“Listen, there is a girl coming to interview at the club. Her name is Meg. She’s a cute blonde. Do not hire her. Whatever you do, please do not hire her.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Brandon. You can’t tell me who I can and can’t hire.” I was annoyed at his call but noticed that the girl in front of me had started looking at the ground. I stared at the top of her head and could see a slip of blond at the front. She was wearing a wig! “No cute blondes named Meg have come in today. I gotta go.” I hung up then, suddenly curious as to how she knew Brandon and why she was here.

I stood up and walked closer to her. I could see her looking at me with a confused expression. I stared back at her and grinned inwardly as I saw her staring at me body and take a step back. She looked back up at me and I could see the desire in her eyes. It made me happy.

I leaned towards her and she closed her eyes, eagerly awaiting a kiss. I pulled her wig off and laughed lightly as she opened her eyes slowly. There was disappointment in them, and I knew then that I had to have her. Her face was so expressive and her eyes told me everything she was thinking. I wasn’t going to turn her away.

I didn’t know how she knew Brandon and I didn’t care. I didn’t even care that she might be the demise of the private club. All I knew was that I had to have her. I had to get to know this wonderful, mysterious girl. Even if it changed everything in my life. Especially if it changed everything.

***

It had only been two days, but everything in my life felt different. Suddenly the sky seemed bluer and the grass seemed greener. Even the sounds of the birds chirping had become a melody I didn’t want to stop. And it was all because of her.

It scared me how Meg now occupied my mind. How her body made me feel. How she made me feel. I felt like a new man. Everything in my life had changed the day Maria died. My whole world had come crashing down and I hadn’t known which way was up. I felt responsible for her death even though I hadn’t been the one to pull the trigger. She had died because of a series of events that I had put into motion.

Ever since that day, I’d been trying to seek redemption for my sins. But I’d known that whatever I did wouldn’t be enough. I’d never be enough. My life was never going to be more than it was.

But then she arrived and everything changed. I found myself opening up to her. I was drawn to her like a moth to a flame, and she was drawn to me. I tried to warn her to stay away. I knew that I would end up hurting her as well. But I’d rather she hurt because of my rejection than because of the real me. I wouldn’t be able to stand to see the look in her eyes when she realized who I was.

I wasn’t proud of myself. I tried to warn her. But I just couldn’t step away from her. I didn’t want her to leave, yet I needed her to leave. Meg Riley was going to be the undoing of me and it scared the hell out of me.

I opened the files on my desk and looked at the files of all the girls I’d sent away. There had to have been at least five hundred girls that had gone through the club now. five hundred girls, yet it wasn’t enough.

“Greyson?” Patsy knocked on the door and then walked in. “Are you busy?”

“No, come in.” I looked up at her and smiled.

I felt ashamed for the way I had treated Patsy. She had always been loyal, from day one, even though I had treated her like shit. We’d slept together for about a week when she’d first started and then I’d just stopped wanting to be with her. I hadn’t liked the fact that she had seemed to be falling for me, so I’d allowed her to walk in on me f**king another girl. It had seemed easier than telling her that I hadn’t wanted her anymore. She’d never complained or screamed. She’d just accepted it and kept working for me. And now she was one of the only people who knew that went on at the club. She knew everything.

“I wanted to see how you’re doing.”

“I’m fine. Why?”

“You’ve seemed different.” She shrugged. “More antsy.”

“I’m fine.”

“You can leave this all behind you know, Greyson.” She walked up to the desk. “We could leave, let someone else take over. You don’t have to do this anymore.”

“I can’t stop now.” I shook my head. “This is my bed. I need to lie in it.”

“No you don’t,” she countered. “This doesn’t have to be your life.”

“Patsy, is there anything else?” I sighed and looked at her expectantly. I didn’t want to be rude and throw her out of the office, but I was getting annoyed.

“I thought you didn’t believe in love.” She bit her lip and stared at me. “I thought that the reason you were the way you were was because you couldn’t love.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“But you’re different. You care about that Riley girl, don’t you?” Her eyes looked sad. “I wondered why you hired her. She doesn’t fit the mold of the girls we accept at the club. Not the old club or the new club.”

“Patsy,” I started, but she shook her head.

“No.” She sounded upset. “I just wished I understood what she has that I don’t. I’ve seen it all, Greyson. I know who you were and who you are and I’m still here.”

“I know and I appreciate that.”

“I’m still here. I’ve always been here. I’ve kept your secrets, but you still don’t love me.”

“I don’t love anyone.” I sighed, not even knowing how I felt any more.

“You don’t see it yet, but I do. We all do.” She turned away from me. “But she’ll destroy everything, Greyson. She won’t be able to accept it. I know girls like her. She doesn’t know what life is like. The real grit, the dirt, the hard times, the bad times, the evil times. She doesn’t know it like I do. She’s not worth your energy, Greyson.”

“Please don’t talk about her like that,” I said softly, trying to hide the anger building up in me. “Please, Patsy.”

“You don’t even know her!” Her voice rose. “How can you feel this way about her already? I’ve been here for years.”

“Patsy.” I sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say.”

“She’s going to bring it all back up, you know. That girl Nancy? She came to me, but I don’t know where she went. She’s Maria’s sister, you know.”

“I know.” I nodded. “I know a lot of things, Patsy.”

“Oh?” She looked at me then and her face stilled.

“I know about you and David.”

“What?” Her eyes popped open. “I never told him anything, I swear.”

“I know, Patsy. I trust you.” I walked over to her and hugged her. “I trust you and I love you like a sister, Patsy. But I don’t love you as anything more. I will never love you like that.”

She didn’t answer then, but I could feel wet tears on my shoulder as she sobbed. I held her tight, sad that I had broken her in this way. I felt sick to my stomach. It seemed that all I did was bring pain to women.

I allowed her to get it out. But as I stood there, all I could think about was Meg. My beautifu,l wonderful Meg. I knew that she had questions about the club. She had questions and she had theories. I was scared to tell her the truth while she still had some hope about me. I knew that once she knew the truth she would be gone and I’d never see her again. And I wasn’t ready for that to happen just yet.

I wasn’t ready for the heart I hadn’t even known existed until a few days ago to break already.

Chapter 9

Present Day

Meg

I walked through the corridors aimlessly. I felt empty inside. The phone call had changed something in me. It had made me completely raw inside. As soon as Greyson had received another call from Patsy, he’d had to leave. He had asked me to wait so we could talk, but I’d slipped out of the bedroom as soon as he’d left. As far as I was concerned, I needed to get out of the club.

I didn’t want to see Ryan again and I didn’t want to be around Greyson any longer. I could no longer play the ignorance game. He was evil—pure evil. Maybe there was some good in him that was aching to break out, but I couldn’t be that woman to wait and see if it was going to happen.

I rounded the corner where the nursery was and stopped suddenly. The door was slightly ajar, and I walked up to it carefully to peek in. I saw that there was a baby in one of the cribs and the room was filled with some people. I recognized Patsy and Greyson but there was a man and a girl I didn’t recognize.

“She said she won’t go without the baby.” Patsy sounded annoyed.

“Jessica, you have to go.” Brandon stroked her shoulder.

“I don’t want to go without my baby.” The girl shook her head and started crying.

“I will make sure they take care of you.” The other man spoke up. “This is for the best of you and your baby.”

“But I don’t want to go.”

“You have to go.” Patsy stood in front of her. “They are waiting for you, Jessica. They’ve been waiting for a week.”

“But my baby!” the girl cried and then the baby started wailing.

“We will take care of your baby.” Greyson rubbed his forehead. “You have my word.”

“But what about me?”

“You’ll be taken good care of.”

“That’s what you tell all the girls.”

“Well, it’s true.” Greyson looked annoyed. “I have to go.”

“But, Greyson.” Patsy reached out to stop him and he pushed her away.

“Take care of this, Patsy.” He strode towards the door and I backed away fast so that he didn’t see me.

I ran quickly to the his office as I knew that that was the way out. My heart was beating so quickly that I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I reached the hallway where I had sat outside on that first day and stumbled and fell to the ground in tears. I could barely see where I was going. I jumped back up, dried my eyes, and took a deep breath. I had to get out of this place and I had to leave now.

I ran through the entrance to the gates and was just about to leave when I froze. I knew that he was behind me, even though he hadn’t said a word.

I turned around slowly and stared at him. He looked at me wordlessly and stayed still. He didn’t move towards me and I didn’t move towards him. We just stared at each other in silence. His face looked remote and closed off, and I knew he could tell that I’d been crying.

He finally spoke. “Were you going to leave without saying goodbye?”

“I didn’t think it was needed.” I shrugged and looked away.

“You were just in my arms a few minutes ago.” His eyes questioned me.

“You left me to go and send someone else away.” My voice broke and he frowned.

“What are you talking about?”

“I saw you with the girl and the baby.”

“Oh.” He ran his hands through his hair. “That’s my business, Meg.”

“I can’t believe you can stand there and say that so calmly!” I shouted, angry now. “As if it’s no big deal.” I walked towards him now. “You can’t just treat women like that. It’s not right.”

“I told you I’m not a good man.”

“I didn’t want to believe you.”

“You should have believed me.” He sighed and took a step towards me. “Brandon was always the weaker one.”

“So? What does that have to do with anything.”

“That’s why I told you and Katie that everything was my fault.”

“Huh?”

“In the club. Maria’s death. Everything. I take responsibility for it all.”

“It is your fault.” I paused. “Or are you saying it’s not really your fault?”

“I wanted Katie to believe it was all me.” His eyes drilled into mine. “I wanted to absolve Brandon in her eyes.”

“Are you saying it wasn’t all you? Is Brandon still involved with the trafficking?”

“What?” He frowned. “No, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Then explain it to me.”

“Will you come back inside?”

“No.” I shook my head. “Tell me now. Tell me here.”

“When we started the club, I was a spoiled, cocky rich boy. I wanted to own the world. I wanted to provide a club for the richest men in the world to enjoy. Part of that enjoyment came from women.”

“Prostitutes?”

“No. Yes. I don’t know.” He sighed. “The lines are blurred. The women knew what they were getting into and none of them had to do anything they weren’t comfortable with.”

“I see.” I looked away as a heavy feeling filled me.

“The club grew quickly. All the richest men in New York wanted to join the club. Then we got businessmen from LA, London, China—all over the world.”

“I see.”

“Word spread that we had the most exclusive club in the world. But no one knew exactly what was going on. We had so many different rooms and so many different levels, and each level had access to something different.”

“So men paid to have sex with women.”

“Essentially, yes,” he sighed. “I’m not proud of myself or what the club became, Meg. Every day, I wish that I hadn’t started the club.”