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He winked and side-nodded, indicating they should keep going.
Relief.
Though, yeah, that only lasted a few feet. Then they reached the coat check. A line of people waited for that too, but she glimpsed the counter…
Connel fucked her on that counter… while a bunch of his men listened. The things he’d said… the pleasure he gave…
The curve of her lips was involuntary. Lowering her chin, she tried to hide her reaction to the memory. The shadows of the wide hallway helped with that. Bass from the club drew them closer.
The vast bar and seating area with tables and booths was slightly raised over the dance floor, with the DJ booth in the furthest corner. Somehow the acoustics meant the music filled the space, yet semi-conversation was still possible in that area.
Tulip headed for the bar, but she stalled. Scanning the space, she breathed in the air. The spiral stairs to the apartment stood steeped in darkness. Someone would be there, blocking the route. Would she be granted access? What about the office? Would she get in there?
“What’s wrong?” Tulip asked, at her side again. “What do you see?”
“Nothing,” she said, holding Tulip’s hand to guide her across the room toward the bar. “What do you drink?”
“Where are the restrooms?” Tulip asked as they sat on adjacent stools.
“You need the restroom already?”
“I like to get a lay of the land.”
“There’s some by the hallway we just came through and others in the back corner.”
She twisted to point across the space at both options. Better to gesture than say something that might pique Tulip’s curiosity again. When she turned back, there was a drink in front of her. On an exhale, her shoulders dropped. Biggs was there, right there, waiting.
“What do you drink?” he asked Tulip.
Her colleague didn’t miss that she’d been served already.
“Safe Harbor,” Tulip said, and Biggs went off to mix it. “It’s time to spill…” She put her purse on the bar. “You’re a big deal around here?”
“I wouldn’t say that,” she said. “I spent some time here.”
“And they remember you?”
“The reporter? Yeah.”
“Good point. They’d have to watch themselves around you. Make sure they didn’t do or say anything that could end up in print… or whispered in your father’s ear.”
She sipped her drink, her eyes traveling to the wall that held up the back of the bar. Behind there, also guarded, was a hidden door. A door that led to stairs. To the basement.
The things she’d done down there… She’d witnessed…
Biggs brought Tulip’s drink. “Need anything else?” he asked. She shook her head. “I’m going on break. I’ll be back in fifteen.”
She smiled at him but was distracted by Tulip raising her glass.
“Sláinte,” she said.
They both drank.
“You must have learned something,” Tulip said. “About the family, how they work… Something about who they are.”
“It’s subjective,” she said, turning her glass by its base. “Like so much of what we do.”
“Did you meet Whisper and Razer?”
