working at Avalon and dropped out of school, I thought he was crazy. Then things went wrong for me. I ran into financial trouble. He introduced me to Azure, and she wasn’t what I’d envisioned.
You know what she’s like.”
“Very beautiful,” Billie said, taking in the subtle darkening of his frown. “Exotic and sexy.”
“Persuasive. Like Luke, I fell into the business, head first.” His hand rubbed restless circles on the soft expanse between them. “He and I both changed after that.”
“How?” she asked.
He sighed, his gaze fixed somewhere beyond her shoulder. “Avalon’s one of the finest pleasure clubs in existence. But it doesn’t matter whether you’re working on the street or under a crystal chandelier. The business—prostitution—opens the doors to heaven…and hell. Drugs, money, iniquity. It’s all there if you want it. I never knew pleasure could be twisted in a million different ways until I found Avalon.”
He glanced at her, his dark eyes troubled. “Imagine the wildest possible sexual experience, Billie, and then intensify it fifty times. That’s what it was like for us those first couple of years. Every night. Days, too. After a while your enthusiasm starts to wear. You settle down, work your hours, go home to live your life the best you can. But not Luke. He tried it all and went back for seconds.”
“Adrian,” Billie said carefully, “There’s rumors about you and Lucien. That you were more than friends.”
“We were more than friends. We were like brothers. And they think I’d hurt him.
It’s insane.”
“But doesn’t it make sense the police would want to question you first? He chose your balcony to jump from.”
Pain creased the space between his brows. “Yes, he chose my balcony. I don’t know his reason, but I do know why people talked about Luke and me. They talk about things they can’t put a name to…in this case, a friendship between men that seemed to surpass normal boundaries. But what’s normal? Certainly not a life at Avalon. We forged a friendship within a lifestyle most people condemn.”
Intrigued, Billie braced an arm against the back of the sofa and peered at his face.
This was the man she’d wanted to meet that first interview at Avalon, and now she 58
The Fifth Favor
understood why he stayed so carefully hidden away. “So you didn’t deny the rumors?
They didn’t bother you?”
He shrugged. “I’ve never given a damn what people say or think. I know what I am, and I don’t need people to tell me. As for Luke, he was uninhibited, passionate in all his relationships. He cared for his friends and lovers with equal fervor. The truth is, I didn’t even know he slept with men by choice until this past year. Sure, he’d done it occasionally for extra cash, for drugs. But then it became apparent that he preferred men over women, and when he claimed to have feelings for me, I brushed it off.
“The night before he died, he came to me, beaten up, stoned, scraping the bottom. I took care of him, just like always. Cleaned him up. That’s when he swore to those feelings, and I knew he was serious.” He closed his eyes. “The ugly truth is, I wasn’t comfortable with it. I couldn’t accept it.”
“But you couldn’t have been surprised,” she said gently.
“He was my best friend. I wasn’t truly surprised, just…unprepared for the intensity of it. We had an argument about it. I left for work angry—with him for manipulating me, with myself for feeling guilty. When I got home, the police were here and Luke was a corpse on the sidewalk.”
Abruptly he sat up and shoved his hands through his hair, ruffling it like a raven’s feathers. “If I’m really honest with myself, I know I was only part of his problem. So much was wrong in his life. He started coming to work with bruises. I figured he was being abused, maybe by a lover, but he shut me out. And Azure didn’t want the outside world brought into Avalon. She turned a
You know what she’s like.”
“Very beautiful,” Billie said, taking in the subtle darkening of his frown. “Exotic and sexy.”
“Persuasive. Like Luke, I fell into the business, head first.” His hand rubbed restless circles on the soft expanse between them. “He and I both changed after that.”
“How?” she asked.
He sighed, his gaze fixed somewhere beyond her shoulder. “Avalon’s one of the finest pleasure clubs in existence. But it doesn’t matter whether you’re working on the street or under a crystal chandelier. The business—prostitution—opens the doors to heaven…and hell. Drugs, money, iniquity. It’s all there if you want it. I never knew pleasure could be twisted in a million different ways until I found Avalon.”
He glanced at her, his dark eyes troubled. “Imagine the wildest possible sexual experience, Billie, and then intensify it fifty times. That’s what it was like for us those first couple of years. Every night. Days, too. After a while your enthusiasm starts to wear. You settle down, work your hours, go home to live your life the best you can. But not Luke. He tried it all and went back for seconds.”
“Adrian,” Billie said carefully, “There’s rumors about you and Lucien. That you were more than friends.”
“We were more than friends. We were like brothers. And they think I’d hurt him.
It’s insane.”
“But doesn’t it make sense the police would want to question you first? He chose your balcony to jump from.”
Pain creased the space between his brows. “Yes, he chose my balcony. I don’t know his reason, but I do know why people talked about Luke and me. They talk about things they can’t put a name to…in this case, a friendship between men that seemed to surpass normal boundaries. But what’s normal? Certainly not a life at Avalon. We forged a friendship within a lifestyle most people condemn.”
Intrigued, Billie braced an arm against the back of the sofa and peered at his face.
This was the man she’d wanted to meet that first interview at Avalon, and now she 58
The Fifth Favor
understood why he stayed so carefully hidden away. “So you didn’t deny the rumors?
They didn’t bother you?”
He shrugged. “I’ve never given a damn what people say or think. I know what I am, and I don’t need people to tell me. As for Luke, he was uninhibited, passionate in all his relationships. He cared for his friends and lovers with equal fervor. The truth is, I didn’t even know he slept with men by choice until this past year. Sure, he’d done it occasionally for extra cash, for drugs. But then it became apparent that he preferred men over women, and when he claimed to have feelings for me, I brushed it off.
“The night before he died, he came to me, beaten up, stoned, scraping the bottom. I took care of him, just like always. Cleaned him up. That’s when he swore to those feelings, and I knew he was serious.” He closed his eyes. “The ugly truth is, I wasn’t comfortable with it. I couldn’t accept it.”
“But you couldn’t have been surprised,” she said gently.
“He was my best friend. I wasn’t truly surprised, just…unprepared for the intensity of it. We had an argument about it. I left for work angry—with him for manipulating me, with myself for feeling guilty. When I got home, the police were here and Luke was a corpse on the sidewalk.”
Abruptly he sat up and shoved his hands through his hair, ruffling it like a raven’s feathers. “If I’m really honest with myself, I know I was only part of his problem. So much was wrong in his life. He started coming to work with bruises. I figured he was being abused, maybe by a lover, but he shut me out. And Azure didn’t want the outside world brought into Avalon. She turned a
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