wait.” Greyson stopped me. “He wants one of us to interfere.”
He had a point.
“He’ll be the first person who gets their membership revoked,” he reassured me.
Jake stared through the glass as though he’d picked up on our conversation. I guessed he was looking for our approval to take the submissive under his wing.
We shook our headsno.
Predictably, Jake ignored our advice and escorted the submissive out of the chamber. She went with him, displaying a mixture of relief and confusion.
They were out of sight, but hardly out of mind.
“He never listens to you,” said Greyson.
“She’s his type.”
“True.”
Doubt shuddered through me. Jake had a thing for raven-haired beauties. And just like that, one appeared out of the ether.
“Lance showed interest,” I said. “You don’t think he invited her?”
“Bit obvious,” said Greyson. “Sometimes a fuck is just a fuck.”
“But not Amelia.”
“What does that mean?” he snapped.
He knew exactly what that meant. For Greyson to steal a submissive from Jake, his closest friend, Amelia had to mean something to him. And he’d only just met her.
“Can’t I have this one thing?” he said.
Who was he kidding? He was rich enough and talented enough to own the world. He was also the kind of person who never saw the bad in people.
“Lance is volatile,” I reminded him. “Watch yourself with him.”
“I was there, remember?”
I was recalling that time at Chrysalis when Lance bid on Mia Lauren in an auction and almost destroyed her life—would have, if not for Cameron Cole.
Jake had the sense to take the submissive straight home and then exit stage left.Anyway, he still had to unravel his life from Rylee’s.
“What’s your reason for doing this?” I asked.
