I took the card she offered. It had a couple of phone numbers.

I went to open my mouth to ask her more questions, but suddenly, my name was being yelled, and I tensed.

“Oh, I’m guessing someone is learning to be naughty. I like it.” She winked at me.

I spun on my heel, about to find Slavik, seeing as he seemed intent on waking everyone to find me.

He was at the doorway. His gaze landed on me then on Cara. She’d put a robe on, but she still looked like she’d been having lots of sex.

“Slavik,” she said. “Did you take care of your problem?”

“Yes.”

He grabbed my arm, and without another word, he pulled me out of the room.

“Ouch!” I tried to tug away from him, but he wouldn’t let me. In the end, he pulled me over his shoulder and I was being marched out of the house.

My curiosity hadn’t been sated though. I wanted to know more about what I’d just seen. Cara had all the answers to my questions.

It was like I’d been awakened, and now I couldn’t just accept living a half-life.

“I want to go and talk to Cara.”

“Not happening,” he said, growling.

I slammed my fist against his ass. I only got the one shot in as he dumped me into the back of his car.

****

Slavik

My wife would be the death of me. I needed to hire a guard for her and stop bringing her on these trips. One day, they were going to get violent and she’d end up hurt. The truth was … I liked her company.

We didn’t talk and I bossed her around, but seeing the way she acted, it was refreshing. The more I annoyed her, the easier it was to read her. She started to let her guard down, and as she did, I liked to play with the woman before me.

I shouldn’t be enjoying my woman, but the truth was I did.

This marriage had been a trap. I hadn’t wanted to be part of it, but it happened. As the months ticked by, I found myself more enamored by her.

Right now, she was at the bar while I handled the final details of Cara’s in-house money trouble.

Ivan had found a pattern, and along with it, the culprit. Brandy—fake name—had come to work for Cara as she had a drug problem. The addiction had been hidden, but the issue came to a tipping point when her dealer wanted more money. We weren’t paying her enough, and she’d started to work her way into the system to take the necessary money, stealing from all the men and women working here to pay for her addiction.

It was sad, and she’d been dealt with accordingly.

A knock on the door had me looking up to find Cara scantily dressed as she often was here. She made the additional effort when we arranged business meetings outside of her exclusive club.