Page 104 of Theirs to Desire (Club M: Boxed Set)

CALEB

I could happily strangle Nolan.

Yes, it's true. I am attracted to Kiera. Who wouldn’t be? She’s a beautiful woman. The pink highlights in her hair, the dragon tattoos on her arms, her bright, cheerful smile—she stands out from everyone else. In a world of black and white, Kiera is a rainbow.

But being attracted to her is one thing. Doing something about it is an entirely different matter.

When Keira had first started working at the club, more than one member had taken note. Most guys flirted a little, but when their interest wasn’t returned, they got the message.

Then there was Brett Fisher. He came on to her, constantly and unrelentingly. He sent gifts. He made pass after pass at her. He kept asking her out. He just wouldn’t give up.

The thing about Kiera? She’s always pleasant. Always smiling. She's cheerful and talkative.

But after watching her for a while, I've learned something. Her surface bubbliness hides a deep well of privacy. Whatever Kiera is really thinking or feeling, she keeps it well hidden.

Had I thought that Fisher was seriously bothering Kiera, I would have intervened. But I hadn’t been able to read her. I didn't know if she welcomed the attention, but I didn't think she minded it too much.

I was very, very wrong. She'd felt badly harassed by Brett Fisher. Worse, she felt that because she was just a bartender and Fisher was a long-time member, she had to stay quiet and tolerate the harassment.

It finally got so bad that she walked into Xavier's office one day, four months after she started, and told him she was quitting.

I still remember the look on Xavier's face when he told me about their conversation. His eyes were dead, and his voice was flat. “I should have realized what was going on,” he'd said. “This is my fault. This is my club. I approved Brett Fisher's membership.”

He’d thrown a vase against the wall. The gesture had been shocking in its unexpected violence.

Xavier Leforte never lost his cool. “It’s even worse than that,” he’d continued, his voice a monotone, as if shards of seventeenth-century pottery didn’t litter the floor.

“I created an environment where Kiera didn't feel safe. Where she was afraid to approach me because she thought I would take Fisher’s side, not hers.”

I’d moved the antique glass paperweight on his desk before it could meet the same fate as the vase. “Twelve years after Lina's death, and I'm still making the same mistakes.” He’d taken a deep breath. “The world hasn’t been kind to Kiera. It was my responsibility to be better, and I’ve failed.”

Fisher’s membership had been swiftly revoked. New club policies had been drawn up.

The incident is in the past, but Xavier's words have stayed with me.

The three of us walk to the parking lot. Andrei is waiting for me, leaning against the car, his jacket off and his shirt sleeves rolled up. When he sees me, he snaps to attention and hurries to open the passenger door.

Kiera stops dead in her tracks. An odd expression flashes over her face. “You have a driver. A driver who's waiting for you at one o'clock in the morning outside a sex club.”

I can hear the judgment in her voice. “That Dempsey packed a punch,” I respond mildly. “And I don't like to drink and drive.”

“Right.” She shuffles her feet. “Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…”

Damn it. She’s pulling away.

“Changing your mind?” Nolan drawls. “Afraid we might bite?”

Her shoulders stiffen. “Where do you live? I'll follow you in my car.”

She's thinking about her safety, and I can respect that. I give her my address. “Do you need directions?”

She pulls out her phone and punches it in. “No, I'm okay.”

She's as skittish as a colt, and I don't want to push. I don't want to be another Brett Fisher. “See you in a bit.”

We wait for her to start her car, and then I slide into my own seat. “Kiera will be following us, Andrei. Can you keep her in sight?”

“Of course, Mr. Reeves.”

Nolan gets in as well. “You're so jumpy around her. What gives?”

I give him a deeply exasperated look. It’s obvious what Nolan is doing. He's not the only person who thinks that Theo's death has changed me. They all think that the reason I'm not dating is because I'm still dealing with my brother’s untimely end.

They’re wrong. Yes, it had been devastating to lose Theo, but his death was quick, and he'd gone out doing something that mattered to him.

It's not his death I'm broken up by. It's Joha's. I didn't have to see my brother suffer, but for a year and a half after it happened, I watched Joha grieve, and there was not a damn thing I could do about it. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't help her.

It's not loss I'm staying away from. It's the feeling of helplessness you get when someone you care about is hurting, and you are powerless to do anything about it.

“Kiera’s been harassed at the club before,” I say shortly. “And she felt that she couldn't do anything about it. I would really like to avoid repeating that experience.”

“Whoa.” Nolan raises his hands. “I'm not going to do anything that she is uncomfortable with. You know that.”

I do. That's not who Nolan is. “Kiera is a bartender who probably lives paycheck to paycheck. You are not only enormously wealthy but also good friends with her boss, so much so that you have a key to his office. We’ve both been members of the club since it opened. Consider the optics.”

Nolan's expression turns serious. “You're right. I wasn't thinking.” He lapses into thought. “She kept looking at you,” he says at last. “She's at least a little interested.”

She did? “Brett Fisher probably thought the same thing.”

Nolan makes an impatient noise in his throat. “In that case,” he says bluntly, “He wasn't paying enough attention to what she was and wasn’t saying. Unless you've changed dramatically since the last time I saw you, you're not going to do the same thing.”

“Even so. Nothing's going to happen. I'm warning you, Nolan. I'm dead serious about this.”

Nolan stares at me for a long time. “You’re a good person, Caleb,” he says. “Your concern for Kiera is admirable. But you're so worried that you won’t hear her saying ‘no’ that you're going to miss it when she says ‘yes.’”

I'm attracted to Kiera. I've been attracted to her for quite some time, yet I've had the sense to keep my interest in check. Then Nolan comes along, and in the space of one conversation, all my good intentions have gone flying out of the window.

Outside, the car eats up the miles. It's a full moon night. The air shimmers with possibilities.

Could Nolan be right?