Page 56 of Pay the Price

“Jesus,” Jace said when we were all standing on the sidewalk. “Do you pussies want to stand here pontificating about Daisy’s ass or do you want to go inside?”

“Is that a rhetorical question?” Otis asked.

Jace scowled and stomped toward the black iron gate surrounding a small garden in front of the building.

“You’re the one who picked the dress,” I reminded him.

The place looked dignified from the outside, no different from the buildings on either side of it, unless you counted the two bouncers standing guard in tailored suits, their arms crossed in front of them like they were Secret Service.

There was no line.

Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.

“Jace Kane,” Jace said to the bouncer on the left, a giant with a goatee and eyes that looked almost black.

The bouncer pulled an iPad out of his suit jacket and tapped the screen, then asked for the rest of our names.

One by one, he checked them off. Then he punched a code into the digital lock on the door, pushed it open, and stepped back to let us in.

I hesitated on the threshold as Jace stepped inside, followed by Wolf. I was still standing there when Otis joined them.

I couldn’t see much beyond the foyer, awash in red light, but I could hear music thumping from somewhere inside the building.

Wolf looked at me through the open doorway. “You coming, sunshine?”

I took a deep breath and stepped inside.

Chapter 35

Daisy

Awoman in nothing but thong underwear and a bustier smiled from behind the half door of a small room. “Cell phones please.”

The Beasts stepped up and handed over their phones and the woman handed them each a ticket with a number printed on it before turning to place the phone in a metal locker.

She looked at me expectantly, and I hesitated. I hardly remembered what it was like to be without a phone. It was a safety net, especially in a strange place.

But the woman was looking at me expectantly, and it wasn’t like I was alone.

I had the Beasts.

I dug my phone out of my bag and handed it to her.

“I can take your bag too if you’d like,” she said.

I thought about what was inside: lipstick, powder, and a tiny wallet with my driver’s license and credit cards that either had been canceled by my dad or were almost maxed out.

I pushed it across the counter. “Thanks.”

She handed me a ticket and I put it in Wolf’s hand. He stuffed it in his pocket with his number and we headed down the hall.

And now I really heard the music. Not just one beat but several. Classical music was the loudest, but underneath it was something more sensual, the thump of bass from an underground club, the synth of techno from a rave.

I found the source of the classical music in the first two rooms off the foyer, rooms I recognized as original parlors from the research I’d done on old houses like the one I’d inherited.

People of all ages mingled on velvet sofas and upholstered wing chairs, the music playing softly in the background, the murmur of conversation civilized.

No one was fucking. No one was even undressed, although everyone was dressed to the nines.

---