Page 99 of The Jaded Notes

“I’ll reach out.” He gestures to my glass. “Care for another? My lady friend is busy for a while, and I have some time to burn.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I’ve got somewhere I need to be.”

“Very well. In that case, I’ll call it a relatively early Friday night and leave with you.” He stands and taps the bar. “Louis, put these on my account and tip yourself the cost of the bill.”

“Merci beaucoup, Mr. Crowne.” Louis waves as we turn and exit the club.

The night air cuts sharp against my skin when we step outside. Jaxon disappears into a waiting car, his world ofcontrol circling tight around him again. Mine? Already fraying.

I give my driver a different address, low enough the words rumble in my chest. Elite-Sinsations. I dropped two million dollars for this one chance encounter. It better pay off. If it does, the money will be trivial.

I shouldn’t care about this place, but I do. A phone call I wasn’t meant to overhear was all it took.

Lily’s voice with Bren’s floating through the line, the way she saidhim, sealed it. Whoever she’s seeing, they met there, and I’m sure they’re there tonight.

She’s moving on like I was never the noise in her soul. But I still can’t hear myself without her.

Her whisper remains on my pillow. It’s me she should be lying beside. My life with her was stolen from me, and I won’t stop until I get her back.

The drive is a blur of lights and gnawing rage. When I’m granted entry, heat and perfume slam into me. The place is velvet decadence wrapped in vice. Bodies lit in an amber glow, and every corner soaked in sin.

I wander through, pulse climbing with every room. There’s a woman bent over a leather bench, moaning under a stranger’s hands.

A man on his knees, worshipping leather and lace. Whispers, laughter, and broken promises spilling from lips painted with lust.

All I see is her in every scene. Livianna, blindfolded. Livianna, hands bound. Livianna, giving pieces of herself to anyone but me in front of anyone who wants to watch.

I can’t breathe, and I can’t look away. Every shadow I pass feels like it might be her silhouette. Every sound like it might be her voice. But she’s nowhere to be found.

At the bar, I order something I don’t taste. Then another and another.

Whiskey pours down my throat, but doesn’t burn enoughto cauterize the wound. I stare at the rim of my glass until the room swims, until all I can think is, if she’s here tonight, she’s not mine and hasn’t been for a long time. My good sense gets lost in the haze of the alcohol.

The urge to smash the drink across the marble and storm through every door until I find her claws at me. Instead, I shove away from the bar, ready to vanish before the night stabs me with daggers.

And then two blondes step into my path. Tall, polished, eyes wicked with invitation, and breasts that can’t be missed. One says something seductive to me in French.

I shake my head. “I only speak English.”

“You look like a man with too many worries,” she purrs.

“Maybe we can help relieve them,” the other adds, her hand brushing my arm like silk.

My chest caves in, and my gut twists.

I shouldn’t.

But if Livianna is here… If she’s doing things like this, why the fuck can’t I?

Chapter Twenty-Two

LIVIANNA/LILY

Then

Elusive Encounters & Defiant Demands

Not even my brother can fix me.