Page 22 of Velvet Sin (Elite Men of Los Angeles #5)

DANTE

“I must admit, this is better than anything I imagined.” Sebastian clapped me on the shoulder as I poured drinks for him and his friends. “Well done.”

“Now, this is how money should be invested.” Grayson made himself comfortable, slouching on the sofa in my office, one long arm stretched out across the top. “Sink it into a surefire win like this and watch the dividends come pouring in.”

“So mercenary,” Aiden told him, snickering as he turned away from the monitors along the wall. “I mean, there’s beautiful lovemaking happening down there. All you can think about is money?”

That got all of us laughing, and it felt good.

Lenny’s question about my business and personal life had run on repeat in the back of my mind all week, like a song I couldn’t get out of my head.

I wouldn’t exactly consider these guys my friends, but we could get there.

I liked them as people, which was a hell of a lot more than I could say for some of my investors.

Vaughn accepted his scotch, raising the crystal tumbler to his nose and smiling. “Fantastic. You are nothing if not an excellent host.”

“Speaking of which.” I took a seat behind my desk. “I was thinking about throwing a housewarming party in a couple of weeks or so.”

“I didn’t know you bought a house out here.” Grayson exchanged a surprised look with the rest of the group. “That’s great. Just name the date.”

“Make sure those smoke shows working downstairs are invited,” Aiden added, sipping his drink once his attention had fallen back on the feed from down there. “That blonde at the desk. Fuck me. Talk about an ass that won’t quit.”

He was talking about Chloe, and I had to laugh. “You have good taste, but your timing is shit. I think she’s got a boyfriend.”

He snorted, looking my way over his shoulder. “Like that matters. She’ll forget he ever existed after spending five minutes with me.”

“I didn’t know you were looking to settle down with anyone.”

“Who said anything about settling down? Let’s face it,” he continued, raising his voice over our laughter.

“None of us are cut out for that shit. What, we’re supposed to run our businesses, keep our people employed, keep growing so we can meet our goals while keeping a woman happy? That is a full-time job on its own.”

“How would you know?” Sebastian challenged with a smirk.

“I don’t have to start a fire to know it would burn me,” Aiden retorted.

“I’ve seen enough to know what I’m talking about.

My mom would complain about having nothing to complain about.

She drove my dad to an early grave.” He took a large swig of his drink, releasing a deep breath.

I sensed his mood drop and felt the energy in the room shift as a result.

“Try being a sex club owner with a Bible thumper for a mother,” I joked.

“The woman worked herself half to death to keep a roof over our heads, so I feel responsible for taking care of her now. The only problem is, she would rather starve to death in a gutter somewhere than take my money if she knew how I made it.”

Grayson winced from his club chair. “That sucks. You mean, she really doesn’t know what you do?”

“Believe me. I would know if she did.” The four of them chuckled while I stared into my tumbler. They could afford to laugh. “I’ve gone out of my way to keep myself as anonymous as possible, and not only for my own privacy or for my frequent guests’ sake. I don’t want her finding out.”

Just like I didn’t want my father to find out, though I had no idea where he ended up after he walked out.

I only knew a man like him with an addiction like his would only need to hear his son was rich to start coming up with reasons to visit and rebuild our relationship.

To milk me dry while supporting his gambling problem. No, thanks.

“In other words, Momma West won’t be coming to your housewarming party,” Sebastian concluded, and I could laugh at that. She certainly would not.

“Tell you the truth. I don’t know if she knows I’ve come back to town.

” I glanced up from my drink to find them staring at me.

“Is that wrong?” I asked. I had said too much.

This was why I didn’t bother making friends.

Having to guard my words, knowing they wouldn’t understand. They didn’t know the history.

“No, there’s nothing wrong with it.” Vaughn lifted a shoulder. “It’s just… you seem devoted. Paying for her life and all that.”

“No. I get it.” Aiden’s head bobbed. “My mom can have whatever she wants, so long as I don’t have to see her face-to-face except on holidays. That’s about as much as I can take,” he concluded.

I was getting more uncomfortable by the second. This conversation needed to end. “All right, gentlemen. You have a little liquid courage in your veins,” I pointed out, opening my desk drawer and withdrawing four silk masks. “Do you have the courage to go down there and indulge?”

“Courage, nothing.” Grayson snatched one of the masks from my hand.

“I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks.

” This was the only night the four of them could get together at the same time to check out their investment.

As if they needed to. They knew damn well, after reviewing the financials from my other properties, just how profitable this would be.

“Enjoy. Don’t forget to have your IDs scanned when you’re downstairs,” I reminded them. “You might be investors, but rules are rules.”

I couldn’t help but be kind of grateful nobody had commented on Lenny. That might have made the whole situation that much more uncomfortable. After all, people tended to take it seriously when they got punched in the nose.

I sat back, savoring what was left of my drink, observing the front counter.

The men were respectful, making the girls laugh.

Probably busting balls the way they always did.

Once they were on their way, Lenny murmured something to Chloe before leaving the counter and disappearing from sight.

It wasn’t another thirty seconds when there was a knock at my door.

“Open,” I called out, grinning as I turned in my chair.

Lenny poked her head into the room, dark waves framing her face. “Were those the guys you told me about?”

“That was them. What did you think?”

Stepping into the room, she closed the door behind her. “They seem nice. Like close friends or even brothers. Cute, too,” she added with a smirk.

“That was unnecessary,” I muttered under my breath.

“And unapologetic flirts,” she added, and heat rose in my face, which, of course, she noticed.

Laughing, she crossed the room. “You’re going to have to get used to it, you know…

men flirting with me. They don’t come here because they’re boring and dry and have lost all interest in sex, you realize. ”

The swaying of her hips was enough to test the limits of my control. It made my mouth go dry and my pants tent. “Let them indulge in that shit once they’re past the lobby.”

“You might want to add that to your list of rules,” she purred.

I pushed my chair back far enough from the desk that she could slide in front of me, leaning over and giving me a look down the front of her blouse.

Her creamy tits demanded to be touched, though when I reached for them, she playfully slapped my hand away. “Working hours, remember?”

My head fell back as I groaned at the reminder.

Of course, it would be a disaster if anyone found out what went on at my house a few times in the past week since I had first introduced her to the room I was setting up across from my suite.

My reputation would take a hit it might never recover from, to say nothing of hers.

Fucking her boss? It wouldn’t look good and might give any future employers the wrong idea. Over my dead body.

“You have a lot of nerve showing up here, looking the way you do and expecting me not to want a little touch.” My dick didn’t give a shit about my reputation or hers.

Things were pretty much black and white as far as that part of my anatomy was concerned.

Right now, he wanted something warm and wet to sink into, and he happened to be mere inches away from his favorite partner.

“Aren’t you the one who always tells me the longer you wait for satisfaction, the better it is?

” she teased, and I let out a miserable groan at the way she turned my words around on me, making her slightly laugh as she straightened.

“I better get back. I told Chloe I was coming up to make sure those were the VIPs you mentioned.”

“Hey,” I blurted out before she could leave. “I have a question for you.”

“If it has to do with the next time we?—”

I shook my head, cutting her off. “No, this is serious. Do you think it’s strange that I haven’t told my mother I’m in town?”’

Clearly, she hadn’t believed me when I told her I was serious. Her head snapped back, eyes narrowing in confusion. “I didn’t know you hadn’t told her. I guess I should’ve asked.”

“We don’t talk about a lot of serious things when we’re together, do we? There are more important things to do.”

I should’ve known she would consider the question seriously instead of rattling off whatever she thought would soothe my conscience.

“I think in a situation like this, you need to protect yourself. And not in the way you’re thinking,” she added before I could agree that, yes, it was better to limit our contact for everybody’s privacy.

“You need to protect your… I don’t know…

your energy. Your mind. If it stresses you out too much and makes you feel like shit when you see her, then by all means, keep her at a safe distance.

You deserve a little peace. And in case you’re wondering…

” she concluded as she opened the door, “… you’re a good son. You take care of her.”

How did she know that was exactly what I needed to hear?

“Thanks. Now get back to work,” I growled out.

She gave me a smirking salute before ducking out.

Soon, she joined Chloe, who was smart enough to only glance up at one of the two cameras in the lobby on her way back to her work with her lips twitching in a grin.

She suspected there was something happening with us. She had to. If she were smart, she would keep it to herself. It would be better to stay quiet and pretend I didn’t notice. ‘ Least said, soonest mended,’ one of Mom‘s favorite sayings.

I had her on the brain tonight. My phone sat on the desk, and I grabbed it on impulse, opening the text app and scrolling until I found the message thread between Mom and me. It was a short thread, and the last message had come from her three months earlier.

Mom: Checking in to see if you’re all right. I hope you’ve had a change of heart and decided to start attending church again.

Funny. I picked up the phone with the intention of sending a text to say hi and eventually steer the conversation toward being in the area and wanting to visit.

All it took was a glance at that message to remind me why I hadn’t told her I was in town.

It was enough to read a message like that and know I would never be the son she wanted.

What I didn’t need was hearing her tell me to my face.

Leaving the phone on the desk, I turned back to the monitors, watching Lenny. Watching over my kingdom. Mom wanted me to go to church? This was my church.

Only I wasn’t a worshiper. I was a deity, overseeing things from high above.

And that was the way it would stay.