Staying on Top

by Elizabeth Corrigan

Chapter 10

  “So where should I drop you?” Baurus asked as they headed back out to the car.

  “Do you know where Divinity is? The club on East Street?”

  “No. Should I?”

  Kadin shook her head. “It’s only the most popular club in the city, at least that we mere mortals can go to. But I guess you Imperials have your own clubs.”

  Baurus tilted his head to the side in acknowledgement. “If it’s the most popular club in my city, maybe I should check it out.”

  “Huh, yeah, maybe sometime you should.” Kadin actually thought that was a terrible idea. Divinity had the occasional Entertainer or Merchant come in—Ralvin was going to be there tonight, after all—but an actual Imperial would cause nothing but chaos.

  Which was why Kadin was surprised when Baurus asked where he could park.

  “Wait, what? You can’t come in!”

  “What? Embarrassed to be seen with me?” Baurus’s grin said he knew exactly what kind of trouble his arrival at a mundane club would cause, and he was relishing every minute of it.

  “Baurus, seriously.” She could think of any number of reasons she didn’t want him coming in, and none were related to the impending paparazzi storm.

  First was Dahran. He would not react well to her showing up with another man, even one as out of her reach as the duke of the city. Second were Olivan and Trinithy, who would be certain to fawn over him in a ridiculous manner, assuming they weren’t stunned into silence. Third was Joelle Combs. What if Baurus thought she hung out with people like that?

  And finally, and probably most importantly, there was Ralvin, or Vinnie, as he would be calling himself. She had told Ralvin she would keep his worlds from colliding, and if she brought Baurus into the club, she would be doing the exact opposite of her promise.

  But as Baurus pulled into a parking garage and wound his way around the too-full levels, she realized she had no control over the duke’s behavior.

  It’s fine. Dahran will get over it. He’s gotten over worse things. Ollie and Trin shouldn’t embarrass me too much, and with any luck, Joelle will be dancing all night the way she did Monday. As for Ralvin, I’ll just pray he’s in bed with a cold.

  Baurus held his hand on the small of Kadin’s back as they approached the club. She should have told him to remove it, but she liked having it there. She wasn’t a huge fan of crowds, and even though it was early enough that the line wasn’t very long, she appreciated having someone to fend off any unwanted advances.

  She was less pleased when Baurus insisted on paying her cover charge. She was not on a date with the duke. She had a boyfriend.

  But wouldn’t you so much rather be dating Baurus? came a voice from the back of her mind.

  No. No, I would not. Her stronger, more controlled thought drowned out the traitorous one. He’s a duke, and he’s not interested in me that way.

  The entered the club, which even at this early hour was busier than Monday night’s club had been at peak time. Kadin spotted Olivan, Trinithy, and Jace at a table across the room and waved. Good. Ralvin’s not here yet. Maybe I can head him off.

  Trinithy lifted her hand to wave at Kadin but stopped when she noticed her friend’s escort. She poked Olivan, who had been deep in conversation with Jace, and Kadin had three pairs of eyes and three dropped jaws trained on her.

  Might as well get this over with. She started toward the table, but before she could move more than two steps, Baurus tugged on her arm. She turned back to him, and he stepped forward. She found herself looking up at him, their bodies nearly touching, his fingers lacing through hers.

  When he whispered, “Dance with me, Kay,” she felt the warmth of his breath on her face.

  She tried to step away but found herself mesmerized by the fascination in his hazel eyes as he studied her face.

  “I should go say hi to everyone.” Her mouth went dry.

  “Aw, come on.” Baurus’s lips smiled as his gaze dropped to her mouth. “One dance. Then we’ll both go say hi.”

  Dahran wouldn’t like it. But as Baurus rubbed his thumb along her palm, she found it hard to think of Dahran.

  “One dance,” she found herself agreeing.

  “Maybe two.” Baurus’s smile widened. Was it her imagination, or had he moved even closer?

  “Baurus—”

  Before she could agree to a second dance or tell him to forget the whole thing, though it was even odds which she would choose, a much rougher hand ripped her arm out of Baurus’s grasp, and for the second time in as many minutes, she found herself spinning to face a man.

  “What do you think you are doing?” Dahran’s face was red. His nostrils flared.

  Oh, this is not good. “Just dancing with Baurus,” she said, though she knew there was no “just” about it. She would be a fool to think Baurus wanted an innocent, meaningless dance, though she was hard-pressed to determine exactly what he did want from a commoner like her.

  “Just dancing with another man? Like you aren’t my girl?” Dahran’s jaw clenched, and Kadin saw a blood vessel pulsing at his temple.

  Kadin opened her mouth to apologize but then caught a glimpse of Baurus out of the corner of her eye. If I don’t defend myself, Baurus is going to do it for me, and the last thing I want is Baurus and Dahran going toe to toe in a public place, or any place.

  “You danced with Trinithy the other night.” She tried to sound reasonable. “I don’t see how this is any different.”

  “How dare you talk back to me, you bitch?” Dahran raised his hand, and Kadin had just enough time to realize she was about to be backhanded when a large hand reached in and wrapped itself around Dahran’s much smaller hand.

  “Touch her, and you will be in for a world of hurt.” Baurus’s tone was quiet, but there was a menace there that spoke of the power of kings at his disposal.

  Dahran ripped his hand out of Baurus’s grasp, though Kadin suspected that if Baurus hadn’t wanted to let go, Dahran would still be in his grip. “We’ll discuss this later. And he won’t be around to protect you.” Dahran stalked off into the crowd.

  A number of people stared and murmured around Kadin. Just great. “Let’s just go over to the table.” She kept her head down, definitely not looking at Baurus as she made her way across the club.

  Kadin put her purse down on the table. “You all know Baurus.” The words came out of her mouth in a rush. “Baurus, I believe you’ve met Jace, and these are Trinithy and Olivan.”

  Trinithy let out a high-pitched giggle, and Jace looked grumpier than usual. Baurus, for his part, remained cool and greeted everyone. Kadin expected Olivan to start peppering Baurus with questions, but instead, he grabbed Kadin’s arm, and she found herself yet again being pulled in a direction she had no intention of going.

  “Kay and I need to have a word,” Olivan called over his shoulder. “We’ll be right back.”

  He dragged her down the dark hallway that led to the bathrooms and dropped her wrist. “What were you thinking, bringing Baurus DeValeriel here?”

  “I didn’t bring him!” Kadin rubbed her arm. She’d definitely had more than her fair share of wrist-grabbing today. “He followed me. You try telling him not to do something he wants to do!”

  Olivan crossed his arms. “Like make out with you in the middle of the dance floor at Divinity?”

  “We did not… do that!” Kadin realized her voice was louder than she wanted it to be and lowered her volume. “He was just asking me to dance.”

  “That’s not what it looked like from where I was sitting,” said Olivan. “No wonder Dahran got so upset.”

  Kadin closed her eyes. She knew she should agree with Olivan, but she found herself saying what she thought instead. “Dahran is an asshole.”

  “Kadin Stone! Do you kiss your brother with that mouth?”

  Kadin groaned. “Seriously,
Ollie. No jokes now.”

  Olivan leaned back against the wall. “You know that I more than anyone am a perennial supporter of a woman finding herself a good husband. But seriously, if you dislike Dahran that much, maybe you should break up with him.”

  Kadin felt tears prick the corners of her eyes. “And then what? It’s not like I have a long line of guys chasing me.”

  Olivan looked back in the direction of the club, and despite the wall in the way, Kadin knew he had zeroed in on their table.

  “I cannot marry Baurus DeValeriel!” she hissed.

  “Why not? He seems to like you, and everyone knows he’s a rogue agent. I could totally see him marrying a commoner.”

  “And what kind of life would that be?” asked Kadin. “All of his friends and family would hate me for not being one of them, and it’s not as if we could just go out like normal people. I’m surprised the paparazzi haven’t already descended on us. In fact, they may have while we were back here.”

  “But you haven’t thought about this at all.” Olivan grinned.

  “Speaking of poor relationship choices, where’s your significant other?” Kadin had a hard time calling Ralvin anything but his real name, which made communicating with Olivan feel like a lie these days.

  Olivan’s face fell. “He’s running late. And why do you keep calling it a poor relationship choice? He’s rich and attractive. Someday, we’re going to have beautiful children, and you’ll feel bad.”

  “I’ve told you. He’s a Merchant, and you’re an Imperial-lover. Never the twain shall meet.” Kadin sighed. “But I hope it works out for you. You know I only want you to be happy.”

  “And I you,” said Olivan. “Oooh, I just had an idea! Want me to murder Jace’s sub-D of a wife so you can marry him?”

  “I think my wishes for your happiness would have to be put on hold while you were locked up in jail. But I appreciate the thought.”

  Olivan stood up straight and wrapped his arm around Kadin’s shoulder. “Anything for you, my dear.”

  As they emerged back into the main club, Kadin noticed Dahran hadn’t returned to the table. “I should probably go find Dahran and apologize.”

  “If you’re sure that’s what you want to do,” said Olivan. “He was going to check his coat when he ran into you, so I’d look in that direction. I, for my part, finally have an Imperial who has to pay attention to me, and I’m going to ask him everything I’ve ever wanted to know.”

  You have an Imperial paying attention to you every day, and you have no idea. “Good luck with that. Baurus has no filter. You’ll probably end up with more information than even you want.”

  Kadin headed over to the cloakroom and was surprised to see there were no attendants taking coats and handing out tickets. That must have made Dahran even more furious. He hates it when serving staff don’t do their jobs.

  She crept around past the check-in table. Dahran might have decided to hang up his coat without a ticket, though Kadin knew she would never do such a thing. What if they refused to give her coat back?

  As she inched closer to the cloakroom, she thought she heard voices inside, which was odd. Had all the staff decided to hang up coats at once? And were they laughing?

  I should leave before I get caught. But her detective’s mind needed to solve this mystery, so she moved forward, taking tiny steps so as not to be heard, and when she finally rounded the corner to the cloakroom, she could not believe what she saw.

  She recognized those two people, half-naked and pressed up against each other, making noises decent people didn’t want to hear their neighbors make.

  Dahran White and Joelle Combs having sex in the cloakroom at Divinity—while she was forced to watch.

  Kadin couldn’t breathe. She needed to get out of this stale club air, and possibly vomit, although not necessarily in that order. Creeping just as slowly as when she went in, she exited the cloakroom, reminding herself that it was unladylike to dry heave.

  Dahran must have bribed the cloakroom staff to give them space, Kadin’s numb mind thought. That’s why no one’s there. A small part of her was satisfied to solve the mystery, but the rest of her wandered like a zombie out of the club, ignoring the doorman’s query as to whether she wanted her hand stamped.

  After she had gulped down a few breaths of slightly cleaner city air, she felt a bit better, but her thoughts still raced. Dahran’s an asshole. I knew that. I said it to Ollie earlier. But I thought he was better than that. I’ll go home. I’ll just go home and sleep, and everything will seem clearer in the morning.

  As she stepped forward to hail a cab, she realized two very important things. First of all, she had left her purse inside the club, so she had no way to pay for a cab. And second, Ralvin was going to arrive at any moment, and when he walked into the club, his secret would be uncovered.

  The first she could get around. She could ask the cabbie to wait outside her house while she ran in to get some money. She hated to do it, but she could. But she had promised to keep Ralvin’s secret, so she didn’t see that she had any choice but to sit down on the curb and wait for him to arrive so she could warn him about Baurus’s presence.

  Nobility of purpose aside, she had a hard time focusing on the crowd and looking for Ralvin’s arrival. Her mind kept flashing back to Dahran’s fingers in Joelle’s blond curls, Joelle’s heel digging into Dahran’s leg, Dahran’s—

  She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to rid herself of the memory. She concentrated on the blackness behind her eyelids and willed that to be her entire world, which worked for a second until her eyelids started to hurt.

  “Kadin?”

  She opened her eyes to find Ralvin standing above her, a quizzical look on his face. “Hey, Ralvin.”

  “Is there a reason you’re sitting out here on the curb?”

  “You can’t go in there. Baurus is here. He decided to follow me because…” She tossed her hands in the air, at a loss to explain the duke’s behavior.

  “Because he’s Baurus.” Ralvin sank down on the curb next to her. “And the reason you’re looking for me through eyes closed so tightly you can’t even see the sunset is…”

  Kadin crossed her hands over her knees and buried her face in them. Even she couldn’t make out the words that emerged from her lips.

  “Pardon?”

  “Dahran and Joelle were having sex in the cloakroom,” she said, louder this time, but thankfully not loud enough that anyone but Ralvin could hear it.

  “Ah.” Ralvin reached over and rubbed her back. “Kay, I don’t know Dahran that well, but does it really surprise you that he’s cheating on you?”

  Kadin rolled her head back. The sun had not quite set, rendering the sky a lovely purple. She thought it unfair that her night should be ruined so early, when only the barest hint of one of the crescent moons graced the sky.

  “No,” she said. “It doesn’t. I just… I’m supposed to marry him. That’s what everyone wants to happen. He wants it. Octavira wants it. My friends all want it. This is supposed to be it. I meet a handsome man with a steady job who actually likes me, and it’s supposed to be a dream come true.”

  “Kay—”

  “But somewhere along the line, it turned into a nightmare, and I don’t know what to do about it. All I know is I hate my life.” Kadin hadn’t thought of it in those terms before, but as soon as the words escaped her mouth, she knew they were true. “I’m tired of having to be what everyone expects of me instead of who I actually am.”

  “Believe me, I get it,” said Ralvin.

  A sarcastic “Do you really?” nearly made its way out of her mouth, but as she looked over at the dark-haired man sitting next to her, she realized that he probably did. After all, his actual life forced him into a role even more constraining than hers, that of a ruler of a nation that had very strict expectations of how its royalty should behave. No
t that Baurus ever let that influence his behavior, but Kadin suspected that Baurus’s wild streak put even more pressure on Ralvin to conform.

  “Maybe you ought to take a page out of my book,” said Ralvin.

  Kadin gave him a sideways look. “I’m not creating some kind of alter ego for myself. The only thing I actually like doing is solving mysteries, and I’m not becoming some kind of rogue crime solver. Friends don’t let friends become vigilantes.”

  Ralvin laughed. “I wasn’t going to suggest that. I was going to say that maybe you should figure out what you want and make it happen.”

  “It’s not that easy. I want to be a detective, but I don’t want to deal with all the little digs I get every day when no one believes a woman can do the job. And I don’t want to be a burden on my brother and Octavira.”

  “So start small,” said Ralvin. “Break up with that jerk boyfriend of yours.”

  Kadin smiled a little at that. “You’re right. I know you’re right. It’s only… What will Octavira say? What if Dahran decides to retaliate at work, and I get fired? There are a million ways this could blow up in my face.”

  “And what good will come of staying with him?” asked Ralvin.

  Kadin closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Nothing. You’re right. Tomorrow, I’m breaking up with Dahran White.”

  Chapter 11

  Since Kadin wasn’t quite brave enough to go back in the club, and Ralvin couldn’t go in anyway, Ralvin gave her a ride home. When Kadin entered the house, Octavira was frowning at the departing blue convertible.

  “Where’s Dahran?” asked Octavira. “Shouldn’t he be giving you rides home?”

  “Dahran and I broke up,” said Kadin. “Or at least we’re going to.”

  “What? Kadin, are you insane? He’s a young detective! Someday, he could be making millions!”

  Kadin had expected to quake in her heels at Octavira’s chastisement, but since she had made the decision to break up with Dahran, the things she’d feared seemed trivial. “He was cheating on me. A million dollars isn’t worth that.”