by Leah Wilde
In the meantime, it was time to celebrate. We had gone from the dirtiest, roughest bars in town to Paragon, a club open exclusively to members, and membership was expensive enough to keep out the small-time criminal element we didn’t want to deal with. We rubbed elbows with the wealthy elite and politicians these days.
Paragon wasn’t the type of place where we could just roll up on our bikes and storm in like a bunch of punk street kids. We had to dress and play the part of high society to enter, even with our membership cards in hand. We didn’t mind. We only went Forsaken when we had dirt to handle. Business was handled like business. And partying was handled like business as well.
We all arrived at about the same time. Five black sedans with government-black windows pulled up in a line to let each of us out. We exited our cars in our tailored suits and ties. We walked up together, five men with broad shoulders underneath suits just large enough to hide the bulging muscles we kept underneath. We dwarfed the bouncer as we each showed him our membership cards and entered.
Inside, Paragon was as ritzy as the clientele. It was a cross between a high society jazz club from the 1920s and a ballroom. The place sparkled with grand chandeliers suspended over a dance floor in front of a stage that often featured jazz singers. Glitzy lights lined the walls over booths and tables draped in white cloths. The staff wore formalwear, and the patrons were treated like royalty. Hell, some of them probably were.
That wasn’t to say that the place was well-lit and garishly bright. Though the club seemed to sparkle like fine jewelry, the lighting was still dim and discreet. Not everyone in attendance wanted to be seen, except by the people they wanted to see them.
We sat at the bar along the left side and ordered our drinks. We all still drank like we were just a bunch of biker thugs on the street, each of us ordering whiskey or beer instead of some of the special cocktails they served with names none of us could pronounce.
“Here’s to success and our latest prize,” I toasted my brothers with our first drink.
I watched my Forsaken brothers drink from their glasses and bottles. Rex and Alvin drank whiskey on the rocks. Vice preferred cheap light beer. Ace always took his liquor in shots and chased it with a heavy, dark beer.
For a while, we sat and drank in silence, no one quite sure how to address our recent prize. It wasn’t an awkward, uncomfortable silence, but I sat and wondered which one would break his silence first. We all sat staring forward, and I realized as I looked into my brothers’ eyes in the mirror behind the bar that we were playing one of our oldest drinking games. Whoever spoke first had to pay the tab at the end of the night.
“Fine, I’ll be the first to talk,” Rex said excitedly to cheers from the other three. I simply laughed as he slid his card across to the bartender.
“Paying for everyone tonight?” he asked Rex with a smile.
“Yeah, start a tab for The Forsaken Ones,” Rex told him nonchalantly. It was cool. The bartender knew who we were.
The other three patted him on his back and thanked him for taking one for the team.
“Well, I figured we needed to start talking about what’s going on,” Rex said.
“Yeah, I was wondering who would be first,” I told him. “But now that we’ve handled that, have we heard anything from anyone yet?”
“Nothing. It’s quiet,” Vice answered. “I don’t like it, Hawk.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got everything under control. It’s locked away somewhere safe, and no one knows where it is or how to get there,” I assured him.
“What about your guys?” Alvin asked, leaning over the bar so I could see him around everyone else.
“Don’t worry about them. Their loyalty has been bought,” I said. “Besides, I could see them fighting over it too long for anyone to actually get away with it,” I added, laughing.
“Hey, I don’t mean to be a downer here, but do you think we should be talking about this here at the bar?” Rex asked. “I was going to suggest moving to a booth or table, something out of the way.”
“You guys can,” I told him. “I was going to suggest setting business aside tonight so we could have some fun. We’ve earned a night out.”
I turned around on the barstool and watched the powerful, rich women scouting out the room like predators. Everyone in Paragon was a predator. Some were looking for a match. Others were looking for someone to overpower. It wasn’t the kind of place where someone could pick up a typical barfly. Everything that happened behind the closed front doors was about power, even for the people who were just meeting business partners.
“I think we should find a good time here tonight, gentlemen,” I told them. I turned back around and nodded for the bartender. When he approached, I handed him my card so he could give Rex his back.
The guys looked at me like I was crazy.
“Gentlemen, we are about to increase our fortunes exponentially. Tonight is on me. Get into whatever you would like. I’ve got the tab covered,” I explained.
They didn’t linger, in case I changed my mind. They quickly dispersed throughout the club, making their rounds, looking for whatever vice would easily turn the night into a celebration. I returned my focus to the women in the club, each one a lioness in her own right. My vice was taking powerful women and making them mine for the night.
One of the reasons we frequented Paragon even when there wasn’t business for us to conduct there was because of the endless supply of wealthy, powerful women who needed to be reminded of what it meant to be a woman, to be pleased like a woman.
The night was young. I watched patiently, waiting for the right one to appear. One of the problems with the exclusive membership of Paragon was that there weren’t new faces very often. The best I could hope for most of the time was that a member who rarely showed up would decide to come in while I was there. Occasionally, a politician would send an aid or a secretary in on their own, and that would always be fun to watch.
I had expensive tastes, however, and the bright-eyed, star struck look of someone entering the club for the first time, discovering they were in over their head, was a turn-off. I didn’t want to be the one to corrupt one of the young, innocent assistants who were enjoying a taste of the good life. I wanted to take someone who had already been corrupted by wealth and power, and show them that there was still more to learn. Always more to learn and explore.
I turned around and ordered another drink.
“Slow night?” the bartender asked me.
“Yes, but the night is still young,” I told him.
“That’s the spirit,” he said. “I’m sure it’ll pick up.” He poured more whiskey over fresh ice for me and handed me the glass.
I sipped and watched the people walking behind me in the reflection of the mirror behind the bar. I saw her coming. She had straight dark red hair, fair skin, red lips, and gentle green eyes. She appeared out of nowhere, parting the crowd behind me as she approached the bar. I had never seen her face before. I would have recognized it if I had. Still, she didn’t seem out of place. In fact, she had a confident look on her face, as if she owned the club.
I turned to look at her as she reached the bar. She wore a tight black dress with a short skirt that stopped about halfway down her thighs. It hugged her curves perfectly, showing off her flawless figure.
When, she spoke, I heard her commanding voice over everything in the club, though she clearly spoke at a normal volume. I had found my predator to dominate for the evening.
Chapter Two
Felicity
I approached the doorman with my hand in my purse, clutching the membership card Kleo had given me. He simply nodded, admitting me without so much as asking me for my membership. I gave him an appreciative smile and wink as I walked past him and let my purse hang down from my shoulder.
I was no stranger to mingling with high society. Somehow I always ended up at all the balls, the charity events, and even most of the most exclusive clubs, usually on the arm of this one or th
at one who wanted to show off the latest catch.
Even though it was my first time walking into Paragon, I knew that I couldn’t let it show on my face. Letting it be obvious that it was my first time would have marked me as a target for some of the men and women looking for a new face. It would have also blown my cover. I kept a stern face. I belonged among these wealthy and powerful people. I was one of them, even if I had probably lifted something belonging to someone in the room.
One of the dangers of my lifestyle was being spotted in a crowd. It rarely happened, but I also made sure to cover my tracks so that when it did happen, they never suspected me of being the one who lifted their priceless jewels.
I knew Hawk and his men didn’t look like typical bikers. They dressed in tailored suits or formalwear. They couldn’t be spotted by their colors like most bikers. They had other ways of marking themselves apart, namely the small pins they wore on their suit jackets sporting what would have been the back patch on their vests. It was a skull with fire in its eyes.
The club was filling in nicely by the time I arrived, but I had no trouble spotting Hawk Renner at the bar. He was the broad man sitting alone watching the room through the mirror behind the bar. He wore his long dark brown wavy hair slicked back and stared out at the world through deep brown eyes set in a clean-shaven, chiseled face. As I approached, I could see the pin in his reflection. I had found my mark.
Then he found me in the mirror. Our eyes met, and I felt drawn to him. He turned as I reached the barstool next to him.
“Is anyone sitting here?” I asked him as I sat down, not waiting for an answer.
“Someone is now,” he said with a smirk. His voice was inviting and seductive. He turned and called the bartender over, telling him to put whatever I ordered on his tab.
“You know, I wouldn’t be here if I couldn’t afford my own drinks,” I teased him. Then I turned to the bartender and told him, “Just a glass of your best champagne.”
“You’re going to try to make me regret putting you on my tab, aren’t you?” he joked.
“If you can’t handle it, maybe I should be paying for you,” I shot back.
“That would be a first.” He laughed and extended his hand to me. “Hawk Renner,” he said.
“I know who you are,” I said through narrow eyes as I took his hand in mine. His grip was firm around my lithe fingers. His grip was more than a casual handshake. I could feel his desire in the way his fingers wrapped around mine. My stomach tingled with desire.
“And you are?” he asked.
“Felicity Tarren,” I answered, using my real name. I caught myself and smiled, but it was too late. He had distracted me enough that I hadn’t used an alias. He was good.
My champagne arrived, and his whiskey was refilled, while we sat and stared at each other.
Finally, I pulled my hand gently out of his grip and turned to my drink.
“It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Renner,” I said.
“Please, call me Hawk, and I’m intrigued that you know who I am already even though I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen you,” he said.
“No, you probably haven’t,” I assured him. “We don’t exactly move in the same circles.”
“So, what brings you to Paragon tonight?” he asked.
I had to decide in that moment just how open I wanted to be. I had already been too open by giving him my name. I had to be careful with this dangerously disarming man, before I told him everything.
“Same thing you are,” I told him, smirking, and I returned to my drink.
“Just looking for a good time, huh?” he asked.
“Now, don’t tell me,” I said after I set my glass down on the bar. “I’ve already found it right here.” I could see from the look in his eyes that he enjoyed it when I presented myself as a challenge.
And I could tell from the tingling between my legs that I enjoyed the way his desire for me was so obvious. Hawk was a powerful, sexy man. To see such unguarded desire in his eyes was the biggest turn-on I could have asked for.
“Well, I certainly appreciate your vote of confidence, Felicity,” he said to me, “but if you think you can do better, then by all means. You certainly have your pick of wealthy, powerful men in the room.” He turned back to his whiskey, but I could tell he was only trying to see how long it would take me to make a move.
The little game we were playing was rather entertaining, but I figured if what I saw in his eyes was real desire, there was no shame in making my move. I wasn’t going to get anywhere sitting at the bar with him all night. The information I needed definitely wasn’t at Paragon. I needed to get closer to him than a barstool to get what I needed.
“That wasn’t the answer I wanted,” I told him as I placed a hand on his leg. His skin felt electric through his pants. I could almost feel him trembling with longing as I slid my hand up far enough to tease him, but not far enough to give him too much pleasure there at the bar.
“Oh, it wasn’t?” he said in a teasing tone.
“No, it wasn’t.” I leaned over to him and whispered in his ear, “But I’ll let it slide for now and still give you another chance.”
I sat back and finished my glass of champagne while he stared at me. The look on his face was a mixture of shock and amazement. He obviously wasn’t used to having a woman put him in his place the way I was. Hopefully, I was leaving my door open enough for him to still want to come through. I was fairly confident I was, but I knew I needed to let him buy me at least one more drink before I tried to seal the deal.
He needed to feel like I was giving him at least some control over the situation no matter how strong and powerful I came across. I laughed to myself as I signaled the bartender for another glass. They were all the same. They wanted a powerful woman but they wanted to maintain some power over her. I kept his reflection in the corner of my eye while I waited for my drink. I wondered how much power he wanted to hold over me, and how much power he was going to let me have.
Kleo had been right about Hawk and The Forsaken Ones. They were a dangerous bunch, and I could see a predatory hunger in Hawk’s eyes as he looked me up and down from the barstool next to mine.
We didn’t have to say anything else at the moment. I knew I was in. I could imagine how hard he was between those muscular legs of his. As long as he wanted me, I knew I would be able to get anything I wanted out of him, perhaps even the location of the Golden Diamond. I smirked at his reflection as I thought about how ironic it would be to get him to show the diamond to the very person who was going to steal it.
I was getting ahead of myself though. I needed to get away from him for a moment and check in with my boss. I needed a restroom, but I also needed to get back to them without making it obvious I had no idea where they were.
Once again, I placed a hand on his leg as I leaned over to whisper into his ear. I could feel his muscles tense up under my touch. He wanted me so badly he was probably thinking about taking me on the bar. I had to make sure he didn’t follow me to the restroom and try anything in there.
“I need to powder my nose,” I told him in my best heavy, sultry voice.
“Okay. You know where the restrooms are, right?” He pointed me in their direction.
“Thank you, and if you wait patiently, like a good boy, I might bring you back a surprise.” I winked as I walked away, looking over my shoulder to see the longing in his eyes. I had him right where I wanted him.
Once again, my body was going to get me everything I wanted. Hawk Renner, one of the most powerful men in the city, was ready to do whatever I told him, and the only thing he really knew about me was what I had told him, and that was just my name. My real name, dammit. Oh well, I would just have to handle that when the time came, I figured.
In the meantime, I stepped into the restroom and pulled my phone out at the counter with the row of sinks along the wall. I texted Kleo.
I have made contact. I’m in.
I waited for a response, knowing
that if I went back out there too soon, he would know that something was up.
Thank you. Keep me posted, she texted back.
Will do. Going to try to get him to take me to his place. Will let you know what I find, I told her. I made sure my phone was on silent and stuffed it back in my purse.
I checked my look in the mirror. I wasn’t afraid to compliment myself or appreciate the way I looked. The subtle curves and contours of my body had never failed me before, and they weren’t going to fail me on this particular job either, I knew.