Page 24 of Savage Prince
I push the wooden panel shut and lean against it, anchoring my purse to my side. “Please don’t tell Keira I’m here. This doesn’t have anything to do with work. It’s ... personal. And, honestly, I really don’t want to have to explain any of this. You know?”
Magnolia turns away from my rambling pleas and lifts a crystal decanter from a mirrored brass bar cart. From the scraps of information I’ve pieced together, I know Magnolia has been a madam for years, at least before an incident left her—and Keira and me—injured a few months ago.
I open my mouth again to fill the silence, intending to ask her how she’s doing, but my lips seal shut when she speaks.
“Everything that happens here ispersonal,chérie.” She looks over her shoulder at me as she replaces the stopper in the decanter. “Keira doesn’t need to know anything. Her man either. I know how to keep a secret.” An eerie feeling creeps up my spine as she turns and raises the tumbler to her red lips. “I’d offer you some, but we both know you’ll decline.”
Her statement—and knowledge of my drinking preferences—reinforces what I suspect is the God’s honest truth. Magnolia Maison isn’t someone I should underestimate.
She uses the glass to gesture at a leather chair with its back to an unlit fireplace. “Sit. Let’s have ourselves a little chat.”
I don’t know why I’m obeying, but my feet move and I lower myself into the chair. Magnolia takes a brocade chaise longue. She sips the liquor and studies me.
“Who knows you’re here?” she asks, not at all the question I expected.
“No one.”
She tilts her head to the side. “When you’re meeting a dangerous man, you should always let someone know where you’re going. That’s just being smart.”
“Dangerous?”
“Oh, girl, you don’t have a clue what you’ve gotten yourself into, do you?”
I think of the man who was at the distillery earlier tonight. The one who invited me back here again, and I couldn’t resist.
Not wanting to sound as naive as I must appear, I straighten. “I can handle myself.”
Magnolia smiles before throwing her head back and filling the room with rich laughter. “Lord, you’re just as stubborn as Ke-ke. Once upon a time, I had to tell her how things worked. Didn’t suspect I’d have to tell you. You should already know that people aren’t always what they seem.”
That eerie feeling returns. “What do you mean?”
“I know about you. Your people. Where you come from.”
I stiffen, lifting my chin. “So?”
“Lock down your attitude, girl, I’m not here to threaten you. I’m here to help you.”
“How?” I’m beginning to lose my patience.
“By giving you a helpful piece of advice. Keep whatever you’ve got going on here in the club. Don’t take it outside. That’s when things get dicey.”
“Sounds like you don’t think I should even be in the club.”
She takes another drink before replying. “That’s not at all what I’m saying. Come and fuck to your heart’s content. I’m the last person who’ll ever judge you for that. But you need to be careful. Be smart. Realize that this isn’t your world, and you aren’t equipped to handle the consequences of your actions if you take it outside the club. That man you’re addicted to is smooth as hell but twice as dangerous.”
A million questions surge to the forefront, but as I open my mouth to give voice to the first one, someone knocks on the door.
Magnolia glances toward it before meeting my gaze once more. “That’s my next appointment. You ever need anything, you got my number. He should be here by now. Enjoy your night, Temperance. Be smart.”
Chapter 11
Temperance
With Magnolia’s warning dogging my every step, I follow a man up the first flight of curving stairs.
I’ve worked hard to stay out of the danger that rules my brother’s life, but apparently I went and stepped into something dangerous all on my own this time. After what she just told me, I should be walking out the front door, snatching my keys from the valet and flooring it down the drive without looking back.
But I’m not.
