I laughed to myself at the thought of that. The only thing she would be developing with me would be a permanent spot on my center stage. Every elite in New Orleans would know who Goldie was, what she looked like naked, and how it felt to be buried deep inside of her.

Jett had fucked with the wrong men.

9

“Friend Like You”

Goldie

Two days working with Eva, Bizzy, and Mercy and they were still just as closed off as when I started with them. There would only be one reason why they weren’t opening up and it had to do with Rex. He had to be holding something over their heads, something more than just being fired from working at the club. Blane was the same way, he was reserved, kept to himself over at the bar and would occasionally work with one the girls on a demonstration, something I would never get used to watching.

For some reason, seeing another dominant work a submissive hit too close to home for me. When I was watching Diego, it was different; he wasn’t entirely dominating the woman he was with when they were practicing, he was more like dancing with her…in a sexual way, but still, watching Blane with the girls was different. It was like having an out of body experience, watching myself and Jett together, especially when it was Mercy and Blane working together.

After a long day of showing the girls how to pose properly, asses out, breasts up, and figuring out when they should rotate in tandem with the music, I was pooped and ready to sink into my rock hard mattress, thank you, Rex.

Once again, the man went off with Mercy today. The whole concept was so strange to me and it made me think he really was playing me. He was using me as a tool against Jett, the only thing he didn’t realize was, I was using him as well.

After a quick shower, I settled into my bed, turned on my phone, and took a look at it. Every day when I got back from working at Masquerade, I begged for there to be a message on my phone from Jett. I know I left him without a clear answer as to what I was doing, but I just hoped he was able to push past his thoughts, the thoughts that I knew were clouding his mind.

To my disappointment, once again, there were no messages left for me on my phone, nothing. Not even from the girls.

I had never felt so lonely in my life. Even after my parents passed, I at least still had Lyla; right now, I had no one.

It was my doing; I did this to myself, but I thought maybe, just maybe, the relationships I built with the other girls were genuine, but after not hearing from them, it seemed like I was wrong.

Setting my alarm, I put my phone back down and rested my head on my pillow and waved good night to Thomas Jefferson…the man was growing on me.

Rex had already turned in hours ago; he was by no means a night owl. I spent some time in the “library,” flipping through some of the books that were dustier than a mummy’s vagina. None of them had pictures, all of them had words I couldn’t understand, and not one single book talked about sex. What was that about? A touch to the wrist was a scandal. Boo! Give me flying tits and probing dicks.

After I got tired of searching for a book that at least wrote about a man’s giant sword, I took a shower and went to bed. Sleeping in Rex’s house was not comfortable. I didn’t belong here. He didn’t make me feel welcome; he made me feel like a prisoner. Shock alert, the man liked to suppress women, should have seen that coming.

Lately, it’s been hard for me to fall asleep. There were too many thoughts running through my head. Thoughts like, how the hell was I going to expose Rex and Leo before the interviews for Lot 17 when I had no time away from Rex? When I wasn’t in his house, being trapped in the confines of his crusty historian walls, he had me working with the girls. I hadn’t had a chance to talk to Blane, and I hadn’t had a chance to explore the club to devise a plan. It was almost as if he knew I was up to something.

I blanched at the thought. He couldn’t know, could he? No, he was too caught up in Mercy’s pussy to even be concerned about what I was doing.

Even though my mind was wandering, my eyes started to drift shut, just as a clunking sound came from my window. I turned just in time to see it opening, causing me to stifle a screech.

Before I could pull out one of the ancient machetes Rex had lying around, Kace fell through my window, making a bump on the ground.

“Jesus,” I said, as I scrambled to the end of my bed to look at him. “What the hell are you doing? You did not just climb up the house and through my window.”

Lifting himself up, he brushed off his pants and then stood. “I did.”

“What if my window was locked?”

“Why wasn’t it locked?” he asked gruffly, while crossing his arms over his chest…classic Kace move.

“Why are you here?” I countered.

“Why did you leave?”

Gah! Infuriating man.

“God, you’re frustrating,” I complained, while keeping my voice down. “And how did you find me?”

“Rex texted Jett.”

I could feel my face turn white and the blood drain from it in a matter of seconds. Rex texted Jett? Of course he did. Why wouldn’t he? He was a prideful man, and when he felt like he won, he wasn’t a gentleman about it. No, he liked to rub it in.

“You can’t be serious. How is Jett?”

“How do you think he is?” Kace asked, as he sat on my bed next to me.

My body heated instantly from having him around, from having someone familiar and safe talking to me. I didn’t feel like I had to have my guard up.

“Shit,” I muttered. “I told him I would be back, that he needed to have faith.”

“Yes, but he’s a man who needs control at all times, and by leaving, you took that away from him. I’ve never seen him like this. He’s confused; he’s unprepared. He’s going back and forth constantly about how he feels. You’ve completely uprooted him.”

I buried my head in my hands and felt tears rush to my eyes as my throat clogged. With a gentle touch, very unlike Kace, he pulled me into his chest and held me as I cried. From the kind gesture and the comfort of his arms, I felt myself fall over that edge, the edge I was hanging on to by a thread. All the stress and mental abuse I put myself through came tumbling down.

The sweet caress of Kace’s hand ran up and down my back as he held on to me while I soaked his shirt with tears and, unfortunately, snot. I was a guaranteed ugly crier, happened every time.

“Come back with me,” Kace said into my ear. “Come back to the club.”

“I can’t. If I go back, I can’t live the life I want to live.”

“What life is that?” he asked, while lifting my chin to look him in the eyes.

Lust poured out of him, the same kind of lust I’d seen from him on multiple previous occasions. Not that he opened up to me…he wasn’t very good at hiding his feelings when it came to the unmistakable tension between us.

“Kace…” I said softly.

He exhaled harshly and pressed his forehead against mine.

“Why did you have to sign the contract, Goldie? Why did you have to pick him?”

Tears rained harder down my cheeks as I stared into Kace’s soulful eyes. He always had a strong veneer to hide behind, he never really showed his true feelings, ever, so to see him breaking in front of me, cracking, had my heart falling to pieces.

“I fell for him the moment I heard his voice in Kitten’s Castle. There was nothing I could do, Kace. I’m sorry. He saved me, he gave me hope, and he gave me a new beginning and stole my heart at the same time.”

I felt Kace nod against me in understanding.

“Do you think I would have had a chance with you if we met elsewhere?”

The vulnerability in his voice cut through me. Why was he asking all these questions?

“I don’t even want to think about that,” I admitted honestly. “Why are you asking? Where is all this coming from?”