Bind (Manhattan Lux Book 1): Manhattan Lux

by Olivia Devon

  Heads swiveled. Everyone stared at her.

  “What?” Aiko asked, shrugging. “I was sticking with the metaphor. Jeez.”

  “She’s right,” Wyatt said, coming up behind Aiko and draping an arm over her shoulders. “You lot are all a bunch of overachievers. You know what your best looks like, so you think everyone else can tell. But what you don’t realize is your shit job is everyone else’s best.”

  Jinx cocked an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms. Wyatt held up a hand, staving off the storm before it got started. “I’m not saying you’re going to do a shit job,” he said. “I’m saying your gonna have to settle for knocking this one out of the park is all. I know you were aiming for the galaxy, but we don’t have time for that.”

  “No.” Jack said, joining Aaron as he paced the perimeter of the club’s main floor. “We have a less than a week. Jinx how do we do this?”

  “You’re not gonna like it.” Jinx warned.

  “Tell me.”

  She crossed to him, her hands on hips, hair streaming out behind her like a super hero on a mission. “We close Glow,” she said. “All week. All Glow staff is transferred to Lux effective immediately. We work, round the clock, until it’s done. Wyatt gets security in place, and prepped.” She turned to Wyatt. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that the security issues of a sex club are not exactly the same as those for Glow.”

  Wyatt nodded, and Jinx turned to Aaron.

  “I have no idea what you do, so just do it. And let us know whatever you need, the minute you need it.”

  Aaron smiled and Jinx turned back to Jack.

  “Food. We have no time for that. Get one of your fancy five star chef friends to cater until we can set up our own kitchen staff. Glow’s kitchen staff can help them. Pay everyone whatever they want.” Jack opened his mouth to protest and Jinx held up a finger. “I mean it. Pay them. Miracles are better accomplished with cash.”

  Jack bobbed his head solemnly and looked like he was doing calculations in his head, calculations with solutions that had too many zeros.

  Aiko stepped forward, cutting off her sister before she could reach Wyatt. “I know you probably think there’s nothing I can do in this situation but there is. I can create buzz—online rumors and viral marketing that will have all the tabloids and blogs talking about this place by tomorrow morning. I’ll have them lined up around the block, sis. Promise.”

  Jinx eyed her thoughtfully, her lips curving into a reluctant smile. “Alright,” she said. “Do it. The more buzz the better. And Aiko, keep it mysterious. We want to bring in the bodies, but we don’t want to give Conroy any more of an advantage than he already has.”

  “Which reminds me,” said Aaron. “Torrid Technologies. I’ve never heard of them, and if they’re in my field, I should’ve. So that means they’re a shell. The name is just a front for someone I’m already competing against. I might have a few ideas who.”

  “We’ll help you look into it,” said Jack. “If this company was using us to get to you, well, I’m not exactly happy about that.”

  “Later!” Jinx snapped. “Right now, Lux is the priority. If we’re gonna do this I need everyone focused. No distractions. That means you two don’t get to go fishing till we know Lux is ready.”

  “I’ve got you covered there,” Wyatt said, looking at Aaron. “I’ll get with your guys. We’ll keep an eye out, do what investigating we can right now.”

  Jinx pointed a finger at Wyatt. “Don’t let it interfere with your work here.”

  Wyatt shook his head. “Honestly, the biggest leads will come after we open. That’s what’ll send Conroy and his cronies over the edge. That’s when they’ll fuck up and we’ll get our chance to nail ‘em.”

  Aaron nodded. “True.”

  “Then we have a plan.” Jack turned to Aaron and offered his hand. “Deal?”

  “Let’s do it.” Aaron clapped his hand over Jack’s with enthusiasm.

  “Alright!” Aiko pumped the air with her fist and made bull horns with her fingers. “Whoo hoo, let’s go get some losers laid!”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Less than 48 hours later, they were ready.

  Every velvet curtain had been hung artfully in place, every crystal chandelier sparkled and gleamed. Everything about Lux evoked mystery and seduction. Even its entrance teased the senses. Lux was accessed from the other side of the building it shared with Glow, the only indication of its presence a nondescript windowless door with a sleek polished-metal sign above it. The simple engraving on the sign read:

  L U X

  Wyatt squinted up at the sign, turned the knob and walked inside, locking the door behind him.

  As far as he was concerned, the sooner he could wrap up the whole “Conroy/Sex Club/Security Breach/is Daisy dead or not?” thing, the better. He was already tired of this job, and he felt like it was getting in the way. Wyatt had plans. For himself and this new career. But mostly for him and Jinx. This particular job was in the way of that, especially. He couldn’t help feeling like maybe the only thing holding her back, the one thing keeping Jinx from diving right into this relationship with him, no holds barred, was that someone was trying to hurt her precious club. A mama can’t relax when someone is messing with her kids and Jinx had that mama energy in spades. Once this shit was resolved, she’d be ready take the next step with him. And if she wasn’t, well he’d just have to convince her otherwise.

  His gaze roamed over the room, noting the details, double checking things in his head. This room was something of a reception area. Full members of Lux would have access to two private entrances to the club, one that was hidden inside Glow itself, and another disguised as a service entrance in the alley behind the building.

  But all newcomers to Lux filtered through the windowless door at the street, and right into this lounge. Opulently decorated, the area was designed to give a taste of what could be expected beyond the velvet curtains. Flat-screens were positioned around the lounge, playing erotic sex scenes that suggested such delicacies were available to all, just on the other side of membership.

  Wyatt’s gaze shifted to Jinx, stationed behind the bar, giving last minute instructions to two of her best bartenders. He smiled, already knowing her well enough to guess what she was saying. Keep the drinks coming, fast and strong. Tipsy customers like to fuck. Of course, she’d probably phrased it more professionally and eloquently than Wyatt did in his head, but the sentiment was the same.

  Jinx looked up, caught his eye and smiled. Whoosh, there went his heart, melted into a puddle of goo just like every time that woman smiled at him. Hell, even when she glared at him he melted. She crooked a finger at him and beckoned, one eyebrow arched coyly. His cock twitched to life, like that finger had an invisible leash attached to it. Wyatt crossed the room and followed Jinx’s swaying ass behind the first of the velvet curtains.

  “Holy shit.” He whistled low and long. “This place is a den of sin if ever I saw one.” Jinx grinned proudly, slid a hand in his and began the tour. This would be his fourth or fifth tour of Lux now, but Wyatt didn’t mind. His girl was immensely proud of the work she’d done here, and as far as he could tell, she had every right to be. So even though he’d heard it all before, he let her tell him again, because the sound of her voice, earnest and informed, and the glow in her cheeks, that was the best part of the whole tour.

  They strode past the private rooms, the performance hall, the orgy pit, and the VR rig rooms, past the auction block (Wyatt had done a double take when he’d seen that one for the first time.) to a small hallway that led to a few maintenance rooms. All the while he barely saw a lick of it. Eyes wide, they were pinned to his woman the whole time. And where else would his attention be? Jinx was positively incandescent when she was happy, and it was the sexiest thing he could imagine. Sure, the club had sex beds and fuck swings, ropes and straps and dance poles and half a dozen contraptions that looked like shit he’d seen some of his buddies slung up in the VA hospital. Wyatt had n
o doubt this place would be the gold standard for sex clubs. But he couldn’t help but feel like the future members were still gonna get a little bit ripped-off. They had a lot of membership levels available here at Lux, but there was only one spot for Jinx’s Boyfriend, and thank God he’d gotten to it first.

  “Wyatt?” Jinx said, taking both his hands in hers. “Did you hear me?”

  He grinned. “I blanked out there for a second, kitten. You’re just so pretty when you’re talking about work.”

  Jinx laughed, put her hands on his shoulders, and manually turned him around. “I said I want you to go check on Aiko and Malcolm, see how they’re progressing.” She slapped his ass. “Go on.”

  “Aw c’mon,” he said, watching her retreat from his view. “You can’t just grab a guy’s ass and then walk away!”

  “Get to work!” she called.

  Just like Glow, Lux had its own control room, an epicenter where all the security and electronics that protected and ran the club coalesced. It was here that Wyatt found Aiko and Malcolm, hunched together over an array of monitors, pushing buttons and tapping on a keyboard. He watched them for a moment from the doorway, the tingling sensation at the back of his neck alerting him to something he hadn’t quite noticed before.

  Malcolm and Aiko worked well together. Very well. Malcolm was Jack’s assistant and Aiko worked for Jack, too. It made sense that these two people should feel comfortable in each other’s company. But as he continued to watch, it seemed like more than that.

  The way their movements flowed, graceful, anticipating each other, like a dance. Small touches as they worked, physical contact that wasn’t necessary. A hand resting on a forearm for a second too long, a lingering caress at the small of the back. Malcolm was lively, speaking with an animated air that Wyatt had never seen before. And Aiko too was different. She still laughed and joked, but her observations were witty, sophisticated, not the usual childish teasing he’d come to expect from her.

  Huh. Well, if they aren’t already fucking it, they will be soon. Wyatt snorted at the thought. Immediately, Aiko and Malcolm stiffened and shot apart from each other so fast that Aiko’s chair tipped over and fell to the concrete floor with a clatter.

  “What the fuck, Wyatt?” she snapped. “Sneaking up like that!”

  “I didn’t sneak,” Wyatt frowned. “I walked in like a normal person. Can’t help if you two were too busy canoodling to—”

  Aiko gaped with horror. “We. Were. Not. Canoodling. We were working. My God how you could jump to such an erroneous conclus—”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Wyatt shut down her outrage with a wave of his hands and turned to Malcolm. “Everything on your end good to go?”

  “Perfect,” Malcolm said. The smile twitching at the corners of the man’s mouth revealed that despite Aiko’s shouting about ‘erroneous conclusions’, Wyatt had understood the little scene exactly right.

  Wyatt met Malcolm’s gaze and held. Aiko wasn’t his sister-in-law, yet. But he sure hoped she’d would be, someday. So the way he figured it, it couldn’t hurt to throw a little brotherly weight around. He flashed Malcolm a look. Man to man it said: You hurt her, I hurt you.

  The look he received in reply told him he was understood.

  “I think you’ll be pleased,” Malcolm said lightly, and while Aiko thought they were still talking about the status of the control room, Wyatt knew there was a deeper message there.

  “Good.” He clapped Malcolm on the back and squeezed his shoulder. “I’m glad to hear it.”

  “Why are you even asking him?” Aiko said, sneering. “I’m in charge of tech. Malcolm is helping me. Not the other way around.”

  “Fair enough,” Wyatt said. “I don’t care so much who does what, just as long as it gets done.”

  “It’s done. More than done—it’s fucking glorious.” Aiko’s cheeks pinked and her tone grew heated. “State of the art. Everything we need to handle surveillance and security, direct lighting, ambient lighting, the five million flat screens around this place, music, not to mention that massive fucking load of juice that Aaron’s VR rigs require.”

  Wyatt didn’t need to be inside her head to know why she was suddenly venting so hard. He knew displaced anger when he saw it. Embarrassment, irritation, confusion, and probably not a little bit of arousal had combined to stir up hurricane Aiko. He was tempted to duck out and avoid the hailstorm all together. Let Malcolm deal with it.

  “Everything all good in here?” Jack popped his head in the door and looked around with interest.

  “Yes everything is motherfucking perfect! Why is everyone up my ass?”

  “Sorry?” Jack winced and shot Wyatt a bewildered glance. Wyatt shrugged and bit back a laugh.

  “Stupid crap!” Aiko lifted the chair, slammed it back upright, and glared at Jack. “Why a sex club anyway? Not getting laid enough? Figure you’d get more pussy if you open your very own whore house?”

  Jack’s whole body visibly stiffened. He shut his eyes, and his chest rose and fell rapidly, before it slowed as though he was consciously working to steady his breathing.

  Aiko’s face fell, and she opened her mouth to speak, but Wyatt caught her eye and shook his head. He knew why Jack had reacted that way, and the best thing to do was just to leave it be.

  “You seem to be having a bad day, Aiko,” Jack said evenly, opening his eyes and pinning her with his gaze. “So I’m going to just let that go.” Jack glanced at Wyatt and Malcolm. “Maybe when she’s calmed down, you can fill her in a bit on the philosophy behind Lux. God knows I don’t want anyone thinking I need help getting pussy.” Jack’s eyes narrowed bitterly and he left the room, slamming the door behind him.

  “Way to go, dork,” Wyatt said.

  “What the fuck did I say?” Aiko whispered.

  “Whore house,” said Malcolm.

  “But,” she protested. “I mean vice and debauchery and—”

  “No whores here,” said Wyatt. “Den of sin. That’s what I called it. Whore house makes it sound like people are being exploited here.”

  “Well aren’t they?” she said. “I mean the whole point is to exploit hot people for their sex appeal, to attract horny people, and make money.”

  “Not exactly.” Malcolm pulled out a chair and sat down. “There are a number of reasons Mr. Calvert has decided to open such a club, and while you could use the word exploitation to describe some of his motivations, it is in a very different sense, and for a very different purpose than you implied.”

  “Implied? Hell, she all but called him a pimp,” said Wyatt.

  Aiko groaned and scrubbed a hand over her face. “I was mad, and I say mean stupid shit when I’m mad. I’ll go apologize.”

  “No.” Malcolm’s tone stopped her. “Sit and listen. Wyatt?”

  “The hell?” Wyatt made a face at Malcolm. “You call Jack Mr. Calvert, but I’m just good ole Wyatt?”

  “He pays my salary, you don’t. Will you explain to her or shall I?”

  Wyatt pulled out a chair and sat. “No I’ll do it.” He looked at his watch. “K, the short version, since we’ve still got shit to do to get ready for tonight.”

  Aiko nodded, attentive, and Wyatt continued.

  “Suffice it to say that Jack has had a few experiences in his life that have made him aware of, and sympathetic to, the civil rights issues faced by sex workers.”

  “What?” Aiko shook her head and rubbed her fingers across her forehead. “That is so not what I thought you were going to say. I thought you were going to say he’s kinky and in the closet about it or something.”

  Wyatt squinted at her. “He is kinky. Hell I assumed we all are. But would he own Glow or open Lux if he was closeted about that shit? Honestly, are you feeling okay, cuz you’re seriously off your game today?”

  “No. Yeah.” Aiko shrugged, and Wyatt saw her sneak a heated glance at Malcolm. “Ignore me,” she said. “Continue.”

  “Alright. What I’m saying is Jack has friends that are sex workers
. All kinds really, but one in particular he met in college. She was paying her way through school by trading on her good looks, her enthusiasm for sex, and her access to powerful people that were into what she was offering. Really, the details are his to tell, but the short version is she died. It was an awful situation and her case was ruled a suicide. Jack has never, ever believed that.”

  “Oh my God.”

  “The men involved, the men she was seeing at the time, they had reason to do this woman harm, and to cover it up.”

  “Holy shit.”

  Wyatt nodded, rubbed at the knots in his neck. If he hated remembering this shit, he couldn’t imagine how much it tore Jack up. Wyatt hadn’t been around when it happened, he’d only seen the fall out afterwards, how it had changed Jack and given him a fierce new sense of purpose.

  Malcolm spoke up. “Calvert International,” he said, “And Calvert Consulting specifically, is powered, at it’s core, by knowledge. We cannot do what we do for our clients without knowledge. Sometimes, because of what we do, information comes to us of a crime, or an injustice, something so abhorrent to human decency that we must act. Knowledge is power, and power yields leverage. Mr. Calvert uses that leverage to influence the world positively.”

  “You’re saying Jack does all this…that all his businesses…are what? About saving the world?”

  Wyatt nodded. “In a sense.”

  “What? He’s like Batman?” Aiko frowned. “Hardly. We literally just helped a spoiled rich kid get out of a DUI, Wyatt. Don’t paint this shit as loftier than it is.”

  “It is loftier. And if you haven’t realized that yet, then you’ve been spending too much time on zombie shows and not enough time paying attention. Yes, we do a job, and most of the time what we’re doing is pretty straight forward. But with Jack’s clients… That kid with the DUI? Yeah, we made it go away, but not before Jack sent him to rehab for six months with mandatory follow-up drug testing through one of our partners for two years after. And the company his Dad owns just donated half a million to M.A.D.D.”