AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“There is a rumor Carson Hendricks will be the new owner of the LA Sharks NBA team. Is there anything that family doesn’t have a finger in?”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“Of course not.” Hugh stares at me. “Do you really have no understanding of their wealth?”
I shake my head. “Should I?”
His intercom buzzes with someone downstairs at the door. Hugh presses the touchpad, and the camera flashes onto Zara’s face. “Just letting you in, babe.” Hugh turns to me. “Are you going to fuck him again?”
God, I want to… a thousand more times.
But given the last words spoken between us, it won’t happen, so I answer with, “No.”
11
FRANKLIN
Inside Dricks nightclubis a room with a viewing window opposite the VIP private rooms on the second level.
I’m here on a Friday night for business matters, not pleasure. These past few weeks are the closest I’ve come to losing my mind. Hendricks Capital Management lost clients, and after those incidents, I’m hoping the media doesn’t get wind of the nightclub’s latest problems, especially since someone leaked the Sharks’ ownership to the press. It’s all unwanted attention.
A private waitress enters the room and refills my whiskey glass.
David is chatting about protocols and the accounts. Most of the problems have been actioned, and it offers me some relief before heading to Malibu for the weekend.
Standing by the glass window, I observe the crowd. Barely any of the wood floor is visible between the bodies dancing. I’m fixated on a dark-haired woman in a red dress. She moves in a familiar manner.
Surely not…
She leaves her friends and moves away from the dance floor.
I have to find out for sure.
“Excuse me a minute.”
David follows my gaze to the dance floor. “Is something wrong?”
I don’t want to make a big deal about this. “It’s someone I know.”
His expression slides into a frown. “Do you need security to accompany you?”
“No. I’ll be fine.”
Standing at the top of the stairs, I glance down at the patrons enjoying the club. I’ve lost sight of Penny, and I’m franticly scanning the crowd, searching for her. I descend each step slowly. My heart flutters, catching sight of her sitting in a booth in a dimly lit corner of the club, talking to a female. The thump of the bass reverberates through my chest—I’m nervous, and I haven’t felt like this in years.
Moving through the crowd is harder than it appeared from upstairs, but eventually, I reach her table. “Penny.” She doesn’t turn around, seemingly lost in a conversation with her friend. “Penny,” I try again.
We pay the DJ a lot of money, but the loud music makes it hard to hear.
I lean closer. “Penny.”
Her eyes widen. “Franklin?” Heavy makeup outlines her eyes and highlights her lashes.
Is she on a date?
“What are you doing here? I mean… I didn’t think this is somewhere you’d hang out?”
“It’s a work thing.” I glance at her friend beside her.
