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I’m about to compliment the setting when something catches my eye. Adjacent to the lounge is an expansive bedroom, dominated by a huge circular bed draped in ruby silk sheets.
“Do some of your guests like to stay overnight?” I ask, unable to keep the edge from my voice.
Alessa steps up beside me, slipping her arm around my waist. “Sometimes our clients need to unwind after a stressful day.” Her voice is low and suggestive. “This room provides them with every comfort they require.”
I turn to face her. “Are you—are you telling me the Ruby Realm doubles as abrothel?” I can’t hide my disappointment. After all Alessa’s talk of saving and then empowering women, is the Ruby just another gilded cage?
She steps back, expression serious. “Absolutely not. The women who work here have complete autonomy over what services they do or don’t provide. Their choices are their own, as is their right to accept payment for their time. I take no cut from them and I don’t ask questions. There’s a difference between coercion and consent, Natalie—a distinction the Mancini brothels fail to make.”
I consider her words, remembering the whispered stories of what goes on in the Mancini brothels. Alessa seems sincere that things here are different, though the ethical lines are blurred.
Just likemyethical lines have been blurred.
I barely recognize myself these days.
“Of course,mycompany is always free of charge.” She moves closer, slipping one hand around my neck. Her lips brush my ear as she whispers, “For you, that is.”
My breath hitches at her words. “Company?” I manage to say. “Are you talking about conversation, or…”
“Conversation—and more.” The promise in her smoky voice sends a shiver down my spine. She releases me and steps back. “For example, shall we dine?” She gestures to a spread of food and wine awaiting us.
The atmosphere has shifted back to casual intimacy, but I feel almost dizzy as I take my seat, thoughts spinning as I consider the complex woman before me.
At least for tonight, I’ll play whatever part I need to. Here, now, I am simply Natalie.
Ethics can wait.
Alessa lifts her wine glass in a toast. “To the beauty of unexpected connections,” she says softly. I touch my glass to hers, the crystal ringing out in perfect harmony. No matter where this entanglement leads, I know I will remember this moment, suspended in golden candlelight, when nothing existed beyond the boundaries of this room.
For now, there is only her, only me, and the secrets we have yet to unravel.
Shadows dance across Alessa’s face as she leans in, her lips a breath from mine. “You’re exquisite tonight,” she murmurs, her eyes dark with desire.
My heart pounds. I want her, God how I want her, but…
I place my hands on her shoulders and push her back gently. “I don’t want to be just another conquest. I want more than a night of pleasure, forgotten by morning.”
Alessa studies me, her gaze intense. She runs her tongue over her red lips slowly, deliberately. My sex clenches in response. “You want hearts and flowers? To be wooed?” She sniffs. “I don’t do wooing, sweetheart.”
“You do for me.” I gamble on her attraction, hoping I’ve read the signs right. If not, my mission goes up in flames. But the risk thrills me.
Alessa’s eyes darken, but not with anger. “You’re trouble, Natalie Moreau. But…for you, I’ll try romance.” She pauses, thinking, then asks, “How exactly does one do that?”
“Well, for one thing, I’m certainly not going to sleep with you here. I don’t want to be just another woman you bed for the night in one of your private rooms. They’re not so private. Anyone can book one. Right?”
Alessa’s eyes widen, her lips parting in surprise. “You think that’s all this is to me? From the moment I saw you, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”
“Why?” I can’t stop myself asking it, though her words ignite a flame deep inside me. “What is it about me?”
“I find you fascinating,” she says simply, her eyes never leaving mine. “But I think you’re asking the wrong questions. Maybe you should be asking yourself why you’re so continually drawn back here to the Ruby…and to me.”
She’s right: I am drawn to her, and not just because of my duty as a federal agent.
There’s something about Alessa de Luca that makes me question everything I thought I knew about justice, morality, and the line between right and wrong. And as much as it terrifies me, I can’t help but want to explore that darkness.
And I want to embrace the woman who dwells within it.
“But why bring me here?” I demand. “To your—your sex room?”
