Watch Me (Phoenix 1)

Hunt asked, “Which is why you didn’t find this out during vetting?”

Archer’s jaw muscles clenched twice. Then he nodded. “This situation is unusual. Her profile is gone now, so her name wasn’t linked to the social media post, which is why it didn’t show up in my background check. Zoey never reported the incident to the NYPD or the college police, so there’s no paperwork on her assault.”

“Wonder why that is,” Kieran murmured.

Rhys wondered that himself. He began handing out the cards. “What was she in school for?”

“Biological science. She got that degree. But it looks like she had originally planned to attend vet school at Colorado State University. She was accepted but turned it down. Now she works at a veterinary clinic as a groomer in Brooklyn.”

When Rhys finished dealing, he lifted his cards and began putting them in order. “Any information come up about her mental health?”

Archer organized his cards then set them down. “She went to therapy for six months—that’s all I could find without going any deeper. To get the actual records, it would cost you some cash.” Archer had a couple of hackers in his pocket. “But she’s not on any medication or had any arrests. From the way it looks, she lives a very quiet life with a couple roommates.” Another long stretch of silence settled in as Archer’s lips thinned. “Something came up that you’re not going to like.”

Rhys arched an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“The two men who took the photograph are Phoenix members.”

“Oh, shit,” Kieran drawled.

Hunt snorted a laugh. “Not for long.”

That explained why the men had run out. “Who were they?” Rhys had been too enthralled by Zoey to notice anything but the back of their heads as they were leaving.

“Scott Ross and Jake Grant.”

Both were hotshots on Wall Street.

At Rhys’ frown, Archer asked, “What do you want me to do?”

“Dig deeper.”

“Into Zoey?”

Rhys shook his head. Anything else he learned, he wanted to come from her mouth. “Into Scott and Jake. Get me a solid file on them and what happened that night.”

Archer lifted his eyebrows. “And Zoey?”

“Let me think on her.” He never reacted quickly, not with anyone who walked through Phoenix’s doors. He had a responsibility to those who trusted him to fulfill their fantasies and to keep them safe while doing so. With Zoey, the situation was different. He felt responsible for her. But he needed to think over his reaction to her. She’d gotten what she wanted and likely wasn’t a threat to his members. He should leave it at that and walk away. But why didn’t he want to?

He grabbed a hundred dollars’ worth of poker chips and tossed them Archer’s way. “For now, prepare to get your asses handed to you.”

“Keep dreaming, Harrington,” Hunt drawled as laughter blew apart the tension.

* * *

When Zoey made it home after sneaking out of Phoenix, her hands were still shaking. Standing outside the black-painted front door of her loft, she looked at the cashier’s check again: Zoey Parker. $100,000.00 signed by Rhys Harrington. She folded the paper, shoved it back into her purse, and shut her eyes. She’d never seen that much money before and never imagined earning money from selling her virginity. But after all she’d been through, there was no guilt, no shame, only freedom from her pain. With the money from the show, she could put a down payment on a house back home, where homes were a fraction of the price in Brooklyn. The plan was to turn the main floor of the house into a grooming shop. Sure, that dream was a long cry from becoming a veterinary, but she’d grown to love her job and being around animals. And the truth was, she missed home. It took everything she had to graduate undergrad. The last two months of school had been long and torturous. She still wasn’t sure what it said about her that she hadn’t told her parents the truth about why she gave up her dream of vet school. That being burned-out wasn’t the reason at all. She also hadn’t admitted that she avoided going home the last year because she couldn’t face them, not with the complete failure her life had become. Both her parents were doctors. Mom, a family doctor. Dad, a vascular surgeon. While they offered support, she could hear the disappointment in their voices. She couldn’t bear to see it on their face too.

But that was then, and this was now. She felt ready to face them. The weight of a year of pain felt gone from her shoulders. She’d worked hard to turn everything around. And was proud of what she’d accomplished. She lived in a roomy loft on Brooklyn’s waterfront with her two roommates. On the southern edge of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, in an old warehouse, they rented the place for a ridiculous amount of money that none of them could afford on their own. The large windows provided beautiful natural light, and the openness was what had made her fall in love with the apartment in the first place. The distance from Manhattan was the second. Her night at Phoenix was the first time Zoey had returned to Manhattan since her last day of school. She threw up the second she got off the subway, and stayed close to total strangers so she wouldn’t have to walk the streets alone.

When Zoey finally unlocked the door and strode inside, her roommate Hazel Rose immediately leapt up from the couch, nearly plowing into Zoey. “What happened? Tell me every single detail.” Hazel had medium-length light-brown hair and beautiful light-blue eyes, and the longest natural eyelashes Zoey had ever seen on anyone.

Zoey snorted a laugh. “Well, I’ll tell you what happened if you let me shut the door.”

“Oh, sorry.” Hazel smiled sheepishly, releasing her tight hold on Zoey’s arms.

Their other roommate, Elise Fanning, smiled from the couch. “I had to take her jogging to get her to finally sit down.” Elise had long dark-brown hair and strong dark-brown eyes, and she lounged on the sofa like she didn’t have a worry in the world.

Zoey always envied that about Elise, and she’d counted on Elise’s calm nature many, many times. Zoey had met them when she saw the wanted ad for a roommate on a coffee shop’s community board after the assault. The rest was history, and now Hazel and Elise felt more like sisters than friends.