I nodded to confirm his question as I squeaked out a tear.

“He doesn’t care about me. He said he was using me to distract someone off of Lot 17. I have no clue what that is or who he’s talking about, but once I accomplished whatever goal he had, he let me go. Kicked me out.”

I watched Rex’s jaw work back and forth as he mulled over what I told him. Was he angry? He seemed angry, which wasn’t the Rex I knew. The Rex I knew didn’t really care about me as a person; he just cared about my body.

“That’s why you’re here?”

With shame, I hung my head and nodded. “I’m sorry, Rex. I had nowhere else to go. When I left Kitten’s Castle, I lost touch with everyone. The only person I could rely on is you. If you want me to leave, I can. I would understand.”

“No, please don’t,” he said with sincerity. “I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted you to come here. I think about it every day, how I wish I had come to you sooner, before you were sucked into the grasp of Jett Colby. He’s a terrible man, who uses women and throws them away when he’s done. I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”

Finally making a move, he pulled me into his chest and wrapped his arms around me. Good thing too, because I was pretty sure my eyes were spitting fire. Jett was by far the most amazing man I had ever met and he had a giant heart. He didn’t use people, he helped them, he helped them have a do-over in life, and I just despised the fact that Rex was talking so poorly about him, but to save my plan, I let the insults roll off of me.

“Thank you,” I replied once I gathered myself. “I don’t know what to do. I’m at this crossroads in my life. When I was at the Lafayette Club, I had hope, I could see a future for myself, but now, I feel like I’ve gone back to square one but with no direction. I’m so confused, so lost.”

Rex tilted my chin up with his finger and forced me to look him in the eyes. He was a handsome man, no doubt about that. The deep brown of his eyes almost looked sinister to me now, and the strong features of his jaw showed that he wouldn’t be messed with. He was a powerful man, and I’d only realized it recently. I was taking a huge chance by fucking with him. I just hoped it didn’t blow up in my face.

“No need to feel confused, Kitten. Do you want to know the reason I went by the Lafayette Club the other day?”

“Yes,” I said breathlessly.

Seriously, award winning performance.

Grabbing my hand, Rex stood me up and led me out of his living room.

“Where are we going?” I asked nervously.

“Just come with me, Kitten. You’ll see.”

The house was dark, and as Rex led me through an unlit hallway, he flipped on the light, revealing pictures of old civil war paintings and memorabilia.

Bleh, boring!

Swords and old guns were mounted on the walls in glass cases, as well as documents that seemed pretty old, like they were once a piece of parchment on a scroll. I was tempted to break the glass, grab the paper and shout “Hear ye, Hear ye,” while holding it in front of me, but refrained from making an ass of myself.

I never knew Rex was a history buff kind of guy, but by the looks of his decorations, I was pretty sure he would spring a boner if George Washington walked through the door right about now.

Just when I was gearing up to see the Declaration of Independence pop out of a corner and bitch slap me with its old time writing, Rex led me into a private den and turned on the light. The room matched the rest of the house with its colonial style decorating, but instead of ancient swords and guns gracing the walls, they were lined with rows and rows of books.

It was like I was in the movie, Beauty and the Beast when the Beast shows Belle his library. If I was a reader, I would be impressed, but who has time to read, am I right?

I tore my eyes off of the books and saw what Rex brought me into this room to see. In the middle of the floor was a dark colored console table, and on it was a constructed model of a building sporting multiple rooms. This had to be Rex and Jett’s dad’s plans for Lot 17, no doubt about it.

“What is this?” I asked, while taking it all in.

The building was a modern looking skyscraper that twisted in the middle like someone took the building and tried to wring water out of it. The small rooms off to the side of the model were what I could only assume were different floors of the building. In one room was an almost exact replica of the Toulouse Room, where Jett Girls put on presentations, but instead of using the purple theme Jett was known for, Rex and Leo kept everything black and gold. Yeah, it was slightly bad ass. Another one of the models on the table was full of some of the equipment I saw in Diego’s club with the restraints, but where his materials looked fun to play with, Rex’s looked almost sinister, like a torture room.

Yikes, my lady flaps cringed from thoughts of what would possibly happen in those rooms.

Interrupting my thoughts, Rex said, “This, Kitten, is Masquerade. It’s a club I’ve been putting together with my friend Leo.”

His “friend” Leo…pfft. I kept my breath steady as I listened to Rex, making sure to show no tells that I knew anything.

“Wow, is it a hotel too?” I asked, observing the height of the building.

“You’re very observant. It is a hotel, but the top floors are where all the fun happens. The club will be very much like the Lafayette Club, but will differ in the fact that the girls are naked and the men are allowed to touch and take any girl of their choice back to one of the playrooms.”

Holy shit. Rex and Jett’s dad were running a modern day brothel. Scandal!

Even though I was surprised, I shouldn’t be, because I knew Rex through illegal sexcapades; it shouldn’t shock me that he turned his hobby into a lucrative business.

“Are you allowed to do that?” I asked, feeling a little uneasy about the fact that this was what Rex wanted to show me, what he wanted to talk to me about. How could this possibly involve me?

“We’re allowed to do anything we want, Goldie. We know people in the city.”

Nodding, I touched the model of the building and asked, “What does this have to do with me?”

Taking my hand, Rex made me sit down with him on a couch in his office. With his deep brown eyes staring directly into mine, he said, “After observing you with Jett and hearing Leo report back to me about Jett’s interactions with you, I knew it would only take some time until he, once again, messed up something good in his life. He did the same thing with his ex-fiancé Natasha.”

I wanted to say, “Nuh-uh, you stole her,” but I kept my mouth shut and let him continue.

“We need a lead girl, Goldie. I need someone with experience to teach the girls we’re hiring how to please a man, how to dance for the city’s elite, who will be frequenting our club. You’re the only girl who can do that for me. You’re the only one who has experience and who I can trust.”

He wanted me to train the girls? Bad move, because I would train them to get their asses the hell out of that club.

Rex and Leo were running a brothel, and as I pondered that for a second, it hit me. This was what Diego was telling me when he said Rex and Leo were up to something illegal. This is what Jett was trying to find evidence for. This was how I was going to bring down Rex and Leo; I just had to figure out what the parameters were. Jackpot!

Rex continued, “You will be compensated well for your guidance…”

“Will I have to be one of the girls?”

“What do you mean?” Rex asked, as he tilted his head to the side.

“Will I have to be naked with the other girls? Will I have to go into the playrooms with the men who choose to be with me?”

“Is that going to be a problem?”

Uh, yeah, it was going to be a major fucking problem. I was made for one man and one man alone; there was no way in hell I would spread my legs or take my clothes off for anyone else.