To Die For - Davidson King Page 0,13

a shit about everyone here and when you were off, like I was tonight, he didn’t brush it away; he had to find out how to help. Joker’s Sin thrived because it was a life force for so many people, and we all wanted it to be the best place to let yourself be set free.

For the rest of the night, I didn’t screw up. Sparkles never showed but I figured, as he stated the night before, he had a life outside this place. I put it out of my head and focused on my job. I let Shane go early and told him I’d close.

“Hey, Max,” a gorgeous blond twink winked at me. “Can I have a blowjob?” I knew he meant the shot, but I also knew he meant a real one too.

“Hi, Jessy. Sure thing, coming right up.” I made his shot and brought it to him.

“Whatcha doing after work?” he asked as he dipped his finger into the shot and sucked on the digit.

“You mean who?”

He shrugged. “I could be the answer to the who.”

Normally, I’d tell Jessy to wait for me by my bike or to toss me his number and I’d text him when I was done but for some weird reason, I couldn’t find myself doing any of those things.

“Oh, Jessy, I’d love it to be you, but I gotta close tonight, and I gotta talk with the boss man.”

Jessy stuck out his bottom lip. “Poo. Well, rain check then.” He took the shot and was off to find someone else, I was sure.

What the fuck was wrong with me? I would normally fuck a guy like Jessy ten different ways before the sun came up. But for some reason, when I closed my eyes, all I could see was hot-pink hair and cyan eyes.

Chapter Eight

Lane

As I dressed in one of my favorite Armani suits for dinner at Vayne’s, I regretted telling Alexandra and Nolan they didn’t have to come for this. I told them to relax, that I’d figure out everything going on with this new landlord and such.

“I’ll be back in a little while, Tank. Eat your food, don’t chew on anything but your toys, for all that’s holy, would you?” He blinked and wagged his tail. Something of mine was going to be doomed.

I took the elevator down to the parking garage. I opted to drive myself as I would not be drinking and wanted to get out of this dinner as fast as possible. I got into my purple Jeep Wrangler, started it, and drove to Vayne’s.

The valet took my keys, and I relaxed a bit when I saw Earl and his wife, Betty, standing just inside the door.

“Hey there, Lane,” Betty said as she kissed my cheek.

“Hi, Betty, Earl.” I looked around. “Is no one else here?”

“They are,” Earl answered. “But I knew how worried you were about all this, so Betty and I decided to wait for you and walk into the party together.”

I would have hugged Earl if it wouldn’t be so strange to do so. “Thanks.”

Vayne’s was truly a stunning restaurant. It was like walking amid the stars. I could never describe it properly to people. The floor was black, but it glittered slightly, as if it was catching light. The owner, Xander Vayne, had the place set up so well that no one ever felt like they knew anyone else was dining there. It was amazing. Having never been to a private party here, I was slightly excited to see the room.

“Here we are,” Earl said as he held the door to the room open for me.

I looked around and saw a bunch of the tenants from my apartment building, which was strange. I saw Maude from the salon I knew Earl also owned. I went over to her, and we greeted each other. It felt like the hairs on the back of my neck were standing on end and when I turned, I saw the four men from the other night, all watching me.

“You know them?” Maude asked.

“I saw them the other night, but no.” I didn’t like how they followed my every move. Something about this entire thing felt wrong.

“Come sit,” Earl said as he came over to me. I sat between him and Maude with Betty on Earl’s other side, and we waited for this mystery landlord guy.

A server took our drink orders. I just wanted water. It felt like my skin was crawling. I’d spent so many years of my