Chapter 1
I tightened my grip on my phone, Gavin’s words echoing in my ears as he waited for me to respond.
“I missed you and just had to hear your voice, so I did my detective thing and found your number.”
What was I supposed to say to that after what I’d just learned?
The list went rapid-fire through my mind. Gavin pretending to have been just a member of Club Privé when we’d met him there last night, when, in fact, he owned the place. Even worse than that, he had hired Jeff to follow Krissy, to get to know her while pretending to be a rich investor; all so he could get the two of us to the club’s opening. And I still didn’t know who had been the target. Krissy... or me.
Krissy stared at me with wide eyes. She mouthed his name and I nodded. Her eyes narrowed. “Hang up on the bastard.”
I was seriously considering it.
“Carrie?”
Apparently my near full minute of silence had made Gavin realize that something was wrong.
“Are you okay?”
The sincerity in his tone as he asked the question was what set me off. The temper I usually had no problem keeping under control flared.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I didn’t shout the words, but Krissy actually sat back as if I had. My tone was flat and I struggled to keep it that way. “You lie to me, fuck me, and then call me like everything’s just fine?”
Krissy stood up, the expression on her face saying that she didn’t want to be here for this. I was too pissed at the moment to be grateful for the privacy. I would’ve had it out with Gavin even if we’d been in the middle of a public place. Like I’d said before: I didn’t get truly angry often, but when I did, it was bad.
“Whoa, wait. What are you talking about?”
I could hear the shock in his voice, but I didn’t believe it for a moment. It all made sense now. Him knowing where I worked. Showing up at the club. Having access to that room and saying it didn’t matter how long we were there. He’d been playing me. I wouldn’t even put it past him to have arranged our first meeting at Huggins. I wanted answers, and I could feel the cool logic that made me good at my job breaking through my anger. One fueled the other and my focus sharpened.
“Let’s start with the easy one.” Studying to be a lawyer had taught me to think in steps. Some lawyers came out with the big guns first, but I always did it the other way, building my case from the weakest link to the strongest, wanting to leave the jury with the most damning piece of evidence when they went to deliberation. “You aren’t a member of Club Privé. You own it.”
Silence.
At least he didn’t come back with a quick denial. That would’ve pissed me off more.
“You’re half-right,” he said finally. “I’m only part owner. I have several silent partners.”
“Part owner,” I echoed his words back to him. He still sounded like he was hedging, and I needed to know how open he was going to be. If he balked at this, I’d never get the truth out of him about the stalking.
“Club Privé was my idea but a club this elaborate, of this magnitude, requires a lot of capital,” he explained. “I could never have built this on my own. There are nine other investors. Technically, they each own a part of the club, but since I’m the creator and day-to-day manager, I guess you could say I’m the owner.” His tone had shifted from confused concern to something more cautious.
“You told me you were a member. You never said anything about being a part owner.” I stuck with the accusatory method rather than asking questions. I wasn’t in the courtroom, so I could get away with it. Besides, I was still pissed.
“I like you, Carrie, but I don’t know you that well,” he said. “I wanted to see if you liked me for who I was, not because I had money. I’ve had enough women offer to sleep with me to get to my bank account.”
I scowled. That was a good reason. I didn’t want him to have a good reason. I wanted
I tightened my grip on my phone, Gavin’s words echoing in my ears as he waited for me to respond.
“I missed you and just had to hear your voice, so I did my detective thing and found your number.”
What was I supposed to say to that after what I’d just learned?
The list went rapid-fire through my mind. Gavin pretending to have been just a member of Club Privé when we’d met him there last night, when, in fact, he owned the place. Even worse than that, he had hired Jeff to follow Krissy, to get to know her while pretending to be a rich investor; all so he could get the two of us to the club’s opening. And I still didn’t know who had been the target. Krissy... or me.
Krissy stared at me with wide eyes. She mouthed his name and I nodded. Her eyes narrowed. “Hang up on the bastard.”
I was seriously considering it.
“Carrie?”
Apparently my near full minute of silence had made Gavin realize that something was wrong.
“Are you okay?”
The sincerity in his tone as he asked the question was what set me off. The temper I usually had no problem keeping under control flared.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I didn’t shout the words, but Krissy actually sat back as if I had. My tone was flat and I struggled to keep it that way. “You lie to me, fuck me, and then call me like everything’s just fine?”
Krissy stood up, the expression on her face saying that she didn’t want to be here for this. I was too pissed at the moment to be grateful for the privacy. I would’ve had it out with Gavin even if we’d been in the middle of a public place. Like I’d said before: I didn’t get truly angry often, but when I did, it was bad.
“Whoa, wait. What are you talking about?”
I could hear the shock in his voice, but I didn’t believe it for a moment. It all made sense now. Him knowing where I worked. Showing up at the club. Having access to that room and saying it didn’t matter how long we were there. He’d been playing me. I wouldn’t even put it past him to have arranged our first meeting at Huggins. I wanted answers, and I could feel the cool logic that made me good at my job breaking through my anger. One fueled the other and my focus sharpened.
“Let’s start with the easy one.” Studying to be a lawyer had taught me to think in steps. Some lawyers came out with the big guns first, but I always did it the other way, building my case from the weakest link to the strongest, wanting to leave the jury with the most damning piece of evidence when they went to deliberation. “You aren’t a member of Club Privé. You own it.”
Silence.
At least he didn’t come back with a quick denial. That would’ve pissed me off more.
“You’re half-right,” he said finally. “I’m only part owner. I have several silent partners.”
“Part owner,” I echoed his words back to him. He still sounded like he was hedging, and I needed to know how open he was going to be. If he balked at this, I’d never get the truth out of him about the stalking.
“Club Privé was my idea but a club this elaborate, of this magnitude, requires a lot of capital,” he explained. “I could never have built this on my own. There are nine other investors. Technically, they each own a part of the club, but since I’m the creator and day-to-day manager, I guess you could say I’m the owner.” His tone had shifted from confused concern to something more cautious.
“You told me you were a member. You never said anything about being a part owner.” I stuck with the accusatory method rather than asking questions. I wasn’t in the courtroom, so I could get away with it. Besides, I was still pissed.
“I like you, Carrie, but I don’t know you that well,” he said. “I wanted to see if you liked me for who I was, not because I had money. I’ve had enough women offer to sleep with me to get to my bank account.”
I scowled. That was a good reason. I didn’t want him to have a good reason. I wanted
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