Page 25 of Brutal Sin

Chapter Seven

A shitty mooddidn’t come close to what Bryan sported when he shoved past the glass doors of the Taste of Sin restaurant the following day. The scheduled lunch shift wasn’t the issue. The problem came from his phone.

He’d expected the sperm vultures to have left a message or two while his cell lay dormant overnight. The snatch pics that filled his text box hadn’t been a surprise. He’d also expected the abusive message from Leo over what had happened last night.

What he hadn’t predicted was the message from Tera—If you change your mind and want to talk, please callme.

Oh, hell, no. He wasn’t going to let her fuck up another day. As far as he was concerned, his parents were already dead and buried. He assumed the feeling was mutual.

The reminder to change his cell number had him in a shitty mood. But from the sight of his business partners standing beside a table in the empty dining room of Taste of Sin, the worst was yet tocome.

T.J. maintained his usual friendly expression—casual smile, laid-back posture. On the flip side, Leo scowled, eyeing him as if eagerly awaiting the start of whatever intervention was on this week’s agenda.

“What are you doing here?” Bryan veered to the left, cutting through the tables toward the storage room behind the bar. “I thought you were both working tonight.”

“We are.” T.J. cleared his throat and shot a glance at Leo. “We have a few things we wanted to discuss with you beforehand.”

“Right…” He continued walking, unsurprised when they both followed into the small enclosed area behind the bar. They hovered inside the doorway as Bryan dumped his wallet and keys in the safe. “Hurry up and get it overwith.”

“You went too far last night.” Leo stepped inside and pulled the door shut behind them. “I had no idea of the extent of what happened until after you bailed. Then all hell broke loose, and I had a mass of women nagging me about how I was going to address the situation.”

“Address the situation? You’re joking, right? I followed club rules. I did everything by the book. The women in the Vault were due for a reminder on club etiquette, so I made a public announcement.” No harm. No foul. At least from his viewpoint. “If you’d been getting snatch pics every five minutes and throaty voice messages the next, you would’ve done the same damn thing.”

“I get it.” T.J. gave him a placating look, furrowed brow and all. “Leo said a few of the women were houndingyou—”

“A few?” Bryan glared at Leo. “If you’re going to relay a story, at least tell it right.”

“Okay, so a population equivalent to the Chinese army has been begging to nail you. Better?” Leo rolled his eyes. “You already know my feelings on the matter. You can’t deny you overreacted.”

Bryan ground his teeth. Had his friends already forgotten what it was like to be single in a club of voracious women? Did they even remember why they’d opened the Vault?

No. Of coursenot.

They were too busy creating memories with their significant others, and in return, shifting the dynamic of the business. T.J. had reconciled with his wife, Cassie, and Leo and Shay were growing closer with every public display of affection. Decisions surrounding the running of Taste of Sin, Shot of Sin, and the Vault of Sin were no longer a closed discussion.

“I go to the Vault to relax,” he grated. “I’m not going to put up with any crap down there. It was created for us. We opened it. We made the rules.”

“And now it’s a thriving business.” T.J. leaned against a stack of beer cartons next to the door. “It’s moved beyond an irregular night of fun and is growing into something bigger than any of us planned.”

“Then maybe it should go back to the way it was.” He didn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth. He didn’t mean them. But something had to change. He just didn’t knowwhat.

His friends frowned, matching expressions of disbelief hitting him with their subtle annoyance.

“You’re the one who suggested these show nights,” Leo bitout.

Demonstrations. They were demonstrations or classes, not shows, but Bryan kept the critique to himself.

“You wanted to increase satisfaction levels and talk about getting women off efficiently. You were the one who suggested a BDSM talk session in the future. Now, all of a sudden, we’re moving too fast? You can’t have it bothways.”

Bryan ran a hand over his forehead and massaged his temples. “Iknow.”

Tera’s phone call had him on edge. To the point of angered hysteria. After years of continuously burying the memories of his past, one twenty-second conversation had dragged everything to the forefront.

“Come on, man. You know the Vault is holding its own when it comes to income.” T.J.’s voice softened. “Membership has doubled. The nights we open are increasing due to demand. And there’s a shitload of interest in the class you’ve organized.”

“There was,” Leo clarified. “I doubt it will go aheadnow.”

“What?” Bryan dropped his hand to his side. “Why?”

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