“You’ll need to come in early, sign some paperwork, and go over some things with the other dancers.” He lifted two plates from the counter and carried them over to the dining table. “And we’ll need to take you shopping for a few outfits.”

“Excuse me?” I asked as I joined him at the table. “Are you insinuating my clothes don’t fit in at your fancy club?”

“That’s exactly what I’m insinuating.” He plopped the drink next to my plate and scowled. “You take everything as an insult, Mia, when you don’t stop to think how your own words come across. You can’t wear that to dance in my club. There are threads hanging off your shirt.”

I glared at the plate before me. It held a steak with some butter-coated potatoes. My stomach growled, despite myself, and I pushed up from my chair. “You’ve insulted both my appearance and my clothes. How would you react to that?”

“Some jobs require a uniform. Being a dancer at a club is one.” With a frustrated sigh, he took a long gulp of his drink. “I was hoping we could have a nice, enjoyable first dinner together to cheers to our new partnership, but I was an idiot to think you’d do anything other than pick a fight.”

“You’re right. I don’t want to have dinner with you.”

“Good.” He gave me a bitter smile, and this time, no dimples dotted his cheeks. “I don’t particularly want to have dinner with you either. I was dreading it, actually.”

With narrowed eyes, I whirled away from the table and grabbed my bag. I pointed at the only door I hadn’t checked. “I’m assuming that’s my room.”

“That’s the one.” He picked up his knife and fork, and cut a piece of his steak, while my plate sat abandoned on the table. “You can show it to yourself. Sleep tight, Mia.”

I squeezed the strap of my bag and stormed into the room. Once the door was firmly shut behind me, I let out an anxious breath. A large space stretched before me, cozier than the other. A thick rug spread across the marbled floor, and the draping curtains hung open to reveal the city beyond. I dropped my bag and kicked off my boots, curling up on the king-sized bed. The silk sheets brushed against my cheek as tears spilled out of my eyes.

What was I doing here? How had my life become this? I was surrounded by glittering, sparkling things, and yet I’d never felt more unmoored. It was so quiet, eerily so. The blare of the taxi horns was distant and muted. I couldn’t hear the rumble of trucks or the clatter of the subway. We were too far above it all.