Page 25 of His Jewel

After tonight, he’d burn it.

The security guard looked him over, eyes flicking up and down, before handing the card back and giving him the nod. He stormed through the restaurant, earning him stares and whispers and wide eyes from the few who were sitting there, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

It was late. The club was more like a nightclub, with music blaring and bright lights flashing. He could feel the pulse of the music, feel it in his head. He glanced around, not seeing Alana anywhere. His eyes caught on a table in the center of the room. He recognized a few of the guys. He’d been introduced to them on his first night there.

“Hall!” one of them said. Lucien, if he remembered correctly. “Been a long while. How are you doing?”

The man sitting next to him, face full of whiskey, Rick, he was pretty sure his name was. He didn’t recognize the other two.

He tried to find his composure.

“Drink?” Rick offered.

Fuck it, why not?

He nodded and accepted a whiskey, downing the bitter liquid.

“Come to party, did you?” Lucien asked with a raise of his brow.

He scoffed. He knew he was being rude, but he didn’t come here to party. He had come with a purpose. “Alana. Do you know where she is?”

Rick smirked and exchanged a glance with Lucien. “Yeah, in her office with Drew. They’ve been in there the past couple of hours. You might not want to disturb them, if you know what I mean.”

Now why didn’t that surprise him? He knew he sensed there was something going on between them, not that Drew would admit it. And from what he’d seen of Alana, he doubted very much that she would, either. She seemed like the type of woman who kept her cards close to her chest. But who was he to judge women? To judge people in general. Clearly his judgment was off, skewed.

He shrugged. “Need to. It’s important,” he said, standing up. “Thanks for the drink.”

They waved him off.

“Enjoy the show!” Lucien called over the music.

He rolled his eyes. Surely they weren’t. He’d knock. Loudly.

Three knocks were what it took to have Drew opening the door. Mercifully, it didn’t seem like he was interrupting anything sexual. But he was definitely interrupting. Drew’s face was flushed, and Alana looked upset. It set him off balance momentarily, reminding him that the world didn’t revolve around him. Other people had problems. But right now, he was struggling to care, he just needed out. He walked straight past Drew, heading for her desk.

“Oh, hello, dear friend. How are you this fine evening?” said Drew.

Sarcastic bastard.

He’d forgotten how horribly purple everything was. He flung his card onto her desk, and it went skidding, landing in front of Alana.

“You knew,” he said. It wasn’t a question.

She had the decency to hang her head, to wring her hands.

“If you weren’t getting so close, I would’ve gotten involved immediately. But it no longer seemed like my place.”

Excuses. He wasn’t interested in hearing excuses. Don’t people have integrity anymore?

His lip curled, and he spewed the venom before he had a chance to school himself.

“I guess that’s how you’re working for billionaires but you’re not one of them, huh?”

She wasn’t the one he was angry with. Not really.

He felt pressure on his chest as Drew’s hand pushed him backward. “Easy,” he warned. His eyes flicked between him and Alana. “What’s going on?”

“Why don’t you explain, Alana? You likely know more than I do.”

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