Page 17 of By Invitation Only

CHAPTER FOUR

The limo pulled to a stop, and I turned my head, looking out the tinted window. Two women and a man were walking up the red carpeted stairs. The two women were dressed in skimpy but elegant dresses, and the guy was in a black and white tuxedo. It looked as though we were attending a black-tie affair.

As I waited for the driver to come around to open my door, I turned my attention to Ava. “This place is spectacular.” There were no other words to describe the stucco house with pillars and topiary placed along the twelve or so steps. I couldn’t imagine what it would look like in the light of day.

Ava smiled. “It is. Are you ready?”

Before I could respond, the door opened and we slid out the back. Once we’d both adjusted our dresses, we began to ascend the stairs. Ava reached in her clutch and pulled out what looked like a black credit card with the word “SENSATION” written in silver. The O of the word was a 3D dodecahedron. Only six of the twelve sides showed with the center blank while the five remaining sides that attached were white, red, green, blue, and a silvery white.

“Black card status?” I teased.

“It’s so security knows I’m a current member. We all get them. And if we cancel our membership, they take the card away.”

“Are they all black?”

She shook her head. “No, it depends on what level you are. I’m Diamond.”

“And that’s the highest?”

“Yeah.” She smiled and flashed the tall, bulky, and quite handsome man the card. He was dressed in black slacks and a black polo shirt with an earpiece in his ear. He smiled at her and then looked at his clipboard.

“What are the other levels?” I asked, watching the man scan the clipboard.

“Pearl, Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, then Diamond.”

I nodded. There were so many questions I wanted to ask, but we were on a mission. Or at least I was. This was for business and not pleasure. Though I was curious what each level meant, it didn’t matter since this was for one night only.

“Thank you, Ms. Ashley. You and Ms. Winters can go on inside.” I balked at him knowing my name, but then remembered I’d submitted my info to be her guest and I had to be listed on the guest list.

Before we stepped inside, I looked over my shoulder to see a line of limos and town cars lining the circular driveway and continuing down the street. It had just turned ten o’clock, and it seemed everyone wanted to be inside when the party started.

Two men each pulled the double wrought iron doors with frosted glass open as we approached. They were smaller than the bouncer and were dressed more as butlers. They smiled and nodded at us as we stepped over the threshold and into the marble entryway.

Ava walked to what looked like a coat check area. I followed even though neither one of us had jackets. “We have to leave all of our belongings here. They don’t allow cell phones, cameras or anything of that nature. I usually slip my lipstick in the front of my dress with my membership card.”

“Why do you need your membership card?”

“There are things not everyone can do.” She smiled.

“Oh?”

“If you see something you like, just let me know and I’ll get you in.”

I was intrigued but didn’t press her more as more people walked in the doors. She motioned for me to set my purse on the counter for the coat check person to take it.

“But your divorce papers are in here,” I whispered.

“Right…” she trailed off, biting the corner of her lip as she thought for a moment. “Can you fold it and stick it in your dress?”

I looked down at my sleeveless, barely there dress that hugged every inch of my torso. A dress that had no room for a single piece of paper let alone ten plus an envelope. “Um…” I hesitated, trying to think of a plan just as the attendant reached her hand out for me to hand over my belongings. “Guess I’ll make it work.” I dug in the black clutch and pulled out the legal sized envelope. We each handed over our purses, and the attendant put them under Ava’s last name.

“Just remember that there’s no pressure for you to do anything you don’t want to do. If you aren’t comfortable, go outside and tell Luke to call my driver. They know his number—it’s in my file. They’ll call Steve, and he’ll come get you.”

I nodded as I folded the envelope and stuffed it in the inside of my dress. It made my left boob a little bigger, but luckily I had an agenda, and the papers wouldn’t cling to me for long. “Okay. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

Her smile brightened. “You will be. Are you ready?”

“You already asked me that,” I teased because I wasn’t sure if I was ready. I didn’t have a choice, though.