“Your phone,” Brooklyn waves her hand in front of my face, pulling me away from her eyes.
Taking my phone out of my jacket pocket, I answer, “Hello.”
“Your VIP is here,” Beth replies.
"In my office," I say, ending the call. I look back at Brooklyn to find she’s still looking at me. "What do you see when you look at me?" I ask her. I can’t tell what she is thinking by looking at her, and I can’t read her body language, I need to start asking her questions to find out what she is thinking.
I watch as she moves her eyes away from mine for a split second to my lips, but then back to my eyes.
“Loneliness, pain, hurt, but a man that gets what he wants,” she says in a whisper.
Is she saying them softly, so that she can heal me? Or so that her words don’t hurt me?
I run my tongue over my bottom lip, letting her words settle, and my heart pulls in my chest. It’s a feeling that hurts so much it is as though I can feel the blood dripping from my heart straight into the Devil’s hands, as if he's slowly beginning to collect pieces of me. I don't even know if I believe in all that, but if he does exist, I know my name is on his guest list, that I'll be a member of his club; because for what I’ve done, if it does exist, I’m going straight to hell.
Can I let Brooklyn be the one to find the pieces and put them back? Heal me from my hell without Lucy? Will she even be willing?
I walk into my office, "Mr. Knowles," I give his hand a shake, as I walk around the desk. "I see you've met Rhys and Aiden." I nod towards them and both sit on the couch at the side of the room.
"Yes, it's nice to meet you too, Mr. Kane" he sits down on the chair as I do.
I open his file. "Where did you hear about us?" That's the first thing I ask all new guests; it’s good to know which networking is working for me, and which isn’t.
"As you know, in my line of work I talk to a lot of different people. One of my friends said that they come to this club twice a month; anything you want, fantasies come true." Mason Knowles replies with an impressed, yet nervous, smile on his face.
Word of mouth has been the biggest way that we’ve recruited new guests. One member tells someone, then they tell another; it’s our best marketing. I like that my club is what everyone is talking about, in their intimate circles.
He's not the first big sportsman we’ve had here; there have been a few now, but his requests are the reason I wanted to speak to him.
"Everything that happens when you walk through the door is private; my employees sign a confidentiality agreement, and so will you. If either party ever breaks it, they pay a significant fine," I tell him.
I knew if I wanted this club to work, privacy had to be key. An employee would lose their job and pay half a million, if they talked to the press. If a guest talks to the media, a lot more than that happens; their fine is tripled, and I get to go to the papers in return and ruin their reputation; then, I get to swoop in and acquire everything they own at a fraction of the price. I’ve never had to use that, but I want to make sure that they understand how serious I am about keeping everyone safe; not just them, but me too. I never hide that; it's written in the contract. It's not even in small print; it's bold, capital letters, so they all know.
"Yes, I looked through the contract, and I'm happy with everything," he glances down at the file then back up to me. "My requests?"
“Yes, I see that you’d like a few different things,” I look down at the list.
He would like to be dominated, but he would also like a threesome with one woman and a man joining in; the other request was for him to sit and talk with a girl.
"Would you like the same girl every time?" I ask. I have one guest that comes who likes someone different each time.
“Ummmm, I know the underage is a ‘No’ here, and I respect that, but I was...if there was-”
“You want my youngest girl?” I ask him the question he wants to ask.
“Yes.”
“What about the male? All you’ve written here is “black”. Anything else?” I look behind him at Aiden and Rhys as they smile.
What are they up to?
“No,” Mason answers.
"Sign the bottom line, and we will see you tomorrow. In this file are the details for the back door: that’s your entrance. There you will meet security; your phone will be taken, and you’ll be searched. They’ll give you the room number you’ll be in. Then, you can play out every fantasy you have." I put the contract in front of him with a pen and give him the file.
He signs on the dotted line, then hands the contract back. "First payment due tonight, and then it will be taken out of your account every month. You can come as often as you want, but you must give me one week's notice, so I know not to book any of the staff with other guests."
I stare at the file with all his information in it. He might be a sporting hero to America, but right now he's a scared man. He's not the first guest I’ve had sat in that chair who has been scared. Mr. Knowles is no different to the others, he’s not stopping rubbing his hands on his trousers; he’s avoiding eye contact with me, and it always leads to one thing: second thoughts about why they are here.
"Mr. Knowles, you can cancel all this if you want-"
"No, it's… I don't know how to tell my wife," he whispers to himself, but loud enough for me to hear.
"We're not here to counsel you through this, we're here to relax our guests. You've signed, I've got a girl ready, I've got a man ready, it's up to you if you show up or not. If you want anyone else to go into that room with you, I need to know about it first,” I tell him, and he gives me a nod.
It’s amazing how many people come here, then one month later they want their partners here, too. To watch them, to watch their partners with someone or to even have them join in.
Now I know that there’s no way in the fucking world I would let anyone look at what’s mine, but I suppose they want what they want.
"Thank you, Mr. Kane." He shakes my hand, then walks out of the office.
I shake my head and smile as I look at the two idiots sitting on the sofa, laughing. I already know what they’re talking and laughing about. "How much are you betting?" I ask them. When we get a new guest, one who seems worried about anything, the guys always bet about what will happen.
“His wife will be joining within a month,” Rhys states.
"Nah, he's going to pussy out and not come. A grand to the winner." Aiden starts laughing, and I agree with him. He didn't leave very confident; some men think they know what they want, but when it's given to them, they run.
“Did Brooklyn eat?” Rhys asks.
"Yeah. I need Beth to order clothes for her, and the doctor to get more medication," I tell them both. Walking back around to the desk, I turn to face them. "Which one of the girls are you two having fun with at the moment?" I ask, wanting to talk about anything but Brooklyn.
It's been a long time since I've seen either of them bring a girl here. Be it in The Club or at the house; and they never leave the house to go out to get laid. It's like they've forgotten there is an outside world.