Watch Me (Phoenix #1) - Stacey Kennedy Page 0,44
scariest and most wonderful part was she could imagine a life with Rhys. A happy life. A safe and exciting life. She thwarted any serious talk and shifted the subject. “Can I ask why you got into the whole sex-club thing?” She smiled. “Was it something you aspired to?”
“Funny,” he said with a snort, scratching the cat under his chin. “I assume Elise stumbled on the story about my late girlfriend, Katherine.”
Zoey cringed. “She did. I’m sorry. I know that’s personal, but—”
“It’s fair,” he interjected. “I knew things about you I shouldn’t, because of Archer’s vetting.” The cat purred louder now as he stroke its back. “Cancer was cruel to Katherine.”
“How long did you date her?”
“I met her the second day of college. The cancer came soon after that.”
Zoey stroked a long-haired gray-and-white cat that strode by, taking a handful of fur with her. She blew it off her hand. “I’m really sorry, Rhys. I can’t even imagine going through that.”
He looked at the cat in his lap again, still stroking the happy feline’s back. “It was hard. She hated fate for making her sick. Watching her life end so brutally, with so much anger inside her that she had no control over, taught me no one is getting out of here alive, so you better live your life right.” He glanced up at Zoey then held her gaze. “To answer your question, I opened Phoenix because I wanted to be a part of something that gave more to people. It also allowed for me to safely indulge in the sensual lifestyle I enjoy, and keep emotionally distant while I grieved. But after a while, something shifted and it became about more than that. Wealth gets you ahead in life, but it doesn’t bring you happiness. Sex…” He gave a devilish grin. “Well, I’ve always lived an erotic lifestyle. Only it used to be in secret with willing participants at private parties. First, in college then out of it.” He lifted an easy shoulder, glancing back down at the cat in his lap as he continued stroking him. “Now, I just provide the place and protection for others to indulge too.”
She became jealous of that cat purring in his lap. “You know, if you’d have asked me a year ago if that made sense to me, I would have said no. Being so erotic, living that kind of life, was so foreign to me. Now…”
He grinned. “You like it?”
She lifted a shoulder. “It’s hard to imagine moving home and never partaking in such things again.”
A beat passed. “Who says you have to go anywhere?”
Oh, the loaded question hung in the air, so heavy she could barely breathe. “That was always my plan.”
“Plans change,” he said with ease, but his eyes told a different story.
She knew she should respond. Have some profound realization, but it never came. The lump in her throat she’d been pushing down rose up again, and her head felt cloudy, making it impossible to think clearly.
Luckily, Jane arrived with lunch, breaking through the silence. She placed the platter on the small table next to Rhys. “Need anything else, guys?”
Zoey shook her head and gave a smile. “We’re good. Thanks, Jane.”
Jane smiled in return. “Enjoy.”
As she returned to the counter, Rhys blessedly changed the subject, probably for Zoey’s benefit. “I thought you might like to know that Archer discovered the woman who came to your shop is a Phoenix member.”
“Elise thought that might be the case.” Zoey swallowed that lump back down. Again. “Is her name really Hilary?”
“It is,” Rhys said as the cat purred louder on his lap. “Do you want me to tell you her story?”
Zoey started when a black cat jumped onto the back of the beanbag chair and sat on Zoey’s shoulder. She reached up to give the kitty a head scratch. “Is her story similar to mine?”
“Yes, but it’s not the part about her assault that I want to tell you.”
“Then, what is it?”
“Your bravery was what made her want to come forward.”
Zoey quickly looked back at Rhys. His strong gaze held hers. “It wasn’t bravery, what I did that night,” she countered. “It was the only type of justice I thought I’d ever get. And it was my way out.”
“Still brave,” he retorted.
She shook her head adamantly as the black cat headbutted her for attention. “No, it’s not. It was anger and rage, that’s all. Hilary is the one who wants her story out in public. She’s the brave one.”
Rhys stopped petting