He led me through the hallway and into a side room where a half a dozen guys were clustered around a folding table. They fell silent as soon as we walked in, and it was all I could do not to gape at them.

They were all tall and well-muscled, donning tight tanks that did little to hide their chiseled chests and biceps. In fact, I had a feeling that was the point.

“These are your dancers?” I asked, my voice rising to a higher pitch with every word. No wonder he’d said he needed a different kind of dancer. He’d meant men! Very muscled, very tall, very gorgeous men.

The guys all glanced at each other and laughed. Asmodeus chuckled from beside me, and that dimpled smile made a rare appearance.

“These aren’t the dancers, Mia,” Asmodeus said. “They’re the club’s bouncers.”

“Oh.” My cheeks went hot. “That makes sense.”

The guy nearest to the door had long dark hair that curled around his ears and an elaborate tattoo that swirled across his massive left bicep. He waggled his eyebrows at me. “I could put on a show for you if you’d like.”

“Caim,” Asmodeus warned in a dangerous voice. “No flirting with Mia. She’s my girlfriend, remember? Starting now, we need to remember this, even when no one else is around. Otherwise, we might forget when it counts.”

Ah, so these guys knew all about the fake girlfriend scheme. Good to know. So, that meant they were inside his trust circle. Probably a good thing. I didn’t know how well I could pretend on a day-to-day basis, on top of the events with his potential investors.

“Hi, Mia.” Caim flashed me a brilliant smile. “Welcome to the crazy house. Buckle in. Your life is about to get turned upside down.”

“Don’t scare her, Caim,” another one of the guys said. He had reddish hair with eyes I swore matched, even if that was impossible. People couldn’t have orange eyes, right? Must be contacts. His voice was harsh and rough, a contrast to both Caim and Asmodeus. “If we want to pull this off, we need her to stick around, not run off into the night screaming bloody murder.”

I raised my brows.

“This is Phenex,” Caim said, jerking his thumb toward the ginger. “He’s prone to exaggeration.”

Phenex rolled his eyes and gave Caim a brotherly punch on the arm. Immediately, they both started bickering.

Not for the first time, I wondered exactly what I’d signed up for. These guys seemed friendly enough, but they were intense as hell.

I cleared my throat and tried on a smile. “Nice to meet you guys. So, you know about the…” I glanced at Asmodeus.

“Girlfriend deal,” Caim finished for me, nodding. “‘Course we do. We came up with the plan together. In fact, it was Valac’s idea.”