Page 103 of Chandelier Sin
“Why me?”
“We don’t want a man like him,” snapped Eve.
Roper gestured for her silence. “I need a discreet doctor on staff. You proved that he’s perfect, darling. It was your idea.”
She flinched and sat back.
“If we have a guest or a sub needing medical assistance,” he clarified, “we’ll call.”
“What if I’m busy?”
He ignored that. “Sure you don’t want a drink?”
“No.”
Because everything in this place was toxic.
Eve’s palm was pressed to her chest, and I guessed it was in faux sympathy. Convincing, and yet she continued to study me beneath long lashes.
“What do you think of my offer?” Aemon asked.
I blew out a sigh of frustration. “I’ve seen the way you treat your employees.”
His jaw tightened. “Are you referring to Ben?”
“I am.”
“That situation is not up for discussion.”
“I can imagine.”
His sinister grin widened. “I admire your confidence.”
Not looking at Eve was a challenge. Merely days ago, in this very room, I’d lifted her hem and lavished her clit with affection. She’d trembled against me in the most feminine way.
Now that was the sweetest revenge.
It dawned on me that I knew nothing about her—where she grew up, if she was an only child, or how she’d met this man.
All I knew was I craved her.
“There’s a saying,” Roper began slowly, “‘Pendulum does not exist.’ It was the appeal of the club. We take care of our members. Look the other way when their play becomes…interesting. We ensure they feel like they belong.”
“They certainly do.”
“Want to disrupt that?”
Just the once—permanently.
“Billions come through Pendulum,” he continued. “I imagine that’s the appeal for you boys.”
“Obviously, our offer didn’t hit your desk first.”
“And when it did…” His steely gaze met mine.
He’d killed men to kill the deal. That was my guess.
With this man, the staircase to Hell kept winding downward in a continuous spiral of depravity.
