Dark Alley: The Complete First Season (Dark Alley Seasons Book 1)

by D. S. Wrights

  “Fuck me,” she almost cheered and he obeyed, resting his forehead against her neck, as he prodded harder and harder. “Fuck me, like you mean it!”

  Like it’s the last time.

  The thought shot through her like a lightning bolt, sending her over the edge in a close to painful surprise.

  Just a moment later he followed her, plunging himself so deep inside her that she could feel his release despite the condom.

  Twenty-Eight

  Alice could tell that this hadn’t been the sex Tristan had wanted, as they were putting their clothes back in order, but she didn’t feel bad about it, even though she tried. This had been what she had wanted, what she had needed, and the only troubling thing about this fact was that she didn’t know why. She knew, with a little bit of digging, she would find out; she just wasn’t sure if she would like the truth. No, she was pretty sure that she wouldn’t like it.

  Since Alice had the keys to his car, it was her who left the alley first. She had already forgotten about the letter, as she was retrieving her belongings from the deposit box. It was falling on its back when she had pulled her purse last, obviously, because the man at the entrance had tucked it at the side and not on top of her belongings. Quickly, Alice grabbed the black envelope with the silver-red diamond on it and stashed it in her purse, deeply, so that Tristan wouldn’t accidentally see it.

  Alice waited for him, sitting, trying to hide that she was everything but tired. Curiosity was gnawing on her like a hungry dog on a bare bone.

  What was written in the letter?

  Alice knew that, whatever it was, she probably wouldn’t come up with it. She had to be patient and stay calm, and wait until she was home alone before opening it.

  “Are you okay?” Tristan asked, traces of sweat still lingering on his body, making her remember their quick encounter.

  “Yes, just…” her sigh was honest and deep. “A lot of stuff is going on, you know?”

  “New job, new apartment,” Tristan nodded and then grinned. “New boyfriend.” He winked at her, making her giggle. “All that in this short amount of time. I’d be tired, too.” Although keeping his eyes on the road, he managed to take a glimpse at her, regularly, which made it harder for her to keep up the façade.

  Alice felt bad, no, worse than that, because she wasn’t honest. She wasn't lying to him, but she wasn’t telling him the truth either. But how could she? She wasn’t sure that he would understand, but she was willing to bet on it that he would use her knowledge for his work. And that was his own fault. If he hadn’t blackmailed her that night, everything could have been different.

  After trying several times to bring up a conversation, Alice decided to stay quiet and let him believe that she was close to passing out. And maybe she even did, because before she knew it they were already standing in front of her apartment building.

  “Is this the right place?” Tristan frowned lightly. “It looks like an office building.”

  “It was,” Alice nodded. “Now it’s home for those who need to be at Grantham Global fast.”

  “So, which floor’s yours?” Tristan inquired, but Alice was not in the mood to be evasive.

  “The 21st floor,” she answered honestly.

  “That’s very far up,” he commented.

  “Yup,” was all she said to that.

  “Want me to take you to your apartment?” He asked.

  “Better not, we both need sleep,” she smiled at him and got the door for herself.

  Alice got out of the car and shut the door before he could say anything to her and waved at him, smiling, and hoped that he wouldn’t find her behavior suspicious.

  All of a sudden she really was tired, but she had to read the letter. Walking up the stairs to the ground floor, Alice reached down into her purse, pulled out the letter, and ripped open the envelope when she stepped through the door, greeting the security guards who were sitting at at the reception. She barely noticed that they already knew her name. One elevator opened instantly as she called for one, so she pried the letter from the envelope once she was inside the car, pressing the 21st floor.

  The paper was simple, clean, and white, the words were written by hand.

  Dear Alice, she addressed her by her first name.

  I know there is nothing I can ask of you, yet I am still asking you to give Jason the chance to explain himself and the situation he is in. I cannnot and will not get into any detail, because these are things you talk about in person. He will respect your wish for him to keep his distance, which is why I am writing this to you.

  Take care, Adele.

  She used a nickname to sign the letter.

  Alice was staring into nothingness, trying to understand what she had just read even as the elevator had already arrived at her level and the doors opened.

  How odd. How strange.

  His wife was asking her to give him another chance? Or to at least hear him out? What kind of relationship were these two really in?

  The pinging sound of the elevator doors closing, made her realize where she was, and instinctively Alice reached out to press the button that would open the doors again. But her finger came to a stop before pressing that button, hovering over it for a second, before she moved her finger to press the button for the ground level.

  “What the hell are you doing?” She asked herself, but she made no effort to stop.

  Alice knew that Jason was at the Alley, or at least she was very certain of it, because she had seen him out front and talked to him. Remembering that situation made her cringe. She hadn’t seen him at the clubhouse or as she left, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t still there.

  Maybe, she thought, she should send him a message that she was coming over?

  Alice shook her head. She would let fate decide. If he was still there, they would talk, if not, then so be it.

  Once more she read through the short letter from his wife. What had her making the decision to write these words to her? And why was Alice so nervous all of a sudden? No, she wasn’t nervous, she was hopeful. But why? She had no reason and all the ideas, the possibilities in her head wouldn’t be right anyway.

  “Damn it,” Alice scolded herself, as she had completely forgotten to call the driving service.

  Quickly, she pulled her smartphone from her purse and speed dialed, and luckily, she wouldn’t have to wait for too long, because she also lived downtown.

  Sitting in the sedan, thinking about what the hell she was doing, Alice realized that she had neither showered, nor changed her clothing.

  Gross.

  However, she wasn’t going back to have sex with the man; Alice wanted to grant him the chance his own wife was asking her to give him, and nothing more. He knew that she had met up with Tristan tonight, and that he was her boyfriend.

  Maybe, no, certainly, his wife Adelaide didn’t know about that fact. If she had, she probably wouldn’t have send her that letter. So, why was she still riding back to the Dark Alley to talk to Jason. And why couldn’t she stop calling him everything else but Mr. Grantham?

  “Miss?” The driver pulled her from her thoughts. “We’ve arrived.”

  “Thank you,” Alice gave back, her cheeks turning red, as she usually didn’t need a reminder for this.

  As she approached the man replacing Big Guy today, he obviously thought that she had forgotten something in the deposit box, because when she reached him, he already had it in his hands, opening it. But it was empty, when Alice picked up her mask and put it on.

  “Would you like to place an order?” He asked, his expression staying neutral.

  Who knew how many nymphomaniacs were at this place?

  “No,” Alice shook her head. “But you could tell me if King of Diamonds is still here.

  “Of course, Miss Belladonna,” the man smiled in a friendly manner, and brought up his tablet pc and let his fingers dance across the screen.

  “Yes, he is still here, but not available,” his answer was quick, and the
punch his words placed straight into her stomach was as well.

  Why was she so upset? She had made it pretty clear that things were over. It was his right to entertain himself with someone else. Maybe he had done so the entire time she was member at the alley; after all, she only visited this place on the weekend.

  So, what now?

  “Thank you,” Alice did her best to keep her voice calm. “Please put me down as not present.”

  “Of course, Miss.”

  Trying her best to bring order to the chaos that was her mind, Alice walked down the path to the Dark Alley clubhouse. She needed a drink, and a strong one. Usually, she didn’t drink on weekdays, when she had to go to work the next day, but this was a legitimate exception. She still hadn’t had the time to process all the things that had happened in the last few weeks.

  Just as she had expected, when she entered the club house, a good portion of the tables and booths weren’t occupied. Still battling with her thoughts, she instinctively navigated herself to her favorite booth.

  “Miss Belladonna?” A waitress stopped her mid-track. “You can take whatever seat is available. Would you like a drink?”

  Alice felt herself nod and ordered a double Scotch neat, and eventually continued walking as the woman left her field of vision. She only realized that her booth was taken, when she stood right in front of it. Once more her cheeks flushed in embarrassment, and she turned away.

  “Bella?” A far too familiar voice reached her ears and she turned back around.

  “Ja… Master?” She responded, stepping into the booth and saw him, King of Diamonds.

  She wanted to punch herself in the face for calling him ‘master’ but it was the first thing that had come into her mind when she stopped herself from calling him by his first name.

  “Are you all right?” Jason asked, and she could see him frown even though half of his face was covered by a mask.

  “Yes,” she answered and nodded.

  Why the hell was her mind, which had been so full of thoughts just a moment ago, suddenly empty?

  “Would you like to sit down?” Jason offered and this time Alice wasn’t even able to say anything; so, she simply nodded.

  As soon as Alice sat next to him on the bench, the waitress had returned and served her scotch. Jason was looking at the unusual full glass and then turned his gaze back to Alice.

  “What’s wrong?” He inquired, his tone unmistakably demanding the truth. “Did your ex show up?”

  “No,” she shook her head, took her scotch and a far too large gulp from the glass.

  Then Alice produced the folded black envelope from her pants, which she had taken from her purse, and shoved it towards Jason, who, obviously, instantly recognized it.

  “Read it,” she told him, somewhat demandingly, and he did what she demanded.

  Alice wanted to read his face while he was reading his wife’s words, but there was nothing on his face, or rather what she could see of it, that was giving away anything. And that made sense, after all, he was a business man.

  But what irritated her, was that he didn’t say a word, after finishing the letter, folding it, putting it back into the envelope and shoved it back towards her.

  “That’s why I am here,” Alice eventually couldn’t wait anymore. “It was waiting for me at the entrance. What is she talking about? Why is she even writing to me?”

  “I didn’t know about that letter,” Jason evaded a direct answer.

  “Obviously,” Alice tried to compose herself, but she couldn’t entirely hold back the anger in her voice.

  “Bella,” he spoke softly, the sound of his voice reaching out to her as if it was meaning to caress her.

  Alice let out a long and deep breath.

  “We shouldn’t talk about this here,” he explained. “Would it be all right if we go upstairs? Just to talk.”

  When she let her glance roam the room it kind of made sense to not talk about really private matters out in the open, although it should be safe. Better safe than sorry.

  “Okay,” she nodded and was looking for the waitress as she expected him wanting to request a room.

  Instead, he grabbed his glass and got up, taking her off guard, as she stayed seated in confusion.

  “You coming?” He asked and then grinned briefly. “Gold member. I have my own room.”

  Of course he had his own private room at this place. Why hadn’t he taken her to his room when they met here? Maybe because he didn’t want to overwhelm or scare her? Was it a torture room?

  When Alice got up onto her feet, her heart was pounding wildly, spurred by her own fantasy, which didn’t want to tone down as he followed her to the elevator, of which the doors opened instantly. She watched him press the button for the highest level and then type in a four digit code to get the car going.

  They didn’t say a word, didn’t even look at each other, but they stood together so closely, that Alice could feel his body heat against her skin, making her heart hammer for an entirely different reason.

  She just had sex like only half an hour ago, but standing next to Jason, close as they were, being able to smell his scent and aftershave, knowing that they were going to a private room to talk. It aroused her all over again. Worse, it made her horny. Alice knew it was that time of the month announcing itself with a vengeance like it often did. But her sexual revolution seemed to enhance her lust many times over.

  When the doors opened, she expected to step out into a hallway, but she ended up standing in an apartment.

  It reminded her of the room they had stayed in with its smooth surfaces, but this place had a dark stone floor, white walls, on which hung large black and white nude photographs of beautiful women and men, above shiny white half high dressers. Dark red velvet curtains were hanging scattered across the wall, hiding the interior from curious outside glances. In between there was a huge black and white bar to her right, its top made of the same stone as the ground. In front of her was a black leather three-piece living room suite and to her left was another door, which obviously led into the bathroom. Stepping further inside the room revealed its secrets, displaying several furniture items that were obviously for sexual pleasure. A swing hanging from the ceiling, a large tree trunk to which one could be strapped to, and a large X made out of chromed steel with shackles ready.

  Yes, he definitely hadn’t taken her here, because it would have scared her off or at least intimidated her.

  Jason let her take in the large room and walked over to the largest leather couch and sat down, waiting for her to join him, so that he could start explaining. Alice chose to sit next to him, because everything else just felt awkward.

  “I didn’t create this place for myself,” Jason spoke, after taking a big sip from his Scotch. “I did it for her.”

  Confusion made Alice blink several times, but as she made no attempt to say anything to that, he carried on explaining. “I don’t know how much you’ve read about us by now, since you obviously haven’t hadn’t before you learned who I was, but the life we show the public is not the life we live.”

  Alice already had made the assumption once, when she looked at the latest picture of the couple at some random gala. They were professionals when it came to smiling into the camera, friendly but aloof.

  “She and I grew up together,” Jason proceeded after taking a sip of his Scotch. “Our fathers were best friends, but they couldn’t be any different. They both inherited the companies they were leading, and had been friends since their childhoods. But her father wasn’t a businessman, he was a do-gooder and almost drove his company into ruins. So, when he killed himself and left his wife and daughter with nothing, my dad took them in and I married her to merge our companies and save thousands of jobs.”

  She had figured as much.

  “But she and I,” Jason took another sip and Alice did the same, watching him shake his head. “She is like a little sister to me, and I am like a big brother to her. Us having sex with each other… it
feels wrong, even disgusting to us. But we couldn’t fool about with someone else either, so I made this club where we both can enjoy ourselves without having to worry about being exposed.”

  “So, that’s why you guys don’t have children?”

  Jason nodded.

  “She doesn’t want any children,” he said, sounding sad. “And we agreed to stay married for twenty years in our prenuptial agreement.”

  “Why twenty years?” Alice bit herself on her tongue.

  “To keep each other safe from any scandals, to make sure that her family and her company is well cared for,” Jason sounded as if he could continue talking all night long.

  “So, you’re telling me that you will be getting a divorce in three years?” Alice dug deeper, carefully.

  “Not necessarily,” Jason answered honestly and landed another metaphorical punch in her stomach. “If we hadn’t met someone by then, we agreed for her to get pregnant, in vitro, so that I would have an heir, so to speak.”

  “But you said that she doesn’t want kids,” Alice was confused now.

  “Yes,” Jason nodded. “But she would do that for me, because I want children.”

  Now, it began dawning on Alice why Adele had sent her that letter, but she shrugged off the thought as being too childishly hopeful.

  “So, that’s why your… she asked me to talk to you, so you could tell me this?” Alice questioned.

  “The moment I saw you at that club, I wanted you,” Jason spoke directly. “The only woman wearing sneakers and drinking a Scotch, and being so terribly sexy while doing so.”

  Instantly heat shot into Alice’s cheeks.

  “I told her about you, and she wanted to get to know you, which she did,” he continued and she nodded. “She’s a dominant, just like me. Yet another reason why we are prefect as best-friends and siblings, but would be horrible as a real couple. But she likes you, from what I have told her, what she had seen, and definitely from your file.”