Chapter 29

*Zane*

I knock on the door.

“Come in,” I hear Alexander’s voice on the other side commanding me.

I turn the handle and step in.

Alexander looks up at me hastily, and then his eyes catch on my face – and he is instantly staring me down. I step into the room and softly close the door behind me.

“Well well well… Look who’s here…” Alexander says, eyes narrowing, zeroing in. He leans back in his chair and sets his jaw. He scoffs, a small smile playing across his lips. “I’m not going to ask you how you got in…” he says, “I’m pretty sure I know the answer to that,” he continues, intense brown eyes cold, his smile fading fast.

“Alexander –” I begin.

“Seems like you’ve been spending a lot of time with my girl Sophia lately…” Alexander begins.

“Ironically that’s who I came here to talk to you about,” I say, sliding into the soft leather chair on the opposite side of Alexander’s desk.

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?” Alexander says, cocking his head to the side.

“I came to ask you how much it would take to buy Sophie out of her contract,” I look into Alexander’s eyes.

Alexander holds my stare.

“Did she ask you to do this?” Alexander asks me.

I stare back at him.

*Technically she didn’t…*

“Do you *know* she wants out?” Alexander asks. “Or are you just under her spell?... following her like a little puppy…” Alexander’s lips twist into a smile. “Have you even asked her what *she* wants? She *loves* her life with me. Did she *ask* you to rescue her? *Hmm?”*

I feel like the ground is slipping out from beneath me.

I stand.

“One hundred thousand dollars,” I say.

Alexander looks at me blankly.

“For what?” Alexander asks, shaking his head.

“For you to release Sophie from her contract with you, debt free,” I say.

Alexander laughs.

“Sophie makes me more than that every month!” He sits back into his chair. *“Sit down,”* he orders me.

I clench my jaw and reluctantly sit down.

“How about this? How about *you* pay *me* $500,000 and give me your *wife.”* Alexander purses his lips and scoffs at me.

I stand again, my blood boiling.

“Goodbye Alexander,” I say.

“What? Did I offend you?” Alexander says, “Why? Its offensive to put a price on your woman, but not mine?” His voice is snide.

*“Your woman?* You think Sophie is *your woman?”* I ask. I shake my head. “Brother man, if she was your woman, what was she doing at my place last night?” I walk to the door, turn the handle and walk out of Alexander’s office, closing the door behind me.

I step out into the club. The bass pumping, the fake torches lining the walls casting a golden glow down the hallway. I feel completely helpless. Sophie was right, talking to Alexander didn’t do anything, and I hope I didn’t make things worse for her…

A woman in lacy red lingerie strolls past me, her eyes scan up and down my body and she gives me a smile as she walks by. I feel that familiar hunter feeling race up through me… But I tame the feeling down. I recalibrate, refocus on why I’m here in the first place.

Tonight, I’m going to find my wife and Sophie and get them out of here.

I walk around the curve of the hallway, my view opening to the stage and seating areas surrounding it, the women on the bed and floor now licking pussy in a beautiful circle… Damn… there is a girl of every type up there… dark skin, light skin, olive skin, Latina, Asian, blonde, brunette, long hair, short hair… I count them… there are six… its hard to focus on just one, they are all equally as beautiful as each other… their circle a garland from the bed to the floor and back, one lying on her back, the next on her hands and knees, they writhe like waves, undulating as they lick each other…

I stop, mesmerized watching the scene…

It is strange being here again. Like I’ve arrived back into my former life. I recognized Vincent, Delicious was new… Some of the men in here I recognize, several politicians, and men I’ve worked with while designing office spaces and renovating Tribecan warehouse spaces into multi-million dollar homes. I don’t recognize a single woman, aside from the fact that there are all of the same “types” of women here…

I scan the club for Natalie and Sophie. We should’ve thought of deciding on a place to meet beforehand…

I finally see them sitting at a little curved booth on the far side of the club in the corner. I walk towards them, getting nervous that Alexander might be sending his men for me, or worse, Sophie, and I quicken my pace.

I approach their booth, sliding in, “Lets go,” I say, before I even sit, imploring them to be fast and follow my lead.

“What happened in there?” Sophie asks.

“In the car,” I say, rushing them, standing again as quickly as I sat down, and thank God, Natalie slides out, following me, and I start walking.

“Wait – no –” Sophie says, she slides out of the booth, quickening her steps and catching up to me, grabbing my arm. “What happened in there?” She demands, her brow furrowed.

******

*Natalie*

Zane keeps walking as Sophie pulls at his arm, and she and I exchange a look and follow behind him, rushing to keep up.

Zane sets his jaw and stops suddenly, turning to Sophie, jolting us to a stop.

“I feel sort of like an asshole because I offered Alexander 100,000 dollars, and *Alexander –”* Zane says.

“You did *what?”* Sophie says, pulling back abruptly.

“You did *what?”* I echo sharply.

My heart sinks.

“I thought you wanted me to do this!” He looks at me, and then at Sophie, “I thought you wanted out of your contract!”

“And you thought you’d *buy* me from Alexander?” Sophie demands. “So, you want to treat me like Alexander? *Own* me like Alexander?” She pauses, “No.” She says, huffing and rolling her eyes, pushing past Zane and walking quickly.

“I thought you wanted out of that contract!” Zane says again, angrily, following behind her. I hurry after him. “Isn’t that why you agreed to let me talk to him? I didn’t just get *in here* on my own – I had a little help!” Zane says as we follow behind her. I notice people taking notice of us.

Sophie stops abruptly and spins around facing Zane, spitting her words at him.

*“Talk* to him! You said you were going to *talk* to him!”

“Yeah! You think you can just *buy* women?” I say, angrily.

Several men and women nearby look at us, our tone out of place in this atmosphere.

“I feel like you’re both misunderstanding me…” Zane says, looking from me to Sophie. “I thought I was doing what you wanted!” He says shaking his head. “Can we *please* keep moving?” He implores us, feeling the stares of the people around us.

Sophie turns foreword again, and we continue walking to the doors.

As we walk, I notice one of the men in suits with the headsets zero in on us, talking into his headset.

At least I think he’s looking at us.

I feel my heart begin racing, my stress rising.

I’m sure there are a thousand things for a security person to worry about besides us…

I’m sure.

I see another of the men in the black suits with a headset look right at us as we walk past him, he is standing near the entrance to the fantasy rooms, and as we pass, he says something into his headset, and steps into the walking pathway.

“Zane,” I hiss, looking behind us.

“I know. Let’s just go,” Zane says, tension through his entire body.

We approach the front doors leading to the foyer and coat check and we walk through; I feel the eyes of the doormen on us. They are no longer smiling at Sophie, they looks serious, listening to their headsets. The man in the suit who had been following us walks through the door and into the foyer, hanging back a bit with his eye on us.

We approach the coat check behind Zane, who pulls our numbers out of his pocket and gives them to Artie. As we wait, I notice several more men in black suits filing into the foyer from, all with headsets, glancing over at us, talking into their headsets, and looking between each other. Artie pulls our jackets from the hangers and gives them to Zane.

Zane turns and hands them to Sophie and me, and we all walk towards the elevator.

I feel the men zeroing in on us, and they move toward us stealthily from all around the foyer.

My heart pounds as I slip into my coat, my heals clicking on the marble floor as we get closer to the elevator doors.

The doorman pushes the button to open the elevator doors as we approach, the men in black suits getting closer, closing in on us.

The doors open, and the doorman steps aside for us to enter, and Zane and I walk through, stepping over the threshold and into the elevator.

“Not you, Ms. Cortez,” I hear, and I whip around and see the two men beside the elevator close in, their shoulders touching and cutting Sophie off from stepping past.

“Wait!” I shout, lunging toward the closing doors.

Sophie’s eyes widen in the narrowing slit of the doors as the men slip one arm under each of hers, her heels sliding on the slippery floor as they pull her back, “No! Wait!” She shouts, her voice in panic, her hands reaching for us as the doors close between us.