Page 4 of King of Clubs
Already he can see how this ends, his silence being the thing that kills it. He wonders if it’s better to cut off contactcompletely because already he knows he’s falling in love with Sara. That it started in Lake Tahoe and now it’s playing out in the months that follow.
“Ok,” she says, nestling back against the headboard. “Tell me what you and Melina got up to instead.”
He’s surprised by the change of topic, but he welcomes it. He forgets that Sara’s been involved with a club member before, that that is something that he’s going to have to address with Duke if this thing between the two of them turns serious.
He pushes that away for now, focusing instead on being in the moment. He tells her how excited Melina is about the science fair, that he has no idea where she got that enthusiasm from because he runs his own construction company and his ex is in admin. The two of them discuss STEM programs, how the world needs more female pioneers. She makes him promise to send her the video of Melina’s ‘Elephant’s Toothpaste’ experiment before she hangs up. He goes to bed with a smile on his face and a lighter heart because Sara, she always has this way of doing that, of dissolving the tension he feels in his body.
When the postcard from Japan arrives a few days later, his fingers trace over the writing as he studies the message she’s written in her looping slant.
Twenty Third of February – Los Angeles x
Chapter Five
LA
It’s over a four-hour ride to L.A. Leon’s arranged to stay a couple of days with Sara before he needs to be in Pinehurst to discuss the chapter’s situation with King.
On the drive up he starts to think it may be a blessing in disguise because it allows him to think outside the box, to consider other options. He wants more for the Sunridge chapter, he wants better, safer options for his brothers, ones that won’t result in prison or a bullet. Pinehurst has been heading that way for a while now, they have links to the community, they work with legitimate businesses, their income is becoming clean and constant. Leon wants to emulate that.
He’s exhausted by the time he makes it to Sara’s suite; he uses the key she’s left for him at the reception desk. It’s a little past ten pm and the day has taken its toll on him. He’s been up since six getting Melina ready for school and dealing with club business, all he wants is to soothe his aching muscles in a red-hot bath.
The lights are dimmed when he steps inside the suite. He removes his boots by the door before padding quietly into the bedroom. They’ve gone all out this time, he thinks as he pauses for a second surveying the view from the window. In the distancehe can see the San Gabriel Mountains silhouetted against the darkening sky.
Everything about this room screams indulgence - the well-made luxury furniture, the dark wood floors, the gourmet snacks in the minibar. It piques his curiosity because he knows Sara’s getting by on a freelancer’s wage, and he can’t imagine that any magazine would put her up in a place like this, no matter how good her work is.
He finds her in the bathroom, soaking in a tub that’s large enough to fit two people inside. She has a glass of whiskey in her hand, soft rock serenading her from the Bluetooth speaker in the mirror. She watches as he undresses, his dark eyes fastening on hers as his clothes fall into an untidy pile at his feet. She shifts forward and he slips in behind her, the water raising over his weary bones. He exhales at the sensation, sinking low as he immerses himself. She leans back against his chest, placing the whiskey glass in his hand and he sighs because as relaxed as he is right now, he can’t shake that niggling feeling that this is all too good to be true. His lips brush over her temple, his cheek coming to rest upon her hair.
“I need you to tell me why we’re in this room tonight because I know that neither of us can afford a suite with a mountain view,” he whispers into her hair.
“It’s comped,” she tells him, tilting her head up so she can meet his gaze.
“Not by your magazine,” he murmurs, his thumb ghosting along her jawline. “These rooms cost nearly two grand a night.”
“Not by the magazine,” she informs him as his lips capture hers in a tender kiss. “A private party wants to buy my collection, they’re exhibiting at the Live Gallery tomorrow, this trip is his way of wooing me.”
“Will you sell?” Leon asks and he feels her smile against his mouth.
“I’m donating them to Art! Art! Art! They have a lot of great programs for kids in the foster system, they can showcase them for a while before auctioning them off if they don’t get their funding renewed this quarter,” she tells him as he graces her skin with a featherlight kiss. “Poor Marcus Dylan thinks he can change my mind over the next four days.”
He grins because his girl, she’s just full of surprises.
“I’m sleeping with a hustler,” he murmurs before he kisses her properly.
There’s a softness in it, a devotion that he reserves only for her. She sighs at the sensation and it’s a noise of contentment, one that he feels in the very depths of his soul because now that he knows the truth - he can actually relax. He tips his head back and closes his eyes, the water washing over him as the fatigue steals his energy.
“I’m tired tonight,” he tells her, his voice drowsy as her head comes to rest in the crook of his neck.
“Me too,” she mumbles. “All that travelling is starting to catch up with me.”
This right now, it changes things. If this was supposed to be about sex, Sara would have kicked him out or at least made a move, but she hasn’t. It means she’s just as comfortable with this shift as he is. He knows guys who would drive almost three hundred miles for pussy but there’s not many who would do it just to spend the night sleeping next to their lover.
That’s how the evening ends, her and him curled up in a bed that costs more than both their annual salaries, her face buried in the curve of his throat as he holds her close.
It’s the best night’s sleep he’s had in a long time.
Chapter Six
On his last day in L.A., Leon buys a suit.
