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For Kate

Chapter 1

There’s so that was always absent at my previous club, The Manor My old haunt in the Surrey Hills felt like horounds, the refined décor, the social environment It felt like an extension of my life, and it was Hux is just somewhere I come to fuck

It’s always basked in di of moans that follow you everywhere ce after you’ve left the building Everything always happens in slowso slowly you can prettysaid Talk of fantasies, of intentions, and of deepest, darkest desires Nothing is sacred around here There’s no h those doors off a London back street and you know exactly what you are going to get Sex Sex of the filthy kind The eround I don’t have time for the complications of a relationship

Standing behind her kneeling form, I curl the chains around her neck and squeeze, just a fraction, until her breath is even shallower than her orgas ” I whisper in her ear, beforedown on her cheek She turns her head and stares at er for me

Releasing her, leaving her on her knees, I stride into the adjoining bathroo away the potent scent of sex Once I’ve dried off, I stare at myself in theacrossthe few creases that have forray “Not bad for thirty-nine, Drew”

I get back into h my phone to see where the lads are Now I’ve let off some steam, it’s time for a beer

“Hey, Drew”

I slow and turn, seeing the owner of this decadent pleasure pit, Cole Hux, zipping up the fly of his trousers, his vast chest bare, the swell of his biceps shihts “What’s up, Cole?”

“Here” His six-foot seven-inch fra out a piece of paper

“What’s this?” I ask, tentatively taking it

“Newbie” He turns and wanders off to his office “She said she wants someone cold, emotionless, and filthy”

“So you thought ofdown at the na the note infor my car I can do cold, emotionless, and filthy With little effort Actually, with no effort

I’ out so week in the office, but with eight sales made, one of which was an overpriced, under-par penthouse in Chelsea that’s been on the reat week for business

I find Sam, one of my oldest friends, at the bar alone and join hi for me “Where’s Jesse?” I ask as I take up the stool beside him The three of us have kept our weeklyas we’ve known each other, and only on a few rare occasions over the decades have any of us missed it So where is he?

The look Sa to be hidden by sympathy

“Who’s upset hiainst Sam’s

“I’ll give you two guesses” He tips his bottle to his lips, his eyes dancing with enjoyment

“Maddie” I don’t need two guesses “How can a et so worked up over a seven-year-old?”

Sa in our poor ia”

I sirl She looks like lad, since I hate her fucking ot her back from Coral on Saturday, thank God The three days a week she’s away fro and lonely “How’s Kate?”

“Baking her arse off It’s wedding season” He reaches up to his shoulder and brushes off a sood week?”

“Great week”

Sa on my crotch “Been to the club?”

I look down and find my fly undone On a roll of my eyes, I hold my bottle in my mouth by the neck as I fasten myself up “Jealous?”

“Nope I’irl, thank you very much” He dismisses me in an instant

I smile on the inside “I’m available if you need me” That soon wins back his attention, and it’s not positive attention “Just saying” I hold up my hands, a show of surrender

“Well don’t” My cheerfulhappily, is on the verge of snarling “It was a one-off eight years ago”

I turn to the bar, getting hold of ht years ago, Sas kinky We gave her what she wanted Boy, did we give her what she wanted I didn’t get attached, never do But Sam did

He taps , finding Jesse striding toward us with a face like thunder I quickly signal to the bar the surface of the bar

“Fuck off,” Jesse grunts, and I laugh under s concerning his daughter Maddie is spirited Jesse’s word, not mine He slams his arse on the stool and practically snatches the beer out of the bar the bar, and I peek out of the corner ofaround the lip of his bottle He’s asking for it

I clear my throat and swoop in for some man-talk to distract Jesse fro Sae “I have—”

I’s, and silence falls as we all stare down at his screen, where Ava’s naht it is

“Oh dear” I sigh as Jesse snatches it up from the bar My shoulders rise, a lame attempt to cover my ears, and I wince with the deep ache it spikes Motherfucker I reach up and rub into et this bad shoulder sorted

“It’s not up for discussion, Ava,” Jesse answers in greeting, clean and to the point Sa a kick under the bar frolare frohter is warranted: we all know Ava’s feistiness drives Jesse to distraction, but displaying any a advice is a fatal h to know thatwith his wife and kids Even if he’s wrong, which most of the time he is My eyes close when I hear Ava

Clear As Day

“It’s hair, Jesse,” she tells hi dramatic as always”

Sa for it

He sla the joint “Watch your fucking mouth!”

“It’ll grow back” Ava’s tone is quickly pacifying It’s a waste of her time

“You didn’t even consult me, for fuck’s sake,” he barks “You and that little irl is virtually bald!”

My lips press together, but Sam is past the point of help, his whole body out of control fro

“It’s past her shoulders, Jesse Stop being so da to a fucking bull “

We’ll discuss it when you get home”

“When I get ho to a point I’ because there’s a retribution fuck on the horizon for you, lady” He sla and bristling like a grizzly bear

“So Maddie’s had her hair cut, then?” Sam asks The man has a death wish

“Butchered, s toward us on his stool and points his beer acrossline “And that wo, too A spa day, they said Girl tiirl would co nails She’s seven, for fuck’s sake!”

“Hey” Sa to do with me”

Jesse scoffs, and I resort to taking matters into my own hands before he explodes “So I have someone who requires ave me on the bar