Forever Distraction

by Stephanie Jean

  He stopped just short of me and I led us to the garage. My grandfather had a nice selection of vintage cars and it had been two weeks since I drove anything. I passed my brother on the way; he peered up and arched his black eyebrow at me.

  “We’ll be back. Don’t wait up.” I flashed him a full-knowing smile.

  “Shit, Katarina…I liked it better when you weren’t talking.” His annoyance was obvious. I felt tension radiating off him when he stepped in stride with me.

  “Well,” my voice was snotty and laced with sarcasm, “I can make an exception and not talk to you, if that makes you happy.”

  He blew out an exhausted sigh. “Where’s Smith?” he questioned and I glanced at him, wanting to inform him I was not Smith’s keeper.

  “It doesn’t matter. Smith Two is going to go with me.”

  “Crew.” Brian and I halted and both glanced at Smith Two.

  “Crew,” I repeated, thinking, Just like his haircut. A huge smile followed and I fluttered my eyelashes. I could flirt. I was so lonely, and Crew looked like the man to cure that loneliness. My brother caught my open gawking.

  “I’m coming,” Brian spat out through clenched teeth, causing my head to snap toward him.

  “No worries, Brian, Crew will stay really close to me, you know…to keep me safe.” I tossed him a coy smile, hoping he would stifle the protective-big-brother thing.

  Brian flashed me a warning look to tell me to tame the flirtation. “What is wrong with you?” he grumbled.

  I grabbed the keys to the Shelby Cobra first, but now I had to pick something that wasn’t a two-seater. I grabbed the ones to the Mustang GT500. I opened the garage and hurried over to it, excitement bubbling through me. All of these cars were mine—mine to choose from, mine to drive. The Mustang was one of my grandfather’s favorites, a 1967. I could hear him talking about it, but right now, all I remembered was how fast she was. I got in the driver’s seat and fired it up. The two men hopped in after. Brian sat next to me, and Crew was in the backseat.

  I backed out slowly, ignoring my brother and his unhelpful comments about how I was going to hit something. Once I cleared the long driveway, I floored it. The car squealed in delight as the back-end fishtailed; the slight vibration that filled me as I stepped on the pedal was like a shot of caffeine. I felt excited and liberated, and the only thing that could make this moment better was if I was driving alone and completely naked. It was just after midnight, and no one else was on the road to get in the way of my joyride. My brother gave me directions to his favorite club. I followed his instructions, not really caring about the destination, but enjoying the journey.

  I handed the keys off to the valet reluctantly. Both of my passengers had the doors opened before I came to a complete stop, which had me laughing. Scaredy cats.

  “Brian,” my eyes found his, “thanks for coming.” A slow smile stretched over his pretty-boy face. I slipped my arm through Crew’s and pulled him with me. Brian led us through the VIP line that gave us a direct link to the club without waiting. The club was booming even outside, our feet feeling the sound as we entered. It was dark, with flashing multicolored lights, and there were some dim lights over the bar areas that spread in an oval in the center of the large room.

  “Crew, do you know how to dance?” I coaxed. He glanced at Brian and it crushed me. “Oh shit, you’re gay.” I stopped dead in my tracks, reeling from my previous thoughts of wanting to kiss him, and from feeling his strong muscles under his jacket. That was definitely sexual harassment.

  Crew doubled back to me, giving me something that resembled a half-smile. “No, Ms. Covington, I am not gay.”

  I only heard possibility and grinned at the challenge. “Kat,” I offered, “if I call you Crew, you call me Kat.” My brother huffed in my ear, signaling he was growing annoyed. Then, he grabbed my elbow and steered me through the crowded club to a table, acting like he was suddenly Brother of the Year and I was underage. “Sit,” he ordered.

  Fuck him! “No.” I shoved him and defiantly pushed my way across the room, wiggling my way to the front of the bar. It took a moment to gather my angered emotions. The bartender winked at me, letting me know he was ready for my order. “Something with strawberries and alcohol,” I called to him over the loud music.

  “I will have a beer, whatever’s on tap,” Brian yelled from over my shoulder. He offered the man in the stool next to me money to ‘get lost’. Surprisingly, it worked, and Brian was once again in my space. “Kat,” he said and then paused, waiting for me to acknowledge him, “I’m not sure why you’re flirting with your bodyguard, but knock it the fuck off. You are better than this.” The bartender smiled at me, overhearing my brother’s words as he settled the drinks in front of us. It was my turn to wink, causing a winning grin on his end.

  I finished my drink, staring at Brian, studying him. Did Brian really just cuss? My brother had a little bad boy in him after all. I set the glass down and wiped my upper lip with the back of my hand, cleaning the remnants off, knowing that action would annoy him further. He liked the proper and the perfect, like my father did, nice and tidy with no ugly wrinkles, so the idea I had stickiness on the back of my perfectly smooth Covington skin was provoking him. I tapped my finger on my lip; his eyes were glued to the strawberry drink’s leftovers, and I wondered if I could make him curse again.

  “I want another drink,” I told him, and Brian flicked his wrist at the bartender, pointing to my drink, and seconds later, I had another one in front of me. I stirred it slowly, calculating my next move carefully. “How’s your sex life, Brian?” He set his drink down, and a slow smile spread over his face like I revealed a punchline to a joke. “Seriously, Bri, you’ve never felt like this before? I want to have sex—let me rephrase that, I am going to have sex tonight. So, unless you have a better choice, Crew…” I glanced around, finding the new object of my desire standing against the far wall directly behind me, “…is going to be the lucky guy.” I lifted my glass to him and winked. Crew held my eye contact and did an adorable chin lift.

  Brian must have noticed the whole interaction, because he grabbed my arm, jerking me from my thoughts. “Fuck, Kat, you need to knock it off. You’re all of a sudden acting like a Disney actress on crack.” I giggled; I had to. He cursed again! My proper brother cussed, and I loved him more because of it. My laughter was cut short when I saw my father. Brian must have followed my vision, because his eyes were glued to the booth containing my father and a pretty blonde.

  They were leaving hand-in-hand. She had on the tiniest skirt and her top was tight, lifting her breasts and holding them snug to her body. He weaved through the crowd and disappeared through a door marked ‘Private’. Instantly, I wiggled off my stool to see where the door led. Morbid curiosity or disgusting self-torment, either way, I decided I was going to follow him. You know, they say curiosity killed the Kat.

  “It’s not a good idea,” Brian said as he reached for me, but I was agile and slippery, and his hand wasn’t quick enough.

  “You’re right, Bri; you should stay.” I smoothed my dress down and glanced around the room until I saw Crew. “I’ll be back, ten minutes tops.” He made eye contact, communicating silently with me that he’d meet me there, and then I darted toward the private door. The club was full of masked and costumed people who were dancing wall-to-wall, and when I opened the door and stepped through it, the darkness swallowed me. I followed the voices and the laughter ahead of me.

  The more corners we turned down, the darker it got, and then it was pitch black, very hard to even see my feet in front of me. With my sight completely lost, my other senses kicked in. I could hear the rhythm of my heels on the hardwood flooring and Crew’s steady breathing, now directly in front of me. I smelled the scent of men’s cologne and wood. My heart began to hammer in my chest as soon as I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I am not sure if it was anxiety or fear, but I was suddenly overly conscious of the loud sound coming from my chest.

  We sl
owly traipsed toward a door, the light seeping out around it. Before I opened it, I blinked my eyes as I attempted to take in the light, my body taking on its programmed form, shoulders squared and chin up. I strolled into a large foyer, where two men stood dressed in black suit jackets and bowties. Bowties are so sweet on tough men, I thought as I flashed them a seductive smile and bit my bottom lip, continuing to sway my hips and visibly flirt until I was standing right in front of them. Let me in…please, I sent them telepathically.

  I knew they were scrutinizing me even with their unmoving eye contact. The level of tension in the small room was palpable. Crew took on a protector’s role, and I sensed a fight would soon happen if I didn’t speak. I considered using my own name, but knew I wouldn’t get anywhere and I wanted in. I was desperate for a distraction and intrigued by my father’s disappearance with the blonde. My father flashed in my mind, and if he made it through, so would my mother. “I am on the list…Adeline Covington and,” I peeked at Crew, his stone-cold face reminding me of, “Jason Riggs.” After I said his name, I was worried the name Jason Riggs would send a red flag and they would escort us out, but nothing happened. Nothing.

  We both stood there in dead silence for a long while; messages were sent through the computer, the phone rang, and then something happened. One of the men reached behind him into a large box and Crew moved in front of me, backing me up into the wall directly behind us. He was using his body as a muscular shield, and then he quickly halted, reaching around his back, searching for something tucked into his pants. He groaned and cursed, and I knew from experience he was looking for his weapon. The man eyeballed Crew cautiously before he pulled out two masks from the box. My heart pumped heavy against my chest, and my palms grew sweaty as Crew gathered the masks and helped me tie mine on.

  “You have privacy indicated on your account.” The man smirked at Crew before his cold eyes landed on me, roaming my body like he was hungry for it. I nodded as a ‘thank you for letting us in’, dismissing his crude gawk as the other man moved to open the door.

  The soft mask fit over the top part of my face, similar to a masquerade mask without all the fluff. Crew’s mask was black like mine, but where mine curved up on the top, his curved down on the bottom. It was comfortably made from a black cloth and I relaxed, feeling like I was protected, holding onto my anonymity. We strolled through the threshold of doors into the dark once again. The mask was comforting, and it molded with the top-half of my face perfectly.

  I wrapped my arm around Crew’s, slightly apprehensive about the unknown environment. It remained black, and we followed the direction of the muffled noises and pleasured moans.

  Chapter Nine

  Nuts

  Jason

  Alex and I took the edge off at the club that night. I heard Brian’s laughter in my head as it rattled around. He thought I was a joke, that it was humorous Katarina left me, and I needed a fucking drink. To say I didn’t learn anything from my princess would be a lie. I learned to run from my problems. So, when the Los Angeles Sex Club invited me to stay and help out, I gladly accepted. Brad, my old boss and the brother of my ex, had been asking me to invest in a club with him. Originally, he was becoming partners with Red, but Red had been missing in action. When he found out I was at one of his sister clubs, he convinced them to keep me.

  I had worked here before about six summers ago and the lay out hadn’t been altered, and even though there were a lot of new additions, the core was the same. I had some drinks that night…a lot, and in a moment of completely arrogant power, I accepted the offer and shared a luscious, tan brunette with Alex. It was part of the job, I told myself. She was tied down and completely at our mercy; my old tendencies came flooding to the surface. I was at home here; the smell, the sounds of feminine moans and shrieks, and the tasty whiskey was what I deserved. My darkness thrived in this place, and I craved it.

  ****

  Two days passed, and I remembered Bo being home alone without food, so I called my sister.

  “Jessie,” I was attempting to use as few words as possible—no words equaled no guilt and no meddling sister, “Bo needs food. I’m not coming back.” I downed another shot of whiskey before pulling the phone away from my ear to hang up.

  “What about Dad?” I heard her ask before I pushed the end button. “Are you going to call him? He needs to know you’re not coming back to work.” Her voice sounded more like my high school teacher’s, belittling and condescending.

  Fuck her…fuck everyone. The acidy sound grated on my nerves. I strolled back over to the bar in my hotel room and poured myself another drink. “Nope,” I grunted and tossed my drink back, the burning feeling more like fuel than liquid.

  “Jason, you promised me,” she continued to speak, but I hung up…and had another drink.

  Hours later, I received a text from Jessie. She was at my place to feed Bo and there was a letter on my doorstep. She opened it, fucking nosey-ass sister, and she texted me a picture of it. I inhaled deeply before viewing it.

  Dear Jason,

  I am not good with notes—as you could see from the last note, I left you—so here goes.

  First, I want to let you know I did not deliver this. I don’t want you thinking I will walk out of some dark shadow or that I am waiting for you at home. I am in a very safe place. There are three bodyguards on me as we speak, and many alarms are set. The alarms are mainly to keep me in. So—alarms suck! Don’t use them.

  Second and lastly, I want you to know I am not sad. I haven’t shed any tears since the day I arrived here two weeks ago. If anything, I have some anger issues I need to sort out. It turns out my father’s explosive temper lives inside me, and lately, has poked his ugly head out.

  Your plan to cover my body with pieces of you was successful. My memories of your lips on me are slowly beginning to fade, and although I am forgetting what you look like and how your heartbeat feels under my fingers, I still smile when something reminds me of our time together. I have no regrets, none. I actually don’t feel anything about the secret you kept, or the condom you didn’t wear. I know I loved you, and I don’t regret that either. I have seemed to let it all go and I think you should do the same. Pretend again, for a little while, that you have control. I wish you happiness.

  -Katarina Covington A.K.A. Princess

  P.S. I tried really hard to find something princess-like to say. So here goes, “Jason Jax Riggs, I was enchanted to meet you.”

  My heart was officially fucked. I drank more to dull the pain, to dull the voices that told me she still cared, because I knew she didn’t. She was too good for me now; she was always too good for me, but now I pictured her in her extravagant mansion. I closed my eyes and visions of her elegant dressed, poised and graceful in every appearance, telling me we no longer fit. I drank more out of loathing and hatred for myself, and then I drank for Katarina, and for the lonely, fucked up world I was living in.

  Days went by, and I did what I do; I controlled people and was an overall asshole. I was a hamster on the wheel of life, my feet constantly moving, but I wasn’t going anywhere. Today, I got to beat the shit out of a guy for not obeying a safe word. It felt good, really good. I heard the ribs snap from the force of my fists. There was so much blood that as soon as I finished, he was taken to the hospital. It was fucking awesome. I’m the king of my world.

  That was it. Here I was two weeks after my Katarina disappeared from my life. I tried to find her, but between her bodyguards and her brother Brian, everything I did was useless. Katarina was impossible to reach, impossible to even stalk. Dark cars took her to and from places, and the paparazzi would only get glimpses of her unless she was at a party and the picture was planned.

  I leaned against the bar and scanned the large room. It resembled Strikers Men’s Club in Sacramento, except on steroids. The scene rooms were on the outer edges of the bar. There were twice as many rooms for the sex addicts and sexually extreme clientele. The rooms mirrored the opposite side of the room, ever
y room on each side of the bar decorated in a unique theme. Where bars and chains hung on the wall in one room, a large cross and whips hung in the other. It was fetish-style, but all whips and chains. Closer to where I stood were the wax rooms and the examination rooms.

  The club was geared toward pain, giving and receiving, and I had a front row seat. Well, for the previous two nights and tonight, anyway. I offered to help out on Halloween, since it brought out the sexual predator in men, and the need to make a helpless girl scream went hand-in-hand. The owner also allowed outside members in to watch the sex play after an interviewing process and completion of paperwork. Seeing the look of horror on a nonmember was priceless and I needed to laugh; it had been two long fucking weeks.

  My phone rang and it jerked me from my thoughts. The guy on the other end whispered, and it was frickin’ making my eye twitch. “There is someone who is using your name to get into the club. The girl introduced herself as Adeline Covington, and then she said her partner’s name was Jason Riggs.”

  I moved quickly through the lightly lit, hidden security hall to the break room and stood over the sink, looking at myself and turning on the faucet, trying to process what he was saying. I splashed some water on my face. “Let them in, give them masks, and stall them.”

  I texted Alex immediately, he was with me in Los Angeles to keep me out of trouble. I asked him to get here quickly, because Katarina was here. I ran a hand through my hair, curious about what the hell she was doing here. Although it wasn’t impossible to run into her, the place was packed, and the way into the club was full of mazes and strict security. It was a secret club, and purposely meant to keep out nonmembers.