“Welcome to my club.” The owner, whose name I still didn’t know, led me through a dimly-lit corridor. The walls were lined with framed photographs of famous people. Actors and pop singers, politicians and reality stars. My heart thumped as we drew close to a gleaming oak door. Had all of these people been here? What kind of place had I ended up in, and why had I never heard of it before?

This guy’s opinion of me was starting to make a little more sense. With my casual, well-worn clothes and flaming red hair, I wasn’t exactly a shiny, glamorous kind of girl. I was more at home stomping on a bar top than mingling with women who wore glittering jewels that cost more than my entire life’s earnings.

He pushed open the oak door, and I followed him into the main section of his club. The once-gritty warehouse had been transformed. A black marble floor stretched out before us, leading to a small stage with a DJ stand. Intimate booths ran along the walls where leather seats curved around tables stocked with champagne buckets. Above the dance floor, seven human-sized birdcages hung from the lofted ceiling. Diamonds glittered along the bottom of each one.

Infernal was a club alright, but it was unlike any I’d ever been in before. This place was meant for people with money.

“What do you think?” the owner asked.

I jumped at the sound of his deep voice, and then inwardly cursed at myself for the reaction. “It looks expensive.”

His lips curved into a wicked smile. “That’s because it is.”

“So, that’s why you didn’t want to give me an audition. Because I look like I’m poor.” Again, my stupid mouth betrayed me. I really should learn how to keep my thoughts to myself in situations like this. But something about this guy really brought out my snark.

“That’s not entirely accurate,” he said smoothly before strolling across the floor with his hands slung into his jean pockets. I watched him. I couldn’t help myself. His dark hair was the color of night itself, and something about the way he moved reminded me of shadows. Very mesmerizing shadows. Gritting my teeth, I glanced away.

“This is where you’d be dancing.” I turned back to find him gazing at me with those sharp blue eyes. Something flashed in the depths of them, something I couldn’t read. I followed the line of his arm, and then his finger. He was pointing up at the oversized birdcages. Just as I’d thought. “Is that a problem?”

“Why would it be?” I strode over to him with all of the bravado I didn’t feel. “It’s just a platform for dancing as far as I can tell.”