Fireworks lit up the sky like it was the middle of the city of Chicago.
The shimmering of each firework reminded me how beautiful this place was, the potential in it, the life that was breathed into it by each driven person. The buildings had been made by hard workers, by CEOs busting their asses, and by our families ruling where we needed to.
This club’s opening was going off with a bang—quite literally—because the Stonewoods had backed our family time and time again. The elite members knew exactly why fireworks were going off, but the city thought it was the Stonewoods providing them a show, entertaining the city of Chicago. Those elite members, some of whom had paid millions already for access, smiled on their way in. A couple stopped to tell me that the fireworks were a nice touch.
I was aware. As men and women filtered in with clothing bags and those who wanted to change immediately were escorted to the fitting rooms that lined the back, I took in what I’d made. I was just as much of a mastermind as the Stonewoods. Our underground club shimmered with the sparkling diamonds in the ceiling underneath the brightest lights. Pole dancers, Cirque De Soleil performers, the best strippers, and even some back-up dancers for celebrities were in cages, on hula hoops in the air, and dancing within the crowd. Yet the lighting was dim in the private nooks and corners for the clientele that wanted them.
I’d already seen a politician come from his fitting room in all black leather and walk off with a dancer. A couple grabbed hands with another couple dressed in luxurious lingerie and underwear. The night was young, but we had already handed out keys for sex toys within Cartier-style boxes, brought out kama sutra furniture, and lowered bondage tables for our guests. More would be dispensed throughout the night, dependent on requests. Spreader benches, fem dom chairs, saw horses, and spanking benches were all options. Nothing was off limits if people were willing to push their boundaries.
I shook hands with a big wig who wore a collar and not much else. “I’m pleasantly surprised by the turnout,” he said.
“You underestimated me?” I asked from my seat at the bar. I didn’t see the need to mingle, wasn’t even sure I wanted to be here.
Clubs and bars weren’t my scene. I owned them because they were effective at bringing in clean money and because I enjoyed controlling a place where people could let their guard down.
Now, though, the woman I loved was meeting me here. Instead of coming with me, she wanted more time to get ready. Frankly, she just wanted time, because Katie had fluttered about the whole day in holey socks doing God only knows what.
I should have had some sort of idea. I’d watched her ass in her black shorts the whole day doing it. Still, when it was time to go, I realized she hadn’t even attempted to get ready.
Now I had to wait.
My freaking baby’s mother would be walking through a damn sex club and I knew for a fact she would be the hottest thing in here.
I smiled when one of my favorite bartenders ambled up to me. “It going smoothly, Bonnie?” I asked.
“Sure thing, boss. Can’t complain yet.” She was working around the center of the bar, where a waterfall cascaded from the chandelier above. We’d had the chandelier custom-made so that the water could move around the crystals and there was a platform inside that allowed a dancer to move within it. It was grand, over the top, and just what we wanted. Tonight, we were paying the woman in there very well to wear only a diamond bra and thong that shimmered under the dim lights.
“How are you doing down there, Rome?” the dancer called from above. “Sure you don’t want to come up here for a dance with me?”
“I’m good, Whitney.” I lifted my glass to her and took a small sip.
Bonnie let out a loud laugh. “I cannot imagine you up there. I kind of want to, though. I’m happy to get you a ladder.”
“I’ll pass. We meeting goals?”
“It’s looking good. We’re making money hand over fist and everyone seems very happy. You never gave me an update on who was who here, so I’m treating everyone the same.”
I nodded, looking out at the crowd. “That’s what I want you to do.” A rockstar walked by, eyeing up my bartender.
“There’s a lot of big money here. It makes me wonder what I should be saying yes and no to.”
“Only exactly what you want, Bonnie.” I met her gaze and held it, making sure she understood what I was saying. This club would never be a place where anyone would do something they didn’t want to do. This club was a place where instead you could go and do exactly what you wanted and find a person that would do it with you. It was also going to be a place where politicians, bigwigs, and CEOs would come to discuss business because we would all know each other’s secrets.
I let the night roll by. I nodded to some and said a hello to others. It progressed as it should. Some were getting spanked by a woman half their size. Others were getting whipped, while still others were getting tied to a table.
Fantasies were coming alive and morphing into reality for so many. My only concern now was that Katie wanted to visit. I didn’t want another man looking at her or even considering fucking her.
I felt her before I saw her. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I turned slowly on the barstool and watched as she stalked toward me, her tiny body swaying to the bumping of the bass. Every man’s eyes turned toward her, even if they didn’t want them to.
At this point, Most had some inkling of who she was, who she’d become.
A woman who tied three large, powerful entities together wasn’t to be preyed upon. Instead, she was the predator and she walked like it too. Finally, Katalina was commanding the type of respect she deserved.
She radiated it, emanated it, and wore an invisible crown made of all the hardships and thorns she’d had to experience to get there. It was a jagged, sharp-edged crown that could make someone bleed, die, give up . . . but she’d survived.
She’d taken it all and learned to reign.
She wore a cut-off shirt that didn’t belong in this type of establishment. Everyone had on their best attire or hardly anything at all, but Katie had decided to stroll in with a grungy shirt that made her look like a little tomb raider. The graphics across her chest were skulls with flowers, and the white lines popped against the strobe lights. The picture matched the tattoo on her side, skulls and flowers woven together. Somehow, she made it all work with her dark eye makeup. Her rejection of luxury wear drew even more attention, because it proved she couldn’t care less about all the people below her. She didn’t have to dress up; she didn’t have to do anything.
When she reached the bar, she didn’t say anything at first. I saw the way her movements were fluid, her back relaxed. Yet in her eyes, there was irritation.
“What’s going on?” I demanded the answer immediately.
“Great turn out for the first night,” she said, ignoring me. She took in the atmosphere. We’d made the center bar a deep mahogany, but some of the back bars had pure glass so that patrons could see their hands and legs beneath.
Mirrors lined some of the walls. People liked a show, especially their own. Katie didn’t say whether she liked what she was seeing or not.
It was then I realized two bratva men had walked in behind her. “Who are they?” I jutted my chin toward them.
“Extra security.”
“We don’t need extra. I’m here with you.”
“The bratva considered that.” She sighed and ran a hand through her black strands. “They don’t exactly trust you yet, though.”
“Interesting. You’re holding my blood in you and they don’t trust me with it? It doesn’t matter, though, because it’s not their decision, Katalina.” I narrowed my eyes at them. I wasn’t sure if they were here because she agreed to it or because they were going against her command in order to watch her every move.
It felt like the latter, considering the way she narrowed her eyes at them.
“It’s a joint one, monster.” She rubbed her face and tried to get rid of the anger. Then she smirked at me, probably because she saw my jaw clenching. “It’s just the beginning of a transition. They’ll get used to it, huh?” She shrugged and relaxed a bit in the shoulders, and it cooled the temper running through me for a moment.
“Well, you saw the opening. I’m not inclined to stay with you while the whole place stares us down. So let’s go. And your guards can go the opposite way.” I waved them off.
She rolled her eyes. “Rome, they’re providing security for me. Extra safety.”
I glared at both of the guards. “You think they’re any good at that?”
The men glanced at one another, not sure what to do. They were young, highly untrained, and not ready to do anything other than collect intel.
I had the answer to my question. “You want them to continue to follow us?”
“I’m not sure there needs to be any following.”
“Because?”
“Because I’d like to stay for a drink.”
“You can’t drink.” My gaze flicked down to her belly where she rubbed immediately. There wasn’t a bump there. Not yet.
“Of soda.”
I kept my eyes on her. “Should you even be drinking that?”
“Are you fussing over a damn ginger ale, Rome? I’ll drink what I want. One sip of carbonation and sugar isn’t going to hurt the baby.”
“So, you did read up on it?” I tried not to smile.
We were already crazy parents, already out of control.
“Oh, shut the hell up.” She stomped her foot. “I realize I’m getting a little obsessive about what I can and can’t do so as not to harm the baby.”
I sighed. I was too. We were helicopter parenting before the child had even gotten to the viable pregnancy stage.
“If we go, I can stop that habit of yours for a little while.”
“Really?” She tilted her head. “How so?”
“You don’t need to ask the question when your pussy knows the answer, Katalina.”
She glanced behind her. “Want to say it louder for the people in the back to hear? Jesus, Rome.”
A laugh rumbled out of me. She thought I cared? I didn’t give a damn at all. This was my place. “Katalina, the whole world knows you’re having my baby. What’s there to hide?”
The two bratva men near us scoffed a little more loudly than Katalina liked. They weren’t her normal security.
“Where’s the guy that normally drives you?” I revisited the irritating topic of conversation from earlier that night.
“Maksim? He flew to LA for some business. I think we could have allies out there in time.”
I nodded, but that wasn’t what I was worried about. Not all her men had been put in their place. They had a look of hunger, of unease, to them that I didn’t like.
“You two can leave.” I shot daggers at her security.
“Oh, Jesus,” Katie muttered and then waved between all of us. “Vladimir and Trent, meet Rome.”
None of us exchanged any niceties.
“We’re driving her home,” Vladimir responded. His eyes held hatred, the kind my monster fed off. I knew the look because I’d had it on my own face before.
“She’s staying with me. I’ll be taking her. You got a problem with that, talk to Maksim. Or is it Ivan you report to?”
He spat on the floor of my club. I stood up, ready to rearrange the look on his face and make him aware that his disrespect wouldn’t be tolerated.
“Vlad, go home,” Katalina said, her tone reprimanding.
“I’m supposed to stay with you to protect—”
“I can protect myself. I’m also the one who requests whether or not I have security. I don’t want it now.”
The man started to protest again.
She cut him off. “I’m not asking you. Don’t disagree with me again.”
His anger was palpable as he and his friend retreated.
There was a shift in the air, something foul was there now. It reeked of betrayal and dishonor.
