Page 134 of Beautifully Ruined

“Really?” I lean in. “Who?”

But she holds up a hand. “One of the things about exclusive and secretive is you don’t give up such details.”

Shit. It’s so obvious I didn’t even think. And I’m so eager to find out something—anything—to help Gianna that I just pushedahead like a steamroller. Exactly in the way that Cade told me not to. Subtle, not loud.

I blow out a silent, slow breath. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

But then I decide since I’m already a bit gauche about it, I might as well go for it. “I just can’t picture anyone else working there, other than you, because you’re so pretty.”

She blushes, but doesn’t offer me more information.

“Was it Gianna?”

Macy sits up straight, actively recoiling back from me, and she takes a big swallow of her wine, sets down her glass, and crosses her arms. “The congressman’s daughter? His missing daughter?”

The heat hits my cheeks, and I roll with it, like I have another choice. “I’m sorry, I just…”

“You’re asking about Gianna. Why? You don’t know her.”

I shrug. “I guess I’m thinking about who from work, and like I said, there’s no one else who comes close to you in looks. Unless it’s one of the guys. Alex is cute, but didn’t his wife have a baby?”

She doesn’t say anything, just nods. And I don’t think the nod is about Alex in accounting…He is guy who manages the funds for the congressman and salaries…being a secret kink fiend who frequents that club. I think it’s a silent agreement that it isn’t him.

“I also guess I’m just curious. Because if she was still there, I’d say someone as pretty as Gianna might be the one. Looks wise. And…” I let out my breath and take another swallow, careful tokeep it casual. “Gianna’s disappearance was all over the news, like huge. I expected some gossip, but no one even mentions her. And I figured, maybe she ran off with a guy from a club like that. So, that’s why…”

Macy’s arms relax. “I like adventure, you do, too. Clearly. And…Gianna…” She gives a little shrug and then leans right in. “Gianna liked to be a little wild, you know? Yeah, I first went there with her and one of her friends. It was a week before she disappeared, but I got the job offer from the guy I hooked up with. And…and I’ve been working there ever since. As he said, why not just make money from doing what I like?”

What friend? What guy? Allistair? Or someone else? He doesn’t run the club on his own. There must be someone who recruits girls, who tests them, offers them jobs. And thinking of it, that’d be how things are done.

I have so many questions in my head, and I want to ask them all, but I also don’t want to seem fixated on Gianna, and have Macy shut down.

Besides, that would be weird, and while the pressure of minutes ticking down for Gianna crush tight around my chest, I won’t get anywhere pushing.

“Tell me more about the club. Do you like working there?”

Macy just laughs and shakes her head. “You’ve no idea. I love it. So much that I’d quit if I didn’t want my parents on my back about my mysterious income when I don’t seem to have a job. But I get to have rich, important men shower me with attention, give me gifts and money outside the job. They make me come, and it’s so unbelievably hot to be treated like one of the most desired women around.”

Desired? I guess having men paw at you and want to just fuck you like meat could be seen as desire if that’s what you’re into. It’s what I’m into. In my fantasies but working in a place like that would destroy my fantasies.

That’s more than clear to me.

In my head, my fantasies get me going. And in real life, there’s only one man who can make them become everything I want.

Cade can make the fantasies bigger than I even knew I wanted. He can blow expectations out of the water.

And maybe we’re barking up all the wrong trees here. Maybe whatever’s happening with Gianna has nothing to do with the club. She’s being trafficked but not there. Maybe none of the girls are being forced.

“You know,” Macy says quietly, stopping her rave about the place, “I’m not really buying you want to work there. And, it’s odd you’d bring up Gianna. What’s really going on?”

Ice whips through me, but as I gaze at her, I don’t exactly feel backed in a corner. It’s more like an opening for me to be honest.

Cade might do this differently and make it work, but I’m not him. So, I take a chance. I think I can trust Macy. “I’m trying to find Gianna.”

Macy stares at me. “Why?”

“She’s missing?”