My heart sinks once more, but this time it’s because I realize that my small lies are starting to rear their ugly head.
Fuck. He’s going to stop trusting me.
I’m sorry if I’m becoming grouchy, hun.
I don’t want to lose his trust and ruin… whatever there is between the two of us.
“Austin… Don’t say that. Don’t imply
that I… That I have anything to do with that,” I tell him, lowering my voice as my heart tightens up at my lie. I’m digging myself into a hole, and I have no idea how I’ll escape from there once I’m deep enough.
“I believe you,” he tells me with a smile, and that makes it all worse. I believe you; his three words hit me like bricks, and I feel sick to my stomach because he truly does seem to believe me. He trusts me. And I’m paying his trust in kind by lying to him.
“But why would he want to get someone inside here?” I ask. “What does the police commissioner have to do with Python?” I start, desperate to get some solid answers. With a smile, Austin takes my hand.
“Come with me,” he tells me, and then leads me to a door with a STAFF ONLY sign hanging on it. He slides a magnetic key card over the slit on the side, and pushes the door open, leading me in as he steps inside.
We’re in a corridor, and I can see a few half-naked men laughing and talking as we walk past the open doors by our side. We take a turn and end up in a wide room, a set of stairs on the end of it; the man I saw minutes ago up on the stages comes down from them, and I realize where they lead.
“Good job, Maverick,” he tells the man as we walk past him, and he gives Austin a nod.
“Thanks, boss,” he says cheerfully, and then disappears down the corridor. Two other men appear, and Austin steps between them and the stairs that lead to the stage, stepping away from me. He tells them something in a hushed tone and both men turn on their heels and walk back to where they came.
“You see, Destiny,” Austin tells me, walking back to me and stroking my cheek with the back of his hand. This time I don’t shudder at his touch… No, this time I feel that maddening warmness inside of me, a ball of lust and desire forming in my stomach.
“This is the first time in history that a place like Python has happened,” he says to me. “There was nothing like this before anywhere.”
I gasp as I feel his hands touch me. He runs his hands over me, possessing me, as he speaks. “A place made for women,” he says to me. “Men all have their fucking dens and pleasure houses, if you want to call them that, but women always had to settle for something more… tame. I love women, and I sure as hell don’t make that a fucking secret, as you’ve been able to tell by now.”
“I know,” I tell him, a smile forming on my lips.
“That’s why I started Python. I wanted a place where women could be themselves, and then some more. In here they’re safe…”
He trails off and I look at him, my eyes asking him to explain more.
I mean, is he telling me this is more than just a strip club?
More than just a sex club?
Seriously, what is it with people and grand plans lately? Why can’t we just have good ol’ fashioned simple fucking sex?
Sorry.
I’m still a bit scattered from everything, ya know?
Austin continues. “Safe from everything out there in the world,” he says to me. “From judgment, from shame, and from things way worse than that. This is a haven for the most beautiful creatures on Earth, Destiny,” he continues, and I believe every single word of his.
He’s really passionate about Python, and it’s not like when someone is passionate about a business. To Austin, Python is much more than just a business.
“But… Why would the commissioner have trouble with that?” I ask, tying my brain into knots as I try to find an answer to my own question. There’s none that I can see.
“Some people don’t like women to be as free as I want them to be. And some people… Well, let’s just say that some people not only don’t understand what I stand for, but they actively oppose it. The commissioner is one of these people.” His answer is a vague one but, for now, it’s more than enough. My fears have been soothed, and I’m back to believing that there’s going to be a way out of this mess I’m in.
“You’ve built something great,” I tell him, squeezing his hand in mine as I look into his eyes. These bright smart eyes of his. “I see it every time I walk in here.”
His lips curl upward into a gentle smile—not a grin, but a true tender smile—and he squeezes my hand back. “It’s not enough to see it, Destiny,” he tells me, “you have to feel it.” With that, he pulls me toward the stairs at the end of the room and walks up, pulling me after him. He isn’t going to make me walk on stage, is he?
“Austin, what are you--”