Page 13 of Chandelier Sin
“You can’t fake-smile your way through life,”My only friend’swords offered to comfort me. Ben may work for my husband, but he always came through for me.
I’d become an expert at this façade of contentment. But even as I had shared so much, I’d never even shown Ben what was hidden beneath my thick silver bracelet.
Still, I wasn’t that scared girl anymore.
I left the lounge and strolled from room to room, searching forhim.The charismatic man with the tattooed hands, the elaborate ink promising his touch would be rough and smooth and everything in between.
Not that he’d ever be permitted to touch me, that man who’d interrupted my evening like a comet bursting through the night sky, bright and brilliant and all too fleeting.
Our interaction in the cellar had left me riveted. The allure of his admiring dark eyes and the magnetism of his voice were impossible to forget. His charismatic charm was edged in arrogance. He knew how handsome he was, how enigmatic. Had to know all he had to do was make an entrance and all eyes would be drawn to him.
His threat to Pendulum was being dealt with—several Board members had gone rogue.
Which was why Atticus believed he’d one day own Pendulum. He wanted control over this kingdom of vipers. Maybe that was why I found him compelling.
There could be only one dark lord ruling Pendulum—Aemon Roper.
The man who was right now on the sixth floor doing the nasty with some woman who had no idea who he was.
Sometimes, it was better that way.
Entering the dimly lit ballroom, I glanced over at the string quartet. The musicians were playing one of my favorite pieces, “Fleur-de-lis.” They kept their backs turned away from the erotic scene behind them.
There, reclining on a table, were three naked women writhing in the throes of passion—an elegantly orchestrated display of fucking. A few guests had gathered around to better view the erotica.
Staring beyond the moving bodies, I froze when I recognized Jake Carrington, though in these circles he was known as De Sade—a man with a kink for pain. He looked suave in his tux. The retired footballer stood protectively beside a submissive. She was stunning, her looks Persian-American.
I’d seen De Sade’s photo but never met him. He, too, was a threat to Pendulum.
His sub’s expression darkened as she followed De Sade’s gesture toward the bar. He was pointing at someone.
It was hard to see who it was from here.
De Sade studied his submissive with compassion. I continued to observe their interaction. The way he leaned in to better hear what she had to say over the music. I admired his attentiveness, a gentleman amidst the unscrupulous.
Finally, De Sade led her out.
Take her far away.
Before those with the ultimate power could claim her.
Or maybe he had just led her to a different room.
Moans rose from the female performers. Two of them were pleasuring the Dominatrix who lay there with her legs splayed, pumping her hips in time with the bass, as both women took turns giving her oral sex. An exquisite show of feminine sexuality that was wasted on these heathens.
I looked back toward the bar to see who’d rattled De Sade’s’ submissive, the man who’d scared her enough to make her want to leave.
It washim.
He glared back at me.
The hairs on my nape prickled as I tried to tear my gaze away from Atticus Sinclair. He stood alone at the bar nursing a tumbler filled with ice melting over liquor.
How long had he known I was here?
Even from across the room I could feel his power. It was a palpable force, like a current of electricity rushing through my veins, making my skin tingle and my pulse race.
My breath caught in my throat as I was held captive by his stark gaze.
