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Cadence hadn’t left my thoughts since the idea first entered my head, but I tried to tell myself it was only because she was the first female who hadn’t thrown herself at my feet since I’d taken over the club and part of my father’s business. Cadence had a luscious body, and I couldn’t wait to see her under the stage lights. She would be the highlight of the night despite not being the only omega.
Texting her the address, I made myself a note to let the guards at the door know to bring her to me, then turned my focus back to the details of the contract I was examining. I had plenty to keep me busy until she arrived, and her reaction would let me know if my plan was going to work.
Chapter Five
Cadence
Ifrowned down at my phone. It was bad enough that I had given in and called him, but Leo wanted me to meet him somewhere downtown in the industrial area.
The way he’d acted only solidified my suspicions that I wasn’t going to like whatever he had in mind, but I had already exhausted all other avenues. I’d finally told my brother the truth last night when he was waiting for me after work, and the terrified look in his eyes when he’d heard how much that backpack had been worth tore me apart. I’d seen the sheen of tears he’d fought not to shed, and I’d promised him I was taking care of it.
He was my responsibility, and I wouldn’t let him get hurt. I’d do whatever it took.
Momma had distracted him this morning before he could ask me how I was going to take care of it, but I knew he would try to get it out of me as soon as he caught me alone, and I needed an answer to give. He already knew we were on the verge of the bank foreclosing on the house, and no one would give Momma another loan. I couldn’t get one either, and we didn’t have anything left to sell. Even our car wasn’t worth a quarter of what we needed.
Letting out a deep sigh, I put the phone in my pocket and walked into Frankie’s feeling like my neck was stuck in a guillotine. I tried not to let the stress affect my work, but it was a constant cloud that descended every time it got the chance.
The one night I wasn’t wishing for my shift to be over, I blinked, and Frankie was shooing the last customer out the doors. The haze of worry and exhaustion cleared, and suddenly I only had thirty minutes to get downtown to meet Leo.
Grabbing my purse, I headed out to the old Toyota I shared with my brother. I took the bus to the office in the mornings while my brother took the car to school, but I drove to the diner since I got off so late. There was no way I could have made it to the address Leo had given me while trying to take the bus, and I was glad I didn’t have to worry about not being able to leave whenever I wanted. I was sure if I’d given the excuse of not having a vehicle, he would have sent one to get me, but then I would have been trapped. I wasn’t foolish enough to put myself in that position no matter the situation.
Getting behind the wheel, I plugged the address he’d sent me into the GPS on my phone. My heart was pounding out of my chest as I passed by the skyscrapers close to the destination, and I let out a surprised squeak when the voice told me I’d arrived.
The building I’d pulled up alongside looked like an old black warehouse, one of the relics from when the city was smaller, and this wasn’t part of downtown. Cars lined the streets, and the only parking lot I could see was packed, yet there weren’t any apartments or businesses nearby that I could see to explain so many people.
Idling in the middle of the road, unsure where to go, I watched a group of people head across the street in front of me. The girls were dressed in skimpy outfits, made up like they were going out, and they disappeared along the other side of the building.
Curious, I rolled the car forward until I could see around the corner. I was just in time to watch the last girl in the group disappear through an open doorway in the middle of the wall. The entire building looked abandoned from the outside, yet as I watched, two more girls dressed just as scantily came along and passed through into the darkness beyond the opening.
Sucking in a steadying breath, I decided the building must be more than it seemed. I knew it was the correct address, so I searched for a place to park. It was already five minutes before eleven, and if I didn’t get moving, I was going to be late.
I circled the block and searched the parking lot with no luck. Spotting a small alley between two buildings a few blocks down, I risked parking along the wall by the dumpster. I knew I shouldn’t, but I hopefully wouldn’t be here long, and would be gone before I got a ticket or towed.
By the time I got back to the door I’d seen the others go through it was already ten after, and I was out of breath from rushing. Pausing in the entryway, I peered into the dim interior and noticed the door opened into a hallway with the words Black Cherry written across the wall. It reeked of a combination of too many scents, and the flickering yellow lights didn’t do much to illuminate the space, but they kept me from stumbling into the walls as I walked inside.
Moving farther along, I began to hear a low thumping, but I didn’t realize it was music until I reached another set of doors and pushed through them. The room in front of me was just as dim as the hallway, and there was another set of doors at the opposite end with Black Cherry scrawled above them. Two men dressed in black suits flanked the open doors, checking IDs as people pass into what had to be a club.
There were about fifteen people between me and the guards, a combination of what looked like betas and alphas, though I thought I scented a couple other omegas too, and I wasn’t sure what to do. I had never been to a club, and with the way the other women were dressed plus the look of the guards, I wasn’t sure I wanted to enter. I didn’t know why Leo wanted me to meet him here, but it wasn’t helping my nerves any.
I was still debating turning around and calling him from outside when I realized I was standing in front of one of the guards. Fumbling my ID from my purse, I handed it over, trying not to pant and breathe in any more of the pheromones already making my head spin.
“I’m supposed to be meeting someone here. Leo…”
I trailed off as the burly alpha looked down at my ID. He grunted and glanced at his watch before handing the little plastic card back. I knew I was running late, and I hoped Leo saying his offer was a limited time deal didn’t mean I’d already missed my chance.
“Mr. Galleon is waiting for you. Follow me.”
He said something to the other guard, then turned and walked into the club. Worried I would lose him in the crush of people, I rushed to keep up, staying right on his heels and keeping my head down as he wove his way around the edge of the room.
Even so, I was still overwhelmed. The music, flashing lights, and tangled scents all combined to leave me jittering on the verge of bolting. My instincts didn’t care that my mind said we had to get through this to save Michael.
Halfway down the side wall, we went up a set of stairs to a balcony that enclosed two-thirds of the floor below. There were couches lining the railing where people could sit and overlook the dance floor, but the sounds coming from some of them as we passed had my cheeks burning and my core clenching in reaction.
It didn’t matter that I’d never made those sounds myself, my body knew what it meant, and clearly there was more than dancing going on in this club.
Once we turned the corner to the back wall, the seating area gave way to pool and card tables, surrounded by alphas if my nose was right. The bass still thumped through my body, but it wasn’t as loud on the balcony as it had been below, and there were scent diffusers in the ceiling to keep the smells under control.
Once we passed through another set of doors in the middle of the back wall, the noise and scents were muted to almost nothing. We walked across a short hallway, then the alpha leading me pushed open another door.
