Finding Home: A Club Dark Novel (6 page)

Clearing my mind and my throat at the same time, I get ahold of myself. Cory looks up with a devilish smile on his face and slows his pace. I can only manage about two seconds of eye contact before I drop my head and focus on anything that isn’t him.

“Good evening, Ms. Carter, I’m glad to see you up and moving around.”

Ugh, why can’t he address me by my first name? These formalities are starting to get annoying.

“First of all, my name is Lacey. My mother was Mrs. Carter, and she’s dead. Secondly, I would like to go home now, please.” See, I can be nice. He only looks at me for a second, then he proceeds to get off the treadmill and grabs his water. Despite the fact that I’m incredibly pissed right now, I can still admire the fact that this man is HOT and once again, my pulse is racing. I seriously do not need this right now. I am so lost in my own mind and thinking about how sexy this guy is that I don’t realize I am zoned out until I look up and find him standing right in front of me. I’m pretty sure I have completely forgotten how to breathe.

“Okay, Lacey,” he says with his face just inches from my ear. Hearing my name spoken so softly from his lips causes my stomach to clench. Oh no! I’m in trouble. He steps in closer, and suddenly I find the door at my back. “I would like to let you in on a little secret,” he says as he moves the hair across my shoulders and onto my back. “You are the first person that has ever been drugged in my club. I take these things very seriously.” By now, he’s turned me around and is whispering in my ear. I’m not entirely sure why I haven’t stopped him yet or why my body seems to be leaning into his. Feeling his hot breath across my neck and his hand wrapped around my hair…I’m not sure I’ll ever want him to stop. Which terrifies me to the bone. I have this instant attraction to this man. My inner turmoil is screaming that I can’t trust him, not after last night. But my body doesn’t seem to get that memo.  “I’m sure you can understand why your safety is my number one priority at this point.” He kisses the side of my neck and it takes everything in me to think of something coherent to say.

“You don’t even know me.” I’m breathless and a little light headed, I’m sure the effects from the drugs are still lingering. “Why don’t you pull the security footage?” I say feeling my thoughts scattered. I turn back around to face him, getting ready to push him away from me.

“We have,” he says and I instantly lock up. All of my attention on his next words.  I’m almost certain he can hear my heart racing and feel the rapid inhales of breaths entering my mouth. “Only all the footage has been erased from the moment you walked into my club.” And with that, I pass out. Will this ever end?

I couldn’t have been out for long because when I come around I’m still on the floor of the gym. Of course, I’m not alone. Two very strong arms are wrapped around me and my face is pressed against his very naked chest. Shoot me now, just go ahead and get it over with because I have never been so embarrassed in my entire life. And I’m almost positive that Cory now sees me as weak. Well, fuck what he thinks.

I feel a slight rumble in his chest as he softly laughs, “You are going to give yourself a concussion if you continue to pass out on me like this.”

Ha, very funny. I push off his chest and give him the sternest look I can muster considering I’m sprawled out on the floor. “I’ll have you know, this is not a normal thing for me; it’s just that a lot has happened…” I trail off, not finishing my thought because the look he’s giving me it too much. What is wrong with this man? One minute he’s laughing at my expense, the next he’s looking at me like he’d devour me in seconds.

Cory jumps to his feet then lowers his hand to help me stand. “Have you eaten yet?” he asks, all traces of the look he had in his eyes before, gone.

“I’m not hungry,” is all I can say before he gently pulls me to my feet.

“Come with me,” he begins to drag me along, not even giving me a chance to protest. He leads me up the stairs, through the dark hallway, out the main corridor and into the kitchen. We’re the only ones in here, but it smells like a feast was just cooked. Cory walks me over to a bar stool at the counter. “Have a seat, please,” he instructs. I only do as I’m told because I can’t seem to get my legs to quit shaking, or at least that’s what I keep telling myself.

He walks around the counter to the oven and removes two plates; the most delectable scent I’ve ever smelled permeates through the air and immediately my stomach rumbles. Chuckling, he sets a plate down in front of me. There’s half a chicken breast sitting on top of some linguine noodles and some kind of creamy sauce spread across the top with a lemon wedge on the side. Whatever it is it smells so fantastic.

“This is Greta’s personal recipe for Parmesan Crusted Chicken and it also happens to be my favorite,” he says with a goofy grin. And for a brief second, I forget about everything that has happened recently— why I’m here in the first place, and just stare at this beautiful man sitting in front of me. Shake it off Lacey.

“It smells great, thank you,” I say as I take a bite trying to be nice. Anything to distract me from this man who has yet to put a shirt on.

“Mhmm.” A slight moan escapes my lips, and I’m not the least bit embarrassed by it. I honestly can’t help it. I don’t think I have ever had home cooking this good before. At least, not since I lost my mom. The chicken is so tender and moist with just the right hint of garlic and butter. I can’t quite pinpoint the flavor of the sauce as I’m sure I’ve never tasted anything like it before. 

I look up from my plate and notice Cory is just staring at me, watching as I savor my food and leaving his plate completely untouched. I feel my cheeks growing hot from embarrassment.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to stare, you’re just adorable when you think no one is paying attention.” Great, as if I’ll be able to finish eating now.

Clearing my throat, I attempt to strike up a normal conversation. “This is amazing; does she cook all of your meals?” This causes another smile to form on his face

“Mostly. I hired Greta to cook for me because it became unhealthy to eat out of a bag all of the time.” That makes sense.

“Why don’t you cook?” I ask with genuine curiosity.

“Besides the fact that I’m not much of a chef, I simply don’t have time. Most of my time is dedicated to the club. When I’m home I’m either in my office or working out.”

Sounds boring, and I say just as much. “You must get bored often.”

Laughing he says, “Not exactly. I don’t have time to be bored,” he pauses, then adds, “Speaking of work, I need to head in to speak with my security team concerning last night's’ events. You are welcome to come with me, or you can stay here and get some rest. Just know that I am giving my staff strict orders to not let you leave this house.” As much as I hate feeling like a prisoner, I have no desire to return to that club. And after learning that someone has apparently gone to great lengths to wipe the footage, I’m starting to believe I’m better off here; at least here I know that I will have protection if needed.

“I’ll stay here. But not because you say, just so we’re straight.” I say, I must still have some of the drugs in my system because even after a full night of sleep, I still feel out of it. “And don’t think I haven’t forgotten your promise to let me leave once I’m in the clear. I expect to be in my own bed tomorrow night.”

Cory gets up from his seat across from me and walks around the counter to where I am sitting. He lightly runs his fingers across my cheek causing goose bumps to break out across my arms. He moves to push my hair behind my ear and takes a step closer. He’s making it incredibly hard for me to be serious with him. Leaning down, he whispers, “I will get to the bottom of this, Lacey,” He continues trailing his fingertip down my neck, causing chills to rise in its wake. “Until then,” his lips graze my ear and an involuntary shiver takes hold of me, “you’re stuck here with me. I will not risk anything else happening to you.” And with that, he walks away, leaving me with my heart stuck in my throat. I need to gain some control over my reactions to him. I know it’s not healthy.

With Cory gone, I decide to be nosey and snoop around his house. I want to get to know the man that has suddenly decided to become my protector. Cory’s house is impressive in size, and I wonder what a single man could possibly want with such a huge house. There are no bedrooms’ downstairs, only the kitchen, a living area with a huge flat screen TV mounted to the wall and an L-shaped leather sectional on the opposite side, and his gym in the basement. I’m pretty sure there’s much more to this house, but I’m really just interested in seeing his office. I’d like to see if there’s anything inside that may give me clues about the man who seems to think he has rights on holding me against my will even if it is just for my protection.

Heading upstairs, I search for his office. There are four doors up here, one I know for sure is his bedroom. I wonder what’s behind the other three. Opening up the first door, I find another bedroom. It’s not as big as his, but just as impressive and I’m left wondering why he put me in his room if he has a spare. It doesn’t appear like this room gets much attention yet it’s strangely clean, almost sterile. Door number two brings another immaculate bedroom. Maybe he has some out of town relatives he rooms from time to time. That can only mean this last door will be his office.

Just as I’m about to place my hand on the door knob, I’m startled by a hand on my shoulder. “I’m so sorry, ma’am. I did not mean to frighten you again. I must warn you. Mr. Lewis does not like for anyone to enter his study while he’s not at home. Surely you understand why that is?”

Calming my frantic heart, I try to plead ignorance. “Thank you, Albert. I was just looking for the room I came out of this morning,” I say hoping that I sound believable.

“Of course, Miss Carter. Allow me to show you the way.” He leads me to the other end of the hall. “Here you are, ma’am. Please let me know if there is anything else you need. Mr. Lewis should not be away long.” Albert gives me another brief smile before he turns around to leave.

“Thank you, Mr. Albert.” So much for snooping around. I really would like to know more about the man I can’t seem to get out of my head. He’s dominating and controlling, but I can sense so much more to him. You don’t just invite a stranger in to your bed, without expecting sex, for nothing. I mean, he screams sexual tension. But he hasn’t actually tried anything and I am so thankful for that. But I won’t lie, getting to know him doesn’t sound like a bad thing.

Suddenly, I feel drained and so tired that I could probably fall asleep propped up against this door. I guess, for now, I’ll be the good little girl I said I’d be and get some rest. No sooner than my head hits the pillow, and I’m out.

***

Startled awake for what feels like the millionth time since being here, I feel someone in the room with me. I must’ve been asleep a while because the room is pitch black. I can just barely make out the shadow of what appears to be a tall man standing by the door. I’m just getting ready to draw in enough air to scream when I hear Cory say, “I’m so sorry to wake you, I was just coming in to check that you were okay.” I feel my entire body start to relax when I realize that I’m safe; well about as safe as I can be.

“What time is it?” I ask, my voice sounding heavy with sleep. “It’s just after six o’clock. I got home a few hours ago, but I’m afraid I’ll need to go back in soon.”

He’s wearing a light gray business suit— nothing too fancy— with a matching gray tie, but he looks completely disheveled. His white button-down is no longer tucked in, his tie is barely hanging on, and he looks like he’s raked his hands through his hair about a million times. He looks a hot mess and for some reason, this is a major turn on. Oh boy, I didn’t realize he had turned around. Locking eyes with him, I can’t seem to look away. I’m captivated by this man…

I shake my head to clear it. Yes, I’m clearly attracted to him, but there are more important things to do right now than focus on his looks; I need to know if he’s made any progress. “Were you able to find anything out tonight?” I ask, trying to avert my attention onto something else; anything else but how he looks and how he’s making me feel. He stands there for a beat longer and the look in his eyes tells me I’m in big trouble. Great! He clearly knows I’m attracted. But that’s all this is…attraction. No way is my heart ready for another relationship. He clears his throat and the look is gone.

Back to business, he says, “Not much. We still haven’t recovered the missing footage but we’ve found a few things that just didn’t set right with us. Actually, we may have it narrowed down. There were only a few guests last night whom myself or my team did not recognize. We have a steady list of regulars. So if you are up to it, I’d like for you to take a ride with me back to the club.” Is he insane? No way will I step one foot back in that place.

“What!? No. You’re kidding, right?” I can hear the panic in my voice and I don’t like it one bit.

“No, Miss Carter, I assure you that I am not kidding. My security team seems to think you can aid us in identifying a few of the patrons we didn’t recognize. You’ll be perfectly safe. I’ll stay by your side the entire time and my team has orders to be extra vigilant. You have nothing to worry about, you have my word.” As much as I don’t want to go back to the club, I can’t deny that I’d really like to get to the bottom of this. A feeling of dread creeps up in the pit of my stomach. I have a feeling that what we discover tonight is only going to make that feeling worse. “Fine, I’ll go.” I reluctantly pull myself out of bed, not the least bit happy about having to leave the safety and comfort I just felt.

“I’ll give you some time to freshen up. We’re about a thirty-minute drive from the city, though, so we’ll need to be leaving as soon as possible.”

Everything in me is screaming not to go back to that club. But if I want answers, I don’t have a choice. As I stand, I realize my suitcase is sitting beside the bed. That both relieves and terrifies the living shit out of me. I’m happy to have some different clothes to put on, but how did he even get them? Unzipping the bag, I find a note on top of my favorite pair of jeans.

Lacey,

                Omg girl. I am so sorry. I have been a nervous wreck since you left last night. I can’t help but feel somewhat responsible for this, with me making your drinks and all. But that’s what I’m so puzzled about. I handmade and delivered each one of your drinks. How anyone else got access to them is beyond me. I do hope you are okay, and the apartment is still yours when you feel better. I wasn’t sure how long you would be away so I brought your suitcase to Mr. Lewis at the club so you can have some of your own things to wear. Hoping to hear from you soon,

Amber.

Well, that explains how my suitcase got here. Pulling jeans and a plain black t-shirt out, I get dressed and walk downstairs to meet Cory.

                                                                                  
 
⃰

The ride to the club is uneventful. I’m nervous about the entire situation and having to go back into that place to hold much of a conversation. Which seems fine with Cory, he just turns on the stereo and we fall into a comfortable silence. I’m starting to feel relaxed around Cory, and I hate it. I don’t want to be relaxed around another man. All he’s going to do is hurt me, and then where will I be? Still, there’s just something about him I can’t place my finger on. Something that’s quickly drawing me in. On the outside Cory acts like he’s tough and all business, but something tells me there’s so much more to him than what he lets on. The longer I’m around him, the more I want to crack that surface and get to know the real Cory.

We arrive at the club and instead of him parking on the parking deck like Amber did the night before, he pulls his car around and parks in the back. Almost immediately, two huge guys with black security shirts walk out the back door and head straight for the car. I recognize one of them and remember seeing Mr. Military aka Alex, from last night. But the other guy is new. He’s just as impressive in size…seems like Cory likes his security with a skilled background.

“Good evening, Mr. Lewis. Thank you for coming back, I know you had a long night,” says Military.

“Have you and Kevin found anything new?” Kevin must be the look alike.

“Not exactly. There’s one guy who stands out, but he could just be a new patron. I’m having our I.T guy look into our guest list from last night and cross reference it with our regulars. Still no luck on the deleted footage, but he’s working on that as well.” At least these guys seem to know what they are doing and are trying to get everything figured out.

“Well then, let’s go have a look.”

Alex and Kevin lead us inside to a room that’s not five feet from the back door. No wonder they got to us so quick. Walking in the room, I’m surrounded by monitors. It’s a wonder someone was able to even get anywhere near my glass, let alone drug it.

“Miss Carter, if you don’t mind, can you take a seat here?” Alex points to a small chair set in front of a computer.

“Sure,” I say and take a seat. At first, I don’t see anything other than a black screen. Then Kevin hits a button and suddenly the whole screen comes to life.

The screen has four different angles. One for the front door, the bar, the lounge area, and one down the hall we just left. This can’t be all the cameras they operate.

“These are just four of our cameras. We have close to fifty throughout the whole club and a few on the parking deck. Whoever was able to hack our system and delete the footage was very smart. It should’ve been next to impossible,” says Alex from right behind me.

“Remind me to put a call into the company who installed our program. Someone is going to answer for the breach in our damn security.” The look in Cory’s eyes gives me an involuntary shiver. I would not want to be on the receiving end of that anger, again. Turning back to the screen, I try to focus. All I see is a bunch of empty space.

As he presses play, I start to see club employees show up. There’s another bartender straightening glasses and wiping down the counters, preparing for her shift. Soon after, I see Cory walk across the screen with about ten guys dressed in the signature Club Dark Security shirts. I didn’t realize he employed such a large number of security staff. He does a really good job of keeping them hidden because I only ever saw Alex and that was at the front door. This is all so confusing, I don’t understand how any of this could have even happened with all of the security guards he had on hand that night.

I’m still watching the screens not really sure what I’m supposed to be looking for. It appears that Cory is having a conversation with the team until he suddenly walks away leaving them all standing at the front door staring after him. I look at the other cameras wondering where he took off to and see him reappear in one of the halls to the back and then disappear once again through a door. When I glance back to the footage of the front door, I notice the security team has broken up and Alex is left to man the door. The timestamp on the video reads 8pm, so this was a few hours before Amber and I arrived.

I watch as Alex opens the door and a few patrons start coming in. This is a small group and they make their way directly to the bar. The screen starts to speed up again and more “clients” trickle into the bar. None that I recognize so far. “I’m not seeing anyone I recognize,” I state the obvious.

“Everyone who’s made it in so far are all regulars, I wouldn’t expect you to know any of them,” says Alex.

“So why not just skip through all of this?” Wouldn’t that be easier and less time-consuming?

“Because, Miss Carter, it’s best to go ahead and take another look at everything we have. In the ten years I’ve been working security at this club, we’ve never had anything like this happen. I’d really like to get to the bottom of this,” Alex says, sounding irritated. I guess I really can’t blame him, though. I’d like to get to the bottom of this myself.

Watching the screens again, the timestamp now reads 10 o’clock. I watch as Amber and I enter the club. There’s no volume in these recordings so we just watch as Amber and Alex make conversation. I don’t miss the way his eyes follow her as we walk away. I wonder what that’s all about. Not long after we walk away, the door opens up again as someone else enters the club. Whoever it is, they’ve angled their body just right so the camera can’t see their face. There’s no doubt he’s a man, I can see the bulk he has to his body making it obvious. He doesn’t look threatening and Alex allows him to enter, so I’m assuming he’s just another regular.

Looking to the screen that shows the bar, I see Cory standing right behind me and just like last night, I feel his eyes on me now. Both watching and currently experiencing this man’s presence has chills running down my back. On the camera, he places his hand at the small of my back and it’s almost like I can feel his hand there now. For a brief second, watching the video feed has become unimportant as I imagine what it would feel like to have his hands on other parts of my body. I know I should be focused on the task at hand, but all I can do is focus on my body as I feel my skin slowly heat up, no doubt from the blush creeping up my body. Thankfully, the room is dark and Alex picks that moment to speed the recording up again snapping me out of my brief daydream. I take a quick second to glance at Cory and immediately regret it because he’s staring right at me, and something tells me he knows exactly what I was just thinking. Ugh, shoot me now!!!