Page 37 of Bourbon Kingdom
I shut my eyes, but was disturbed when Rex flew through my door again. His shadow was booming with the hallway light backing him.
He spoke firmly and said, “Saturday night, I have some business to attend to at the club before the gala. I will meet you at the house. My driver will bring me back here to pick you up before the event.”
“You don’t want me to go to the club with you? It’s the girls’ first—”
“No, I don’t want you there. Just make sure you’re ready for the gala. Be sure to look pristine; I’m counting on showing you off to everyone.” With that, he slammed my door shut.
When he said he wanted to show me off to everyone, I knew he was bullshitting me, because there was only one person he wanted to show me off to . . . and that was Jett.
Chapter Twelve
“Upside”
REX
The sweet taste of my cigar drifted out of my mouth as I puffed the thick smoke into the air. My temper got the best of me after I’d gotten off the phone with Leo the other night, the controlling fuck.
After Zane Black presented me with his business merger, I couldn’t be happier about the prospect of securing Lot 17 and tarnishing Jett Colby at the same time. It was a win-win for me. Granted, I had to relinquish some of the rights to my club, but Zane was a good business man; I trusted him to bring in more members than I could imagine, especially since most of the men he raced with were from foreign countries.
Overall, it was a smart business move, but unfortunately, I was the only one who believed so. After I saw Zane to the door, I called Leo to tell him the news, but he was less than thrilled. He said he didn’t trust the man, and wouldn’t put it past Jett to set up the whole deal.
The man was paranoid. Jett wasn’t smart enough to set up such a deal, and what would he get out of it in the first place? There was no point.
I wound up arguing on the phone with Leo until I hung up on him. When I walked upstairs, I heard Goldie talking, and that’s when I lost it. After hearing Leo talk about Goldie being an insider for Jett and this whole Zane thing, I saw red. I started connecting the dots, and that’s when I went ape shit on her.
When I grabbed her phone, I was expecting to hear Jett’s voice, see his name on the screen, but instead, it was Diego, a harmless piece of Bourbon Street trash who happened to put on a suit and tie occasionally. The man was trying to compete with our club, but fell short, with his less-than-elegant reputation. It didn’t surprise me Goldie would talk to him; they came from the same gutter.
Even though she wasn’t talking to Jett, I still took her phone, because frankly, I really didn’t trust her. I had my own agenda, but sometimes, there was a look in her eyes that led me to believe she had her own agenda as well, and that’s what scared me.
What could she possibly do, though? She wasn’t smart, she wasn’t intelligent at all, actually. She was a pair of tits with a good body. Yeah, she said funny things on occasion, but she was crude, crass, and classless. She belonged up on stage, for all the men to play with her, because that was all she was, a plaything. She would never amount to anything; she wasn’t someone you really took to an event or introduced to your mother. No, she was the girl you fucked in a shady motel to get your fix, and then left for something more sophisticated.
The sooner she figured that out, the better.
Irritation about tonight filled me as I thought about the time constraint I was in. I was in the club, waiting for Zane Black to show up, but had a gala to attend with Goldie. The main point of me attending the gala was to confirm a couple of votes for myself for Lot 17, but what I was looking forward to the most was seeing the look on Jett Colby’s face when I showed up with Goldie on my arm. Just the thought of it had my anxiety hanging back.
Everything seemed to be falling into place. Lately, I’d been a little harsh on Goldie, but in the end, I could see her needing me more and more. After we secure Lot 17, I’ll be making my move with her. I don’t want to play around anymore. I want her to be the one up on stage, the one the members dominate. It would be the final nail in Jett Colby’s coffin.
Checking my watch, I thought about how Zane was a couple minutes late. He didn’t seem like the type of businessman to be late, especially when we had a scheduled time set up to meet.
The girls were ready for their first performance. Blane was going to be demonstrating on Bizzy tonight, leaving Mercy alone. I found that I didn’t want her to be the first to go; I wanted her to be a show-off item, a woman men wanted to come back to see. Bizzy would be a good starter, but Mercy was the girl the men would crave, no doubt about it.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Zane come to the front door on the security camera. Straightening my tie, I approached the front of the club. All the other members who were attending tonight were mingling in the main room, getting their drinks and talking about the festivities. I’d had Zane enter from the front, because I wasn’t quite confident yet in giving him full access to the club. I wanted to read his initial reaction when he we toured the facility. Plus, I needed to confiscate his phone, just in case.
From the security camera, I could see he wasn’t shifting in place; he didn’t seem nervous, he looked confident and excited. I was a man who read people’s body language and looking at Zane, he seemed like he wasn’t the least bit concerned about showing up tonight, a sign that he was here at my club for the right reason: to have a damn good time.
Opening the door, I greeted Zane with a warm handshake.
“Z, so glad you could make it.”
“Thank you.” I shook his hand while he looked around the entryway. “I’m glad you sent a driver, because I’m not sure I would have been able to find this place.”
“We keep it low key on purpose. Once we induct you as a member, we will give you access to the back entrance, which is more private and easier to find.”
“Can’t wait,” he said with a crooked smile.
He stepped forward, but I stopped him with my hand. “Before we walk in, I need you to put your phone in one of the safe deposit boxes that you can access once you leave. We don’t allow any recording electronics in the club; I’m sure you can understand.”
Without a blink of his eye, he nodded, grabbed his phone from the inner pocket of his jacket, and handed it over. I showed him where the boxes were and how he could access it once he left. The girls did the same thing with their personal items.
