To Die For (Joker's Sin Book 2)

by Davidson King

  “Hey,” Max said as he came into my living room freshly showered and in his clothes for the night.

  “You look and smell amazing.” I smiled when he blushed.

  “Thanks. Did you talk to anyone at your mom’s place?” He walked into my kitchen, and I had to admit I loved how he acted as if he had been here a million times.

  “I did.”

  He came out with two bottles of water, handing me one. We sat and talked, and I told him everything Karla said. He seemed to come to the same conclusion.

  “So, either they’re covering his ass, or Dorian is a liar.” He chugged the rest of his water.

  “I wish I knew which.”

  He smirked and I had a feeling an idea had sprung up in that brilliant head of his. “If you trust me, I can find out for you.”

  “I do trust you, but why do you say that like you need something from me?”

  “I do. I need info on your mom. Her account there and stuff. I can ask a friend to do a little digging and see who’s lying here, because one of them is.”

  I didn’t let a lot of people into my life. But Max wasn’t like other people, so I stood and went into my room, where I had a locked file cabinet. I opened it and took out the file on my mother. All the invoices, receipts—everything financial. I also had the admission contract in there, and the papers Dorian gave me. I came back out and handed the file to Max.

  “I promise not to abuse your trust, Sparkles.”

  I leaned down and kissed him softly. “I know.”

  “Okay, how about you go shower and change, because you know you’re coming to work with me tonight, right?”

  I laughed because I’d suspected he’d want that. “And what about Tank? I can’t keep asking my friends to watch him, and I don’t feel comfortable letting him be alone. Even though he’s not limping or in pain, I think leaving him alone would be a bad idea.”

  As if Tank knew we were talking about him, he came running into the living room and playfully began attacking Max’s pant leg.

  “Shane’s not working tonight. I can ask him if he’ll watch him.”

  Shane was a sweetheart. He was kind and I didn’t hate the idea. “Okay, if you can call him, I’ll jump in the shower.”

  “It’s a plan.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Max

  When we got to Shane’s, he was so excited to see Tank, who took to the redheaded man right away. Sparkles went over when to feed him and said he’d be by in the morning to pick him up. We were originally going to get him after the club closed, but that would be around four and we didn’t want to wake Shane if he was sleeping.

  “How is he so tiny?” Shane asked as Tank worked really hard to lick his face.

  “Teacup poodle.” Sparkles shrugged. “He foiled my plan to get a big guard dog when he looked at me with those little eyes.”

  Shane chuckled. “I can totally see that. I used to have dogs when I was a kid. I love them.”

  “Well, you boys have fun tonight and thanks, Shane,” I said.

  “My pleasure. I was just going to chill, watch some Netflix. My friend was going to stop by, but I don’t know if he is or not. But now it won’t matter because I have this little guy to keep me company.” Shane was adorable with Tank. I was shocked he was still single.

  We said our good-byes and got into my truck. I had to be there a little earlier, and Sparkles said he’d go harass Toby while I did my bartenderly duties.

  I watched Sparkles as he laughed, carefree with Toby. He was wearing a gorgeous light-blue silky shirt with black tight pants. His pink hair was bright and styled, and he had baby blue eye shadow on with opal lip gloss. He was a vision. It wasn’t until I heard a throat clearing that I realized I was staring.

  “You’d make a horrible stalker,” Ledger said as he came up next to me and grabbed a glass.

  “I’ll make a note to remember that.”

  Ledger filled his glass with water and looked over at Toby and Sparkles. “He’s hot though—I get it.”

  “You know it’s more than that, Ledger.”

  He shrugged and sipped his drink. He was kind of an asshole, but I understood him. He and I oftentimes went out to find hookups. He hadn’t asked me in a while, but I didn’t know if that was because of things going on in his life or because of something else he wasn’t telling me.

  I’d seen Shane and Ledger flirt a little, but it was more of Shane flirting and Ledger not doing anything to stop it.

  “Shane’s watching Sparkles’s dog tonight,” I blurted out, and Ledger looked up from his drink.

  “Okay?”

  “And he had a friend coming over…a guy.”

  The side of Ledger’s mouth lifted. “Again I say, okay?”

  “Oh, come on. I see how you look at him. You want to do the sausage salsa.”

  Ledger’s eyes widened. “The what?”

  “You know…make the erection connection.” I waggled my brows.

  “I will deny ever knowing you if you continue talking,” Ledger deadpanned.

  “You’re saying you have zero desire to cock-a-doodle-do him?”

  “And we’re done.” Ledger turned around and started walking away. I would have stopped him, but I was laughing too hard.

  “What’s so funny?” Sparkles asked as he came to sit on one of the stools. We had a little while before opening, and mostly everything was done, so I was able to lean on the bar and talk.

  “I’m teasing Ledger.”

  Sparkles peered over my shoulder to where Ledger was likely on stage behind me finishing his last-minute checks. “He jokes around?”

  I chuckled. “Rarely.”

  Sparkles smiled, but then his expression became serious. “Max, I was thinking, and I have an insane idea.”

  Grinning, I inched closer to him. “I do like insane ideas.”

  He rolled his eyes, but the small smile expressed how he liked the banter. “The way I was able to get away from Dorian last time was to run and hide. I took his power away from him. He doesn’t care about the money I took—he cares that I ran. Controlling me was his favorite thing to do, and I took his toy away. He’s buying up everything I’m associated with, and I’m just sitting back, letting him.”

  “Okay…so, what’s this insane idea?”

  He took a deep breath, and there was no hiding how nervous he was, so I quickly got him a glass of water, which he gratefully drained. “I’m going to look for a new place for my studio and move out of my apartment, but I’m not going to tell him until I have to.”

  I wasn’t sure what he was saying was possible. “How are you going to do that? Isn’t the lease up on the studio in like a month?”

  He nodded. “Yes, he brought it over to me and I said I’d return it soon, but I never gave it to him. What if I just don’t? I’ll let the lease run out and on the down-low get a new one. One he doesn’t have his fingers in.”

  “And you’re going to move?” I couldn’t see all that happening in a month. “You weren’t kidding, this is insane.”

  “I can stay at the new studio if I have to—the point is, I have to take all the power away from him. He probably doesn’t have my mom’s facility to lord over me like he said he did, and I’ll know that for sure soon enough, and if I take the other two things away, he will have nothing.”

  He was right, but there was a problem. “And what if he gets so mad that he tells the police you stole from him?”

  Sparkles bit his lip, but it wasn’t out of worry. “The money I took from Dorian was in his safe.” He stared at me like I was supposed to know where this was going. “It was in his safe and not the bank because it wasn’t claimed money. If he tells the police I stole that money, he’d have to prove he had it and that would mean—”

  “They’d dig into his life.”

  “Exactly.”

  “I’m assuming you have an idea of a place?” He shook his head. “Is it still going to be in Haven Hart?” I didn’t want to sound desperate, but if
he was leaving town I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stay here.

  “I’m going to go talk to Atlas and see if he will let me use his computer for a bit tonight, and I’ll look up some real estate sites for places that are up for rent.” He leaned over the bar and pressed his lips to mine. “Don’t worry, Max, I won’t leave you.”

  Those words seeped through my skin and surrounded my heart. “Good.”

  He walked away in search of Atlas, and I heard Ciro say doors were opening in five. I was ready for the night to begin only so it could end, and I could wrap myself around Sparkles.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Lane

  It was two days later on a bright autumn day that I was standing in a vacant building with Max and the realtor.

  “And you’re saying it’s two floors?” I asked. I was impressed with the first floor. It had plenty of room and was only three blocks from my other studio. My clients would be able to find it easily enough.

  “Yes, it’s a living space. Why don’t we go take a look?” the realtor suggested, and Max and I followed him.

  He was right; it was completely livable. I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw this pop up while looking for a new place. I shot an email off and got a reply only fifteen minutes later. I wasn’t sure if it was too good to be true or what the deal was, but I wanted it.

  “Can I ask who the owner of this building is?” Max asked, and I knew he was worried Dorian owned this one too.

  “The owner of this building is leasing it out through my firm.” He smiled, but that wasn’t an answer.

  “Okay, but that’s not an answer. I’m just getting out of a crappy situation with a bad landlord. I’d like to make sure he doesn’t also own this building.” I tried not to sound upset, but if he wasn’t going to tell me, I wasn’t going to take this any further.

  The realtor sighed. “The owner is Terrance Blackrose.”

  Max chuckled. “Black owns this building?”

  I turned and looked over at Max. “You know the owner…Oh wait, of course you do, you know everyone in this town. Is he a good guy?”

  Max laughed again but quickly stopped when the realtor cleared his throat. “Um yeah, he owns that Red Rose Security Agency. His now-husband Quill used to be a bartender at Joker’s Sin before Black swept him off his feet and gave him a better life.”

  “He sounds like a good guy, then.” I smiled at the realtor. “If Max says he’s a good guy, I’d like to fill out the paperwork.”

  “Great.”

  I spent the next half hour writing the same stuff and signing my name and was told I’d hear back by the end of the week. We walked onto the street, and I didn’t feel like returning to my place, so Max and I decided to grab a coffee and sit in the park.

  “You can live and work in that place, and it’ll still be cheaper than what you’re paying now.” Max sat beside me on the bench as we watched kids toss coins into the fountain.

  “I know. This Terrance guy either doesn’t need the money or it’s haunted…or there was a murder there. But whatever, it’s still better than being under Dorian’s thumb.”

  Max chuckled. “Agreed. I’m sure the place will be great.”

  We sat in comfortable silence until Max jumped up. “I know what we can do now!”

  My eyes darted around. “Here? Now?” Surely he wasn’t talking about sex.

  He appeared confused, but it morphed into laughter. “Put a pin in that, we can totally do that another time. But we can get our costumes for the Halloween party at the club.”

  Atlas was going to have a scary party where the whole club was a haunted house. Upstairs was being transformed into a frightening walkthrough while downstairs would remain the dance club with spooky music.

  “Great idea.”

  We finished our coffees and headed over to The Dress Box. They always had costumes, and I was sure they’d have something perfect to wear.

  I hadn’t thought much about what I was going to be for Halloween, but Max was saying how he was going to go as Ghost Rider. He went on about finding a mask since he had the rest of the outfit and the motorcycle.

  “I can totally turn your face into a skeleton.”

  “Yeah?” He smiled.

  “Sure, now help me figure out what I’m going to be.”

  It took a while, but I finally got the idea of going as a marionette. The shop owner had a costume and she gave me a few ideas of what I could do to make it look even more genuine. Max was a little weirded out because marionettes scared him, but that just made me want to be one even more.

  The last few days, Max had been staying with me in my apartment, much to his mother’s delight. We had dinner with her, and then we went to work, and because Max was paranoid, he made me go with him. It got tricky when I had to get back to the studio to teach, but Nolan promised Max he’d call if Dorian showed. The issue was that I was exhausted. Going to Joker’s Sin at night until like four and having to be at the studio by ten was running me ragged.

  An hour before Max had to leave for work, he asked if I was going to change.

  “Max, I’m so freaking tired. Every waking minute is spent dancing, or at your work, or packing. I need a night in. I get you’re paranoid and rightly so, but I swear I won’t open the door for anyone. You can take my spare key. Hell, you can take Tank out for his walk now and again when you get home. I won’t step foot out of my apartment, but I have to sleep.”

  His features softened. “Shit, you’re right. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay. I’ll be safe here, I promise.”

  He nodded. “Okay, I’ll go take Tank the Mighty out, and then again when I’m done for the night.”

  “Great.” It was such a relief, I ran to my bedroom and threw on sweats and a ratty T-shirt. Max laughed when he came back.

  “You’re really taking advantage of this night in, huh?”

  He came up to me and I wrapped my arms around his waist. “Normally working and going to Joker’s Sin is the best. And I still love it. But constantly, it’s killing me, and add in the packing…” I waved toward my small guest room, where we were storing all the boxes we’d packed. I felt by putting them in a different room and shutting the door, there was less of a chance Tank would get hurt or lost in the mess.

  “I get it. You sleep, and I’ll see you later.”

  We spent the next few minutes just kissing, and by the time he left, I was hard as a rock and wanted to chase after him and have my dirty way with him.

  After getting Tank fresh food and water, I made some popcorn, grabbed a water, and plopped on my couch. I’d been watching Peaky Blinders on Netflix—the second I’d seen Cillian Murphy’s eyes, I was sold on the show. I had a few episodes to watch to finish the season and as exhausted as I was, I hoped to make it through at least one.

  I must’ve fallen asleep halfway through the episode because my phone buzzed making me jump. A quick look at the time showed it was one in the morning, and the sound was notifying me someone was downstairs. Max had at least a few more hours, and I knew he took his key. My phone buzzed again, and I hit the button.

  “Hello?”

  “Lane Ashley?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Hi there, sorry to bother you so late. My name’s Lieutenant Mancy. There was a break-in at your studio. If you don’t mind buzzing me up, I need to speak with you.”

  A break-in at my studio? I had the alarm connected to my cell phone. I flipped to my studio screen and there was no alert.

  “My alert didn’t go off,” I said.

  “The alarm wasn’t set it seems. A passerby saw someone throw a rock at the window, called the police and I was sent out. I’d much prefer talking to you inside.”

  I wasn’t sure what to do. I supposed it was possible Nolan forgot to set the alarm. My window didn’t face the studio so I couldn’t check and see. I texted Max quickly, letting him know there was a cop here because someone broke into the studio but not to worry.

  “Okay, I’ll buzz you
in.” I hit the button and walked over to the door.

  I had a peephole, so I peered through it. I’d see who walked off the elevator, and if he wasn’t a police officer, I’d be sure to call the real ones. Sure enough, a few minutes later, the elevator opened and a man in uniform stepped off and walked toward my door. I opened it when he knocked.

  “Lane Ashley?” He was an older guy, maybe in his late forties. He flashed his badge and I nodded. “I’m Lieutenant Mancy. Can I come in?”

  “Sure.” I opened the door wider, and he stepped in. Tank was lying on the couch where I left him, and he growled pathetically at the cop.

  “She’s cute.”

  “He,” I corrected. But he didn’t say anything to that. “Can I get you something to drink?”

  “No, I’m fine. I need to talk to you, and then if you’d like I can take you over to your studio and you can see if anything was taken.”

  I didn’t want to go over there at this hour, knowing he likely had to inform Dorian of a break-in.

  “I only rent the building. You likely want to speak with the landlord, Dorian Birch.”

  The police officer nodded. “Yeah, I called Mr. Birch. He said you’d be who I needed to talk to since anything stolen would be yours.”

  Dorian never had a love for the police, so that seemed about right.

  “Okay, please have a seat and I’ll answer whatever you have to ask.”

  “Wonderful.”

  I sat back beside Tank, and Mancy sat across from me. For the next fifteen minutes, I answered a few questions that made very little sense to be asked about a break-in. My phone buzzed, probably from Max, but I ignored it to talk to the cop. It buzzed a few more times, and I asked for a moment.

  I took the phone out of my pocket and read the text messages.

  Don’t let him up.

  Sparkles, tell me you didn’t let him in.

  He’s not a cop. Trust me.

  Sparkles! Answer me!