SWNOVELS His Queen: Chapter 8
It’s been a while since I walked the halls of Myth at night. Lately, I’m only here during the day doing what needs to be done and taking care of business. There’s a reason I avoid this place after sunset—because it no longer feels right.
Over the years, we masterfully crafted a sinful sanctuary for all our vices. For a while, Club Myth was my escape. All the nights I spent here were painted in a carnal celebration. It felt good to come here, to play God in our self-made heaven. It was an outlet I desperately needed to keep the one woman I’ve always loved out of my head. I would fornicate and fuck my way through life for the slightest reprieve from my longing for Mirabella. Now that things have changed, and she sleeps in my bed wearing my wedding ring, it’s different. Now that I can have her whenever I want, however I want, I no longer need to spend countless hours here getting lost in the sin city the Dark Sovereign created.
As half-naked women strut around the club, tits and ass paraded everywhere, all I can think of is getting home to my wife so I can fuck her, and only her.
“I never thought I’d ever say this,” I start, blinking hard. “But all this tits and ass floating around is making me feel dirty, and not in a good way.”
Alexius smirks. “I never thought I’d hear those words come out of your mouth.”
“I have this overwhelming urge to rush back home, declare my undying love to my wife through a soppy poem, and then give her the world’s best apology fuck ever.”
“An apology fuck?”
“Yeah, you know,” I grab a glass of bourbon off a passing waiter’s tray, “sex where you give her so many orgasms, she’ll forget her name and the reason she’s furious with you in the first place.”
“And why would Mirabella be furious with you? She knows you’re here. She knows what kind of club this is.”
“Yeah, but I can’t help shake the feeling that I’m doing something wrong here.”
Alexius bursts out laughing. “Oh, how you’ve changed, brother. If I knew Mirabella would bring out the adult in you, I would have locked the two of you in a room a long time ago to sort your shit out.”
“How long are we supposed to stay here?” I ask as we walk straight to our private lounge.
“Not long. An hour or two. Maximo managed to get some extra security around here, so we’re just showing our faces.”
“Great.” A man dressed in a tuxedo comes strolling out of one of the private lounges, and not only do I question his choice of attire—fucking tuxedo at a sex club—but I find myself frowning at the older man because I know what he just did in that room with two girls. I also know he has a wife at home waiting for him while he fucks around here. God, what the fuck is happening to me?
I rub my palm down my face just as two more girls walk down the stairs. “Have there always been so many naked women around here? Because, brother, we need to curb this shit.”
“Why? Because you suddenly developed morals?”
“Firstly, that’s offensive.”
Alexius snickers.
“Secondly. You know what Dad always said. Too much of a good thing can make your balls shrivel up and die.”
“Dad never said that.”
I shrug. “It was something along those lines.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“Hey, you have your childhood memories of our father, and I have mine.”
Alexius merely shakes his head and smirks. “Whatever. But luckily, we have two more brothers who love the sights around here. They’ll just have to take on more responsibility when it comes to Myth.”
“Too bad they can’t be showing their faces here tonight. By the way,” I stretch my arm out in front of him as I stop, “should we not talk about Caelian’s hunting fetish?”
“I don’t think it’s any of our business.”
“Great. I’ll start. What the actual fuck?”
“Nicoli, what our brother does in his personal life has nothing to do with us.”
“When he’s smearing war paint on his face, wears khakis, and imitates a lion’s mating call in the middle of the goddamn night, pouncing on pussy, I think it kinda is.”
Alexius squeezes the bridge of his nose. “As long as he’s not hurting anyone, or putting this family at risk, let the man be.”
I roll my eyes and scoff. “We should have kicked his ass more when we were kids. Maybe picked a little less on Isaia.”
“You’re the last person to criticize others when it comes to…sexual tastes.”
“What?”
Alexius raises a dark brow. “Everyone saw the cuts on Paula’s body back when you two were together. It was hard to miss while she paraded around in her bikini on the weekends. And you think we wouldn’t notice the marks you left on the girls around here?”
“Alexius. Nicoli.” Vera walks up to us wearing nothing but a see-through lace nightgown, teasing a view of her pert nipples.
“Speaking of,” Alexius whispers, followed by a smile her way.
“I haven’t seen you two around here for a while.” Her plump lips pull up at the corners, her eyes sparkling too much under the dim light. “Does this mean the twins are back to play?”
“We’re just here for a drink or two.” Alexius grunts, his eyes darting away from Vera’s undressing him with her intense gaze.
Vera pouts, the movement drawing my attention to her mouth. That’s when I spot a shimmer of white powder just below her nose. She’s about to stroll back to the private lounge she came out of when I grab her arm. “What is that?”
“What is what?”
“Tell me that’s not nose candy on your face.” I pull her close, leveling her with a glare, sudden annoyance causing me to grip her arm tighter.
She wipes at her nose. “Of course not.”
“Don’t lie to me, Vera.”
“I’m not lying.” She tries to jerk free, but I only bite my fingers deeper into her flesh.
“You know the rules around here. No drugs.”
“Yes, I know that. I’m not using drugs, Nicoli,” she snaps. “It’s Yulie’s birthday today, and we had cake earlier. It’s probably just some frosting. Jesus, lighten up.”
Alexius plants his palm on her shoulder, pushing her back against the wall. His fingers dig into her skin through the thin layer of material separating them. She flinches and tenses but doesn’t move away from him.
“You’d be wise to watch your tone, Vera. My brother and I might not be fucking you anymore, but we still take care of you. Piss us off, step out of line once, and you’re on the streets. Is that clear?”
“Yes,” she mutters shakily. “I’m sorry. I meant no disrespect.”
“Good. Get out of here.” He lets go of her, and she scurries off back to the room she came from without sparing a glance our way.
I slip my hands into my pants pockets. “I don’t like this.”
“Neither do I.”
“Nunzio controls the drug trade in this city. If there’s drugs in our club, he’s behind it.”
“The girls all know the rules. No drugs in this club.” Alexius turns to face me. “We might have to co-exist with the Ferreros, but we sure as shit don’t have to feed their bank account.”
“It makes sense, though,” I say. “I mean, it’s what I would do if I were him. He couldn’t recruit our girls and put us out of business, so his next move would be to destroy us from the inside by getting our girls hooked and dragging our club’s reputation through the fucking toilet.”
“Christ. The last thing we need is drugs between these walls.”
I pull out my phone and dial Maximo, who answers on the second ring. “You watching porn on your phone again? Because fuck, that was fast.”
“Screw you,” he mutters. “What do you want?”
“When was the last time you did a sweep of the girls’ quarters?”
“Last month. We have another scheduled for next week.”
“It needs to happen tomorrow morning. And make it before sunrise so we catch them off guard.”
“What’s going on?”
I lick my lips, glancing at the door Vera disappeared through, warning pounding at the back of my skull. “Just a precaution.”
Maximo grunts. “Fine, I’ll take care of it.”
“Thanks.” I hang up just as one of our regulars demands my brother’s attention by stepping up to him.
Anthony Winslow, father of the bride and money bank behind the wedding my wife is planning—the one she thinks I don’t know about. There’s a reason I said she couldn’t take on the project, and it’s not because I don’t want her to work. It’s because Anthony Winslow is a snake and a vulture with not a single loyal bone in his body. The man reeks of deception. Today he’s your best ally because you offer him what he needs. Tomorrow he’s your worst enemy because someone else has what he wants. We only allow him in our club because he’s never done anything to piss us off. The man rolls in the highest of circles, and declining his membership without justifiable cause won’t do us any favors.
Alexius unlocks his jaw and smiles, all teeth and charm. “Anthony, it’s been a long time.”
“Mr. Winslow,” I greet, shaking the fucker’s hand.
“It’s good seeing you two around here for a change. I was starting to think you left the family business to your younger siblings.”
“Not a chance. Alexius and I were just letting Caelian and Isaia think they have the big dicks in our family for a while. Boys gotta learn the ropes sometime.”
Anthony chuckles, his bloated belly shaking behind his black dress shirt. “True. We have to teach the little ones.”
Alexius and I force out some fake laughter, giving each other knowing looks that say, ‘Are you going to shoot him, or should I?’
“Speaking of littles,” Anthony continues, “how exciting that your wife is my daughter’s wedding planner. When Abigail mentioned that Mirabella Del Rossa was one of the candidates, I insisted she pick your wife, Nicoli.”
From the corner of my eyes, I can see the way Alexius shoots laser beams from his glare straight through my skull. “Yes,” I start, pretending to be delighted that my wife is working on a wedding planned by a man who I’d much rather see squashed than fucked in this club. “My wife is very excited to work with your daughter.”
“I must admit,” Anthony says with a sly grin, “I did not think the wife of a Del Rossa would be allowed so much freedom to work with the general public.”
“Yes,” Alexius chimes in. “That makes two of us.”
I pretend not to notice the sneer in his tone. “Well, times are changing, gentlemen. We could all do a little adapting, don’t you think?”
“If you ask me, our wives should all be in the bedroom waiting for us when we get home every night.” He winks. “If you know what I mean.”
I gag a little in the back of my mouth. “I suppose if that were the case, we sure wouldn’t see you around here every night, now, would we?” I shrug and lose the will to give a fuck. “Is that not why you’re here right now, because your wife isn’t in your bedroom waiting for you?”
“Nicoli,” Alexius warns with a low growl.
“No, don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean any disrespect.” Yes, I do. “I would just hate to see a good client like yourself no longer come around here because your wife’s suddenly turned into a good fuck.”
Anthony’s smile fades a bit now. “I beg your pardon?”
“Gesundheit.”
Alexius hisses in warning, and I suppress an amused sigh as Anthony’s cheeks flush a shade darker than they were before.
“If you’ll excuse me. I have a wife waiting for me in the bedroom.” I give Anthony a pointed stare. “If you know what I mean.” I offer him my hand in farewell, and he takes it with a nod before I turn and stomp in the other direction. I’m so sick of always playing nice like I’m a fucking poodle at a party for rottweilers all for the sake of appearances. That’s probably why nature had my brother pass through the birth canal first, because I was the fetus with zero tolerance for bullshit.
My brother catches up with me at the end of the hallway, a bemused smirk playing on his lips. “I should chew your ass for what you just did, but it was just too damn amusing.”
“Fucker had it coming.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about Mirabella and this wedding she’s planning? When it comes to this family, I need to know everything.”
“I have it handled.”
“Nicoli, do you know how many mob families will be guests at their wedding? Mirabella would be an open target to anyone who wants to take a stab at us.”
I balk and force my face close to his. “You think I don’t know that? You think I’m not aware of the dangers if my wife is present at a wedding filled with criminals?” I slant my head. “And honestly, do you really think I’ll allow it? That I’d let my wife be anywhere close to that wedding?”
“Then why are you allowing it?”
“I’m not.” I storm out the door, and the cold chill slaps against my cheeks. “I told her she can’t do it.”
“But she’s doing it anyway?”
“Mirabella is unaware that I know she took on the project after I told her shouldn’t.” We reach Alexius’ car. “So, now I’ll just have to make sure it doesn’t happen.”
“She’s going to give you hell if you fuck this up for her.”
I shrug. “She won’t know I’m behind it.”
“You’re going to lie to Mira?”
“It’s not a lie. It’s a secret. There’s a difference.” I open the passenger side door. “And turns out, I’m a pro at keeping secrets from my wife.”